WHEN British Sleddog Team member Vickie Pullen and ski instructor Chantelle Goddard-Jones set up their husky rides business in south Worcestershire six years ago, it was simply to earn enough money to pay for the dog food and give their canine companions a bit of exercise.

The pair, who met when they were working together at the Gloucester Ski and Snowboarding Centre, established Arctic Quest at Bredon due to public demand.

Vickie had fallen in love with huskies while she was spending time in Canada and Alaska as a snowboard instructor.

Working for a tour operator, she helped holiday-makers enjoy winter sports like snowboarding and husky rides and at one point she was in a team of three people looking after 150 dogs.

When she returned to her family in Worcestershire after five years away she got her first husky and then added a few more enabling her to take up bikejoring – an activity where two or more huskies pull a bike and rider at speed.

Vickie said: “There is a presence about huskies. They have a sense of pride. They are very close to a wolf and they work together as a team.

“People saw me doing bikejorring, stopped me and started saying they would pay to do what I was doing,” she said. “We set up Arctic Quest and it was just supposed to be a bit of fun and a part-time job. I had five jobs when we started Arctic Quest.”

But Vickie, whose ambition is to become a world champion in sprint dog sledding, doesn’t do half measures and what started off as an extra activity tagged onto all her other jobs really took off like a team of racing huskies.

She and Chantelle now have 29 dogs and they have taken on an extra member of the team Russ Penwell who is top dog handler, while their Arctic Quest customers, aged from six to 74, come from all over the country and some from abroad including Australia, Holland and Ireland.

Last year they were invited by the BBC to appear on the popular Dragons’ Den programme where the business partners and their dogs charmed the dragons but didn’t secure investment. The women were described as “likeable but not investable”.

“We were driving to a business awards ceremony and got a call from the Dragons’ Den asking if we wanted to go on. We went to London to do a screen test and did it in one take. They phoned us the next day to say we were on.”

Vickie said after their Dragons’ Den appearance, their website went mad. “That night we had 10,000 hits on our website. It was crazy. People were even phoning us at 10pm the night it was shown to book with Arctic Quest.

“The Dragons said it was a great business and we were likeable but not investible and we were very happy with that. It was a good experience. ”

Apart from providing husky rides, they now offer corporate packages, school visits and overnight stays in a traditional Sami tipi and herder’s hut. In fact they will even provide a team of huskies for pretty much any event including weddings.

And they have now opened a new arm to their business – a brand new pet training centre and grooming salon called K9 Quest. Both businesses are run from a site owned by Vickie’s dad Mike Pullin adjoining his agricultural engineering firm, P&D Engineering (Bredon) Ltd.

Vickie, who is also the husky expert on Channel 5’s Dog Rescuers programme, and Chantelle say the pet training centre and grooming salon is a natural progression from running Arctic Quest.

K9 Quest pet groomer Tracey Turner explained they hope to specialise in large dogs – the salon has two large bathing tanks and a very large enclosed shower which will accommodate Newfoundlands and other “giant” dogs.

The salon also aims to offer some services people can’t get in other dog grooming centres like hand stripping for wire-haired dogs.

Tracey explained: “If you get a wire-haired dog and you strip it by hand to take out the top layer, it maintains the coat in good condition and it is less stressful to the dog than using clippers and gives a better finish.”

She said the salon uses all natural products and some of the treatments are more commonly associated with a beauty salon or health spa. Dogs can have a facial – using a blueberry facia scrub - or a pawdicure. “If their paws get cracked or sore, it can help to moisturise the pads,” said Tracey. “We will probably expand the spa treatments for the dogs.”

The K9 Quest information sheet reads like a brochure for a health spa. “Lavish Spa Blueberry Facial. This mildly, light foaming, facial cleanser soothes and balances the skin. With a natural exfoliating activity it aids the skin’s hydration and the refreshing blend of vanilla and blueberries effectively removes dirt and tear stains....”

The centre is offering a puppy package to help introduce dogs to grooming as early as possible. Chantelle said: “If you can get them young it makes a big difference to grooming for the rest of their lives.” The salon caters for felines too.

To find out more about Arctic Quest visit http://www.arcticquest.co.uk/, email vickie@arcticquest.co.uk or ring 07968 794758.

For more information about K9 Quest visit http://k9quest.co.uk/, e-mail grooming@k9quest.co.uk or training@k9quest.co.uk or ring 07947 756517 for grooming and 07773 172951 for the training centre.

The training centre will be used for small groups, seminars and training courses, including canine first aid.