– I will be like the goalkeeper and the captain behind.

That’s what Kristoffer Halvorsen, who is a football trainer and dog walker from Torpa, has to say. He competed in the 1200 kilometer class at Finnmark Race 2022.

Halvorsen stood behind the sled with the 14 dogs on the team, and here he has an overview:

– Here I stand and see that everyone is fine. My job is to manage and make sure that everyone is in their comfort zone.

And he compares setting up a dog team to choosing a football team.

– We depend on different qualities. All dogs can lead, but not all are good at it, he says and emphasizes further:

– All footballers can play both defense and attack, but not everyone is equally good everywhere.

– Without the leader it stops

There are 14 dogs that make up the team on the FL1200. The dogs are carefully selected on the basis of quality to get the best composition.

First and foremost, you have a guide dog. Halvorsen called them the team’s attackers.

– The most important thing for a service dog is to have the driving force and desire to work. They need to speed up. The striker applies the first pressure, then the rest of the team must follow. Without a leader, it stops, says Halvorsen.

Kræsj is one of the four main dogs, and he compares Halvorsen to one of the world’s best footballers:

– I guess I could be a soap apple to say Ronaldo. Kræsj is extreme in everything he does, and so is Ronaldo. That’s a very good description. He is very extreme and serious.

Defense and midfield

Bolt is one of the dogs that walks behind the pack. Halvorsen saw him, and the other dogs in the back row, as a defender.

– I want all four hind dogs to be big and strong and powerful, but they have to be able to handle speed and withstand a lot. They have the heaviest physical load.

The dogs in the pack have different roles.

– It’s Jeppe. That would be Luka Modrić to me, plain and simple.

Halvorsen referred to Jeppe and the other pack dogs as liners. They need to be able to complement both up and down, as players do on a soccer field.

– A good midfielder is someone who makes a positive contribution to the dog team, but also goes forward and does a good job as a forward – or can go behind and do a good job at the back.

Had to adapt along the way

Even though Halvorsen had already decided on the line-up within the team, he was confident that the dogs would roll in their places. They have to adapt along the way with respect to the quality of the dog, the weather and the road.

This also applies to guide dogs:

– There are some that are good at speed, good at finding tracks, and good at bad weather, says Halvorsen.

And some of the dogs behind may end up in the final stages ahead:

– Suddenly there is someone who takes on a responsibility that he did not have before. It could also be like that in extra time in the Champions League final. Suddenly, it’s the centre-backs who step up, score goals, and are in charge in the end.