Mia

Mia - 2015 - Founding Female, Kamia Kennels

Mia has passed on. She watches down the trails now from the big hill in the sky. She will be truly missed .

Mia - Famous Snow Dog

From day one we knew we had a fabulous Norwegian Elkhound female. She was a snow dog extraordinaire. She loved the snow and was a snow jumping rascal if there ever was one. We couldn't get her to come in. Tough as nails, handled the cold like you wouldn't believe. Always was outside.

 

IIn every breed all great lineages have a few truly awesome dogs that set a foundation for great dogs to follow. Old lines have tighter genetics, they carry forward traits easier, more intact as they are true to the roots. They haven't been messed with, watered down if you will. Mia was one of those. Her genetic make-up is extremely strong, she pulls back to her roots very hard. It's easy to spot her pulling those genetics in the pups she has, but also the grand pups she has.

 

 

 

 

One of the big reasons of course for the Kamia dogs to be such great dogs is the genetic make-up of Mia. The ability to hold true, take a look at Saga on the right, a granddaughter of Mia, Daughter of Jaegar. Saga and Mia could be the same dog.

 

 

We hope to illustrate the great time we had with Mia and also to share the awesome legacy of some outstanding pups, and grand pups this lovely female has produced for families .

 

 

 

 

 

Jay, Ashten and Mia, always best friends

Jay and Ashten both had a tremendous bond with Mia of course, as they were both home in school when she arrived. Mia spent hours out playing and spending time with the kids, she was game for any adventures. The snow time was especially fun for her, she always enjoyed the drifts and the snow banks and was a great companion.

She set the stage of course for both the kids to love the Elkhound. Mia was such a trouble free fun-loving pup, go anywhere, do anything female they really were excited about the potential to work with the Elkhounds for life. This was a great thing, they both became awesome handlers and Elkhound trainers. Both Ashten and Jay have an Elkhound, Jay has Kamp, and Ashten has Jaegar.

As I mentioned above the solid traits that Mia imparted to Tora, carried through of course to pups such as young Tallak. The young male with Ashten. Tallak is a son of Tora and Bram, a beautiful young Male.

Ashten and Jay have witnessed the lineage of Mia grow and develop and are excited to carry forward the great qualities that these dogs have and share with the families all the fun they can have with a companion Elkhound.

 

Mia set the stage for countless photos of Elkhounds in the snow

I probably have more images of Elkhounds with snow on the nose than anyone in the world. Definitely more images of Elkhounds in snow than anyone that is for sure. Mia set the stage for that of course, she was always sticking her head in some snow bank, checking out some smells under the snow. She was the supreme mouse hunter in the winter, better than all the other dogs that came after her even. She was the best in that with no equal.

We knew as she developed we were watching a beautiful Elkhound female develop. She was an awesome example of the perfect female her entire life and these early photos are precious as we see her in so many young pups today, they have so much to credit Mia with in the style and function, looks and ability.

Mia - Super Smart, An Ancient Carpenter Wood & Rock Working Elkhound.

I probably don't talk about it enough, but the ancient Elkhounds have been around wood and woodworking, lumber, logging and forest for every bit as long as they have been around Moose and Moose hunting. Even though they are super well known as the Moose Dog, every Scandinavian worked in the woods and with wood with his Elkhound. They are so in tune with wood, sawdust, working with it, any type of carpenter work. I am getting set to replace the flooring with a more suitable hardwood floor in these images below. Mia is right on board with that, out with this vinyl she says. I swear, she was able to read the tape, that's how smart she was! I was talking with her, showing her the tape, saying look here, see this, she is like you mean here? I told her go check that measurement, she goes down there, takes a look, comes back, says, you have to cut here, and puts her foot on the mark. Too Funny. I say, okay, we are good to go, gimme five!



She went on to work with me in every project I did. Constantly right with me, laid right under the ladders, picked up the pieces of cut lumber, hauled split wood out of the way, helped me dig fence holes, she loved that. Big fun time digging post holes she thought. If it was time to build something she was there.

to the left: Many years later when we moved here, tons of work to do, she worked side by side with me - here she is right involved in helping to select the rocks in the right order for the rock work, as a coastal Elkhound, she knew rocks. My cousin Phillip came out to assist Duke and I to get a great start, and Mia was happy to be involved. She was always a part of our construction.

Mia and Takoda, on watch from day one - Pals Forever!

It would be incredibly hard to find two dogs that bonded better than Mia and young Takoda. They were instant companions and friends. They had a bond that was very powerful. Hard to find again I am most certain of that. She was a very watchful female, and he immediately took to assisting and followed her lead. I am not 100% sure if he would have been as good at his role if Mia had not been so good a teacher. She was a perfect example for a young male to gain knowledge from.

 

 

Mia and Takoda, an inseparable pair

These two would go onto become inseparable companions for life. They were rarely apart unless I of course left one at home or something like that if I was traveling to a hike. But when they were home they were together 100% of the time.

 

 

 

 

They would become so in tune with each other. It's shortly after this photo that Takoda begins to really come into his own and assist Mia with the protection duties. Up to this stage she has been the leader she has guided him very well to this stage, she is ever protectful and always watchful and alert.

 

 

 

Mia, approaching Two

Mia is pictured to the left approaching two years of age. She was always a great looking female, but by the time she was approaching two she was stunning. An absolutely beautiful young female Norwegian Elkhound. She had all the characteristics that make a great Elkhound. She was always exactly dead on the breed standard for conformation but she also carried with her all the instinctive traits. As an old coastal lineage female she was very territorial. She always had a deep instinct of exactly what was her territory and she kept it. It wasn't long after this photo I was out one day, she was roaming the yard, I remember clearly this larger lab coming down the road.
Takoda was in the gated pen, so was not out with her that afternoon. Mia met that dog at the gate, I never said anything, it wanted to come in the drive, she was not going to allow it, never caused a scene but never allowed it to come in. It was a very good sign for me, I know the dominance, the confidence she had, the ability to watch for out her territory was instinctive. It was not a trained response but one of deep ability. It's on days like that you get to see the ancient traits and instinctive skill. Over the years she showed me time and time again her wide range of instinctive abilities.

 Mia, pack mentality was extremely strong
Mia had superior pack mentality. She taught all our dogs, different litters, combined at times, all of this superior quality. She had this way about her to play and instruct even as she was on her last litter. She still exhibited the exact same play and fun time with Nola her last female pup as she did with Lexi her first female.

This image she is playing some sort of game with Nola, they are having a fun time, Takoda he is having a battle of wits with young Finn. Many is the time I saw young Finn a grandson of Mia and Takoda walk in, totally calm, steady as can be, ignoring the warnings from Takoda and just calmly take a bone, and burn off. Takoda trying to get him to realize, some places you don't just walk into, but Finn didn't worry, he knew he wouldn't get hurt. Tora of course in the background with Cinder and Freyja, she has a litter at the same time, ahead of Mia actually, so her pups are slightly bigger this time. In a previous litter both Mia and Tora had pups only days apart. They each helped out nursing either litter, lots of times after the pups were old I would catch Mia with 10 nursing, and turn around a while later and catch Tora with 10. Mia had 3 , Tora 7, the pups thought, hey this is awesome. So this instinctive behavior makes for some truly astounding family dogs.

Mia has a new friend, GAEDA
Mia was probably as happy to see GAEDA as anyone. Finally she had a friend who was easy going, nice to be around, a Norwegian no less. She was immediately a good friend to GAEDA. The other great thing is GAEDA did not mind her spot in the pack. This was great for Mia, as of course Tora did not like her spot, she wanted Mia's. So over the years the bond with GAEDA and Mia continued to grow.

Mia did not establish the same friendship level with Kamp
Even though Kamp came as a pup, then she was away with Jay at school, but returned often, Mia never was able to establish a really good connection with Kamp. Sure they got along and managed to co-exist, but never had the close friendship that she gained with GAEDA. Kamp is in a tough spot, she doesn't really like her position in the pack. She really would like it to change, but it's impossible to change. She functions really well with Jaegar, and has a good relationship with the others, but if she forgets her rank, then she ends up in trouble from the rest. Mia always outranked Kamp and so this was always just a bit of a bone of discontent between them. Mia got along much better with Kamp's pups than Kamp. She had a great time with Tekla, Tuva, never an issue.

 

Mia as does any Elkhound, loved the river running
Mia was always happy to go on the river runs. I believe it's an ancient ritual that Elkhounds have had for centuries when the rivers and the fjords would freeze over and they could run them. It's like a super highway for an Elkhound. They can see for miles on the rivers of course, and when it freezes on top of the snow its super hard. Rarely do they break through the crust. Nice to cruise on. With Elkhounds it is very easy to see what they like, and what they don't. If it relates to snow, they always liked it. You can see these are some happy hikers.

 

Mia - Stubborn in the yard, NEVER on the trail!
Some of the Norway lines they can be a bit stubborn. Mia was like that. However all that stubborn nature ended on the trail. The minute we left the yard it was all business with her. She was never out of range, never would I have to call or look for her, she was near and about the entire time.

Because of females in heat, and also having to hike Jaegar as well as Takoda, in all reality, I went on more hikes with Mia than Takoda. In fact, I have been on more hikes with Mia than any other dog simply because she came practically every time. Some days I would take multiple trips with dogs, she came every time. I attribute the communication in the pups to Takoda, but the ability to work in the remote country, no one has anything on Mia, nor will they.

Nola and Mia - Peas in a pod
So going forward for us is exciting. We have lots to look forward to, many more stories to share on Mia. She stands here with Nola, her last female pup, last litter she had. Nola will have a litter once we get organized, most of you know that Nola is down in Montana helping to keep the raccoons and cougars out of the yard for Linda and Darrell.

She came for a visit last summer and these two had a fun reunion. Mia was happy she came to see her.

GAEDA - One last gesture for her old friend.
So many things a person could take for granted. A person really needs to stop and relax, look around. I was on one of the last hikes I had with Mia, there were lots of the girls along, but GAEDA she could sense something amiss. She stayed around her old friend, not going with the others. Sitting when Mia rested, always close by. A very good friend, no doubt. I got this photo at the lookout spot that Mia usually liked to stop and watch from. What luck I was behind that day, what luck for taking the camera, some things meant to be.

 It's pretty neat for me that on the xmas tree rug in the living room last night while I am writing this December 21, 2015, I put 3 Grandsons and 3 Granddaughters of Mia on it around a little Xmas tree. Her old friend GAEDA had one last gesture of respect for her, she brought out a few little white feet rascals along with her usual black footed fatsos. Good for her. It's fitting that GAEDA and Jaegar are the pair to have the first new set of Grand pups since she has been gone. I am very happy for GAEDA and Jaegar.

We will all miss Mia, but all is well. There are some New Great Elkhounds to come from the Mia genetics yet my Friends!