Winter Fun: Dogsledding With The Hastings Huskies

HASTINGS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Most of us struggle to take the dogs out for a quick walk in this weather, but a dog sledding group in Hastings is offering rides and educational opportunities no matter how cold.

Hastings Huskies recently offered rides to a local YMCA program at Spring Lake Park.

The group begins with a lesson in how to be around dogs and the different types of huskies that make up the pack.

They run in the cold, but precautions are taken to keep the 20 dogs safe.

"We're bedding the dogs down, so they have something to lie on when they're not running," said Dawn Lanning of Hastings Huskies.

The huskies and their instructors will be outside for four hours to take Dakota County 3rd through 5th graders on rides. No one seems to notices the temperature, though.

"Even when it's cold you can stay warm if you're busy," Lanning said. "I mean this is what I'm wearing. I don't even have any lining in here, and I stay nice and warm."

Once the dogs are hooked up, it all starts with a shout and, just like that, you wind through hills and trails before it's just a memory of soaring through winter with animals that give anyone a fuzzy feeling.

"You go fast, and then it smells like huskie, and when you're going really fast over a hill you go flying into the air," 5th grader Colin Klein said.

Hastings Huskies offer rides to groups starting around $225 for the first hour and $75 each hour after that.