The dog, Stein, blinks slowly, bowing his head slightly to one side, revealing his grey fur to receive the lovely massaging treatment of the newly arrived male guest. The ten-year-old animal is basking in the sunshine along with close to 190 other Alaskan huskies at Tromsø villmarkssenter (A husky training and activity centre located just outside Tromsø. Stein prefers to stay out here, with his doghouse and the rest of the pack, but unlike most of his colleagues, Stein is too old to work. As much as he loves pulling sleds, he won’t be allowed to do it next winter. Fortunately, he also loves people, so initially it shouldn’t be a problem to find a loving family that would like to adopt him. It’s just that Stein doesn’t feel ready for retirement. He was supposed to move into the “human cottage”, just a few meters from the dog yard, to learn “indoor manners”, such as not jumping on the sofa and to go outside when he needs the restroom. But that kind of lifestyle just isn’t for him. Every time one of the employees brings Stein to the cottage, he tries to escape back to his pack and his old doghouse. This is where he belongs.

“Today, it is too hot to exercise, so the dogs lie down and rest instead”, says Lena Wilkop, one of the dog sitters and guides at the wilderness centre. 

While talking, she is scratching one of the four-legged animals behind its ear. The husky is sitting on the roof of his doghouse: A large wooden box with a lid and two square openings in one of the four walls; one for each of the dogs living here. He’s wearing a collar attached to a suitably long chain. 

Lena keeps speaking to us, although she is momentarily distracted when another husky – a smaller, darker one – jumps onto the roof of the doghouse, asking for the same treatment as its roommate. Lena now has to deal with a real bout of kisses on her face, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“As long as the temperature is not too hot, we train the dogs during the summer, but as soon as the first snow falls, they sit in front of their houses, eager to start working”, Lena continues.   

The family-run husky training and activity centre – which is located on Kvaløya (the Whale Island), about a 25 minutes’ drive from the city of Tromsø – is one of the largest adventure centres in Norway. It was founded by Tove Sørensen in 1988, and is now run by her and her son, Torkil.

Tove has competed in Finnmarksløpet, Europe’s longest dog sled race, which takes place in the far North of Norway for a total of 19 times. Once, in 2006, she even participated in “The Iditarod” in Alaska, which is the world’s longest dog sled race. 

At present, Tromsø Villmarkssenter owns about 200 Alaskan huskies, and during the wintertime, they offer dog sled rides and northern lights safaris of four to five hours per day. In the summer, their focus is on the midnight sun, kayaking, and mountain hikes. And, of course, visits from people like us.

“During the summer months, we have a husky cafe where we welcome people to buy coffee and waffles, and they can pet the dogs too. We also organise the “husky school” – where children can learn about the dogs – and puppy training. It means that you can book an appointment with a puppy and take it out to train it and help it get ready for sledding in the winter”, says Lena.

Not all the huskies are on leash. On our way to the large outdoor area with all the doghouses, we pass another dog yard containing huge cages. 

“The dogs must either be on leash or in a cage. We keep most of them on leashes so that they can have contact with humans. As you can see, none of the dogs are aggressive, but they may jump on you and try to give you a hug. If you don’t want that to happen, you better stay out of reach”, Lena explains.

“We rotate the dogs, so that each one of them gets some time in the cage before being moved back to their residence once more”, says Lena.

It is important that the dogs get plenty of exercise, but also cuddles and social interaction with humans. Ideally, the dog sitters should be walking them every day.

“But huskies are physically strong, so you can only walk one dog at the time. That’s why we have people coming over to walk them. They book a dog, borrow it, and take it out on a hike”, says Lena, smiling.

Unlike most of the other huskies at the wilderness centre, these dogs do not have the opportunity to interact closely with each other.

“These dogs are “hospitalised”. We have our own vets taking care of them. The dogs are allowed to go outside, and for walks, and then we take them back in afterwards”, says Lena.

One of the patients jumps up when she sees us, barking a greeting and wagging her tail.

“This is Magma. She just had an operation and is now sterilised. Usually we leave the dogs unsterilised, but occasionally the females can get an infection, and health comes first”, the guide explains, cuddling Magma a bit before we move on to our next spot of interest.

After about 30 interesting minutes with the adult huskies, we are approaching the puppy farm.

Right now, there are 22 puppies living here, some of them only a couple of weeks old. Lena retrieves a little fellow – which is when we all burst out in a unison “aww” – from a fenced doghouse. This puppy is too small for us to hold, but with the husky mother’s blessing, Lena allows us to greet the little creature through the mesh fence.

The older puppies on the other hand… I offer Lena my help, lifting one of them – it’s approaching 3,5 months – from a small running yard and over to one of the large cages nearby.

“At the moment, we have litters of puppies ages two weeks, two months, three and a half months, and six months. We separate the litters because the husky mothers have an instinct that can put them in danger of killing other dog’s puppies. Besides, it is better for the little ones to grow up with their siblings”, says Lena.

Before our departure, we get a small tour around the property. We follow a narrow path towards the edge of a nearby forest, passing tufts of heather with hundreds of berries (I’m a little surprised when Lena informs us that the huskies like to eat them), and a couple of state-of-the-art glamping cabins on our way.

The surroundings are so scenically beautiful that they alone could have been an attraction, even without the charming dogs. I have no problem understanding why people want to come here to see the auroras in the winter. That’s something I would like to do myself – and then I want to join a dog sled ride, so I can experience the happy dogs while they are working. 

We thank Lena for her excellent service before getting into the same minibus that we arrived in. Once settled in my seat, I pick up the scent of dog and remove a couple of puppy hairs from my woolen sweater.  Fortunately, I will have enough time for a shower in my cabin at the Havila Capella before dinner awaits at the Hildring Fine Dining restaurant this evening. It’s something I’m really looking forward to. The signature menu in the restaurant has been developed by the Norwegian celebrity chef Gunnar Hvarnes, winner of Olympic gold in culinary arts. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

Something else I am looking forward to is tomorrow when I will visit the world-famous North Cape plateau. I will definitely snap a photo of the iconic globe on the edge of the cliff, symbolising that the spot is a meeting point of people from all over the world. I’m also looking forward to learning a bit about the North Cape’s history and how the world-famous cliff got its name.

Havila Voyages' excursions in Tromsø

Visit huskies in the wilderness of Tromsø (summer/autumn)
Dog sledding and huskies (winter/spring)
Reindeer sledding and Sami visit (winter/spring)
Walking theater in Tromsø
Walking theater in Tromsø