How To Find Work With A Dog Sled Company
If you’re interested in finding work with a dog sled company, let me introduce you to Adrian.
He works seasonally at a dog sledding company in Sweden during the winter. As a musher and dog sled tour guide, he helps manage the kennels, take care of the dogs and guide the tours!
During the summer, Adrian travels the world working fun and interesting jobs from Denmark to Estonia to Germany. He has built stages at music festivals, worked in hostels, and hitch hiked all over Europe!
I worked with Adrian at Oktoberfest this year where we quickly became friends. So when he invited us to visit him in Sweden and go dog sledding, we couldn’t turn down this bucket list opportunity.
Wild Spirits Dog Sledding
Adrian works for a company called Wild Spirits located in the tiny Swedish village, Ottsjö. This village is an easy train ride from Stockholm and the perfect place to unplug from the hustle and bustle of a city.
Gorgeous mountain views, fresh snow on the frozen lake and 80+ sled dogs.
So how does a guy from Australia find work for a dog sled company in Sweden?
Adrian found the job listing on Workaway.
Workaway is a site connecting travellers with interesting jobs all over the world. This site includes many listings for dog sledding companies in Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Alaska.
For the first season, he was brought on as a volunteer in exchange for accommodation and food.
But now, as more experienced dog musher, Wild Spirits brought him back for a second season as a paid employee!
Learning on the job
Think you’d like to work and travel around the world but don’t have the right job experience to start? Workaway positions are seeking all levels of experience.
Often times, they will train you or teach you the necessary skills– part of what makes the site and the experiences so appealing. Imagine yourself absolutely immersed in new experiences- a new country, new people, new culture and learning new skills! Workaway allows you to go anywhere in the world and work any type of job.
Prior to working for Wild Spirits, Adrian had absolutely no experience with dog sledding. He never even owned a dog. And because he grew up in Australia, he had never even seen snow before!!
Now he is running two tours a day during the busy season!
And after all the training he has received working at Wild Spirits, he plans to get a job leading dog sled tours in the Yukon territory of Canada.
What started as a volunteer travel position has led to a potential career path.
One of the best parts about doing Workaway around the world? Exploring the area you’re living in. And because you know you are only there temporarily, you appreciate and savor your time so much more! You will find yourself seeking out everything the country has to offer during your stay.
Since the dog sledding season slows down a little during January and again in March, Adrian is able to go ice fishing, relax in the sauna, ski at the nearby resorts or drive the snow mobile.
Have you given traveling the world as a volunteer a thought?
Some people might be discouraged by accepting a volunteer travel job- where food, accommodation and experience are your only form of payment. But Adrian believes, if you only have money as your goal, it can be hard to ever achieve a level of satisfaction because you are left always wanting more.
Despite working as a volunteer the first season, Adrian got immense satisfaction from the dogs, the work he was doing and tours he provided for the guests.
Volunteering has been proven to prevent stress, anger and anxiety. Socially connecting by helping and working with others can have a massive positive impact on your overall psychological well- being.
This is just part of the reason so many travelers love volunteering around the world!
As a volunteer, Adrian has the opportunity to travel, constantly have new experiences and only work jobs he really loves. He is always pursuing worthwhile, meaningful experiences.
While some might find this lifestyle hard to imagine, Adrian (and many others-, myself included!) find it incredibly freeing.
And after experiencing the endless energy of 80+ huskies for several days, I can see why he loves his job so much.
The dogs bring such an infectious joy to your day. It’s impossible to be anything but happy, playful and energized when you are around them 🙂
Interested in working for a dog sledding company around the world?
Cool Works is a great place to start when looking for dog sled work. This website is a search engine for all open jobs at the national parks or epic locations around the United States.
Just type “dog sledding” into the search bar and there will typically be 15-20 open sled dog jobs you can apply for right away!
Check out these dog sledding companies in the United States:
- GOLD RUSH DOG TOURS (Apply here!)
- ALASKA ICEFIELD EXPEDITIONS
- WITHIN THE WILD ALASKA ADVENTURE COMPANY
- TOGWOTEE MOUNTAIN LODGE
Check out these international companies with volunteer positions available:
Wild Spirit Dog Sledding in Sweden
Workaway Jobs @ the kennels
- Feeding the dogs
- Helping to set up tours
- On some instances you will be helping on tours
- Prepping food for humans and dogs
- Checking the kit for damages and fixing the kit
- Any other jobs that seem to fit in and around the business
- ITS 80% HARD WORK 20% FUN!
Arctic Chalet Resort and Arctic Adventure Tours in Canada
“We have positions available for healthy, PHYSICALLY FIT volunteer workers who are interested in tourism and who are passionate about dogs; people who would enjoy living and working with us in the Arctic for short or long term. We can give you an extraordinary experience in an isolated Arctic setting!
Our employees/volunteers will have the opportunity to learn some skills that are unique to cold northern climates such as learning to drive snowmobiles, walk on snowshoes and drive ATV 4-wheelers in summer with huskies pulling them. They also get lots of experience driving dog teams in winter. As owners of the business we also try to include our staff in some of our own family activities and adventures. We enjoy having pot luck meals together and campfire outings, hiking and other activities.“
Read more about their positions here.
Dog Sledding Iceland in Iceland
Located on the South Coast Iceland about 1 hr from ReykjavÃk, offering both dry-land and snow tours for 45 minutes. They offer tours Monday through Friday all year round. (The dogs get the weekend off!) Check out the video below to see the beautiful landscape in Iceland!
Their motto: “Home is where the dogs are.” 🙂
And be sure to simply search “dog sledding” in Workaway. New locations updated frequently!
You can see the list of dog sledding positions available on Workaway here.
Beautiful, fresh snow and dozens of happy dogs await you in a winter wonderland. Maybe it’s time you spent a month or two in the snow 🙂
Interested in working other jobs around the world? Read: TRAVEL JOBS: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FINDING PAID WORK AROUND THE WORLD
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Hello.
I say Hatano living in Japan.
I contacted in the matter of dog sled today.
I’m looking for, but I can’t find a job that deals with
dog sledding.
Could you tell me if there
is a job dealing with dog sleds?
Thank you.
There are a few American companies in Colorado and Alaska that offer housing, pay, and food in exchange fpr working as a sled guide.
Oh wonderful!! That’s great to know, thank you for sharing! 🙂
I have double checked the links to make sure they are working 🙂 These are just a small selection of dog sledding jobs you could apply for!
Best of luck in your search!!
I would give everything for spending one year up there with adrian and the dogs. wow – just work hard but getting so much from the dogs and maybe adrian. 😉
It really is a magical place!! We loved being around the dogs!