Rob Downey takes the team out for a ride in Fairbanks, Alaska, circa 2008. Photo by Dave Partee.
Rob Downey’s passion for work dogs transcends geographic and occupational boundaries.
Spend 20 winters living in Alaska racing sled dogs, and you’re likely to make a few new friends. It was there that Rob Downey helped a native elder from the indigenous Athabascan group rehabilitate a besieged community. Deeply rooted in village culture, the elder believed sled dogs could support and empower the area’s troubled, suicide-prone youth. With Downey’s support, a school-based program was developed that merges Western education with tradition to help teach science, numerical skills and more. Honor rolls have doubled; dropout rates have declined. Now run by the state, the program is in 16 Alaskan schools…