You’ve in all probability noticed Chris Nielsen cruising round city along with his 5 well-trained huskies; ‘I get a variety of gasps or pointing, honking, waving — it’s nice’
Residents of Sault Ste. Marie, notably these dwelling within the central a part of city, might already be conversant in Chris Nielsen and his pack of well-trained huskies.
But even in case you’ve seen the furry fleet pulling their proud proprietor on a skateboard or sled round city, it’s nonetheless a sight that doesn’t get old for many locals, in keeping with Nielsen.
“People love it,” he instructed SooToday. “I get a lot of gasps or pointing, honking, waving — it’s great.”
The father of three didn’t think about he can be driving round city with 5 huskies when he obtained his first canine Keynai, a pure-bred Siberian, again in 2017.
But six years later, he says he can’t think about life any otherwise.
“When I got Keynai, I had my skateboard one time, and we went out to see how it would go,” he explains. “He wasn’t quite trained to do it, but eventually he was pulling me around. Once he turned two, he calmed down a bit, and I started off-leash training with him.”
After Nielsen obtained his second canine, and for each pup that adopted, he would take them to Fort Creek for coaching. But the pet proprietor admits he didn’t must do a lot.
“My Siberian pretty much trained them all,” he says. “I would tandem that dog with my Siberian because he’s my leader — he’s the one who sets the pace. I would let each puppy off-leash at Fort Creek and have them follow my Siberian wherever they went.”
“I never had one of them run off on me ever,” he provides. “At about six months is when I start to tandem them on the skateboard with Keynai. The puppy is always looking at the veteran dog. You repeat with each dog, and before you know it, you have five going across.”
The different 4 dogs — Koda, Sytka, Denahi, and Odessa — are all Alaskan Malamutes. Nielsen acquired them from a breeder in North Bay, and every animal (besides Odessa) is called after a personality from the Disney film Brother Bear.
Using Inuit sled instructions to information them, Nielsen will journey along with his huskies throughout the world irrespective of the time of yr. He can usually be seen going up and down Great Northern Road, by means of the downtown core, and alongside the hub path.
The dogs can journey even additional within the winter, in order that they’ll go for adventures so far as the airport and even Garden River.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he says. “I have a 2018 Kia Sorento that I bought in December of 2017. I haven’t even passed 30,000 kilometres on it.”
Two years in the past, Nielsen went viral on social media when a resident uploaded a video of the dogs in motion, which garnered round 1.5 million views on TikTok.
“I hear people take videos of me all the time, but I don’t always see them,” he admits. “I tell people to send them to me, because from my point of view, all I’m seeing is tails and dog butts.”
While he will get requested on a regular basis if he would enter the dogs into races or competitions, Nielsen admits he simply likes the comfort and recreation of travelling across the space along with his canine household.
“I don’t care for racing — I do it for recreation,” he says. “These dogs sleep in the room with us; they’re not kept outside like sled dogs.”
“I honestly don’t even know how fast they go since I let them go at their own pace,” he provides. “They’re the engine. I’m not doing anything; I’m just the spectator. I don’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do. If they want to pull over and break, then they will.”
Although the dogs are generally simply a number of metres away from autos throughout their travels, Nielsen says the belief he has for the huskies is in contrast to the rest.
“I have more trust in these dogs than I do in people,” he says. “They’re so well-trained and respond very well to commands. Even if they see a squirrel, I have a command to make sure they stay on track.”
“The kids love these dogs,” he provides. “The smiles on their faces are absolutely insane. I see that consistently around town. People will see me and literally loop around and drive by again so they can show their kids. I love it.”
