‘Pile of fun’: Dog mushers set to compete in Red Deer

A dog mushing event taking place in Red Deer on Saturday and Sunday at Riverbend Golf and Recreation Area.

Red Deer’s river valley will serve as the course for a dog mushing tournament this weekend.

Solstice Surge at Riverbend has some 30 teams registered in six different races.

“The teams love it. The mushers love it. It’s a pile of fun to show our sport and kind of have the opportunity to maybe show off just a little bit,” said competitor and event host Jenn Schielke.

She competes in the four-dog sprint sled event, the type of dog mushing most people envision. Her team consists of Whippets, Azawakhs, a Xoloitzcuintle (also known as Mexican hairless), a Eurohound, and a puppy Italian Greyhound in training.

“Any dog can do it, any breed,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

Other events happening this weekend include a 4.8-kilometre timed Skijor race, in which either a single dog or team of two dogs is attached to a skier, and kicksled races.

“Please come watch. It’s a lot of fun,” Schielke said.

It is the first and likely only event the Alberta Association of Harness Dog Sports will put on this season due to a lack of snow.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa