The Twelve Alaskan Huskies adopted by the Association!

These doggies were all rehomed from working in a professional kennel for different reasons.

The very first two were Bobby and Quint. These two brothers came from a smaller kennel and didn't fit at all in the safari world. Very sensitive, Quint would get seizure in case of high stress and Bobby was simply freaking out when put in the harness. They are now our pet dogs, living at home with us, even if Bobby is back to running with the team occasionally and actually does it very well!

For three of them, the "Spice girls", Posh, Baby and Sporty, it is mainly related to the Covid-19 crisis. Under other circumstances, they would certainly have stayed at Bear Hill Husky as safari sled dogs. But, their kind of difficult temper with other dogs, especially with other females, placed them on the list of the dogs to re-home when some decisions had to be made. They have a good pedigree, great potential as sled dogs and are still very young (born in summer 2019). So working on their "nasty " tendencies was one of the main challenges with them, and since, they have changed tremendously!

The other three, Typy, Hassu and Vinku, were all for rehoming as they were extremely shy dogs, easily afraid of guests and of any unknown people. This made it difficult for a professional kennel and not fun at all for the dogs themselves. With them, the main challenge was to build the trust and boost their self-confidence. Born in another kennel, they are mixed Alaskan - with a lot of hound, and Siberian husky. 

Oak and Hazel, two lovely young sisters, very social and kind joined the team in September and December 2021. They didn't enjoy being professional sled dogs, so they joined our tribe to do other kind of outdoor activities! We've found out that they actually love running in the harness, but hate any routine! They are perfect in our small team.

Nine out of eleven love to run and it would have been a shame not to let them do that, but as part of a small and private sled dog team, run by a few people they know and trust to give them a chance to overcome their shyness and enjoy running without any additional stress. Once the idea was born, as out of the box as it seemed, it grew into a solid project and the rest followed! These dogs are so keen to go, learn, and create a bond with someone, that we couldn't let them down!

We use Mindfulness, Animal Intuitive Healing & Communication
along with more traditional training methods to build a strong relationship and overcome
any trauma and issues with our dogs.

Cover picture credit @Joel Forsman Photography

2023 Updates

In December 2022, another boy joined the squad. Pezo is a uncastrated male, born in 2018, very strong and eager to go. He was to be put down as he was suffering from an eye condition, and was rescued by one of the workers. When we saw the boy, we thought he would do wonders in our little team, and decided to adopt him. He is also very sensitive. We love him and he got along with all the others super quickly. He is a fantastic runner and a true addition to our team. Less than a year after being with us, his eyes have completely healed! Last but not the least, Pezo has an amazing pedigree. Who knows... maybe one day... puppies?

In October 2023, we welcomed Vikten, a 11 months old male. He was growing shyer every day, and his breeder didn't want to keep him in a commercial kennel that couldn't give him the time he needed to grow confident. This little boy was accepted very quickly by the others and makes very quick progress. Welcome home Vikten!.

Races

The dogs were doing so well lately that we decided to try out some small races. And it went way beyond our expectations! We won the first one, 6 dogs for a 2x35km! So we decided to try a little longer one, 2x 60km with 8 dogs. And we won it too! After that we enter the Amundsen Race 180km last minute and... we won the third race of that season!! Sooooo proud of them! So the Striders Adventures Racing Team is born!

Below, the portraits of the running team :-)