GÆDA has her first new litter, 5 very healthy puppies
Female Elkhound GÆDA with 5 new puppies 1 day old - August 15th, 2012
GÆDA and Takoda have mated up to produce 5 outstanding old world Elkhound pups. 3 males and 2 females, a very healthy litter. These little guys are crashed out already, just flat out sleeping they have been eating getting big fat bellies already, look at that little guy fast asleep over her leg, too funny. She is a really good female, very focused on these little guys to be sure. She has them clean and shiny, she figures she is going to show Tora a thing or two about how you do this.
This is fun having a new female with her first litter again, they always fuss and make a big deal over the first litter, spend way more time making sure everything is just clean as a whistle, not a hair out of place, she is really good. GÆDA is so limber and agile she was basically licking their face off before they were even out on some of them, and these rascals, they are funny as well, you can spot Takoda and GÆDA's traits immediately. They come out squirming around and ready to go for sure, already agile. One of the females I was going to slide her over around to GÆDA's front and I grabbed her and she spun around up on her feet like, her belly and lifted her head up, I am like whoa, hang on there girl, she was only a couple minutes old, I was laughing, too funny. These are some agile pups, fast moving and full of life, a very good bunch!
GÆDA came and it seemed to snow steady
This winter we seemed to get tons of snow, when she came it was snowing pretty much every time I went to get a picture. She was a little shy when she came, nice and pleasant but shy. She was also a little under muscled for my liking, I though tend to prefer a bit more condition than most. She is a smart dog though, and she had a good , actually really good foundation of obedience training, however some where in her early life it was rough, she was hand shy, and not at all comfortable around anything in your hand.
We would work all through that with her, she got over that pretty fast, she came around quickly to trust and over time became comfortable with pretty much anything, but the lawnmower, or things like that, she pretty much won't change in regards to that I imagine. Those experiences the breeder needs to set the pups up better, we focus on making sure the pups are comfortable with all things, early in life, weeks old basically, so they don't have these things later, or to a much lesser degree, her pups will be just fine as she is all calm and easy going now, and we will work to be sure the pups are well adjusted. But the breeder that had her didn't pay attention is my guess.
Elkhound Female GÆDA getting conditioned in the mountains
The conditioning program we run is for the most part always done in the winter, you can truly work an Elkhound then. You can't in the summer, it's just too hot, they can't work to capacity without overheating, so we do most if not all the conditioning and build up in the winter, then maintain throughout the summer. GÆDA is shown here out with me in the West country, it was some rough terrain we like to go and train in, lot's of up and down, rugged trails and such, it's a major workout for them, and me, unfortunately, or fortunately which ever way you look at it.
GÆDA turned out to be an excellent bush dog, ranging was just fine, she did range further than I like but was consistent and her recall is first rate, she always will stay near if you ask, never a question, and never have to repeat a command, a real sharp mountain dog. Her bouncy nature, agility, the light on her feet characteristics are nice to watch in the bush. She can keep up with everyone just fine right out of the gate, however no one really keeps up with Takoda, but she worked hard to stay close, no doubt.
Takoda and GÆDA
Any time a female can keep pace with Takoda, you know you will have a tired girl. His stride, his stamina, the deep chest, it's just a tough deal to keep up with, as you can see she is game, right with him, tongue out, no foolin, she is not slack when it comes to work.
She is a very pleasant female to work with, she never pushes her weight around, more of a polite female, quite a contrast to Tora that way, Tora of course though has been babied from day one by me, so she comes by it naturally. The mountain hikes give you insight into lot's of things about the nature of your dog, it gives you an idea of what natural abilities have been retained, or if some things have been slowly lost through breeding. In GÆDA's case, sure there are some aspects of the old world lines that are not front and centre, but they are there nonetheless, they just take a bit of coaxing to come out.
Her forays out helped her to bring those old traits and instincts back out, she will never have the instincts of Tora or Takoda when it comes to full protection, but she definitely has enough left that combined with Takoda they all come right back to the forefront, and her ranging and mountain work was excellent, so the pups will be first rate, as good as all of Tora's pups in pretty much all aspects, even superior in some ways due to Takoda.
Late April Snow
We had a late April snowfall and I took this photo, I wanted to put it in, as I have a photo pretty much from the same spot just today, mid August, so before the snow comes again in September, I wanted to share that we at least have green grass and tree leaves for a few months.
Elkhounds of course are snow dogs, so you don't need to worry, they have a blast, sure they like the summer, but the winter is their time to be sure.
Early Spring Hiking with Elkhound Female GÆDA
We had some great hikes to the high country this spring, GÆDA, she likes it up high. She is a sharp attentive female, yet very personable, much like Takoda in that respect, here she is still back with me, I haven't told her to stay by me, but she is just hanging around, watching the others cruise, she will follow along shortly, but is a nice female, sticks around just a little longer, likes to be around, these are good traits, especially in remote terrain.
A dog that's gone instantly, and is gone too long, and never sticks around is no good in the bush, those traits are not what I want, so traits that GÆDA has exhibited on these hikes are old world traits, those that have been bred for throughout. Elkhounds are renowned for bush and high country work, and she is a perfect example of the dogs that have traveled with the handlers through rugged regions for centuries.
Takoda and GÆDA - Elkhound Pair
We have been fortunate to have good dogs, too be clear. You can't have good pups without good mating pairs. The mating pairs need to compliment each other, not take away traits. This is a pretty good pair, from the first interaction these two had, I knew this is a good matchup. They are very similar in many respects, the communication and recall is excellent, something I am very fond of, even more today than ever. Recall could potentially be one of the most important aspects you'll ever require in the back country, as most of you have read my wolf story, you know, recall basically is what saved my butt.
These two get along in the bush, think along the same lines, hang out together, it was pretty neat right from the start when she came she was able to bond up with Takoda, no doubt it has a bit of a reason because Mia and Tora are so close, and somewhat pushy, so GÆDA just naturally hung out more with Takoda. When dogs work together it's much easier to spot if they combine, versus working with one dog, then working with another, having them together makes it easier.
Muscled in, lean and mean by green grass time
We can see here, GÆDA is a different dog, she is muscled in, hips much stronger, front shoulders muscled out, she is lean and filled in, strong and a very lithe female, not as full all out muscled as Tora or Mia, but just as powerful in her own way. She has way more confidence as well, gone is the shyness, she can hold her own around these two any time now, handed them both a few new scars, got a few back, she does just fine, doesn't take any guff. She really turned out nice, a sharp looking female, more grey than silver of course, but still very very sharp.
She has a great stance, her posture is always good, her feet well placed, stands even. Of course she doesn't have the real old world flat belly I prefer, but it's not too bad, she will never change that, her genetic lineage is just slightly different. Her lineage is not as of the old easy keepers, she doesn't maintain her condition quite as simple as these other two, however it's no detriment to her, it's just she will stay a bit leaner, you'll never see a heavy GÆDA.
By Summer full confidence
We had young Jaegar here for the summer, Ashten finished University in Guelph and so is here working in Alberta for the summer and stays here. Jaegar he is a confident, big brashy fella, no foolin, he is 68 lbs of lean cocky young male Elkhound. Well, it's always a great thing to have a young male around a shy female to build up her confidence. He is like any young male he will just go rushing in without thinking, he just figures hey, big fun time, well young GÆDA, she had gotten all her confidence by early summer, she wasn't putting up with anything by this time he came home.
So, don't you know, that the fastest way to train a young Male not to rush headlong into a zone where a female Elkhound, who has a brand new belly full of pups to grow is eating a bone, or having some lunch, let's face it, he was outta there. GÆDA she doesn't share, she learned that real fast from Tora. Once she was bred, good gracious young Jaegar he would sometimes forget and just go trotting on up to her dish while she was eating, he wolfs his down way before anyone of course, so didn't he get a few surprises.
Females never, if ever give a male a warning, not like the other way around, no, females they are out to hand out a scar, and make it perfectly clear the first time, do not mess with my dish, no warning, no nothing, they are out to teach a lesson, and they are not to be messed with. Young Jaegar, unfortunately he found out how fast, how quick, and how agile GÆDA is to be sure.
Summer Show Dog GÆDA
We have seen Gaeda become an outstanding female. Here in the first part of July, she is a beauty. You can expect some really great looking females, and males of course to grow from this litter of 5 Elkhound pups. She has all the qualities of a great female, she is attentive, catches on fast, she doesn't cause trouble, yet doesn't shy away. She is a great watch dog, she is sure to bark and let me know something is out of line, I wouldn't doubt for a second right now, if something strayed in and Takoda needed a hand, she would gladly step in to help.
Her and Tora, they get along terrific, she fits in well with all the others now just as if she has been here all along. She is relaxed and at home, a confident excellent female.
No rest for Takoda
We have to put this couple photos in, ole Takoda, he knows his new litter is here today. He can hear them, and smell them. He sits out at the kennel, not the place to be cruising around unless your suicidal to be sure. He tolerates no strangers, and when pups are on the ground, ramp that up!
Takoda he has instincts that run at full throttle, we have asked him to tone down nothing, everything runs at full tilt. This is way too much for most people, you don't have to leave the instincts run at this level, it's easy to tone them down, he has all the abilities to run there at any level, however, we let him and that's what we wanted from him.
Too many people just let their dogs run around, cats run loose, people stray right into your belongings, you gotta wonder, well, we don't have any issues with stray dogs, cats or other for that matter, pound for pound, the Elkhound has been known for centuries, they can handle their turf. I can remember way back as young boy, I was out in the yard doing donuts on my banana bike, wearing out the back tire, a stray crossbred, I knew the dog, he came from a farm a few miles away, he came in, he had been running around. He was bigger and heavier than King, our Elkhound, but as a young boy I witnessed my first serious dog fight. It was wild. It happened so fast I didn't have time to move, this dog came running into the yard, basically coming right toward me and wham, he got hit in the side and King threw him all over the place, had him down, then he was up, then down, then around and around, he was tearing him up something fierce.
The noise was nuts, I couldn't even move, just about crapped my pants, it seemed like forever, probably wasn't that long, but sure seemed like forever and King was pinning him down and shaking him around by the neck and finally this dog scrambled and scrambled to get loose and King chased him to the edge of the road and I am like, whoa, nuts, just nuts. King he comes back, basically just like nothing happened, sniffed around me and went about his day.
One thing for sure I learned way back then, when it comes to territorial and watching the yard, you better be a pretty rank dog to wander in not invited where an old world Elkhound Male watches.
3 Males, 2 Females, Ancient Old World Elkhounds - GÆDA and her first litter
GÆDA, she rests inside here with her new litter, I took this photo only hours after the last rascal came, she is relaxed, looking after them, nothing to worry about she knows Takoda prowls close by. Tora's bunch, across the room, they are making some noises now, but it's pretty quiet yet, so it's very peaceful in the kennel. GÆDA she is particular, she won't lay on the blankets, she likes to pile them up as an edging or something, almost like a little nest, she had a nest built outside of course, but I didn't let her use it, good thing, as it rained sure as heck.
So, your looking at some seriously good pups and it's very fitting for her that she picked this time to have them, as she herself has become a new female her own new beginning if you will, so here is an old saying, one that goes back to very ancient times. These 5 pups were born a day or so before the dark of the moon, this is a time for rebirth, a time for new beginnings. The old breeders have known for many centuries, good stock always comes from those born on the dark of the moon, either side a few days. The best dogs, the best livestock, you can be sure, many of the very best were born in the dark of the moon.