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In the Äkäskero Sledge Dog Center dogs come first ...
Our Concept: Our whole system revolves around the needs of our dogs. We love our dogs and respect their needs. We do not believe that dogs should spend their lives on a short chain with no social contact to each other (which in many European countries is prohibited, but still often tolerated by local authorities).
Therefore we have developed special Dog Yards which allow our dogs to live in a ‘family’ environment. This is neither the cheapest nor the easiest system to handle the dogs but certainly the most animal friendly. To work with this system, we need people who understand the dogs and their social contacts, who can recognize the dogs’ hierarchy and who have a deep knowledge of the animals.
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Dog Kennels
Each enclosure is about 1000 square meters large and houses up to 20 Huskies. Daily, and under supervision, the dogs are allowed to play together and thus maintain their social structure and strengthen their social bonds. During this time our Guides also have an opportunity to observe any changes in the mobility of the animals or any developing tensions and can respond by taking the necessary action.
Each Guide is responsible for two groups of animals, each consisting of 40 dogs. The Guide begins training in Autumn and later takes on responsibility for the food, health and taking the necessary decisions regarding planning of offspring.
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Food Kitchen
Since our beginnings, almost twenty years ago, a lot has changed. In those early days we had to travel 300 Km by car to pick up the animal food (bovine stomachs). These days, we have our own dry food produced in Denmark. Meat and fish ready-mixes are available from Sweden. The quality of the food supply has massively improved and handling is also much easier.
Main Building
The main building is used as accommodation for our employees, as most of our employees want stay near ‘their’ dogs and not be in a town nearby.
Repair Station
The Repair Station is fully equipped to build and repair all kinds of sledges. Over the last few years we have worked hard to develop a special sledge for tourism. The requirements – must be solid and easy to drive – are significantly higher than those of a normal sport sledge. Accordingly our new sledges are made by hand out of ash wood. Also on camp we have our own sewing room for the production of dog harnesses, booties, bags, etc. in the camp.
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Infirmary
To ensure optimal medical care for the dogs we have begun to set up a small veterinary facility. Here we are able to undertake treatment of wounds of any kind, castration, infrared-light treatment, blood analysis and microscopic examinations ourselves. Sometimes it is even necessary for our own people to perform emergency operations, as the nearest vet – even if he can be contacted at all – is at least 60Km, but usually more than 100 Km away. Our veterinary nurse Susann has already saved the lives of many dogs, usually after they have eaten stones. Not only the dogs but also our employees rely on her diagnoses and treatment.