Alyssa Strutt and her partner Doug Nicholls wrangle their dog team to go for a run on Wednesday afternoon. Nicholls has been serving as Strutt’s dog handler and moral support centre during all her various races in southern Manitoba. (Kyle Darbyson/The Brandon Sun) - OAKLAND-WAWANESA 
Strutt enjoying the dog days of winter
For the last 10 years, Westman resident Alyssa Strutt has been tearing up the trails of southern Manitoba with her team of four-legged friends, which has only grown in size throughout the decade.
Strutt told the Sun on Tuesday that her journey into the sport of mushing didn’t begin because of some long-standing family tradition that she felt obliged to continue. Instead, it stemmed from her own natural love of dogs and the great outdoors, which she decided to combine in around 2010 by attaching her border collie and husky to a kicksled.
"They loved it," Strutt recalls. "My border collie mix pulled on the leash all the time. She wanted to go and it didn’t really matter where she was going. She just wanted to run."
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