Team of sled dogs takes visitors on guided tours in Timmins area
A new business near Timmins is offering tours of local trails with some unique guides: a team of sled dogs.
Jacob Betker, owner of Abitibi Sled Dogs, said demand is growing for dog-powered snow tours and there are no other offerings in the region.
Before ATVs and snowmobiles, dogs and sleds were an important form of transportation to help settlers get around snowy terrain, especially in northern Ontario.
Betker said canines bred for those jobs have largely been laid off over the decades -- and options for guided tours have been disappearing in the province.
Originally racing sled dogs in his free time, Betker decided to start his own business to give dogs and humans the chance to go back in time.
“We want to preserve, kind of, the history and keep this alive and in a capacity where they are actually able to travel the northern Boreal, like they used to,” he said.
With a team of about 13 dogs — and two litters hoping to grow it into up to 30 — Betker is preparing to offer a small number of tours on two local trails to start with.
He calls the experience a balance between perfection and chaos, particularly as the team gets excited to run.
“It’s almost like a group of football players running onto the field and banging helmets and that kind of thing,” Betker said.
“And then, as soon as we take off, it’s complete quietness and you literally hear the footsteps and the panting of the dogs … and you’re gliding overtop of the snow at about an inch and a half, just above the trail.”
Provincial regulation changes last summer made it expensive to start up the business, which Betker said was unnecessary.
But he said the most important thing for him is keeping his dogs healthy and taking people on a calm yet thrilling ride.
“You become one with the dogs,” he said.
“You literally become one unit, where each member relies on the other to travel across this land like people have for generations.”
Betker said he wants to offer longer excursions that would take people on trips lasting several days, for a more immersive experience.
He hopes to be in full operation, with more young and energetic dogs, sometime next year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.