Showing puppy eyes, I passed the border inspection and, to my surprise, I got in. When I landed in Rovaniemi, it was -35C. I had never seen that number on a thermostat in my whole life before that day. I was coming from my Christmas holidays in Sardinia, where I chilled under the sun at +20C. The temperature gap was of 55 degrees and, I can tell, I felt it all: That day, I got an actual “thermic shock”.

From my first night in the kennel and for the following 3 days, my body couldn´t stop shaking. At the same time, I was feeling so warm inside that I thought I could seriously faint. That is when the panic started. During those days, I did not even unpack my luggage. I was so sure that I wouldn’t survive in “that kennel at the North Pole”. If there had only been a combination of planes to take me back, I would have taken it and this story would have never been lived. But the first available option was in a week’s time, so there we go: you are obliged to read till the end.

At that point, in utter despair, I was told two tips: “It is ok to have fear” and “Be with the dogs”. I am so glad I followed them because these 2 suggestions saved me at that time and many others more.

So I put on my 5 layers of clothes, acknowledged the fact that I looked goofy as a Greyhound in winter gear, and stepped outside. Because yes, in all that feeling sick and panicking, I didn’t even try to go outside the staff house yet.

Once in the yard, my eyes crossed with those of the first dogs. I met Gru, Pallo, Ginger…and their genuine excitement brought me back to earth. I stopped overthinking and started existing.

On my second day outside, I followed Rachel, our puppy trainer, on a mission. The first pulling session for Riffle’s pups: harness on, with just one line attached to a car tire. Those little hurricanes were making that tire fly! Every single one tried and succeeded, and their engagement was so inspiring. At that point, I thought: “If puppies can make it, so can I”.

My internship started the day after, with Dozer peeing on my working trousers while I was cleaning his fence. And after him, Spider also joined. The big boys were already setting some ground rules. It was a long journey and multiple washing machine rounds, before I would gain their respect.

My baptism on the sled was “fast and furious”. My 4-dog team overtook my colleague’s 8-dog team on a frozen downhill. I still have no clue how I managed to not lose the sled and to, eventually, stop the team. In my first feeding sessions, I could only hear the voice of my Italian nonna saying: “A scoop more, never killed nobody :)”. But then I understood that athletes do not share the same philosophy as the Italian grandmas and follow precise and balanced diets. Therefore, whenever I had to cook lake fish for the dogs, I was not adding salt, basilicum, or dried tomatoes.

I still remember the lower back pain after bootying (= putting the boots on) all the dog teams, and my very first time trying to remove the sled’s anchor from the snow with both hands but none of them on the handlebar (Spoiler: it did not end well!).

I collected an infinite number of embarrassing moments, which I didn’t hesitate to share with the rest of the crew at the end of my shifts. Valentijn probably still remembers the time I emptied the wheelbarrow, full of poop, in the wrong direction. Long story short, the poop inside was heavier than me and lifted my body in the air. That time, I was so close to falling on that same poop I had just collected and discharged.

But, above all, like everything in life, you learn your lesson and find better ways to get the job done. In the same way, after seeing the dog food bags’ pyramid collapsing on the floor of the dog kitchen once, I eventually learned how to pile them properly. Sometimes it is just a matter of understanding that you can not take on your leashed-belt 6 young male huskies, if all together they weigh twice as much as you. But you first need to fall and get dragged for multiple meters by those “bad boys” going full speed.

But on many occasions, my Bearhill Husky internship experience also taught me that: “I can do it”. Even if it sounds unbelievable, impossible, insane … situations will put you in the condition of, at least, having to try.