A sled-dog missing in Alaska wilderness for six days is found uninjured after traveling 400 miles on her own trying to find home



A dog which went missing on a grueling sled race in Alaska last Friday has been found safe and well - having traveled up to 400 miles on her own in rugged, freezing conditions.



9-year-old May, a strawberry blond sled dog, became separated from her team when her musher - or sled leader - stopped to help another racer on the annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race.



A huge rescue attempt was carried out by foot, plane and snowmobile as the 1,000 mile race continued in the deep snow and dangerous terrain of the historic trail.

Alaskan adventure: May was discovered on Wednesday after being lost in the freezing cold wilderness for 6 days. She was unharmed

Many believed she would be attacked by wolves or die from injury out in the wilderness but she just appeared six days later - alive and well



The veteran race dog had a damaged paw and was a bit on the thin side from her week-long adventure but was otherwise in good health.



Racer Stan Smith, who is now helping nurse her back to health, said she had probably traveled 300 to 400 miles.

'She traveled several times from Rohn to Nikolai, all the way up the Dalzell Gorge, up the Alaska Range to the other side, through Rainy Pass, across Shell Lake; she was spotted multiple times in Skwentna,' Smith told the Anchorage Daily News .



'So many reports of seeing her. They were all heading south. It's an incredible journey."



It is believed May was trying to find the race's start-point on her journey when she took a wrong turn.



She survived by eating leftovers left by other teams at checkpoints along the track she kept criss-crossing over.



It was yesterday when she finally emerged to the surprise of the group of snowmobile drivers who stumbled across her.

Good start: May, pictured fourth dog from the left, was running with Iditarod musher Newton Marshall, from St. Anne, Jamaica. He stopped to help another sled when May came loose and went missing

Kaitlin Koch, Matt Clark and Michael Hansmeyer had taken a break to consider where to go next when out of nowhere she appeared - still wearing her red harness.



'We had just pulled over on the side of the trail and were talking about where we should go next,' said Clark, 22.



'About 100 yards away a dog was trotting down the trail. It was coming at a pretty slow pace and we were waiting to see if someone on a four-wheeler or snow-machine was with her.'



'We'd heard about a missing dog, but we figured we were too far away,' Clark said.



'Kaitlin was like, 'That's that sled dog.' And we were like, 'There's no way, that sled dog's dead. A wolf would've got it.''

Endurance test: The 1000 mile race takes in some of the most rugged terrain in Alaska as well as taking place in freezing conditions. Rescuers were astounded May emerged 6 days later with just a damaged paw

Hard-going: The dogs wear little slippers which May lost on her journey off-piste. The 9-year-old is a seasoned racer and clearly could handle the terrain

Koch added: 'I stopped my sled and got off and went to the ground and she came right up to me. She sat in my lap the entire trip back to Big Lake.'



'I'm still in utter amazement at how far she got.'



May, who has taken part in the endurance race several times before, was being fed canned salmon and kibble stew back at Smith's home today.



He is caring for her for her owner, musher Jim Lanier, who had loaned the dog to Jamaican Newton Marshall whose team she was running in when she got loose.



Lanier's wife Anna Bondarenko desperately tried to find their dog - traveling between various sightings but always missing her.



Winner: Mitch Seavey won the 41st Iditarod Trail at the age of 53

Others who spotted May tried to approach her but she bolted.



Lanier finished 35th in the race at noon yesterday while Marshall was forced to drop out after losing May.



The race took Lanier 10 days, 10 hours, 21 minutes and eight seconds to complete, according to his Facebook page.

He and his wife will now travel to collect May from her part-time carers.



53-year-old Mitch Seavey won the 41st race - making him the oldest winner to date.