Project RePaw: How rehoming Luppis created my 'why'
In this series of blog articles we will tell the stories of those dogs that have already found their new forever home through our Project RePaw. They may be part of a smaller hobby team, they may be living their best couch life or they may have moved to a whole new part of the globe. Wherever our dogs have ended up – we want to keep in touch and share their stories here.
Hi, I am Betty and my journey with Bearhill Husky began in the summer of 2019, when I joined the crew as puppy-trainer. It wasn’t the first tourism kennel that I worked with, but it was the first one to introduce me to the idea of re-homing dogs who are retiring, and also for those who are simply not suited for a big kennel. As someone who works in dog-training and behaviour professionally, this approach resonated with my values and morals and caught my attention.
The first time I saw Luppis was during my second week working there; he arrived with 6 other dogs from another kennel. Luppis looked quite different from the rest of them: white short fur with floppy black ears, no wool layer, and so timid of the situation, that whenever he felt like wagging his tail in joy, he only ever did it while it was still in between his legs and you could only see the tip moving.
I looked into his big blue eyes, which honestly make him look a bit simple and gullible, and I said to him: “you don’t have to be scared of me, I will keep you safe.”
A promise I intended to keep.
One week later it was midsummer “Juhannus” and our small team was invited for food and sauna at the cabin by the lake, and as I was sitting on the porch with “my” puppies surrounding me, I started chatting with Vallu and carefully informed him that I want to adopt Luppis. He laughed and said it was too early to tell if he was to be kept for the winter or not, so I said: “I’ll wait, but if he leaves this yard, it’s gonna be with me”.
From that moment, I spent most of my free-time with him, we went swimming, biking, and he met my first dog Coco. I told everyone in my human-team not to feed or train him, because I wanted to do it by myself.
I am a patient woman and soon enough time started to tell that it’s gonna be quite some work to keep this dog happy in a tourism kennel. Not only was he grabbing our sleeves and biting the lines out of frustration during the starts, he also had troubles keeping weight, had allergies, didn’t like men and – surprise – would’ve needed a jacket to stay warm.
The call came in September: “Are you still interested in Luppis?”- “I’ll be right there”, and we’ve been inseparable since. He sleeps in my bed since day 1, shares my apples and carrots, we have seen the most wonderful views and hikes and went sup-boarding together just to name a few adventures.
Luppis doesn’t have a bad bone in his body, he is the one to make me smile in the darkest of hours, he reminds me every morning that waking up is yet another chance for a great day, and that life is to be enjoyed and lived now. He is the dog I would happily trade a kidney for just to have a couple more days with him, but furthermore: He is the reason I started mushing and dreaming of my own small team someday.
Fast forward into 2025: Including Luppis I have now adopted 5 dogs from Bearhill and have found my “why” with and in them.
Every dog that came into my life, Troy with his anger issues, Dredge who was just decorating the guest-teams, Saka who had some bad experience and was afraid to live up to his full potential, or Baikal who was as shy as they come and chose her pack with us, showed me another approach to dog-training, patience, and understanding each individual. Last winter we fulfilled a small dream of mine: To mush for several days through Kilpisjärvi with my re-homed dogs. While it broke my heart that my Luppis couldn’t join, for the sake of keeping him safe and warm, I was able to give my 10 year old also rehomed girl Baikal her “last ride” in Kilpisjärvi, with her pack, her family, and her safe space.
We found our joy in spending quality time together where there’s no phone connection, barely people, and no time schedules. Every run with them shows me that these dogs are far from “leftovers”, but just on the lookout for the right person to see their potential and make them shine. We take our chances in some smaller races without really competing, but to gather confidence and experiences.
Let’s see where our trails will lead us in the future, but I know, as long as it’s with my dogs, we are on the right path.
The video below shows a little insight of my life with the re-homed dogs and what keeps me going.
