Northern Ontario sled dog team owner offers a taste of outdoors on YouTube

A northern Ontario man is showing people what it's like to travel down a path with sled dogs leading the way, all without having to leave home.

Jacob Betker lives between Timmins and Iroquois Falls and often gets out to explore the outdoors with his dogs.

It all started when he adopted a dog from the pound several years ago. The seven-month-old puppy had lots of energy to burn, so Betker started by taking the dog with him mountain biking.

That led to more dogs, and eventually, the purchase of a rural property with a sled dog kennel.

Now, he lives with his 11 dogs. As for his favourite?

"I don't know," he said with a laugh.

"I always say my favourite is the dog in front of me. They're all very individualistic, have their own little quirks and personalities. So it's very much each dog that's in front of you."

To get ready to race, he said the dogs have to be conditioned to run and trained how to do it properly. He also has to teach the dogs how to travel so they know the routine when going to different places to race.

"There's a lot of training involved, both in the mental sense but also in the conditioning and physical sense," he said.

Betker said it's a very unique way to travel.

"There's something very primal about it and it's a bond and connection and a way that the north has travelled thousands of years in our area specifically," he said.

"There's a certain quietness when the dogs are going. You don't have the machine noise that you'd have with a snowmobile. You're going slightly slower but faster than on snowshoes. It just has a very, very meditative feel, a zen-like feel."

Not long before the pandemic started, Betker started to film longer runs with his dogs so people could come along and watch.

"With the pandemic, we've tried to go more in that direction and create an almost virtual experience," he said.