‘Crazy, unexpected things’ - Algoma man, dog appearing in outdoor adventure TV series

Five years ago, Joe Robinet, an Algoma District resident and outdoor adventurer, appeared on The History Channel’s Alone, a popular wilderness survival reality show.

Now, he’s back.

Robinet will appear in several episodes of a show entitled Man, Woman, Dog, a series that showcases the strong relationship between humans and dogs.

The show was produced by U.S.- based Half Yard Productions, the series to air on the National Geographic Wild channel and also streaming on Disney Plus beginning Dec. 22.

“The show is about different people from different occupations and their dogs. It’s an ensemble cast. I’m going to be in six of the eight episodes. They followed me and my dog Tripper, a Dutch Shepherd, on a canoe trip in the summer and then they came back and filmed more episodes at different times of the year,” Robinet said.

“There are crazy, unexpected things that happen in the show. It’s going to be pretty good.”

Robinet’s episodes were taped near Norm’s Cabin, located on the Stokely Creek Lodge trail system, the cabin serving as an all-season place to stay for mountain bikers, hikers, paddlers, skiers and snowshoers. 

Robinet, who appears in his own YouTube videos that portray him in year round outdoor adventures and sharing tips on survival in the bush, was noticed by the television industry for his appearance on Alone.

He was contacted in 2020 by Half Yard, a company that produces a wide variety of popular TV shows such as Say Yes to the Dress for TLC, The Last Alaskans and Dino Hunters for Discovery.

The company has also produced other popular TV shows for National Geographic, History, Animal Planet and HGTV.

“Man, Woman, Dog was the perfect fit (for Robinet and Half Yard),” the adventurer said.

“It was a lot of fun.”

Taping began in August 2020 and continued through the fall, winter and spring.

Robinet, a Windsor native, moved to the Algoma District with his family in 2018 to live out his passion. 

“I do outdoor videos, and living in Windsor, there’s nowhere to do that. I’d have to drive for eight or nine hours every time I did it. I was away from home all the time so we bought a house up here. Now I can do videos pretty close to home, on YouTube.”

Robinet said he would “definitely” appear in more shows if the opportunities arose.

Norm's Cabin was rented by a production crew from Half Yard.

“They contacted us about the episodes that they wanted to film. They were looking for a fairly remote location where they could shoot it and they came across Norm’s Cabin,” said Kees Van Frankenhuyzen, Algoma Highlands Conservancy president.

“I got a phone call from the production manager, saying ‘we’re looking for a location.’ I said ‘well, you realize it’s 10 kilometres in, there’s no road access, you’d have to bring in all your gear.’”  

Half Yard expressed hesitancy upon learning that, but Van Frankenhuyzen persuaded the company to make the trip.

“I told them I could organize some snow machines with sleds that would bring their crew and supplies in, and that’s what they ended up doing. They absolutely loved it.”

Van Frankenhuyzen is pleased Half Yard Productions chose the location for the show.

“It's a good promotion for Norm’s Cabin. The fact that they found us and wanted to come up here to do it is an indication of what a valuable asset Norm’s is for the ecotourism market.”

Van Frankenhuyzen said this year’s rental season for the cabin will start in January and continue through February to the middle of March.

“We’re getting more and more people. We get hundreds of people staying there overnight. We get people from southern Ontario, Nova Scotia and the States. It’s becoming well known as a really cool destination.”