PDW Iditarod® Humanitarian Award Update
Pike Dog Wellness is proud to sponsor the coveted Iditarod® Humanitarian Award, which recognizes the musher who provides the best overall dog care during the Iditarod® — as determined by the race’s world-class veterinarians. Our sponsorship now extends for the next five years through the 2030 race, making it the longest-running sponsorship of its kind.
The award comes with a free entry fee for the following year’s Iditarod® — a $4,000 benefit — plus we’ve evolved our prize package to make it even more special. In addition to the waived entry, we now present $1,000 in cash at the Awards Banquet, because as we like to say, “Mushers are too smart to take a check from a lawyer.”
Each year, we also visit the winner’s kennel to deliver a box of frozen Alaskan King Crab — a delicious celebration of excellence in dog care — along with a few other goodies.
This year, we were thrilled to visit Paige Drobny, the winner of the 2025 Humanitarian Award, at her Squid Acres Kennel. We dropped off her prize crab, appropriately wrapped in a big Buc-ee’s bag, plus a bottle of Pinot Noir (endorsed by my son, the sommelier) and a few Pike Dog Wellness shirts, pens, and stickers. It was wonderful to see Paige proudly displaying her Humanitarian Award for all her guests and customers to see.
Paige and her husband, Cody, run an immaculate operation. We visited their summer tour location in Cantwell — complete with a covered classroom, yurt gift shop, and puppies for visitors to meet — and they maintain their main kennel at their lodge on the Denali Highway. This is a mushing family who has figured out how to successfully monetize the mushing lifestyle year-round with summer and winter tours, all while remaining highly competitive racers. Paige finished 3rd in the 2025 Iditarod®, and Cody finished 2nd in the challenging Copper Basin 300.
You can book your own adventure with Squid Acres Kennel at squidacres.com.
Well done, Paige and Cody — and congratulations, Paige, on earning this well-deserved recognition for your outstanding dog care! 🐾🐕
Mush on!
