Togo, the Sled Dog: And Other Great Animal Stories of the North (Good Lord Made Them All)

I thought the book was going to be mostly about the dog, Togo, especially when that is the title of the book. Instead, there are only 21 pages dedicated to the story, with a total of 158 pages to the entire book. Very disappointing. What was in the Togo story was extremely good, but I was expecting more of the book to be about Togo, and not 14 other animal stories. Disappointed.

The title claims this book is about Togo. But really it's about a bunch of other stories with Togo making a small appearance as the last story in the book. It's a cheap lure.

This popular author's great story collection about creatures of the far north is a joy to read, make no mistake. Eagles, wolves, weasels, and sled dogs all have their moment in the light... and the greatest joy of all is that Joe Wheeler got the ONE story right that NO ONE else ever does:The story of the Great Serum Race to Nome and the greatest sled dog who ever lived - Togo.The popular version of the story always focuses on Balto, the point dog that ran the brutal last two 25-mile legs of the run, where the reporting was coming from. Most tellings of the story even stoop so low as to attribute Togo's feats to Balto. But Togo had already run the worst part of the trip TWICE to get the serum to Balto's team. Togo and his handler Leonhard Seppala ran a 350 mile loop in -85F degree wind chill temperatures and complete whiteout conditions, leading his team across frozen water in the Norton Sound that could collapse at any moment...and they were ignored by the press of the time. 12 years old and his health weakened by the run, Togo lived out the rest of his life as a founding stud of the Siberian Husky breed.The flesh and bones and truth of a story needs to be told, not just the spirit of it, and Togo and Seppala deserve to be remembered as heroes forever. This book does a fine job of setting the story straight, and yet it is just one diamond of a story among other gems in this book.

good read