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Takoda - Male
Elkhound
Each person should have the opportunity to have a
companion dog, a truly loyal friend, a dog like Takoda
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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 their 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.
The coat of the big dark grey's like Takoda are magnificent, this is
his everyday attire. He has had three brushings in his life. We
brush him in the spring. Period. The outer guard hairs on the
Swedish Elkhounds are black tipped, with a longer black tip, also a
more even black throughout, not so grey as the Norwegian types. This
is a characteristic of the Swedish types along with the cream chest
and belly, and lighter throat and lower jaw. The black masks are not
normally found in the Swedish types but in the Norwegians. The tail
is curled but not wrapped as tight as the Norwegian type. Often
times carried slightly to the side as well. The ears should be
upright and should have plenty of cover inside for warmth. These are
double coat dogs, so handle extreme cold temperatures well.
He has never had his nails clipped, he requires zero maintenance. He
is a picture of health. He has ate raw food basically from day one,
started out as pup on a beaver his old dad hunted down. We feed raw
to all our dogs. Takoda has some incredible jaw strength, he is
standing here in the 67 lb range right now, just after breeding
season. He normally loses about 9 to 10 lbs during breeding, he just
is too busy to eat, and with this past season there were two females
here in heat, he had a much longer stretch, he did not get to mate
with Tora of course, but still runs and frets and doesn't eat just
the same as if he was able to. Normally he spends his time over 70
lbs of muscle. He carries virtually no fat to speak of. Stays lean
and muscular year round. He will muscle up now for a month or two
while he comes back to his normal weight.
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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Takoda is one of the few big Greys raised with full genetic
instincts and instinctive actions and behaviours intact. Nothing has
been trained out, we have allowed all his natural ability and
instinct behaviour to flourish, exactly as it would have 400 or 1000
years ago. He has been in contact with no person other than our
pack, and a few trips to the Vet for boosters and regular check ups.
I hold him and keep him in line at those examinations, he doesn't
want the vet to touch him, nor have anyone come near me, or him of
course, they are not wanting to come near him, though, so he needn't
worry.
His role is protection and security, he knows it, we let him do his
thing. He is the nicest dog we have to us, the most personable guy
you could possibly meet, yet be a stranger coming onto his turf and
he is a whole different animal. He has a strong heritage for many
centuries to protect the handler, the family, the pack from any and
all. He has this instinctively. He does this job to perfection.
You go hiking with this breed and you can relax, they know they are
to watch out for you, keep constant attention, nothing slips by an
Elkhound, they are air scent dogs and they constantly are monitoring
all around you. Takoda is a big boy, he is fast moving, likes to
range around me, checks in steady, but I know he is going in full
circles around me to be sure, nothing comes any direction.
If you happen to be a fox, coyote, or a big feral cat roaming up
from the park at night, if you cross into his turf, odds are high
you don't go home. He does not take lightly to other animals coming
into his turf. A big breeding male is something to see, these dogs
for years have been known to be dominant, they don't necessarily
tolerate other dogs well.
You don't need to leave all instincts running at full throttle like
we do with Takoda, you can socialize this breed to accept people and
be very social. All the pups from Takoda are socialized and very
nice to be around, easy to take anywhere, yet they all have the
ability to watch and pay attention right there, check out all the
pages on the pups, Tesla, Kona and Bruin, Shadow and Koda, our
daughters Male Jaegar, and others like Nanook, and Loki-Bear. There
are some great dogs featured on this site, people have been very
kind to us to stay in touch and send in updates on his pups. We are
very proud of his dogs and so are the owners, as they know full well
as we do they have a very unique and rare, highly sought after dog
that has been tested and proven over many generations.
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"Takoda, as a young Male Elkhound, wrestles with
me for the snow bone"
There are very few Swedish Elkhound Grey males in Canada, Takoda
is the prominent Elkhound of this Type. His pups, Loki-Bear, Bosco,
Nanook, Loki, Niko, Shadow, Koda and the two big brothers up in
MacKenzie, Kona and Bruin are all excellent representations of the
quality and outstanding traits that Takoda stamps on his male
offspring. Female's from Takoda are just as outstanding, with some
of the very best females in Canada currently from Takoda.
Most people don't get to see large Swedish Gray males in Canada,
they are not normally thought of when looking at Elkhounds, people
normally associate the Elkhound with the more popular "Norwegian
Grey". Both types have a long history, dating back thousands of
years, and Takoda brings forward all the qualities that have been
sought for centuries.
This is an outstanding male, and you can view his pups throughout
this site, see for yourself the quality of his pups, take a look at
the consistent traits he passes down, Nika and Kari are an excellent
example of consistent genetics. Nika is a full sister to Kari, yet
different litters. These are two of the best Swedish females in
Canada, they are big dark females, fully balanced, very stable,
polite well mannered females.
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Takoda, Male Elkhound 2009
You can view a larger image if you click the image
Takoda was bred for the deep snow regions. He moves effortlessly
through deep snow, his extra size allows him the freedom of motion
that gives him the advantage. Old World breeders knew that in the
deep snow regions it was easier and safer for the dogs with that
extra inch or so of height and length, and so the taller longer cast
Elkhound predominately ended up in those areas.
Takoda walks around most days with 70 or so lbs, he goes up and
down a few pounds depending on the time of year, breeding cycles
etc. but remains pretty constant. He is so active he carries no fat,
he carries less condition than the other dogs normally as he is
moving and constantly watching and on patrol. In the fall he starts
to beef up a bit for winter, packing on a few more pounds. This
winter will be exciting as he is coming into his prime this winter.
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Takoda and Merv Fall 2010 Bragg Creek, Kananaskis area
Takoda is without question, a one owner dog, he respects and
listens to all of us here, but he is my dog, friend and companion.
This dog would put his life on the line for mine at any time, no
thought of any thing else would occur. He would never leave in the
most dire of circumstances, has absolutely no fear of anything and
understands his role as a partner and protector with an uncanny
comprehension.
To experience a loyal dog in ones life, this is a great thing.
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Takoda helping train Tora, BigHorn Summer 2009
It's the perfect match up with Mia and Takoda, Mia basically
turns the training, or most of the aspects of training the pups over
to Takoda at around the 4-5 week mark, sure they are still nursing
and so on, but all the other stuff Takoda takes over. He has been
such a blessing with Tora, she is a handful, she is a strong
powerful young female, and Takoda has assisted me from day one with
her. When I need to train Tora something, I put her and Takoda
together, and using him to guide her, she catches on superfast.
He watches and pays attention to me, he is always checking in,
making sure we are communicating, he shows this to her, she
instinctively knows what he does, she is supposed to do. I can say
this much, training a pup with an older well trained dog is
dramatically easier. He also is more apt to be playing with the pups
and encouraging them to chase and hunt and track down, he will
entice them into chasing him, promote the prey drive with them, it's
fascinating to watch everyone join in.
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Takoda and Tora on watch, high country, BigHorn Region
Summer 2009
In times past dogs had a more active role, they played a bigger part
in our daily lives in terms of service, versus being just a
companion. They needed to be able to hunt, assist in getting the
winter food supply, keeping watch over the yard and making sure the
yard was safe, and the other stock didn't go for food to coyotes and
foxes, wolves and so on. The Elkhound has long been a keeper of the
gate, watching that no intruders come through that shouldn't and
Takoda has every old world quality present.
He works at our place, he has a serious role, he knows it and takes
it to heart. He watches and looks out for everything and anything,
nothing slips by him. Elkhounds make terrific watch dogs, he excels
at this, and passes this trait down to his pups. Everyone with one
of his pups will attest to that.
These are air scent dogs, I have witnessed Takoda many times stand
right up on his hind legs, stick his head up high and sniff the air,
run in larger circles till he catches the scent again, fascinating
to watch. This is a superb dog for hiking in the wilderness regions,
they can alert you to danger, long before you could possibly know.
It's been said many times by the old hunters that a good Male can
air scent for 3 miles. Meaning they can catch a scent of a Moose
beginning 3 miles away, follow that closer and closer, determining
the location and in the case of really good hunting dogs, already
begin to work toward the moving direction so as to get in front and
stop the game.
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Takoda - Full Grown Male - Winter of 2011
It has been a cold winter this year already, with tons of snow, we
are out on a trail hike here in February 8th, 2011, it's cold out,
probably been hanging around minus 20 for a about 3 days, going down
a bit colder at night. Tora and Mia I leave in the kennel now when
we go, they are close to coming in so it's just Takoda and I. My
hands get cold pretty fast trying to get a picture out here, and he
doesn't stand still for more than a second so it's tough getting any
good shots. I am having trouble keeping my batteries charged as well
in this cold.
He doesn't mind a bit, loves to run and moves around fast, if I had
my skiis on he would have just yarded me around down here. He is
pretty excited these days, he knows something is up, and he doesn't
like not being together with Mia, they have been together from day
one so he doesn't much like leaving her behind. He instinctively
knows there are pups coming, he is on alert to a higher degree these
days, not to say he relaxes at any time, but during this stretch he
is a moving machine.
He is a free and easy moving big fella now, strong as can be, he
see's something and I have the harness on, I better hang on because
when he hits the end he just digs in and pulls. He leans right into
the harness and gets down and really muscles along. I am letting him
pull these days, I have my skijoring harness and set-up, but I still
want to make a few changes to my gear, so when we go out now I
encourage him to pull all the time when we have the harness on. He
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Trying to get everyone lined up for a photo - Fall 2010
Before I could get these couple photos I had to get everyone lined
up and get them to quit fooling around, Tora and Mia were basically
settled in quick but Mela wanted to be over closer to me and she
knew that she wouldn't be getting that spot cause Takoda was in this
picture, and Tora wasn't about to move, so Mela is trying to move
around everyone and get over close without having any issue with
those two. Mia, she doesn't care, if Tora or Takoda want to scrap
over who gets close, she lets them. Mela is still very young in this
photo, basically only 6 months old and so she is still trying hard
to do exactly what she thinks I want her to do, all the while
keeping an eye on Takoda and Tora.
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Takoda, Tora, Mia, and Mela with Merv
Every things good. Mela settled in happy to be close in, Tora she
just sits right on Takoda if she pleases, she pushes her weight
around with no fear, Mia, she never moved once she sat down, and
Takoda, well the minute his head turns toward me he shows a great
deal of respect and his ears come down.
Tora and Mela are both full sisters, from different litters, both
from Takoda and Mia. Mela has a lot of Takoda that comes through,
she is tough like Tora, yet very respectful and polite.
The photos below are just for some fun, it just shows our little
escapade trying to get everybody focused and in the right spot, it
took a few photos for sure. |
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As you can imagine, lining up four dogs standing in front of
them is fairly easy, sitting amongst them creates some
rivalry and takes a few photos. |
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Especially if I am giving the command - by me - well to
them, that means by me, right by me, if they are not
touching me they are not in the right place. |
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The photos below are just for some fun, it just shows our little
escapade trying to get everybody focused and in the right spot, it
took a few photos for sure. |
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