These athletic huskies have become a spectacle in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

An outdoorsy man in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., doesn’t have to worry about spending much money on gas these days. 

That’s because Chris Nielsen is getting around town with his well-trained pack of pet huskies, who pull him by sled in the winter and by skateboard in the summer. 

According to Nielsen, dogsled drivers in Canada — known as “mushers” — don’t traditionally go for rides in public spots or urban areas as they’re usually focused on training the dogs for race competitions.

But Nielsen doesn’t race his five dogs and enjoys the activity for recreational purposes instead.

So, he can often be sighted going for short strolls with his furry friends through the downtown core and Bellevue Park, or for longer runs to the airport and Garden River. 

As the hobby unsurprisingly comes with plenty of attention, the dogs have practically become local celebrities — garnering millions of views on Facebook and TikTok. 

The crew is very friendly with people and other dogs, according to Nielsen, so they take breaks often to interact with locals while receiving plenty of pets.

He’ll let kids — and even CBC reporters — go for rides from time to time. 

“I get a lot of honks, a lot of looks, a lot of stops,” he said. “The kids love them. The reactions are always great.”

Nielsen’s dogs — a mix of Siberians and Alaskan Malamutes — thrive in the colder months and enjoy daily runs around the Sault, sometimes up to 30 kilometres. 

“We can go for a good jaunt, depending on how the dogs are feeling,” he said.

Three of his pups — Koda, Sytka and Denahi — were acquired from a breeder in North Bay. They’re also each named after a character from the Disney movie Brother Bear.

Keynai and Odessa, meanwhile, are the oldest of the bunch.

The youngest of the group, Nakoia, joined the family at several weeks old this past December and will begin training in the spring.

“I love my crew,” Nielsen said. “You get proud of them, and the accomplishments you have with them.” 

Nielsen realized he had the unique recreational opportunity on his hands after he acquired his first two huskies before the pandemic. 

“I thought I would get them to take the kids around on the sled, that way I don’t have to pull them,” he said. “I got them harnessed and on the sled. One day, I hopped on the back of the sled and I said, ‘Let’s go!’ and they took off.”

Nielsen trains his dogs at the Hub Trail in Fort Creek where they get accustomed to the harnesses, running the trails and following commands. 

After his first two dogs were ready to pull him around town, Nielsen said he didn’t have to do as much work to train each of the following huskies that entered the picture.

“They’ll sort of train the others,” he said. “Anytime I would get a puppy, right at eight to ten weeks, we’d come into [Fort Creek] and start training. At about 11 months to a year, I get them to start pulling.”

Owning half a dozen huskies means Nielsen goes through a lot of dog food. 

Local pet food store owner Pat Andrews has been the husky family’s supplier of kibble for the past five years now. 

To no surprise, the Nielsens are his biggest customer.

“It’s fantastic what he’s doing,” Andrews said. “When I see the adventures he’s going on, it’s certainly a proud moment for us — being part of his team and supplying him with all his pet food.”

“You can tell how happy his dogs are. That’s what they were born to do.”

Andrews was a long-time sponsor of a now-retired “Dog Pull” event at the Sault’s annual Bon Soo Winter Carnival for 34 years. Dogs would once compete to see which ones could pull the most weight in various weight classes. 

While the event ran its course and hasn’t been part of the festivities for nearly 20 years now, Andrews would like to see the carnival incorporate more activities involving dogs that are both safe and fun.

“Chris’ dogs certainly turn a few heads,” he said. “Getting them involved would be really positive. We need more positivity these days.”

Nielsen said he's hoping to get his crew involved in Bon Soo next year as he’d like to organize rides and let kids experience what being a musher is like. 

He’s also been recruiting and training other residents’ huskies so they can get involved too.