After reading all the comments I decided to throw in my 2 cents for what it's worth. First off, I am the spouse of an Iditarod musher and finisher who doesn't run competitively anymore. We still have a team of dogs that we recreationally run. All of our dogs are named and have their own separate kennel runs and house. Daily they are run together in a very large fenced area. Our dogs interact and get along with each other as well as us. No they are not in the house and frankly, they most likely would be very uncomfortable in the house. Our dogs are well fed and receive regular vet care. The problem with Iditarod is push to shorten the amount of days to get to Nome. It is grueling, no doubt but, good mushers know their dog's limits and drop them immediately when they need to. Another sore area is the Alaska state law that allows for an unlimited number of dogs to be tied out on stakes to run in circles. We have a retired dog that we got from a well known musher that runs circles out.....