Cyprus Mail 28 December 2020 - by Alix Norman
Take a ride with Alison Rhind, and you’ll be travelling over the Troodos hills in style this winter: whisked through the drifts by her huskies, laughing all the way! A relatively new venture and one we never expected to see on the island, Husky Sledding Cyprus launched in 2018. And this winter (coronavirus measures permitting), it will be back – by Very Popular Demand!
“It all began in December 2018, when I was out giving my three huskies a run in the Troodos snow,” explains ex-Brisbanite and current Polemi resident Alison. “A friend had rented a sled, and that gave us an idea: huskies are bred as sled dogs, it’s what they’re born to do and they absolutely love it. So we had a little wooden sled made, started taking bookings, and it’s been a runaway success! Since then, I’ve commissioned a more professional sled – lighter, more aerodynamic, and made of aluminium – and expect to have that up and running this winter. And with snow expected by Christmas, the bookings have already been pouring in!”
There’s a lot more to the story than that, of course. Alison deeply loves her dogs, and before launching devoted months to researching the correct sled type, harnessing techniques, and rest periods, spending “hours talking to professional mushers online, finding out the best way to go about this. My dogs have always been my priority,” she explains. “So no matter how much they want to pull a sled, their safety comes first; respect for your animals is paramount for any pet owner.”
Alison has always been a dog lover. “Back in Australia I used to show German Shepherds at a very high level. Then, when I was in Afghanistan” – where she worked as a political and strategic advisor to the government – “having a pet was impossible. But when I moved to Cyprus, I immediately adopted a little stray cat. And there I was, buying cat food in a pet store, when I came across Dolce. He was only three months old; a little grey husky just sitting there looking lost. I had to give him a loving home!”
Dolce, who is now eight years old, was quickly followed by Lulu – a black rescue husky, with a penchant for licking everyone and everything – and Dante, who is “a little devil!” laughs Alison. “He’s only one-and-a-half years old, but he is so smart! All huskies are incredibly ingenious,” she adds, “and they’re brilliant escape artists. But Dante is something else! He’s so clever he’s figured out how to open every door in the house – sometimes he’ll let the other two dogs out while I’m asleep so he can come and snuggle on the bed with me all by himself!”
As well as being noted for their intelligence, huskies are also “incredibly lively, social and need constant entertainment,” says Alison. “I take them wherever I go, always frequenting dog-friendly cafés and restaurants so they get out as much as possible. I live in an old stone village house well above the humidity level purely so they can stay cool; I walk them at 4.30am each summer morning to beat the sunrise; and they even have their own paddling pool in the shade. They also get ice licks – big blocks of ice with their favourite toy frozen inside – and my house is covered with their toys; anything and everything to keep them stimulated!”
Pulling a sled is one of the ways Alison has found to ensure her huskies stay healthy and happy. “The husky breed is very strong, compact and sturdy,” she explains. “They’re absolutely bred to pull sleds, and it’s what they love more than anything in the world! From the second we turn off towards Platres, they set up such a racket,” she laughs. “They know exactly where we’re going, and they can’t wait to get started…”
Running her dogs no more than twice a day, generally on weekdays only – “I am absolutely underworking my dogs, they’re not doing anywhere near what they can do!” – Alison makes sure each run is short, sweet and safe, and runs the sled along a little-used trail between the pistes of Sun Valley 1 and 2. Meeting her clients by the café – “there’s no way you can’t recognise us,” she smiles, “there’s not many people standing there with three bumptious huskies raring to go!” – she leads with a short instruction lesson. And then it’s straight into being whisked through the snow by three happy huskies…
“Each run is approximately 250 metres in length, and we’ll do loads of runs during a one-and-a-half-hour session. My dogs are well trained and know the trail well, so they just follow it, though I tend to go ahead and call them, and they run to mum,” she laughs. “I generally allow no more than two on the sled,” she adds, “though if it’s a parent with two small children it might be three. And ever since we began, I’ve noticed that the dogs are instinctively more careful, and run more slowly when there are children or elderly people aboard. If there’s a couple of healthy young twenty- or thirty-year-olds aboard, the dogs speed up. They’re very intuitive about their passengers.”
Despite corona, Alison already has loads of bookings on the cards for 2020. “Because this is a sport, we don’t insist people wear masks when they’re on the sled, though we do ask that they wear them when we’re standing around or playing with the dogs in the snow – something everyone loves to do, and which makes for really memorable family photos! Last year, we even took part in a Game of Thrones photoshoot for a local company!”
It’s the sleigh runs, however, which are the absolute highlight – a perfect winter activity for families trapped too long inside. “It’s just so invigorating!” Alison enthuses. “Being pulled on a dog sled is exciting and thrilling – both for the passengers and the huskies. Pulling the sleigh is bliss for the dogs – you can hear them howling with joy all the way down the mountain! Sometimes I get challenged by people about animal abuse, but then they realise that this is something which huskies absolutely love; it’s when they’re at their happiest.
“Letting a dog do what they’re bred to do is a good thing. And I spoil my dogs rotten – when they’re out there in the snow, leaping from drift to drift, working together as a joyous team, you can see on their faces just how happy this makes them. And how happy it makes others too,” she concludes. “Husky Sledding Cyprus has put so many smiles on so many faces: it’s not something you’d ever dream you could do on this island, is it? But now you can!”
For more information, visit the Facebook page ‘Husky Sledding Cyprus’ Facebook
