Howling Dog Tours, Canmore

On my tour with the people of Howling Dogs it was explained that the company in Canmore was no longer involved with the Whistler company. What disturbed me was that they were - I had no idea that they even were at any point. My boyfriend booked this as a suprise so had I known we were going dog sledding I would have looked into it further before hand due to the recent story in Whistler. The office staff were really nice and helpful but once we were out at Spray Provincial Park (dog sledding area) my excitement changed to sadness. From what I can see the dogs are use to the job and most of them liked to pull but they do not look healthy. I realize that they look smaller because most house pets are fat but their fur is not soft, they smell and they are very thin - too thin. Some of the dogs were not excited to run at all and were dragged to the lines to be hooked up. Some of the dogs are very sweet like Day and Tundra (I`m pretty sure those are their names) and a few others but I only felt sorry for them the whole time. These dogs work hard all day and are fed only once a day I was told. They get a small cookie after the run but that is all. I do think that this company is not looking after their dogs very well and from other guest comments on this site and others, I am not the only one. There was even a dog fight in the team and one of the dogs was injured so bad that it needed to go back on the snowmobile. Our guide went up to break up the fight but the dogs didn`t listen at all so the guide was left to stand their until the fight was over. I felt sorry for our guide - he seemed to be a nice guy and was nice to the dogs and apologized for the fight. Two if the dogs had the `runs`really bad and the guide wouldn`t stop for the dogs to go to the bathroom. This upset me a lot - it was awful to watch to poor dogs trying to do a number two while running and being dragged along. I was told that this is how they are trained - why would you train a dog to run while going to the bathroom? The poor dogs. If you are looking to go dog sledding - I am not sure what to tell you about dog sledding in general but what I can say about Howling Dogs is that the dogs are not being looked after. At one point I was even asking why they company did not provide certain things when I was then told that is just they way the owners do it but that they do love their dogs. With everything that happened in Whistler - it is hard to know what is really going on in the company but the look of the dogs don`t lie and that was enough to ruin the trip and the `sport`of dog sledding for me.

that had 100 sled dogs killed. There are three companies called Howling Dogs -- this one, one in Australia and the one who had the dogs killed (they operate under the name "Outdoor Adventures")

Are you the company that killed 100 animals? Hope you go out of business, that thoswe who were involved in "decission making" and in an actual act of killing can never find any other job and live homeless on the streets, living terrible life that you all deserve. Unspeakable!

We planned to get a true Canadian experience, get a good feel for the old days of western discovery. Sadly we got to the business and it was mostly Aussie or Kiwi guides, not a true Canadian musher, just a backpacker stopped in Canmore for a few months. That aside it's not a 10km tour, it's a 4km one way trip up a road then 4km back down the same road, your not really in the woods your on a fire road beside a lake.

I went on a tour with Howling Dog during the week and my experience was second to none. My interactions with all of the staff were amazing, and everyone was incredibly helpful! The dogs were incredibly well looked after and the most friendly creatures! I learnt a lot about dog sledding from my guide and even got the chance to talk with one of the owners. My boyfriend and I liked that we had our own guide and it definitely helped make the experience what is was. I would recommend Howling Dog Tours to anyone that is interested in a 5 star experience. I can't wait to come again and do the 1/2 day tour!

After experiencing “Unleash the Musher” two hour tour with the Howling Dog Company I must express my deep concern for the dogs at this company. Anyone who knows how to properly care for a dog can see that these dogs are being neglected; some other guests also expressed their concern to us in the van after the tour! I did speak with other companies and chose Howling Dog because of the discount they advertised on their website. The dog sledding itself was ok...nothing special but the dogs are in extremely poor condition, in fact I was so chocked at the poor health of the dogs I didn’t even want to take part in the tour. Some of these dogs literally have patches of fur missing and were so skinny you could see their ribs and hype bones. One of the sled dogs can a skin rash under its collar which smelt horrible and was clearly infected, we informed the guide who seemed to think this was normal and would heal on its own with time. The appearance of these dogs will haunt me forever, I love animals but the sight of these dogs broke my heart! We went dog sledding in Ontario 2 years ago and their dogs were in amazing health, they were stunning and loveable dogs. I do believe that this company is not providing proper care to their animals and strongly suggest using a different company if choosing to go dog sledding in the area. I hope locals will read this and decide to help these dogs! When I had asked around town after our tour most all locals and hotel recommended other companies...I now understand why!

The 2 hour tour I did with Howling Dog Tours was fantastic value for money and was worth every penny! Our sled was guided by 6 friendly and well looked after huskie crosses. Our guide was very informative and showed us how to guide the sled which was a definitely a highlight of the tour! Looking forward to doing another dog sled tour with Howling Dog next time we're in the Rockies!!

My boyfriend and I went on a 2 hour dog sled trip and really enjoyed ourselves. We were able to guide our sled, interact with the dogs, and learn all about mushing from our informative guide. We could not have asked for a better day and would recommend this trip anyone!

We arrived in the Spray Lakes area for our dog sledding trip with Howling Dog Tours. Upon arrival everything seemed awesome, our driver was excellent and it was a fab day. We unloaded off the vans and were greeted by a guide. The guide did a small un-informitive speach and wished us a fun trip. We didin't learn much about the dogs nor driving, we were then loaded into sleds and watched as the guides ran dogs to the line to be hooked up. We understand a lot about huskies and this Alaskan Husky breed they use, but I don't agree with how thin all the dogs were. All the guides were trying to justify that they are just lean but when you can see ribs that's just not healthy! We were passing another outfit on the trail and the dogs were not that thin. When I asked the guide why those dogs were not as thin he replied that they are a different breed. That is just rediculous, no breed should be skinny! The ride was ok but very flat and we didn't get to drive, you could only drive with a guide and they didn't let us do anything but stand on the back. Maybe it was just a rough patch in the season but non the less it wasn't what we hoped for.