Q: How many dogs do you have?

A: We have about 50 dogs in various ages.

Q: Can I buy a dog from your kennel?

A: We only breed dogs for our own use and not in order to sell puppies. Occasionally we rehome dogs if they don’t thrive in our kennel. If we have dogs available for adoption you will find information about them under the adoption page on our website.

Q: At what age does your dogs go in to retirement?

A: That is up to the dog. We don’t have a rule for age. Normally they start showing us they enjoy their days off more from around the age 8 years old and up. Some dogs never wants to retire but the older they get the more rest we make sure they get in between runs, whether they agree to it or not.

Q: What do you feed your dogs and how much?

A: Twice a day we feed our dogs a mix of dry food for working dogs, fresh meat and water. We call it their soup. During season we also feed the dogs after every run. We always add a lot of water to their food to make sure they stay hydrated.
Our puppies and youngsters are fed with food specifically made for growing puppies.

Q: Is it OK to bring and give the dogs a snack?

A: We kindly and respectfully ask you not to do that. Our dogs are on a calculated diet and new snacks might upset their stomach. We also do not want our dogs to associate guests with food which will cause stress.

Q: What does the training look like?

A: This is a big question but we will try to sum it up.
We early on start by teaching our puppies to respond to their name and calmly we introduce them to basically everything through the trust technique. Such as walking on a leash, getting harnessed and later on how to behave and work in front of the sled. We also teach our dogs that food time is a non-stressful event and that stealing food from one another is never necessary.
During winter as adults the dogs gets most of the daily physical training by pulling and running in front of the sled. During summer they get a rest from pulling and they get to go on forest walks, do exercises and balance training in our obstacle course, they get individual training to make sure they are healthy and fit and of course a lot of playtime and free running.
You will learn more about how we work with our dogs on the mindfulness part of our tours. We encourage you to ask any kind of questions while visiting us.

Q: Why is it important to reduce stress?

A: We believe that stress is as bad for animals as it is for humans. By reducing stress we see nothing but benefits for our dogs. For example stress can cause anxiety, pacing, tension between the dogs, chewing on gear such as harnesses and lines and also if we would let our dogs hype up and stress before a run they would use up a lot of energy before they even start working. To sum it up, stress doesn’t bring anything good to the table so we try our best to keep it to a minimum. 

Q: Am I allowed to interact with the dogs?

A: Yes, we will instruct you in how to greet and interact with the dogs when you get here. Some of our dogs are a bit shy and off limit for guests. The shy dogs are not dangerous by any means but we never force ourselves on a dog who is not open for interactions. All of our dogs always get to say yes or no and we always respect that. But don’t worry, most of our dogs will love you and some will even shower you with kisses.

Q: How can you tell if your dogs are happy or not?

A: First of all by spending a lot of time with them and really get to know each individual on a deeper level. Animals are known for being experts in hiding discomfort so it is our responsibility as humans to look for the smallest, most subtle ques that something might be wrong. By truly knowing a dog we increase the possibility to immediately detect any irregularities in their behavior or movement.
We also make sure our dogs have good shelter and enrichment in the kennels. And yes, we clean out the kennels every day.

Q: Why does the dogs live outside?

A: This are polar dogs and they thrive when living outdoors. Outdoors we also have more space. By keeping our dogs outside they have the room they need to act out their natural behaviors. They grow a thick coat during winter which shelter them from the elements. They also have dog houses that they can access whenever they please. 

Q: Do they go inside during night?

A: Most of our dogs stay outside even during the night. Most of them will go into their dog house to sleep, but some of them prefer to stay outside no matter what. One exception would be for medical reasons. For example if a dog just had a castration or similar procedure that require monitoring the dog will recover indoors. .

Q: Are the dog houses warmed up?

A: The dog houses are designed to trap the heat generated from the dog itself as long as the dog stays in the dog house. There are no electrical heating in the houses. Every dog house  is insulated and have a thick layer of bedding to keep it nice and comfy for the dogs. 

Q: Are you sure it’s not cruel to make the dogs work so often?

A: Huskies have been bred to work for generations and they love their job. We never force them to work. If any of our dogs show any sign of injury or discomfort we take them out of training immediately to evaluate the situation and take necessary actions. The dogs desire to work is also one of the reasons we train them to be calm and to accept to do nothing. A dog who is on rest will quite easily get stressed when their friends get to go out for a run but they have to stay behind.

Q: How long of a distance can the dogs run?

A: That depend of course on the training. But they will easily do 50 km and more in a day.

Q: How fast can the dogs run?

A: To be able to run for 8 hours straight we keep the dogs in a balanced trott around 12 km/hours.  They find their rhythm and goes on. If we drive them too fast they will get tired faster and it is easier to hurt them. That means we help them do keep the speed down in the beginning of a run.

Q: Does the dogs ever go to a veterinarian?

A: Yes they do! All of our dogs gets vaccinated regularly according to the Swedish recommendations. If a dog gets sick or injured they also get to go to the vet. Our dogs are very important to us and we would never keep them from medical care if something happened. Therefore we have a dog insurance that cover all of our dogs. 

Q: Are you keeping males or females or both?

A: We are keeping both. Some of them are castrated and some are not. Most of our dogs live in mixed groups or pairs. We only need to separate our intact females from our intact males when the females are in heat. This also goes for setting up teams before a tour. A female in heat should not work next to an intact male or all they will do is try to make babies. The urge to reproduce is one of very few reasons a sled dog will not be focused enough to work.