Borrow a buddy

When Covid-19 hit, everything stopped at Tromsø Villmarkssenter over night. We suddenly had a situation with 300 fully trained sleddogs and no guests.

How it started?

Even with our best intentions, it was impossible to keep up the necessary daily training with them all. That‘s when the «Quarantine Buddy» idea was born; We invited the people of Tromsø to borrow our dogs for the quarantine period. The program was very successful – we got 400 emails in two days and lent over 150 dogs to friendly homes in two weeks. Tromsø and the surrounding areas were full of people being walked by our dogs!

As the quarantine period was extended, «Quarantine Buddy» turned into «Borrow a Buddy». No one could predict how long the pandemic would last, we had to lay off employees, and for the good of the dogs we had to downsize the pack. Since many people really fell in love with the dogs they had borrowed, we saw an opportunity that would benefit all parties in the best possible way; We decided to retire older dogs, and in 2 years we found forever-homes for over 100 dogs.

How it’s going? 

As of today, we have 200 dogs in the dog yard. We continue «Borrow a Buddy» in summertime, when sledding season is over and vacation time is on. This program is primarily meant for our dogs to enjoy adventures and test a pet dog life. We try to lend out older, more mature dogs (7 years old +). It is good for them to learn about life outside the dog yard, as they most likely will be adopted in a few years’ time.  The young dogs still have many working years ahead, and a stable and active outdoor environment with their “peers” is the best to keep their spirit high.

If you are interested in borrowing a friend, drop us an email!  
💌 gintare@villmarkssenter.no

Please note:

  • Dogs for borrowing can be picked up Monday-Friday from 10:00 to 16:00.
  • The minimum period for borrowing a dog is 2 days.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, we decided to reduce the number of dogs and ran very successful „Borrow a Buddy“ and „Adopt, don‘t shop“ programs. We ended up finding retirement home for over 100 dogs. As of today, we have 200 dogs at the kennel.