Winterdance co-owner Hank DeBruin holds one of the puppies at the kennels on a warm day in August. The puppies have been outside running in one of the kennel's three outdoor yards. /JENN WATT - Haliburton Highlands, Ontario, Canada 
Sled dogs chill out in summer heat
Hank DeBruin and Tanya McCready-DeBruin pause in the kitchen before they enter the Winterdance dog kennels. As soon as the group walks through the doors, the barking of some 144 Siberian huskies will make doing an interview for the newspaper nearly impossible.
Best to get most of the facts down on paper before touring the pens.
We stand in a room that used to be part of the DeBruins’ first home – the space they built when they made the decision to leave Guelph and move to Haliburton with their seven dogs in 1999.
One side of the kitchen has a pile of Redpaw dog food bags heaped on a table. When the monthly shipment of 50 bags arrives, the room will be taken up with the food. In the winter, raw meat will be added to the menu.
We can see the kennels through a window in the kitchen and Tanya talks about the social dynamics of packs of dogs.
“They’re so individual,” she says. “They’re just like people.”
Some dogs don’t like each other. Others stick together for life. Sometimes there are disputes and long-time buddies become hostile.
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