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Kamia Kennels - Quality Elkhounds
Tora - Female Elkhound - 9 Pups - Her Second Litter - 8
weeks
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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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Takoda is pictured above at 4 years old. He is one of the rare Large
Swedish Greys, there are only a handful of these boys in Canada, and
as far as I know, all the others are his pups. These big Greys are
ancient dogs, they have traveled the Northern regions for many
centuries. Your looking at a dog who is very much unchanged from
hundreds of years ago.
They are predominately a 1 owner dog, they bond very close with the
handler. These are very personable dogs to the handler and "Pack",
the immediate family. They are very good natured to the pack,
entirely devoted to please and work with the handler. Will wait for
hours to spend time. These particular dogs are not as stubborn as
the Norsk Gra or Norwegian type Elkhound.
The big Greys are communicators, Takoda excels at this. He can stay
in touch with me with his ears and body language way past where I
can see him, I need a zoom lens to see him and he still signals me.
Hundreds of yards out, he will flash his ears when he clears some
bush or makes a clearing to let me know he see's me, and he gives me
a minute to signal if I want him to return.
The Swedish Elkhounds are bred for the deeper snow regions, they
have the extra inch or two of height and length to cope with this
terrain. They are extremely athletic dogs, very fast, agile and
powerful. They have been used to pull sleds, carry packs, they love
to work, but thier primary role of course was hunting and
protection. These are the bear hunting dogs, The big greys have been
used for many centuries to hunt bear, one of the few breeds
selectively bred to hunt this particular animal. They are proficient
and extremely skilled at hunting Moose, known throughout the world
as a Moose hunting dog.
In my opinion there is no better dog for Canadians. Or anyone in
Northern climates for that matter. But here in Canada we have
exactly what these big fellas live for. All kinds of space and
activity, cooler temperatures for the most part, we get deeper snow
than many places, there is no end to hiking and wildlife and things
for these dogs to do.
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Tora - A beautiful silver/grey/black female Elkhound with some of
her pups from the second litter. Tora had 9 pups, 6 males, and 3
females, and they are all doing terrific.
The pups are 8 weeks old tomorrow, this photo was taken on the 27 of
January, 2012, Bram and Tora have combined again to produce some
outstanding pups. Tora is in fantastic shape, she is a big stout
Swedish Grey female and from the old lines, so she is able to handle
these guys and still maintain condition.
Tora has produced outstanding pups last time, and this time is
again, exactly like last time, all outstanding pups. The neat thing
with old lines, they retain the distinct features, Bram pulls in
some very dark pups, and Tora brings the big Silver Greys, all the
pups will be toward the larger size, leaning back to the old world
dogs.
We are very proud of this group and especially proud of Tora, she is
a powerhouse female Elkhound. |
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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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Tora remembered them all easy, she was very comfortable around
them, Cathy and Blaine, along with Marissa, own Bram, the father to
this second litter of Tora. These pups are at the 7 week mark in
this photo.
Blaine and Cathy brought a big bunch of Moose meat up for the
pups, Blaine said we can't have the pups going to the new homes
without a belly full of Moose, these are old world hunting
Elkhounds, they need some Moose. I was very happy he came by with
that, I hadn't got a Moose, all I had was Elk for wild game this
year, so that was very nice of them, the pups are wolfing that done
for sure.
They were some impressed, each had a few picks, Cathy, she is
partial to those like her big boy Bram, the big blacks, Loki, Wyatt,
Kage, and she truly loved Cinder. She hadn't had the chance to often
to see the big black females, they are rare, so they were really
pleased to see her.
Blaine, he sure took to Gryffin, and Kobe, two of the big wide
faced stout grey's, and Marissa, she had a new buddy every second,
Finn, Freyja, Totra, the smile didn't leave her face. I am very
thankful to them for allowing Bram to be part of our program, he is
an outstanding young Male and him and Tora are a terrific pair.
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Nika and Kari - Two terrific females from Mia and Takoda
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I got an update from Shelly and Brett just this morning on the
two girls in the Yukon, Nika and Kari. When it comes to big dark
females you could not find a better pair than these two. These girls
are what Elkhounds are all about. They carry a pack, they pull
sleds, they train other dogs in obedience, they hunt and hike and
fish and lay by the fire. They guard the home from bears and protect
Shelly and Brett on every hike they take, they are the best
companions they could wish for.
We talk about raising pairs of siblings, this my friends is what
I am talking about. The interaction and fun that two siblings have
for life is something to see, something only a handful of people
ever witness. As I have said many times, having a dog is a good
thing, having a great dog like either of these two is a great thing,
but having two matched sisters, it doesn't get any better than that
when it comes to dogs.
You won't find these big dark females anywhere else in Canada
other than sisters to Nika and Kari. These are ancient strains, old
world hard working females, fearless, yet with such a great
personality they are used by Shelly's sister in law who is a
professional dog trainer to stabilize all types of other dogs. One
thing about Mia, she puts stability into her pups. All her girls are
confident, easy going steady females, who take no guff and will go
face to face with a bear if need be. Kari is known to be very vocal
about the bears that come around Brett and Shelly's, she is not one
to mistake her roles, Nika either. They come by this protection
instinctively and genetically, Takoda hands that down to every one of his pups.
I will be putting up some more photos of the two females right
away, as Shelly and Brett have sent a very nice update with some
good photos of these girls in action.
These two girls represent two litters - both females from Mia and
Takoda
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Cinnder - Female Elkhound - June 2011 -
Daughter of Takoda and Mia.
Cinnder is a beautiful female out of Mia and Takoda, she has always
been a very nice looking female, and her personality and behaviour is
excellent. Amber sent this photo recently and this message:
"Just a quick note to keep you updated! Cinnder has turned out to be
an absolute perfect dog! She is extremely smart and very loving!" -
Amber
Cinnder could lay down beside Nika and Kari and you wouldn't know who is
who, these are some good females.
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Koda - Male Elkhound - Mia and Takoda first
litter
All of the pups from the first litter of Mia and Takoda have a special
place in our hearts and Koda is one of those. This young rascal was a
tough little fella, he could jump and leap around as young pup and grew
into a beautiful strong and handsome male. Carrie and Chris have raised
a very well mannered, easy going fella that travels around with Chris
and Carrie and is a true companion to them.
Elkhounds make excellent companions, and these males from Mia and Takoda
are stable easy going big fellas, nice to be around, fearless, yet don't
cause any trouble. These are good dogs from this pair. |
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Nanook - Male
Elkhound - Mia and Takoda first litter
Nanook was the only Male from his litter. He is a brother to Cinnder
and Kari, both pictured above, out of Mia and Takoda. Kosmas and Joanna
have a beautiful Male and do a terrific job raising Nanook. This is a
good boy this Nanook. I had some fun days with Nanook as he spent a
couple extra days with me, and him and I traveled out to British
Columbia when I went to met Joanna with him. He was such a good
traveler, he was an amazing young pup and has turned into a truly
outstanding Male.
These boys from Mia are proud Elkhounds, they are well balanced and have
great structure, you couldn't wish for a better Elkhound. |
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Kona and Bruin - Male Elkhound Brothers -
Mia and Takoda sons
All the time we encourage people who can to take two pups, siblings,
the dogs have companionship, have someone to play with and it's an
amazing thing to see how well to brothers or sisters get along.
This pair of big boys are a world class example of just that, and our
hats are off to Russ and Holly for raising such a great pair of boys.
These are some good dogs that Mia and Takoda produce, they are
consistent, they are all stable, easy going, yet fearless big fellas.
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