Meet the dogs of Svalbard!

Have you met our four-legged friends here in Svalbard?

In and around Longyearbyen you'll find five different dog yards, each with their own packs of active and adventurous sled dogs. Here you'll find a bunch of dogs both large and small, long and short haired, extroverted and introverted, goofy and serious. In total there are several hundred sled dogs in Longyearbyen, but what fascinates us most about them is how different they all are. 
To let you meet them we've met with some of the dogs in Longyearbyen to interview them.
Maybe you'll get to meet them in real life during your next visit and dog sledding trip in Svalbard?

Moose

Moose was born in June 2017 on the mainland, and he was originally one of the famous Norwegian adventurer Lars Monsen’s dogs. You’ll find him in Svalbard Husky’s dog yard where he’s among the most eager dogs in the yard when it comes to stealing people’s mittens and hats. He just loves to play games with people and think’s it’s so funny to grab their clothing!
In addition to being very playful, Moose is also very cuddly. Luckily for him, few of Svalbard Husky’s guests are able to resist the urge to cuddle him when they see his thick and fluffy fur!

Winchester

Winchester was born in September 2018, and he loves to run in the lead of Svalbard Husky’s sled teams. He just think’s it’s so fun to run first and steer the team. He’s the only one of his siblings with blue eyes and is a very sweet and cuddly dog who’s happy to cuddle with people who’s visiting Svalbard Husky’s dog yard. While cosy, Winchester can be a bit bossy towards his siblings though, but then that may also just be his special way of showing his love for them.

Foxi

Foxi was born in August 2010. She may be the smallest of all the adult dogs in Arctic Husky Travellers’ dog yard, but there’s more to her than meets the eye!
Dutiful and smart, she has more experience and has travelled more than most sled dogs. She has run the world’s longest sled dog race in Alaska, Europe’s longest sled dog race in mainland Norway, and even been to the North Pole!
She’s Arctic Husky Travellers’ great celebrity with a book having been written about her and having been the lead dog for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway when they visited Svalbard in 2022 and went dog sledding.
Foxi is a great leader that looks out for her pack and leads them on the right track in Svalbard’s nature. If you’re ever visiting Arctic Husky Travellers, you just have to say hello to this charming lady!

Suggen

Suggen was born in July 2008. Together with Foxi, Suggen has also travelled far and wide on adventures such as the world’s longest sled dog race in Alaska, Europe’s longest sled dog race in mainland Norway, and been to the North Pole. Being an experienced adventurer and lead dog, he steadily leads his pack on expeditions from his position as lead dog out front.
But he’s beginning to become an older gentleman and spends a lot of time thinking, usually about all manner of weird things, as he’s resting cosily in Arctic Husky Travellers’ dog yard. Being an old and wise lead dog, he now helps out with training the puppies in the yard so that they also can become smart and good sled dogs when they grow up.
When visiting Arctic Husky Travellers you should absolutely tip toe over to Suggen to say hello with some cuddles if he’s laying about snoozing.

Tequila

Tequila was born in October 2017. She’s a real celebrity in Longyearbyen, and even has a hashtag of her own on Instagram #arctictequila! She’s also got quite a large human family and a long story. After her first owner had to move away from Svalbard, she remained together with Martin who shared an apartment with her owner. What was supposed to be only a week turned into three months together with Martin as Tequila was in quarantine awaiting her trip down to her owner on the mainland. She tagged along with Martin as he was guiding hikes, and as her trip to the mainland never happened, she remained with Martin. The only problem was that Martin wasn’t allowed to have dogs in the house. Over the next two years, she therefore lived with different friends here and there while still guiding hikes together with Martin in the daytime. Eventually, it was decided that Martin together with Kristina would sign on as her official humans. They then set about finding a home as well as a job for Tequila at Café Huskies where you’ll now find her hanging out with café-goers. Tequila, Martin and Kristine are always happy to welcome people to the café!

Interesting facts about Tequila:
- Together with Martin, she has worked as a guide with Svalbard Wildlife Expeditions and is well-qualified after having participated in two courses in the Svalbard Guide Training Course.
- Tequila had cancer in 2021 which was discovered by complete accident. It was pretty early for her age, but after two operations she seems to have pulled through fine.
- In the autumn of 2022, Tequila gave birth to a litter of puppies and became a proud mother. Therefore, she’s away from her job at Café Huskies on maternity leave for a while to look after her puppies Tycho, Yuki, Haku and Dixie.

Candy

Candy was born in December 2013 and is an unbeatable lead dog in Basecamp Explorer Spitsbergen’s dog yard!
Being a good leader she’s well-liked and respected by the other dogs in the pack, though that’s not unexpected if you consider that she’s also mother to several of them. She loves being a mom and will happily help out as an aunt to other dog’s puppies which she’ll look after when needed. When she has puppies of her own, she gets to stay in the “palace” which is a large cage where she’s free to walk about, something she enjoys a lot. She knows how to enjoy life and can also happily spend a lot of time indoors in her doghouse which it may take some time to get her out of once she’s settled down inside.

Polaris

Polaris was born in September 2017, and he’s both a big teddy bear and a real trickster!
Known as an escape artist, he has regularly managed to get out of his collar and opened gates in Basecamp Explorer Spitsbergen’s dog yard. If he’s not been able to get a gate open, he’s even been known to climb fences. (coincidentally his escapes have often been attempted while one of the ladies in the dog yard are in heat, resulting in quite a few puppies over the years)
As the son of Basecamp’s fantastic lead dog Candy, Polaris is also a skilled lead dog, especially on long trips. But he’s easily distracted on shorter trips where he may fancy going on his own little adventures. While being known for not hesitating to bark at other dogs to put them in their place, he’s not the best at receiving criticism himself. Polaris is a real character!

Karl

Karl was born in February 2017, and is the result of a cooperative litter with  Svalbard Villmarkssenter . Karl and his sister Berit (named after the owners of Svalbard Villmarkssenter) went to live at Green Dog Svalbard while their puppy-siblings went to Svalbard Villmarkssenter.
He’s the son of Green Dog Svalbard’s perhaps most famous dog Mila, known for being more of a cuddling dog than a sledding dog and for being good with children. Mila was a purebred Greenland Dog, and thanks to Karl’s dad also having some Greenland Dog in him, Karl really does look like he’s a Greenland Dog through and through. Big and handsome Karl will be waiting to meet you at Green Dog Svalbard before heading out on an adventure!

Bilbo

Bilbo was born in July 2018, and is as happy as he is large thanks to being one quarter Alaskan Malamute!
He and his siblings Hobbit, Gollum, Smaug and Gandalv are all part of the “Lord of the Rings”-litter at Green Dog Svalbard.
Among his various jobs, Bilbo is an important helper in training Green Dog’s puppies to become future sled dogs. As strong as an ox and power equal to three dogs he’s the right dog for the job. But he doesn’t hesitate to correct the puppies if they don’t listen to him, because he’ll simply just lay on top of them to get the message across!

Lotte

Lotte was born in May 2021 and is a Finnish Lapphund. Even though she’s living the good life in town she loves being outdoors all year on adventures, and she’s well suited to Svalbard’s climate thanks to her thick, soft fur!
In the street next to the Svalbard Tourist Information Office, she’s the queen. She likes to show off when people pass by, hoping that she’ll get a few cuddles as thanks for people getting to take photos of her. But Lotte has been known to bark slightly every now and then if some other dogs come passing by, because this is her street!