If you were out on Spit Road on Sunday, you might have seen an unusual sight — two husky dogs pulling their owner by sled.
It was Josh Kanjo being pulled on a kicksled by Maple and Haylo.
Patricia Lightburn was following alongside on foot carrying the couple’s baby.
They bought the sled about three years ago. The couple was going on a winter vacation to the Chilcotins, in B.C.'s Interior.
Lightburn asked Kanjo to find a sled for the trip.
He bought the kicksled online from a store in Nelson.
"I thought he was going to get a normal toboggan," Lightburn said with a laugh.
"Instead, he found this kicksled, because we have two huskies, and he thought they might have fun following us around. Apparently, they're very common in Scandinavia; either you push them with or without dogs."
Out on the Spit, the couple fielded many questions from curious onlookers, according to Lightburn.
In answer to the question if the dogs enjoy pulling the sled, Lightburn said Maple and Haylo love it.
She said that when they hear the command “mush, mush" they get very excited.
Haylo, who is 14 years old, figured out that she doesn't need to pull as hard if she runs just slightly behind Maple, who is seven, Lightburn said.
It took a bit of practice when they first got the sled, but the dogs caught on quickly.
"They kind of ran in different directions and wanted to wander off into the woods to do their own thing," she said. "But we trained them over time just by walking in front. I would walk to the end of the road and call them, and they would come to me. Then they quickly figured it out."
Not only is it a good workout for the pooches, but the rider also gets a workout, too, having to push with their leg while putting the other on the skis behind the chair, she said.
Previously, Lightburn also sat on the front seat with their baby in a carrier while her husband pushed from behind and the dogs pulled from the front.
Because Squamish doesn't get a lot of snow each year, they hadn't had a chance to get it out here until the recent two-hour trip out onto the Spit and back.
If we get more snow, you may just see them out and about again.
