Name: Dora

Sex: Female

DOB: 1 August 1916

Species: Dog

Breed: Alaskan malamute x Siberian husky

Physique: She’s a big unit. Despite being a 50/50 mix of Malamute and Siberian, she’s on the taller side for a female Malamute and she towers over everyone else in her team. She has a strong and muscular yet athletic build, perfect for pulling a sled at speed. 

Personality: A capable and level-headed leader to her team. She’s nice enough and treats everyone she meets with due courtesy, and unlike her son she doesn’t enjoy being cruel for the sake of it. However she’s ultimately self-interested and her loyalty is only to herself, and her status as the leader of the top sled dog team in Nome; she can therefore be ruthless and is quick to drop anyone she sees as threatening her position.

Relation to Balto: Steele’s mother

History: Dora and her 7 teammates were owned by a retired lawyer named Percy Westfall, who moved to Nome from Providence for a sea change in 1915 and discovered a late-in-life passion for sled dogs. He set to building a team of the finest dogs money (which he had a substantial amount of) could buy. A couple of years and many failed dogs later, he had curated a team of 8. Dora was the leader, the only female, and his favourite, but they were all talented dogs and the team quickly made a name for themselves. They won just about every race they entered - and the few they didn’t win, they weren’t far off. Westfall, who was a braggart by nature, became cocky about the quality of his team so when a stranger rolled into town with one black dog at his heels and challenged Westfall to a race, the winner of which would get to keep Dora and her team, he agreed. What happens next is the subject of a future fic - no spoilers here.