OPEN POST: Greatest Animal Hero of All-Time: Togo, The Siberian Husky

Leonhard Seppala and Togo. 

Togo was born in 1913 in Alaska and seemed, from the start, like he wasn't destined for a career as a useful sled dog, or even a beloved pet. He was undersized, sickly, sharp-tempered, and relentlessly defiant. As a puppy, he chewed through harnesses, constantly bullied other dogs, routinely escaped confinement, and refused even basic obedience commands. Togo seemed like a lost cause. He exhibited none of the behaviors or traits that the best sled dogs normally possess.  

Leonhard Seppala, one of the most respected sled dog trainers of his time, deemed him untrainable and gave him away. Togo responded by doing what he would do repeatedly as a youngster: he escaped and found his way back home to Seppala and his wife. The dog was nothing short of a juvenile delinquent with a host of ongoing problem behaviors. And he wasn't anything special in the looks department either; some even said he looked perpetually dirty.

As Togo matured, his "flaws" revealed themselves to be extraordinarily rare strengths. Seppala eventually recognized that Togo wasn’t disobedient. He wasn't a waste of time or a nuisance; he possessed raw intelligence, bold independence, and an unshakable attachment to purpose. He maintained remarkable endurance, an uncanny, powerful instinct for navigation, astonishing courage, and the ability to make decisions under pressure. Unlike many lead dogs who followed commands, Togo could assess terrain, weather, and danger on his own. He remembered trails instinctively and sensed weak ice before humans or other dogs could. Seppala began placing him at the front of the team, where Togo proved to be not just a leader, but a prodigy, a dog capable of sustaining brutal distances without hesitation and guiding teams safely through conditions that could easily kill them. By the time he reached full maturity, Togo was regarded as irreplaceable.

Togo is the dog on the far left. 

In 1925, when a diphtheria outbreak threatened the remote town of Nome, Alaska, that brilliance was put to an ultimate test. With no planes able to fly in the brutal winter, teams of sled dogs relayed lifesaving antitoxin across nearly 700 miles of stark, frozen wilderness. Togo bravely led the longest and most dangerous leg of the run, covering close to 260 miles through extreme cold, severe gale-force winds, and unstable sea ice. While the legendary sled dog Balto ran the final stretch into Nome and became the public symbol of the rescue, it was loyal Togo who carried the most extreme physical and navigational burden. His judgment, stamina, and refusal to quit made survival possible.

A short time after the serum run, Togo was retired to Maine and lived out his remaining years in comfort. In 1929, at the age of sixteen, which was an unusually long lifespan for a working sled dog, he was humanely euthanized with his beloved Seppala at his side,  due to declining health from old age. His body was preserved as a historical artifact, and his bloodlines live on in the Seppala Siberians. They are primarily still sled dogs and are known to carry some of the same amazing strengths that made Togo the incredible dog he was. 

Togo's descendants

Recognition and acknowledgment came decades later, and his legacy grew quietly. In 2011, Time magazine named Togo the most heroic animal of all time:

"The dog that often gets credit for eventually saving the town is Balto, but he just happened to run the last, 55-mile leg in the race. The sled dog who did the lion's share of the work was Togo. His journey, fraught with white-out storms, was the longest by 200 miles and included a traverse across perilous Norton Sound — where he saved his team and driver in a courageous swim through ice floes."

Thus, acknowledging what mushers and many historians had long known, without Togo, the story would have had a very different and tragic ending. 

Seppala wrote when it was time for Togo to retire:.. sad parting on a cold gray March morning when Togo raised a small paw to my knee as if questioning why he was not going along with me. For the first time in twelve years, I hit the trail without Togo.

*There was a film starring Willem Dafoe, Togo, which premiered in 2019 to very positive reviews, with a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, Disney removed the title from its platform, and you can no longer watch it in the United States, much less anywhere else except in Brazil. A shame. The people who have seen it rave about it. But it is Disney, the home of bad decisions. They dumped a bunch of titles for a tax write-off, and this gem of a movie was one of them.* 

photos: American Kennel Club, Facebook, Poland Springs.org, Wolfsong.