Musher Tabetha Kopta could hear the cheers and shouts as she neared the finish line. After a weekend of races, she and her team of sled dogs were about to place third overall in the New York State Dryland Challenge—for the dogs, however, it was all about the thrill of the run. Pawn and Lilian, her lead dogs, galloped happily, wind flattening their black and white fur as they approached the finish. Like the other four dogs on Kopta’s team, Pawn and Lilian are not huskies, malamutes, or other Arctic-type…
