Dogsledding: performer Janet Cull has a new hobby

Fans know her as a singer and performer, but Janet Cull has a new passion:dogsledding.

While Cull lives in St. John's, a visit to Labrador afew years ago opened her eyes to excitement of adogsled ride. Shesaid she's been "hooked ever since."

Her love for the winter activity led her to purchase asled for hertwoSiberian huskies.

"We hooked them onto the sled and they just knew what to do," she said.

"It was so cool, so we've been doing it ever since."

Memory of days gone by

Cull, who grew up in StAnthony Bight on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula, said she has always beenused to a lot of snow during the winter.

Whiledogsledding wasn't popular when she was young, sheadded it had been quiteimportant in the past.

"When mom and dad were younger and their parents, that's how they all travelled by dogs, Labrador huskies," said Cull adding that her grandfather, Pierce Pilgrim, keptteams his whole life.

Lots of reaction

Cull said most people seem to be in shock when they see her around the city with her dogsled but added her dogs havesparked a lot of interestwith people of all ages.

"It's not something you see every day but people are really excited about it ... the kids are reallyexcited about it which is very cool,because it's nice to keep them in touch with their culture," Cull told CBC'sSt. John's Morning Show.

Cull's eight-year-old son has also taken a liking to the activity. He may not drive the sled, buthe loves going for rides.

A 'nice, smooth ride'

With only two huskies, Cull said she doesn't get a lot of speed with the sled but it's a "nice,smooth ride".

She's thinking about adding a third dog, a Labrador husky,to her team.

They may not be as fast as the Siberian huskiesbut Cull said the dogwould be very special to have,since there aren't many of the full-breed dogs left.

She was told there areonly about 60 full-breed Labrador huskies in the province.

"That's really sad because back in the day [they]were all Labrador huskies and we didn't really differentiate because we didn't have to ... it's important to our culture,because these were working dogs," said Cull.

"They're not for racing. Theywere working dogs," she said. "They're much bigger than the Siberian and they're so strong it's just insane how these dogs pull. It's amazing."