Jamthund Master Breeders Jani and Satu in Jonesuu Finland

Jani and Satu - Master Breeders - Our Gracious Hosts And New Friends Joensuu Finland

I I am here at the home of my great new friends Jani and Satu. They are master breeders of Jamthunds. I am forever indebted to them for the assistance and help they gave me, the friendship and hospitality when my brother Dale and I traveled over to Finland. I went over of course to pick up my new Jamthund Female, Aina. I have a full story on Aina our new Jamthund Female here.

Satu and Jani are the breeders of Rico. I had contacted Satu to enlist her expert assistance in finding me a champion female Jamthund pup. I initially was hoping to get one from her kennel but the timing was not too be. She graciously offered to help me find another breeder of high quality and relay my thoughts and information to get a pup that was going to fit what I was after.

I was wanting to find the best possible mate to Rico, as he was the male I was going to use with the new female if possible. As the quality of Rico is so outstanding I was hoping that Satu and Jani would have a new female for me.

Satu and Jani live in the Karelian district of Northern Finland. When Dale and I arrived in Helsinki we rented a great little SUV built in Russia and traveled north. To get to Satu and Jani's home the route takes you north along the border with Russia. We traveled up past the turn to St. Petersburg and traveled north about 6 more hours. I thought about Ragnar as we past the turn to St. Petersburg, he is over toward the big city of Moscow with Barbara.

Finland is a truly beautiful country, it is amazingly clean and well kept. The forests, the roads, the cities and towns, truly all beautiful and well managed. I'll come back and discuss the country more in a bit.

So Satu and Jani have an awesome place out in the countryside, Jani is an incredible builder. He is in construction and had built his own home, his out buildings, all extremely well done. What a great contractor he would have been for me to have over here helping me out last couple years.

Now Satu had a litter of pups on the ground when we arrive, all terrific little rascals, true hunting Jamthunds, no doubt about it. Absolutely awesome pups. Looking at those pups I was immediately thinking of young Bane, Lexie, Koda, Kari and Syn, pretty well splitting images.

These pups are from Hile, Rico's Mom. She is a stunning female and raises of course, the very best of the Jamthund dogs, no doubt.

As I had wanted a pup to mate to Rico, unfortunately this particular litter would not have worked for me in that regard. They are of course the very best Jamthund a person could wish for though, make no mistake about that.

Satu and Feija - Finnish Beautiful Champion, Finnish Bear Champion, Finnish Moose Champion

Now when it comes Jamthunds in the world there are few like Feija. This is a very famous Jamthund in Finland. I most likely will not see as good a dog again in my time, if I do, I will be very lucky. My hope and goal of course is to have Aina as close to Feija as possible, and to raise little Feija's with Rico and Aina.

Feija is the grandmother of Rico. So the possibility is very real. Exciting isn't it?

I can not begin to explain the committment to the breed these two have. Incredible. They have so much knowledge and can speak about all the qualities, the traits the features with such ease. I am so indebted to them both for sharing so much with us.

As many of you know, the Jamthund is a very ancient dog, probably the oldest, for sure the originator of all spitz breeds. These Jamthunds that Satu has are extremely pure old stock, the basis of the breed basically, the starting point of the Jamthund association really, as her dogs can be traced back to the beginning.

Aina can as well, so it's very fitting to have Rico and Aina working as a team. Now for centuries these beautiful dogs have been used to hunt, both Moose and Bear. As a lot of folks will tell you the Karelian region is home to another great breed, the Karelian Bear dog, a Finnish treasure. The Karelian bear dog has nothing on these dogs at all. Feija is a true working bear champion, and Satu and Jani, they are experienced hunters. They don't just talk about it, they are doing it, each season.

I can guarantee I won't see anything this spectacular again!

I was completely stunned when I began to study the awards, the trophies and the certificates that Jani and Satu have achieved over the years. Now I put a great deal of time into my dogs, I have a passion for working with my Elkhounds, but the display of recognition that I witnessed at this home was beyond belief.

The amount of time, the amount of effort, the skill, not to mention the quality of dog you have to have. They are competing with the worlds best, not just random Elkhounds, Finland, Sweden, Norway, this is the homeland of this breed.

Another thing we in North America don't really have a full appreciation for is the working aspect of it. The champion dogs all have to win in the working environment. The dog has to prove he can hunt in the field. Not only do they have to attend show settings like the one we attended in Joensuu, but they have to attend to the hunting trials.

Can you believe it? Wow. For me, my head was shrinking. I always walk around with a fat head about my dogs, but to see the committment to excellence that these two put forth was truly an awe inspiring feeling. I know how hard it is to find all the time to just work the dogs. I couldn't imagine the time it takes to get them ready to show and be in top form at so many events. I don't have 1 single award and I think I have the best dogs ever, this is a mind blower.

I know there are a few of you thinking, sure good thing Merv you don't have any awards we couldn't live with your fat head, too funny.

The trophies and the recognition for the excellence continued around the house. I was truly humbled by the dedication to the Jamthund breed Satu and Jani have. When I think of a great breeder or advocate for the breed I had really only envisioned something like this, with no real concept of the total dedication some put forth.

Raising good dogs is one thing, really devoting the entire time to being the absolute best you can be and proving it is quite another. Getting recognition like this does not come without the fear of not winning. They did not just take the first dog and win. Let's face it you and I both know that. But they have the courage to put the dog out there knowing that the critical judging is going to take place, good or bad for them.

So they are truly courageous as well for actually getting out there and doing it. That alone is a feat of some great magnitude as this is multiple dogs, many many shows, miles and miles of travel and getting ready and preparation.

For me, I have nothing but the highest level of respect for Satu and Jani, they are Jamthund Breeders my friends!

To have Satu assist me in finding Aina is like the greatest thing ever. I have been lucky many times in life, but having her assist me in finding a great Jamthund, I pretty much won the lotto. Ossi is a very awarded breeder, a good friend of Jani and Satu, they know his dogs well. So with a recommendation for this pup from them, nothing else was needed. And now you know why I am fully confident in saying that the little Jamthund female Aina, who is here now in Canada to assist in getting the Jamthund well established here is the best possible female for the job. With Rico handling the other half of the equation, Satu and Jani's years of experience and committment to the best in him, well, no words really large enough to describe the awesome Jamthunds to come in North America.

Read More About Aina, our Swedish Elkhound