Skiers say Whitehorse club barking up wrong tree

A member of the Whitehorse Cross Country ski club wantsa new dog rule at the club to be revoked and she's askingother skiers for support.

Carrie Burbidge and others are not happy with a new rule requiringskiers to leash dogs for the first few hundred metres down the trail.

Burbidge says that rule was not made clear to ski club members at the start of the season when most people buy memberships. She says making skiers leash their dogs for the first few hundred metres is creating more problems than it solves.

It's created a lot of safety hazards for quite a few skiers, Burbidge says.

One is that people and dogs are becoming entangled in leashes.

Burbidge has started a petition to have the club change the rule. There are about 50 signatures after a few days.

Ski club manager Mike Gladish says the new rule was meant to help prevent the build up of dog poop near the parking lot and make trails safer.

He says if people cant manage to ski with their dogs on a leash for a shortdistance they should consider other activities for their dogs.

I have a very simple solution, take the dog for a walk and then go for a ski, Gladish says.

Ski club manager Mike Gladish says he's waiting to see how many people sign the petition.

He says no changes will be made this season but the new dog rulemay be reviewed before next season.