From a very young age, I remember dreaming of visiting Lapland. I pictured Santa Claus, the amazing reindeer, snowfall and...huskies! I remember seeing all the awesome videos and pictures of husky rides and I just knew that one day I would have to experience it for myself. Well, October of 2019, I did and it was awesome!
Let me take you through the best husky safari in Rovaniemi.
First things first, let me tell you about Bearhill Husky, the company whom we experienced a Husky Safari with. I would like to take this moment to mention that when it came to choosing who to approach for a Husky Safari in Rovaniemi, I was very conscious of choosing a company who was ethically approved.
I have a lot of love for dogs and I do not like the idea of them being “forced” or “coerced” into doing something, but a husky run isn’t quite like that.
You’ve seen how dogs love to run in general, well times that by 10000 and you’ll have an idea of just how excited these Alaskan huskies are to run.
So, basically I choose them because of their ethics, which I will delve into deeper in the next section. But I can reassure you right now, the huskies LOVE their lives.
Bearhill Husky is a family based Husky kennel that’s located in Rovaniemi (the home of Santa Claus). They’ve been operating in Rovaniemi since 2012 but have been established since 2003.
They have almost 100 amazing huskies which are all Alaskan huskies, and some a Siberean/Alaskan mix.
For me, their ethics and the way they treat their dogs set them apart from other husky safaris in Rovaniemi. They are very proud of their philosophy and honest about the way they operate and that makes me feel comfortable when visiting.
They believe their old dogs deserve a comfortable retirement and when a husky has reached a certain age, or just doesn’t have a love for the run anymore, they are often rehomed as pets, or even used a puppy trainers thanks to their valuable experience.
They don’t “kill” dogs if they don’t perform well, don’t look perfect, or are old. This can be a real problem when breeding Siberian huskies, if they don’t match that perfect breed, then they are often deemed useless.
That does NOT happen at Bearhill Husky because they have majority Alaskan huskies which basically means every single dog you meet is unique and beautiful in its own way.
When it comes to puppies, they also take a responsible and ethical approach. I know that we all love cute puppies, but many kennels actually maintain a stream of puppies just to show guests. They’re basically there for display-- that’s wrong.
Bearhill only breeds puppies when the kennel needs them. So, you’ll probably only see them during Spring time. But that’s the way it should be.
When we visited, there were a few pups around, not full puppies, more like “teenage” dogs as I like to call them, but they were so full of life and cheek, you know they’re puppies! They are actually named after the Spice Girls, which makes them even more cute.
The staff know every single dogs name, personality and specifics. That’s crazy amazing. I love dogs, but I’d struggle to remember all those names, no matter how much I loved them. What’s more is that the dogs are always so excited to see the staff, clearly loving them.
Bearhill Husky offers a wide range of tours that basically run all year around! If you’re visiting in the winter months you can try out these tours:
If you’re visiting in the Spring, you can check out this tour: The Life Of a Husky: A 2 hour kennel tour, with an 800 meter husky ride!
Or, if you’re visiting in the Autumn time, which is when Brad and I visited, then you can try the “Born To Run- Autumn Program”..let’s check that out below.
So this awesome tour gives you a chance to take a tour of the kennels, see how the dogs live, interact etc. You’ll get to meet a stream of amazing dogs, and you can ask all the questions you want. Then, you’ll get to take a 4-5 km husky cart ride.
Afterwards, you’ll head into the yurt for some hot juice, cookies and a chat.
It’s awesome!
The cart ride involves a small cart that fits one person seating, and one person steering, the huskies. Half way through the 4 km husky ride, you can switch positions.
What really made me laugh was that when the dogs were getting picked for who would go on the ride, everyone was crying when they realised they didn’t get to go this time, and trying to keep the dog stills while getting them ready was interesting- they just want to go go go!
Brad and I took turns controlling the huskies, and after a brief demonstration and some ground rules, we were ready to go.
I sat in the cart first, and the dogs shot off! They run at around 16 kph, but when you try to get them to slow down, they look at you like “eh, what are you doing? We want to run!”. Sitting in the cart was amazing fun, and I felt as happy as the dogs looked.
Half way through we had a little water break, for the dogs, and we had a cuddle. I fell in love with one husky in particular called Sunny, she was so friendly and just giving constant kisses, I wanted to take her home with me!
Next it was my turn to control the cart, I was pretty nervous, you need to have a bit of balance and control the cart like a bike when going round turns etc, or else you’ll send your dogs into the trees (Which they will happily go to if you don’t shout otherwise!)
Anyway, I had perfect control and it was so awesome! If you’re wondering how you get the dogs to run, or even run faster, you literally shout commands them, but it’s getting them to sit still for 2 minutes is the real challenge!
I had an amazing experience and after it was finished I cuddled each dog on my team to say thanks!
The dogs can’t run unless it’s less than 15 degrees C, otherwise it’s unsafe for them to do so, they’re actually in training mode too at this stage, and they love long-distance running, so 4km is nothing to them, they just want to run further!
After the fun of the husky safari, we headed to the yurt to talk about everything husky related you can imagine. I learnt about how they name the dogs, what they feed them, how they choose leader dogs, the personality of the dogs, and much more.
I came away from this experience not only just having had an awesome time with the dogs, but I learned so much more about huskies as dogs, their lives and how Bearhill Husky works.
It’s because of this that I can 10000% recommend them as the number 1 husky safari in Rovaniemi. I can imagine the winter runs are even more awesome with the snow, but I actually really enjoyed the Autumn experience.
Bearhill Husky safari knows it’s prices aren’t “cheap” but the cheaper an experience is when it comes to animals, the lower the quality and ethics of the kennel.
BearHill believes their dogs are the most important and want their customers to have the best experience, and the price reflects that.
You can find out more about booking the best husky safari in Rovaniemi here. You can book direct on their website, or drop them a call if you prefer to chat on the phone at Tel: +358 (0)407600020
The Cost: 129 Euro per adult (2 per cart)
77 Euro per child (aged 4-14)
Price includes:
So, a few things you should consider when choosing a husky safari in Rovaniemi include:
So that’s it, my review on the awesome company that is, Bearhill Husky. I hope that after reading about my experiences that you can see why I think they’re the best husky safari in Rovaniemi.
But I also hope you’re excited to go see these awesome huskies, and if you see Sunny, give a cuddle from me..
Ps, if you’re looking for unique accommodation to stay in whilst in Rovaniemi, then you can check out this post here for some inspiration.
**Thanks to Bearhill Husky for hosting us during our experience, as always, all views and opinions expressed are my own.**
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