Some of the sled dog team come back from a run in North Battleford. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Outdoor fun

Sled Dogs take on the Battlefords in Wintertainment wrap

Feb 27, 2023 | 12:41 PM

The dogs were yipping and wagging their tails with glee when they took off for an afternoon of sledding in North Battleford Friday.

The event at the River Valley Centre was part of the City of North Battleford’s Wintertainment festivities this year.

The dogs owner, Amanda Grant, with help from Carson Dresser, a Unity High School student, took turns running some of the dogs from the 14 that came out for the event.

“Most of the dogs [here] are our slow team or our fun team,” Grant said. “They are dogs that don’t do the races anymore, but we still try to get them out three to four times a week in the winter. They don’t usually get to go anywhere, so we figured it would be really special for them to get to come on a trip.”

She said it’s an exciting activity for the sled dogs, just as it is for the runners.

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“There is a strong bond you have to form with the dogs,” Grant added. “You have to trust each other.”

They first ran a few dogs at a time at the event to get familiar with the trail.

Dresser mentioned that running sled dogs is a lot of fun for everyone. He said the dogs taking part are having “the best life we can give them” when they get involved in sledding.

“You can tell they are really happy while they are doing it,” Dresser said. “That’s what the best part is.”

Amanda Grant and Carson Dresser chilling with the pooches after the run. (Angela Brown and Martin Martinson/BattlefordsNOW Staff)

The city’s Leah Garven, on the Wintertainment organizing committee, said the sled dogs event was something new for this year’s festivities.

“We’ve talked about the dogs – they are so energetic, classic winter, and very rare,” she said. “We don’t all get to be around a team of dogs and see them sledding.”

Garven added, although it’s iconic to Canada, sled dog runs are not something many people get to see in their daily lives.

“I’ve been around sled dogs before and I know how much fun they are,” she said.

Wintertainment wrapped up a success for 2023.

The Winter Dreaming event earlier in the week saw about eight people come out to work outdoors creating art. Most of the rest of the week’s activities were mainly indoors due to the extreme cold, with temperatures dropping to close to –30 C some days.

“Despite the cold, we’ve had a great turnout for all of our events, especially the indoor events were a little bit more popular,” Garven said. “It seems like there are more people around this week than in previous years.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW