By Bronwyn Beairsto

In the hills behind Whitehorse, one can hear the ubiquitous Yukon melody: the howls of dog teams.

I was home for a couple of weeks in October, doing school research in the country’s northwestern corner, and took the opportunity to do a radio documentary on one of the Yukon’s more iconic activities: dogsledding.

Alpen Huskies’ Chrystelle Houdry, her husband Thomas, and their son Jim are raising twenty-six dogs just outside of Whitehorse city limits.

It was a warm October day (by Whitehorse standards) when I visited the family. They live in a cabin tucked into the trees, on the edge of cell service, and off the grid.

Houdry’s dogs greet every human like their new best friend. Though they’re high-energy, jumping and yapping at anything and everything that moves, they’re comfortable with humans, nestling in for a cuddle whenever possible.

Like many with dog teams, Houdry and her family share a close bond with their dogs. Flam, the dog in this picture, is one of Houdry’s original three dogs. She got him nine years ago, and he’s moved with her to France and back. Flam was born a few kilometres from where he lives now.

Houdry is originally from France, as are Thomas and Jim. They talk to the dogs in French, but Houdry assures me her dogs are bilingual.

These puppies belong to a friend, but are on the property. They don’t even have names yet because they’re only a week old. They’re in a dog house, like most of the dogs live in, with a floor of straw for warmth.

Though they didn’t make it into the documentary, the puppies were a highlight of the visit.

Getting good sound is important for any radio documentary. But it’s a bonus when your interviewee is this cute. Hercule, pictured above, will jump up and greet anyone who strays near his dog house.

I tried asking the dogs their thoughts on squirrels, but they were surprisingly quiet whenever the microphone got close to their mouths.

Twelve dogs are attached to this ATV. Even if there’s not enough snow to run the sleds, the dogs need exercise. So twelve dogs get to run in the mornings, twelve run in the evenings. The brakes on the ATV will be on most of the run, so that the dogs don’t run too fast before their muscles warm up.

The late October sun setting on the edge of Fish Lake in Yukon.

 “It’s a hard life,” Houdry told me with a wink as I was leaving.