Summer is here ☀️ and with it, lots of new things. Most of our projects for this year are now completed or only need a few finishing touches — which is great, because at 28°C in the shade, you really don’t have the energy for physically demanding tasks 🥵 Writing a blog post is just about manageable 😂

Want to know what’s been going on?

The first change should have been obvious as soon as you opened our homepage. We’ve completely rebuilt the website from scratch because the old system was causing more and more problems. I hadn’t been able to upload new photos (or only rarely) for months, despite increasing the storage capacity. And since customer service wasn’t exactly helpful — the only suggestion was to “ask your IT department” — they’ll just have to live with the fact that we switched to a new provider. I’m sure they’ll manage. But so will I 😉
Of course, not everything on the website is new. We didn’t want to reinvent ourselves. So many photos and parts of the layout have essentially stayed the same. But the menu has a new structure, making it easier to navigate between huskies — summer and winter — and our other activities. For those who are interested, all the dogs now have new, more detailed descriptions. All that’s left now are some minor technical tasks in the background, and the last — or actually the first — two years of the blog. Updating everything to the new system is quite time-consuming. But if I ever find some time… well, never… okay, if I make time, the rest will be added too.

Maybe you’ve already seen on Instagram or Facebook that we’ve also been busy building for our guests. First, we now have a wellness area with a sauna and hot tub, right next to the dogs. It’s super cozy, and the view is just amazing. From the sauna, you can see into the dogs’ free run area. The hot tub gets afternoon and evening sun, and the dogs are around you — sometimes giving you a skeptical look… or maybe they just want to join in? 🤔🐶
In the future, a wellness evening will be included with our week-long tours, and in summer, you can book the wellness experience separately from other activities.

The second new feature for guests is two campervan pitches directly at the kennel. That means you can stay right in the middle of the action, with or without additional activities. If you're currently traveling through Lapland or planning to, you can find more info here.

Of course, we haven’t forgotten the dogs in all our projects — quite the opposite! We’ve done a bit of expanding. Not because we want to increase the number of dogs right now, but because in the next years, more dogs will retire. And if the number of active sled dogs is to stay the same, the total number of dogs will have to increase a bit. With the two new kennels, we now have space for six more dogs.

And last but definitely not least: our dogs have gotten a training wheel! Kind of like the ones you might know from horse training. In it, they can run evenly — either as a supplement to training or as an alternative when the trails are too icy or muddy. Personally, I consider this the most important investment of the year. The dogs aren’t totally convinced yet, but it was only just finished, so we’ve only done a few test runs so far. Right now, it’s also too hot for the wheel, so not all the dogs have had a chance to try it out, let alone get used to what they’re supposed to do. Mainly, not to stop when they pass us standing by, or because other dogs in the kennel start barking 🙈 So we’ll probably need a few more sessions where we jog alongside them 🏃

What’s next?
Right now, it’s really hot, and the forecast says it’ll get even hotter in the coming days. So heavy physical work or training is out of the question. Conveniently, the annual vaccinations 💉 were due anyway, which gives us a forced break during the hottest time. A bit of free running is all the dogs are doing at the moment. Okay, cuddling is always an option 🥰 And hopefully, by the end of July or beginning of August, we can start training again — most likely in night shifts, as usual, to catch the cooler hours.

For us, the berry season is coming up soon — time to collect the goodies for winter desserts (and jam). Now that the building projects are done, there’s also more time again for guests and our summer activities. Sadly, I’ll have to skip a longer hike for myself this year, as I’m quite tied up with my other jobs and also attending two sled dog seminars — one at the end of August, the other in mid-September. I’d already planned (and booked) the one in Rovaniemi, which isn’t too far from us. I’d been eyeing the one in Oslo for weeks, since the topics and speakers are incredibly interesting, but it felt a bit much to leave Raffi alone with all the dogs and work for another weekend. But then, two days ago, they announced that one day of the event would also include a veterinary seminar — exactly my topics — and I had to check… And there actually were some really cheap flights, both time- and price-wise. So I couldn’t resist and spontaneously booked 😅 Now I’ll be in Oslo the last weekend of August — with time for some exploring on Friday, and the seminar over the weekend. I’m soooo excited 🤩 It’s been eleven years now since I lived and worked in Oslo for three months — back then still as a lawyer. After returning to Germany, I quit my job and emigrated to Scandinavia… time flies.