Multimedia

The best of our guides' blogs

Em writes about what it means to her to have the life calling of being a husky guide. Doris' blog (in German) covers a Swiss mountain girl's time in the far north. Evie's 'Working Hard' recounts her time with us as an au pair in late 2013/early 2014, while Eve's 'adoption' blog covers the adoption of one of our dogs. Andy and Catherine's adventure blog captures their stop at Hetta Huskies while travelling overland between London and Australia. Lonan's article on life as a husky guide gives a great overview perspective. Freelance journalist Cal Flyn spent part of winter 2013-14 at the farm, and Iona Inglesby was interviewed about her life drawing huskies here.

Great blogs by clients

'Hecktic Travels', National Geographic 'Travellers of the Year', blogged about their time at Hetta Huskies. Siroccoverland, two clients on an around-the-world journey, wrote about their stop here. Sofia Zetterqvist of Fantasiresor (a Norwegian travel blog) took part in our 12km Frozen Lakes safari and fell in love with the dogs. The Frei family, who have done two multiday safaris and sponsor and have adopted our dogs, blogged about their 7-day Arctic Mushing Adventure in 2013. The 'Responsible Tourism' team visited Lapland in 2017 for our EU-funded 'Ethics in Animal Tourism' project meetings and reported back in blog format.

Knorr: Flavour of Home

This short film / infomercial, directed by Oscar-nominated Nanette Burstein, tells the story of a mother's journey across the Arctic to surprise her daughter Carmen (one of our guides) with a homemade meal. Scenes were shot inside our house, the farm kota, the guide house, the local hotel kitchens, on local trails and up on the high tundra. It won 'Best Use of Video' at the M&M Global awards and was the #2 most shared ad globally the week it came out in 2015, generating over 80 million views across its subtitled versions within a couple of months.

The Dog Rescuers

The Dog Rescuers is a popular Channel 5 documentary in the UK following RSPCA officers rescuing animals. For the Christmas Special broadcast on Christmas Day 2015, they wanted a feel-good story and chose to focus on our farm, looking at the positive side of mushing.

Other productions

Visit Finland has used our location on a number of occasions, and Pasi was the expedition coordinator and profiled expedition leader for the whole 'Visit Finland: 100 Days of Polar Night Magic' campaign. Pasi also worked as location scout and property master for the Christmas Story (Joulutarina) and as technical expert on the Lapin Kulta Challenge films. Anna has worked as an AP for the BBC on 'SAS Are You Tough Enough' and 'The Challenge'.

Awards and major coverage

The World Responsible Tourism Awards 2015 awarded Hetta Huskies GOLD for 'Best Animal Welfare Initiative'. The Telegraph Magazine featured us and the challenges in the life of one of our trainee guides in a five-page Christmas special spread in December 2013, and gave us the cover shot. A 2019 CNN article on responsible mushing draws on many quotes from our farm (most accurately reported).

More press

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's largest broadsheet, considers us the place to try mushing. We have a Lapland.fi interview, and our client John Connolly has written several articles about us in the Australian press. Visit Finland promoted us as one of the top Finnish winter sports locations. A travel magazine ran three articles arguing that age should never limit adventure, particularly when mushing holds the keys to the vast wilderness. TripAdvisor profiles the farm with the highest possible rating and ranks us the number 1 attraction in the area.

Documentaries and campaigns

The material has appeared mainly in nature and regional documentaries. We featured, for instance, in the Finnish prime-time series Erätulilla, focused on great things to do in the outdoors; in a Nordic Land Rover Expedition filmed for Land Rover Magazine; and in a film for National Geographic in Poland. Small expeditions also film us en route through the region, such as a Belgian TV documentary about a Nordkapp cycling trip that visited the farm. We have also taken part in the Finnish Tourist Board's 'Visit Finland' campaign.

The Knorr film

The widest-reaching film is the Knorr 'Flavour of Home' infomercial, filmed in 2014, which drew over 75 million views within a week of launch and 90 million to date. We also have plenty of our own footage, plus material filmed by guides and clients, and a couple of our retired, adopted dogs have featured on the Channel 5 documentary series The Dog Rescuers.

More than first meets the eye

Alongside the main gallery you will find collections honouring dogs who have passed away, profiles of pups from each litter (organised by year of birth and by the farm their parents came from), and a light-hearted puppy challenge that tests how well our guides know the pack.

Much of this material is a learning resource for our guides, but multiday safari clients who get to know our dogs well should enjoy browsing it too.

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Welcome to Hetta Huskies

The first film (by James Mayer) gives clients a snapshot of life here. The second was more of a thank-you to his peer guides — a memory of their time here, and a window for future trainees on what life here is really like.

Films by clients

To show what others have experienced with us, we have posted a film by Phill Woodhouse, a client on the first 5-day safari of 2015. It shows our dogs pushing across the open tundra on a day when local snowmobile companies had turned back because of the conditions — a good insight into how hard you might have to work in fresh snow or true Arctic conditions. There is also a short safari video by Gaby and Peter Reusser.