WINNIPEG -- What started as a funny idea, took over six days of hard work to complete. 

Gina Brightnose from Thompson, Man. was tired of looking at the massive pile of snow on her front lawn.

"We had a great big mountain in our front yard, so we figured let's just make something out of it," said Brightnose.

She decided to forego the traditional snowman and undertook the project of recreating her dog Muskrat.

It took her and her husband three weekends to carve out the massive Malamute Husky canine.

Before grabbing her shovel, Brightnose got her sister to draw up some sketches.

"She sent me about six different sketches, and then we used that as our model," Brightnose said.

She also could reference the real thing at any time, "The whole time we did it, Muskrat just sat beside us," she said.

LABOUR OF LOVE

Brightnose said building the 6' by 5' snow dog was physically taxing. 

"The chipping away and the hauling of the snow is a little back-breaking. You can feel it at the end of the day."

She offers this helpful tip to anyone wanting to create their own sculpture: "People think you need to have nice packed snow, you don't. The trick is to shape it and ice it."

After icing the sculpture, Brightnose used special snow paint to mimic Muskrat's coat.

The hard work is worth it to Brightnose when she sees the impact the sculpture has on the community.

"People stop by and say they had to bring their kids," she said. "People come by and stop. It's just a good thing to do for the neighbourhood.” 

Brightnose plans on entering the giant snow dog in an upcoming snow sculpture contest, part of Winterfest 2020.