The Underdog

By Courtney W., 9, CDNIS

1)      Today you are going to write a story about a sled dog in Alaska. What is its name? What does it look like? What kind of town does it live in?

Its name is Puffy. The colour of it is brownish grayish. This dog lives in Anchorage. In the town it is very cold.

2)      One day its owner selects it to participate in the Iditarod. It has never participated in any race before, let alone the Iditarod. How does the dog feel? Does it want to participate in the race? Name at least three things it must do to prepare for the race and why.

Puffy feels scared and sad because it was cold and the race was tough and dangerous. It does not want to participate in the race. Puffy has to train for being out in the cold running and to be a stronger dog to pull the sled.

3)      It is the first day of the race! The dog lines up with its teammates at the starting line. One of the other dogs says, “You are too weak to be on our team, Underdog!” What does the dog say in response? How does he intend to prove that he is not too weak to compete?

The dog does not say anything and ignores them. He says to himself that he will prove to everyone that he is not weak and an underdog. He focuses on pulling the sled and does hard work.

4)      The first few hours go smoothly, but as the sun begins to set, black clouds fill the sky. Suddenly, a violent storm starts pouring down on everything. What happens in this storm?

It is raining really hard. Lightning is booming and the dogs feel scared. It makes them tired and scared because of the noise and when it is raining hard hard it makes them wet which carries more weight.

5)      Because of the terrible conditions, the musher is too weak to go forward, and he lies on the ground shivering. Even worse, the wind of storm has blown away the harnesses that attach the dogs to the sleds. The underdog realizes it needs to get the musher to safety. It comes up with a three-step plan. What is the plan?

Step 1: Pull the musher back on the sled.

Description: A few of the dogs pull the musher on the sled.

Step 2: Find the harnesses

Description: The dogs go around finding the harnesses so they can continue their race.

 Step 3: Prepare the food for the musher.

Description: Some of the dogs go around and find food. The others protect the musher and look for food on the sled.

6)      The harsh winds make it difficult for most of the dogs to move, but the underdog remains persistent. He decides to run as fast as he can while dragging the musher by the hood of his jacket. Everything is going well until the underdog hears ferocious barking near him in the storm. The wild dogs approach him. What do they do? How does he react? Describe what happens!

Puffy will explain what happens and the wild dogs decide not to eat them but to keep them prisoner until all the dogs and musher finish and they will go into last place.

7)      Eventually, the wild dogs, force you and the musher into their empty igloo. They say they are going to keep you prisoner there until their friends cross the finish line of the Iditarod, ensuring that the underdog’s team comes in last place. But the underdog notices a missing brick of ice in the walls of the igloo. Describe what he does to escape with the musher.

When all the wild dogs are out finding food, the dog uses its strength to break a hole big enough for all of them to escape.

8)      After escaping, the underdog races out of the igloo with the musher, who has finally regained consciousness. After running for hours, they see some familiar dogs running through the snow. It is his other teammates, and they are dragging the harnesses and the sled! What does the mean dog say after realizing how much the underdog has helped? Do the dogs think they have any chance left at winning the race?

The other dogs will say they are sorry and they will continue the race.

9)      After running for hours, the underdog’s team crosses the finish line in second place! How do they feel? How does everyone treat the underdog after everything he went through? Does he think he will run in the Iditarod next year? Why or why not?

All the dogs feel happy and everybody treats the underdog well. They want to be in the same team for next year if they are in the race.