A BOYHOOD passion pulls Jake to a Husky life in the Victorian Alps, writes ANDREW MOLE

Hollywood is killing me.

Ripping asunder, piece by piece, the very fabric of my childhood memories.

Because its movies simply do not tell the truth.

Even the ones based on fact play incredibly loose with the concept.

Which brings me to this latest emotional rug, jerked from beneath my feet just the other day.

In Benambra, in the heart of Victoria's high country, Jake Greaves and Danni Robertson have founded Howling Husky Sled Dog Tours.

Real Huskies, customised sleds and the truth about the man in charge of the dog team.

Who does not shout "mush, mush" to make his team go.

For God's sake. Tear down that sign in the Hollywood Hills.

A real Inuit goes (phonetically speaking) "hike, hike".

Driving a sled is called mushing and the guy at the controls is a musher.

But there's no "mush, mush".

I just can't talk about it.

Although I did talk to Jake, at length (and took a spin behind one of his crack dog teams), to find out what converts a Down Under boy into Huskies, sledding and life in the high country.

Ironically, like me, his dreams began as a child.

But in his case, it was just one thing - a fascination with wolves.

He read all about them, watched documentaries and had posters of them on his wall.

"As soon as I could, I got my first husky.

"It is as close as you can get to owning a wild dog, to having your own wolf," Jake says.

From there Jake wasted no time.

Today, he owns 14 Huskies - and one malamute. And runs summer and winter sled tours across the high country and around Mt Baw Baw, mushing people up hill and down dale to the cries of (sob) "hike, hike".

When there is no snow a modified sled runs on wheels.

And when the white stuff comes, it's back to the real thing.

Joining Jake is girlfriend Danni Robertson (who also moonlights at the Benambra Hotel between seasons) and cousin Todd.

"The Husky is not a family dog, but it is a beautiful, friendly animal which lives in a very strict pack order," Jake says.

"I describe it as the quick, 4WD of the sled world, while the Malamute, which was bred for Siberian conditions, is more like a Mack truck. Bigger, slower, but a lot stronger.

"The key to sled dogs is their fitness. They really need a lot of work to be able to pull all day so we cannot put them into harness until they have that.

"And even though they are bred to pull, Todd's role (he is learning to be a musher) as a handler is crucial when we set off because they get so excited about running, and really need to be held until we are set to go."

Jake says he got the ideas for the business once he got into competition.

Yes, there is a very active and enthusiastic competing circuit where huskies and malamutes pull riders on bikes all over the place.

That is where he saw a tourism niche.

"We were actually into rescuing and rehoming Huskies first because, sadly, too many people got them for families and discovered it was the wrong choice," he says.

"We launched the business in late 2009 and we only have three puppies we have raised, the rest are rescued dogs.

"It is easy to teach a Husky to pull, they are bred for it.

"From there, it takes about three months to get them up to running in harness, working with a teacher dog and then, once they have the fitness, they are ready to go."

On a Howling Husky run, customers get an introduction, the rush of the ride and, at the end, time for some patting with their pups.

When the weather gets too hot, the dogs don't run.

They are, after all, Arctic animals.

Instead, they spend a lot of time in the shade and swimming in Livingstone Creek to maintain their fitness.

There are still two big challenges left for Jake Danni and their business.

The first is access to more country as most of his tracks are limited by National Park rules about dogs inside their boundaries.

The second is coming up with an easier way to wash their dogs.

Huskies have three coats. So to make life easy, the outer coat is waterproof, like polar bears.

And while Huskies aren't as big, when it comes to washing, it's not about the size of the dog in the fight, it's all about the size of the fight in the dog.