CALUMET, Mich. (WLUC) – Mushers and dogs crossed the finish line in Calumet today for the 2025 CopperDog Races. Aaron Hayes is from Pensacola, Florida, and he says sled dog races are his favorite sport.
“Besides bird hunting with my dogs, I’m into working dogs and everything,” Hayes said. “So, I love the energy when they’re out here on the street, ready to go. It’s just that high that you gotta hold onto. I love it. It’s wild, and you can’t buy that.”
He says it’s wonderful that the race returned to Calumet after last year’s cancellation.
Chief Race Timer “Kiko” De Melo e Silva says a race like CopperDog belongs in the Copper Country and is the best sled dog race in the Midwest.
“This is the home of CopperDog, right?” De Melo e Silva said. “It’s the right thing to do. A lot of our sponsors come from here, and it’s just a makes sense thing.”
He says the hours of hard work and no sleep put in by the entire team and volunteers were all worth it to see the finish line in Calumet.
“The special bond these dogs have with their mushers and their handlers and the relationship we have with the mushers and the handlers and we get caught up in the dog world; it is the most amazing thing,” De Melo e Silva said.
As a dog owner, Hayes says the bond between the dogs and mushers is special.
“When you have a partner who’s willing to work with you and lives to work with you and you live to survive as well, then you just made your life better,” Hayes said. “You’ve increased your survival and happiness by working together.”
He says you can’t buy the energy the community brings to the sidelines.
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