Little stands in the way of a sled dog and its love of running

It’s so Canadian — heading into the snow, hooking up a team of dogs and yelling MUSH.

No snow … no problem, no experience … no problem. From late September to early May, there is little that will keep a local group of novice to experienced mushers from enjoying a century’s old activity. Together with their best friends, their dogs, they are participating in and teaching newcomers a social activity called dog sledding, also known as urban mushing with bikes and scooters when there is no snow.

But this past season the group has had to overcome a couple threats to their ever-growing activity.  The closure of Black Oaks Trail during their prime mushing season has limited their ideal trails to now just two.

“We are devastated because that’s one of the trails that our dogs love and it keeps their brain going because of the commands. With all the wild animals that are out there, we have to stay on the trail, so they are working,” said Sheri Weatherbie-Blair, long-time member of Sled Dogs of Windsor sledding group.

“We are part of the Facebook page, Friends of Black Oaks. I have been to two meetings that they have had with the City of Windsor to promote that sled dogs do use it.”

This trail is ideal for dogs to run on from fall to spring because it is not paved. The lack of pavement protects the dog’s paws from salt in the winter and the hot pavement from the sun.

The group has also had to deal with a recent diagnosis of H3N2, canine influenza.

According to Phil Wong, Environmental Health Manager, Ministry of Health, since early January when the canine virus was brought over from South Korea, there have been eight lab-confirmed cases. Eight dogs are presently under legal order quarantine in Essex County, one of which is a dog in the Sled Dogs of Windsor group.

“Every owner has been cooperative,” said Wong.

The rest of the 15 sled dogs have been under quarantine as a precaution, but according to Wong, “they were not legally ordered to.”

“We don’t want to spread the virus,” said Weatherbie-Blair, who has kept her dogs out of public places for the past two weeks after one of the dogs in the group contracted the virus. “The ministry tested all the dogs.”

H3N2 is contagious among dogs and Wong advises that if you suspect your dog has the virus, contact your vet. Do not bring the dog to the office. The vet may choose to go to your home or treat your dog in your car, but says not to bring the dog to the office.

Signs to look for include cough, runny nose and fever. It is also advised to wash your hands and clean your dogs area often as the virus can easily be spread to other dogs.

Dogs and their owners watched from inside as their wishes for snow were answered in the form of the best snowfall of the season during the quarantine period.

“It was so hard because the dogs had no idea what was going on, they were so use to their structure of runs and walks,” said Weatherbie-Blair, looking forward to getting back out on the trails with her dogs.

This weekend will be the first time in weeks the group will meet.

“This weekend we are all getting together. It’s a family weekend, so all our dogs are going to get together to celebrate,”  said Weatherbie-Blair.

“We will be going down to River Canard tonight to see if it is safe for us to be on there (the ice) and we will go from there and let the whole group know. We believe in a lot of safety, you don’t want to hurt you or the dogs.”

Weatherbie-Blair invites the public to come out and find out more about the group and the sport of dog sledding. They have extra equipment to loan to newcomers, experienced dogs to help train new dogs and a Facebook page to keep up to date on outings and answer any questions you may have.

“Find us on Facebook, come check us out, come ask questions,” said Weatherbie-Blair .

“We usually post every time we go for a run or a walk. It is the person’s choice to show up. We don’t say you have to, we just say where we will be going.”

If you have a dog and you are wondering if this sport is right for you, consider learning more about it.

“If your dog pulls and you are hurting you shoulder and arm, it’s time to put a harness on and train. We do recommend dogs be over 35 pounds. It doesn’t matter what type of breed,” said Weatherbie-Blair.

“The end result is they have worn off a lot of their energy and they are happy.”