A growing number of Winnipeggers are discovering the thrills of ski-joring, in which a dog is harnessed to pull a cross-country skier; and kick sledding, a kind of dog sledding that requires a small team and a small, relatively inexpensive sled.

The Snow Motion Winter Dog Sports Club of Manitoba is putting on a pair of events this month to introduce dog owners to the sports, says Danny Gillich, kick sledding co-ordinator with the club.

A workshop at the Pembina Highway location of Olympia Cycle and Ski, on Jan. 9 at 8 p.m., will focus on the equipment and training needed to begin ski-joring. An on-snow session for beginner ski-joring and kick sledding runs Jan. 13 at 2:30 at the Windsor Park Nordic Centre.

Snow Motion also does demonstrations at winter festivals in rural Manitoba, and members take part in ski-joring and kick sledding races during Festival du Voyageur, says Gillich. Popular spots for dog sports  include La Barriere Park, the La Salle River, and the Churchill Drive area.

Snow Motion was started in 1998 with about 10 members and has since grown to about 30, says Gillich. In part that's because ski-joring and kick sledding don't require the large and expensive to maintain teams of huskies associated with dog sledding. A kick sled, essentially a chair on runners, only requires one or two dogs to pull it and costs about $300.

Ski-joring requires cross-country ski equipment, a harness and a 30-pound-plus dog.

"We've got everything in the club," says Gillich, noting that dogs involved in winter sports in the city include Labradors, beagles, springer spaniels, salukis, border collies, golden retrievers, a giant schnauzer, and the more traditional Siberian huskies and malamutes.

The dogs themselves love the exercise, he says, but both the dog and the owner need to learn new skills to take up ski-joring and kick sledding.

"Your dog may not understand what to do with the harness," says Gillich. "You put it on the dog and instead of running forward he comes back to you."