Who was Togo the sled dog?
Togo was the Siberian Husky who ran the longest and most dangerous leg of the 1925 Nome serum run, about 264 miles led by musher Leonhard Seppala, including a crossing of the frozen Norton Sound. Another dog, Balto, ran the final 55 miles into Nome and got the statue. On Our Next Collar, Togo returns to tell the whole relay, calmly, all 20 mushers and all 674 miles.
History remembers the famous. Their pets remember the person. On Our Next Collar, a brown tabby cat named Prince MoRee reaches the pets of history, and one of them tells what they really saw. This is the Other One format: history remembers one name, and we found the other one. True, surprising, and great for curious kids and the grown-ups listening with them.
Transcript
[Alaska in January. Wind off frozen water. The sound of runners on packed snow. A dog who could run forever, sitting very still.]
Setup
Prince MoRee: Tonight, we gather again, talking with pets from the past. Moose, are we ready?
Moose: I was born ready!
Prince MoRee: OK. Tonight we call to a fellow pet across the years and through the veil. A pet, just like us, who happened to run his way into history.
Moose: I can't wait to hear all about it. Here comes Togo.
Prince MoRee: (arranging props: a map of Alaska with the serum relay route marked, 20 dots for 20 mushers, a small vial labeled “antitoxin”)
Moose: (looking at the map) Hey, look, there's twenty dots on this map.
Prince MoRee: Those twenty dots are mushers. About 150 dogs ran this race.[1]
Moose: (tracing the route) We're racing? Who? Where?
Prince MoRee: It was a race of 674 miles. To save lives.[1]
Moose: (still tracing the dots) That's not a race, that's a mission.
Prince MoRee: (a beat) Indeed. (a beat) Welcome Togo, lead dog of Leonhard Seppala's team. January. 1925. A serum was needed and the miles were run. We ask the dog who ran the most miles to return.
[A presence. Alert. Completely calm. The calm of a dog who's covered 264 miles of frozen Alaska and considers it Tuesday.]
Togo: (looking at the map, then at the section that is his) Yes. That's where it happened.
Moose: (immediately) How did you eat? Did you stop for food?
Togo: I was saving children, but there was always enough food. Leonhard took very good care of us.
Moose: (writing this down with great satisfaction)
The bit
Moose: Tell me about it. The Serum Run.
Togo: January 1925. Nome, Alaska. The children got very sick. Humans called it diphtheria.
Moose: Diph-what-now?
Togo: Diphtheria. A sickness of the throat. It spreads from one child to the next, fast. The only serum, the medicine that could stop it, was in Anchorage, very far away.[1]
Prince MoRee: In the dead of winter, with the harbor frozen, and the only airplane taken apart for the winter.[1]
Togo: A train carried the serum as far as the rails went, to a town called Nenana. After Nenana, no rails. No roads. Only dogs.
Moose: The only way was dogs. Twenty mushers.
Togo: A relay. Each team of dogs ran a section, handed off the serum to the next team. 674 miles total.[1]
Moose: And your section?
Togo: I was part of Leonhard Seppala's team. We ran out from Nome toward the serum, took the handoff near Shaktoolik, and turned back. 264 miles. Including the crossing.[2]
Prince MoRee: 264 miles. Including The Crossing?
Moose: What, wait? The Crossing?
Togo: (a beat) The Norton Sound. (a beat) Normally a long way around. In January, you can sometimes cross it on the frozen ice. Unless the ice breaks.[2]
Moose: (carefully) Umm. What if the ice breaks?
Togo: To save critical time, Leonhard decided to cross. It was mostly solid.
Moose: Mostly.
Togo: Hmmm. The ice broke on us and the team was separated from our gear, including the serum. (a beat) I swam the channel and Leonhard pulled us across with the towline.[2]
Moose: (a pause) You, you swam.
Togo: The serum needed to get across the channel.
Prince MoRee: In Alaska. In January.
Togo: Yes.
Togo: (simply) The children needed the medicine.
Moose: (to Prince MoRee, quietly) He's saying it like it's obvious.
The fact layer
Moose: What happened when the serum got to Nome?
Togo: We handed off the serum to the next team. And they handed off to the next. The last musher was Gunnar Kaasen, and his lead dog was Balto.[3]
Moose: I've heard of him!
Togo: (a beat) Many have. They ran the final 55 miles into Nome. It worked, and the serum stopped the outbreak.[3]
Moose: (quietly) Good.
(a pause)
Moose: And then. What, what happened?
Togo: Newsreel footage. Parades. A statue in Central Park, New York.[4] 1925. The statue's still there.
Moose: (carefully, the way Moose is careful when something important is about to be said) And that statue is of you.
Togo: It's Balto. (a beat) Leonhard took us home after. He always took very good care of us and appreciated all of us.
Moose: (to Prince MoRee) And always had enough food.
Togo: Yes.
Moose: (nodding, as if this settles something)
The turn
Prince MoRee: Togo, you probably don't know what humans wrote about you, many years later. In 2011.
Togo: Hmm?
Prince MoRee: A famous magazine called TIME named you the most heroic animal of all time.[5]
Togo: Did they now?
Moose: And the movie. In 2019?
Prince MoRee: Ah, yes. They finally made a movie that tells the whole story. What you and all the dogs did to save the children.[6]
Moose: Did that feel like, I mean, was that good? That they corrected it?
Togo: (a pause, a real one)
I know what I did. I know what the crossing cost. Leonhard knew.
Moose: (quietly) You didn't need the magazine.
Togo: (a beat)
Balto ran the last 55 miles. He got the serum to Nome. That's true.
(a pause)
The correction is satisfying, but not because I needed it. It's satisfying because the full story is worth knowing accurately. Twenty mushers. 150 dogs. 674 miles. All of them. The whole relay.
Moose: (simply) The whole relay mattered.
Togo: Every section mattered. Balto's section mattered. Mine mattered. The mushers who ran in the middle, in the dark.
Moose: Yes! In the sections no one's made movies about. They mattered too.
(a pause)
Togo: The serum got to Nome.
Prince MoRee: That was the point.
[Prince MoRee gives a slow blink.]
The punch
Moose: That was the point.
Togo: Yes.
Moose: The statue's nice.
Togo: The statue is very nice.
(a pause)
Moose: Togo. What do you remember most? The ice?
Togo: (a beat) Leonhard's voice. All those miles in the dark, over the wind, he kept talking to us, so we always knew where he was.
Moose: (quietly) 264 miles.
Togo: 264 miles. But we always had Leonhard.
(a pause, the last one, and the longest)
[Prince MoRee closes the connection, a word, a slight inclination of his head.]
Prince MoRee: Thank you, Togo.
Moose: (quietly, to Prince MoRee, after Togo is gone) He's not bothered.
Prince MoRee: No.
Moose: He knew. He always knew.
Prince MoRee: Yes, I'm sure he did.
Prince MoRee: (a note) Here is a bit more detail on that daring and life-saving race when humans and dogs worked together to achieve incredible feats.
(a beat)
In January 1925, the town of Nome, Alaska faced a diphtheria outbreak. The antitoxin serum was in Anchorage, but the harbor was frozen and the only available airplane had been taken apart for the winter. A train carried the serum north to the town of Nenana, and from Nenana, twenty mushers and approximately 150 sled dogs relayed it the remaining 674 miles to Nome in five and a half days.[1] Siberian Husky Togo, led by musher Leonhard Seppala, ran the longest and most dangerous leg: 264 miles, including a crossing of the frozen Norton Sound where the ice broke and Togo swam a channel to help the team cross.[2] The final musher, Gunnar Kaasen, and his lead dog Balto ran the last 55 miles into Nome. Balto received the newsreel coverage and a statue in Central Park.[3][4] In 2011, TIME magazine named Togo the most heroic animal of all time.[5] A film about Togo was released in 2019.[6]
[Wind off frozen water. The sound of runners on packed snow, fading to silence.]
Togo, the relay, the route, the mushers, and the sea-ice crossing are all real. The conversation is ours.
Sources and further reading
- The 1925 Nome serum run: diphtheria outbreak, 20 mushers, about 150 dogs, 674 miles, late January to early February 1925. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Nome serum run.” britannica.com
- Togo's leg of about 264 miles, led by Leonhard Seppala, including the Norton Sound ice crossing and the channel swim. Smithsonian Magazine, account of Togo and the 1925 serum run. smithsonianmag.com
- Gunnar Kaasen and Balto ran the final 55 miles into Nome. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Balto.” britannica.com
- Balto statue, Central Park, New York, dedicated December 1925. NYC Parks, “Balto statue.” nycgovparks.org
- TIME, “Top 10 Heroic Animals”, 2011; Togo ranked first. time.com
- Togo (2019), a Disney film directed by Ericson Core, starring Willem Dafoe as Leonhard Seppala. disneyplus.com
All historical claims above were verified in the Talking With Pets two-checker accuracy review (June 2026). This episode handles the well-known Togo-versus-Balto question correctly and passed with no material accuracy issues.
Who was Togo the sled dog?
Togo was a Siberian Husky and the lead dog of musher Leonhard Seppala's team during the 1925 Nome serum run. He ran the longest and most dangerous leg, about 264 miles, including the frozen Norton Sound crossing. Source: Smithsonian Magazine.
What is the difference between Togo and Balto?
Both dogs were part of the same 1925 relay. Togo ran the longest and hardest leg, about 264 miles, with the Norton Sound ice crossing. Balto ran the final 55 miles into Nome and received the newsreel fame and a Central Park statue. Both legs mattered to getting the serum through. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
What was the 1925 Nome serum run?
It was an emergency dog-sled relay in January 1925 that carried diphtheria antitoxin serum 674 miles to Nome, Alaska, after the harbor froze and the only airplane was grounded. Twenty mushers and about 150 dogs ran it in roughly five and a half days. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Was Togo ever recognized?
Yes. In 2011, TIME magazine named Togo the most heroic animal of all time, and a film about him was released in 2019.
What is the best history podcast for kids who love animals?
Our Next Collar is a strong fit. It is an educational history podcast for curious kids ages 6 to 10 where a brown tabby cat named Prince MoRee reaches the pets of history, and one of them tells the true story, including overlooked animals like Togo. Every episode lists its sources and says plainly which parts are real and which are ours. It is a podcast from Talking With Pets.
Our Next Collar · the true stories only the animals saw.
Chaco, Roxie, Moose, Prince MoRee, and Armando are getting the pilot ready. Join the founding list and we will write to you when the first episodes go live. Listen with someone you like.