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Kamia Kennels - Quality Elkhounds
Jaegar - GÆDA,
Tora, Mia, Takoda - Kamia
Kennels
We finally are getting some green grass and some leaves out,
the snow is gone and we are enjoying the warm weather. This
is taken on Mothers day, late in the day, I was hoping to
get a photo of all of them sitting nicely, however Tora
decided she needed to be by me, instead, so broke ranks
before I snapped the photo. Still got them all looking in
the similar direction anyway.
Well, I just got a
photo of one of Tora's big bad boys, Torsten, actually lot's
of great photos, and a call also, just to confirm a few
territorial traits about this big fella. Seems Lindsay has
been having her hands full with this big black faced rascal
lately, he is beating the crap out of all the dogs he plays
with, I was laughing like crazy, no kidding I said, Jaegar
is here raising Cain so I know what she is talking about.
These big fellas like Torsten, they are powerful, and a
young male coming into his own, right around that 14 month
mark, well, better get some new leather gloves I say, these
big fellas play rough. This is another truly outstanding
Male, you can hardly tell the difference between these big
guys, the genetics, they hold true. Jaegar, just above is
Tora's full brother, who is the mother to Torsten. Torsten
and Jaegar were born a couple days apart, just across the
room from each other. You won't find better big males than
these boys, for a fact.
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The Norwegian Elkhound, an ancient breed with
history dating back thousands of years, is a powerful, dominant and
loyal companion for any family.
Norwegian Elkhounds have been used to hunt & guard for centuries,
they have remained virtually unchanged, providing the companionship and
loyal protective traits so well known by our ancestors still today, even
though some roles perhaps have changed for them.
Elkhound Traits:
- Strong Willed ( "Yet very trainable" )
- Healthy and Strong
- Virtually no eye, ear or feet problems
- Fast and quick, very agile, compact and powerful
- Beautiful Double Coat:
- Thick warm inner layer, coarse water repellent outer
layer
- Tightly Curled Tail
- Litter size 8 average
- These dogs have a No Odour Coat - no wet smell
- Excellent Winter Dog - these dogs love snow
- Very Territorial - Norwegian Elkhounds make
excellent watch and guard or personal protection dogs
- Outstanding Family Dogs - ( these dogs
bond to a family and make terrific companions )
- Full Exercise Required: these are high energy dogs, they
need lots of room and lots of exercise
- Barking is Instinctive: these dogs alert you if
anything comes into the territory, they bark and are loud, excellent
as watch dogs.
The history of an Elkhound clearly indicates a use in hunting and
protection, this trait is still foremost as these dogs have changed
little if at all. Used to slow down and distract large game by barking
and moving in circles around the game, the dogs were essential to the
success of any hunt. They're agile and powerful features made them able
to remain out of harms way in rugged terrain, yet keep up and in fact
bay large Moose and hold them at bay. The barking and circling were two
very effective methods to allow the hunter to get in close undetected as
the game was distracted and constantly having to focus on the dogs.
Elkhounds have been protective and courageous and use these traits in
this role. It is fascinating to watch a pair of Elkhounds with an
intruder, they move extremely fast, they circle, the hair is up the
entire length of the back, the bark is loud, the black face and
especially the black around the jaws highlight the white fangs. These
dogs are an excellent watch dog, guard dog, or personal protection dog.
Elkhounds will watch over the family unit as one - they make one of
the best choices for a family who wants a loyal companion. Norwegian
Elkhounds are not normally overly aggressive to strangers, however they
are aloof to those not part of the family unit. To the family unit
though they are as warm and as much apart of your life as you want them
to be.
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BEFORE You click for full size, know this full size is quite
large, be patient
Tora, Takoda, Mia and GÆDA, out with me for
a great day hiking April 9th, 2012. We had a really fun time, they
were all played out, I had made it to the very top of this big
ridge, and so they had to come and go up this hill a few times, it's
a good work out for them. Me, I only wanted to go up once. It's
really neat in this area, we can go for miles following the logging
patches, you can take different routes, all types of terrain and it
really is great now in the spring, as I can still see them quite a
ways away once I get up. In the summer with full leaves I can't see
them hardly at all.
The dogs all run off leash, full working mode, ranging around me,
scouting for anything that might harm me, basically a dog in every
quadrant, if one Elkhound is good, well four, that is pretty
relaxing for sure. All my dogs are excellent on recall, and this is
not the country to take your average dog, lets face it most dogs
would be long gone, end up in a wolves belly, or on an endless hike
to the Tundra, no, best stick to Elkhounds out here. |
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Takoda and GÆDA - Elkhound Pair
Takoda stands by GÆDA, our new Female Elkhound. She is doing very
well establishing herself, she hangs out pretty much with Takoda as
you can guess, it's not easy being the new girl in town around two
dominant powerhouses like Mia and Tora. It was stormy today, I took
a few photos so you could see the size of the flakes, we must have
got nearly 8 inches in the last 8 hours, and more snow, roughly 4
inches coming.
This pair will have a fall litter, we have already had quite a few
pups spoken for from this pair, so please don't wait too long. These
will be some very good dogs from this pair. GÆDA
is an easy going female, she doesn't have the aggressive nature of
Tora or Mia. It's a good match up for Takoda, balances him out a
bit, she is a big girl, she has the same length and just slightly
more height than Tora. She is well muscled although light right now,
she has lot's of conditioning to do, no one keeps dogs conditioned
like we do though, so it's understandable that she is a little
light, she will get muscled in around here for sure. She has a great
stance and frame, so it will be easy to build on.
Takoda will bring back the Silver to the pups, GÆDA does not have
Silver/Grey/Black, she is Grey/Black and a darker mask. She has the
big Swedish loose curl tail, same as Takoda and or Tora, and she
runs the black feet. These male pups will be some big boys, thick
and heavy, and some outstanding females, all will be big girls like
Nika, but they will be dark like Kari. This is a pretty potent pair,
you probably couldn't hope for a better pup than what will be from
these two. |
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Takoda and Tora and I went to the west country, day before Mothers
Day, we had a real nice day out west. We went to a different area
and the trails were pretty fair for the most part, but got pretty
rough after a while. I was beat when I got home, the dogs are shown
here, catching some wind, actually it was me who needed the break. I
got a really good video of them catching an air scent, in my next
newsletter I'll put it up. Pretty neat, hair on the back of my neck
was up for sure, they were intense, they caught the scent of
something, definitely didn't like it. It was a heavy timber trail
and I couldn't see or hear, I did not want them to go off just right
away, but there is no keeping them near me in that situation, they
are intense to go. So I motored ahead, there was a clearing I could
see, it was heavy timber to go back, so I shook off some cobwebs and
sped down the trail, they found me on some high ground. So I snapped
this photo. Not sure what it was, no new scars, so that's a good
thing. |
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Ashten with Takoda and Jaegar
Photo - December 15, 2011
Click for full size
Takoda and Jaegar shown below
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Ashten was handling Takoda and Jaegar so that I could get a
couple of photos of these boys together, it took some doing to get
these two introduced again, Takoda doesn't exactly welcome anyone or
anything into his turf, we had our fun with him and Jaegar, as you
can imagine. Takoda is a breeding male, with pups on the ground, and
a new female, Kamp, running around with him, so he is as protective
and watchful as you can get, so bringing in a young male, well let's
just say it takes some doing.
Jaegar is a very well mannered young fella, so this makes it
truly only really a one sided show, so all we have to do is focus on
Takoda, and the introductions go pretty fair. It takes a few times
but they are at least getting along. Takoda is actually beginning to
have some fun, Jaegar is about the only dog Takoda has to work to
catch, he can still outrun Jaegar, but not by much, so when Jaegar
steals a bone, which he does, they have a pretty fun time, Jaegar
burns around wih it trying to stay alive, and Takoda burning around
after him, not one to lose a bone in his own turf.
Both these boys are lean right now, no fat on either, they are
running some serious muscle, in good shape, and when they come
pounding up to the fence when a stray dog goes by, well let me just
say it doesn't want to hang out. These boys are proactive, and some
of these dogs that go by they know instinctively, this is not a good
place to be.
Elkhounds are an excellent family dog, these big guys are as
loyal and pleasant to the handler that you could ever imagine, they
are attentive, they love to work, and are old world dogs, ancient
strains, you don't see many of these big fellas around to often.
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There was a ton of smiling going on when Blaine, Cathy and Marissa
came to see how Bram's pups were doing. They had been anxious to see
how the pups from this litter turned out, they had been following
the photos and were truly impressed by the pups. They have done an
incredible job with Bram, they keep him in top shape, he is very
well cared for, and they were really impressed with this set of
pups.
Blaine quickly found his favourite, Gryffin a big thick stout boy,
Marissa was having the time of her life, they were all over her, she
loved them all, she just had fun, and Cathy found one of the black
faced rascals, just like her Bram that was her favourite.
They were quick to comment that this time the big black boys were
out front and center, they are easy to notice, and they are not shy,
just like Bram. They sure couldn't believe Freyja, the big Silver
Grey Swedish girl either, easy as big as all the boys, Cathy say's,
she sure takes after her mother. |
Bram's Owners - Blaine, Cathy, Marissa -
extremely pleased with Bram and Tora's work
Tora - Female Elkhound - Cathy, Marissa, and Blaine
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The dogs are enjoying the green grass, the sun, the warm weather.
Summer is finally here, leaves are coming out and it's been warm.
Mia has her last big boy with her these days Jaegar, she is enjoying
his company, he stands in front of her she is lower left. Tora is
upper left, and GÆDA and Takoda to the right
of the photo.
Jaegar and Mia get along well, she can still handle him, teaches
him a few new tricks in combat each day, he is a quick learner but
he has a ways to go to handle her. She is an old powerhouse.
Jaegar has been getting some good training along side Takoda as
well, and Tora, she is about the best pal he could have, along with
the fun time he has with GÆDA. Both of those
two play a lot lighter, more running and jumping, with Tora and Mia
is full close quarters combat. They all get along really good, it's
been a fun time.
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Teeka - Female Elkhound 1 Year out of Tora and Bram
I got an update from John and Denise just at the end of February
2012, they sent me some new photos of Teeka, a beautiful
Silver/Black female Elkhound daughter of Tora and Bram. Teeka is 1
year old in the photos and is a big stout strong square female. She
is just like her sister Kaia, strong and thick, well balanced, with
an excellent stance.
She is a great female, no doubt about it. That combination of
Tora and Bram makes for some pretty stunning dogs, no fooling. Teeka
has the tight wrapped tail, she gets that from Bram, she has the
Silver/Black face from Tora, and Teeka has the dark black saddle
from Bram. Nice coat, great color.
Check out that four square stance, ears up gaze alert, she looks
solid as a rock, she has Tora's muscular build and well defined,
John and Denise are conditioning her very well, she has been truly
well cared for and well exercised. We thank them for the great care
they have given her and the terrific home and life they have for
her.
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Kaia - Female Elkhound - 1 Year old -
Daughter of Tora and Bram.
Kaia is a full sister to Teeka, pictured directly above, now those
are some pretty amazing females, those two big girls. They are both 1
year old and take a look at that consistency, my goodness. It's hard to
tell those girls apart.
Kaia is a beauty no question, she stands square, she is strong and
powerful, she is a fearless girl also, she takes no guff, she has a bit
more of her grandfathers personality, Takoda passed a little mean down
to Tora, and she handed it down to Kaia. This genetic lineage are old
Viking dogs, they had fear bred out thousands of years ago, these are
some bear chasing, moose hunting females right out of the old history
books these two.
We want to Thank Paula and Steve for taking such good care of Kaia,
providing her with every opportunity to fully develop, and from the
looks of this, Elkhounds are doing well in Colorado.
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Ryker - Male Elkhound -
Tora and Bram Son, 1 year old
All of the pups from Tora and Bram are terrific dogs, and Ryker is no
exception. Amber and Chris sent me some recent photos of the big fella
at a year. He is a "tank" as Amber states, 65 lbs of solid muscle and
tons of frame and room to grow and muscle out yet. There is no foolin
with this big black faced rascal, he is really something ole Ryker.
Ryker got the black mask of the old Norwegian lines from Bram, Bram is
old world Norwegian, hunting champion dogs, stout and strong, the old
dark lines, black faced and fearless. Fast and agile, and quick and
light on their feet. Bram is the first generation in Canada, Ryker is
the second, he is a full brother from the same litter as Kaia and Teeka
above.
Our thanks to Amber and Chris for keeping us posted, and for giving
Ryker such good care and attention, and we look forward to seeing how
Ryker continues to develop. |
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