6:30 am. 3 degrees.

The most frustrating part about running dog sled tours is the lack of respect some people have for the dogs. We ask them not to run the dogs, to keep them at a steady ‘trot’ because they are running 12.6 miles twice a day with dogs that are up to 15 years old and yet any time they are out of site, or we give them a little room, they run the dogs full out.

It’s kind of like me going into your house and taking your grandfather, who is in great shape for an older man and hooking him up to a team of 23 year-old athletes and letting the 23 year olds run full force with your grandfather being forced to run at that speed, then expected to complete a 12.6 mile course.

Dog sledding has a lot to do with trust. With the trust the dogs have for us and the trust we can put in our customers. What customers don’t realize is that their actions of wanting to run the dogs for their pleasure can end with a dog with a pulled tendon or dehydration. So my solution is to give them two chances. I pull ahead slightly. If they start to run the dogs I sit in front of them with my snowmobile. I talk to them at the next stop and explain that it can be stressful for the dogs to run and I’m happy to give them space, but if they run the dogs, I’ll sit in front of them. Surprisingly, most of them choose to have me sit in front of them on my snowmobile.

These dogs are like family to Kris and to me. I only work there, but their health and happiness is what keeps me there. To have to ask people more than once to respect the dogs gets my panties in a bunch!