By Adam Frisk

The huskies from Haliburton’s Winterdance Dogsled Tours were back on the big screen, making a brief appearance in the new Disney Christmas movie starring the Jonas Brothers.

Winterdance’s Tanya McCready and her dogs spent three days on set in Toronto back in January for the filming of A Very Jonas Christmas Movie, which premiered on Friday.

“It’s pretty surreal,” McCready said in a telephone interview.

It’s the dogs’ second movie appearance in as many weeks, following the release of Frankenstein, which premiered in theatres late last month.

“For us, we’re pretty darn proud of them, that’s for sure,” she said.

The owner explained the dogs’ scene was short, involving them pulling a sled to bring a rescuer, played by actor Randall Park, onto a wilderness set. The sled dog team’s initial involvement required a three-day commitment: one practice day to ensure the dogs and sled could run on the artificial snow, a day teaching a stunt double how to drive the sled, and the final shooting day.

McCready said the dogs were recommended for the job by crew members on the Frankenstein set, which the huskies worked on in the winter of 2024, describing the set experience as a bit of a “homecoming,” with many familiar faces from the previous film.

“It was like coming back to people and friends that we’d worked with the winter before,” she said. “And the director, Michelle Yu, she was amazing to work with.”

Because the filming took place in January, the crew made special accommodations, allowing the dog team to drive their large truck right onto the set.

“The dogs are used to it and everything is set up for them,” the owner explained. “They come out and chill, and we have carpets for them.”

McCready said that while she did not directly interact with the Jonas Brothers, they were close by, and the dogs became instant celebrities on set. The dogs spent their downtime serving as “great therapy dogs on set,” meeting countless people, and, according to their owner, generating “tons of selfies.” One of the Jonas Brothers was even spotted spending time with the dogs.

“People just come and visit with them and hug them, it was pretty cool,” McCready said.

Winterdance’s sled dogs have appeared in three Hallmark Christmas movies and several commercials over the last decade, McCready said.