Norwegian Elkhound - Kamia Kennels
I am in a fairly unique situation to share my views on the
Norwegian Elkhound. I have raised over the last decade some of the
very best Norwegian Elkhounds in North America. Here at Kamia
Kennels we still raise old world working Elkhounds. The ancient
lines that were family oriented full working and hunting dogs.
I
am shown here in the winter of 2016 with a few of my Norwegian
Elkhound females. I have Tekla and Tuva, Tora, Kalia, Kai and Kamp.
These are all spectacular working dogs with old blood lines, some
of the very best in the world.
Norwegian Elkhound breeders have been raising these dogs for
centuries. Hunters and hikers, Vikings and Kings all traveled the
Scandanavian regions with these great dogs.
There are more legends and tales of the Elkhound than any other
breed! This is one of the oldest breeds in the world with a fair bit
of history going back at least 4000 years.
The
photo to the right shows 3 Kamia Kennels Norwegian Elkhound females.
Kamp is shown in the middle with her two twins, Tuva and Tekla.
These three females are exactly what perfect Norwegian Elkhounds
should be.
These are powerful compact dogs built for rugged terrain. They
are close coupled so as to move effortlessly in mountain, bush and
bog areas. They can jump almost straight up as if on springs, going
over deadfall and logs and moving through brush and forest like no
other dog.
They have been used for centuries to travel this type of region
alongside thier handler and master, scouting for danger and
assisting in the hunt. They are the worlds greatest, and oldest
hunting dog. Used from the very beginning to hunt Moose.
Typically they have a dark mask, a stunning coat, which is a
double coat, a thick inner layer and an outer coat which has longer
guard hairs that can shed mud and water and snow off.
The
tail is tightly curled so no mud or snow gets stuck in it, feet are
well designed, not overly large, little space between toes, and
virtually never would an Elkhound have any issues with feet or legs.
There are little to no issues of any kind with Norwegian
Elkhounds. We have experienced none in any of our dogs or pups, no
eye problems, no feet, ear, nothing. The two female Norwegian
Elkhounds are half sisters, Kai and Tekla. Kai is a daughter of the
legendary Tora, and Tekla a daughter of our stunning Kamp. These two
girls are in my opinion two of the best Norwegian Elkhounds in North
America.
Dark ears with good covering, pointed and should
have the points slightly pointing in from the base. The head is a
very distinctive feature of the Norwegian Elkhound. It has a good
sized head, with a flat plane to the muzzle and head, muzzle should
be same length as the head. These dogs have big jaw power.
Make no mistake the bite strength of old world Elkhounds rival
dogs of much larger proportions. I have seen all of mine take large
Turkey drumsticks, turn them into licorice in seconds and eat them
whole. Kobe an amazing Norwegian Elkhound male, son of Tora
and Bram is shown to the right. Kobe lives in Alberta with Henry and
Elena, you can read about him throughout this site. Just one of
Tora's 17 big boys. The Norwegian Elkhound males like Kobe are about
23 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh in around 65 or so pounds.
Some are a bit smaller, some a bit larger.
These
dogs have a real fluid easy way about them. It's a fairly
distinctive gait they have and it allows them to travel rugged
terrain hour upon hour, day after day. I have hiked some of the
toughest regions in Canada in all seasons and have yet to see an
Elkhound not up to the task.
GAEDA is a lovely female we have who has produced some
outstanding young pups. We have a great litter on the ground as I am
putting this article together, it's February 9th, 2016. GAEDA is a
very showy female, super personality, and very fast and agile. A
really great example of a world class Norwegian Elkhound. She is
trouble free, causes no issues, has impeccable manners, extremely
smart and passes these traits down intact. She can hunt, she can
visit, she can defend her territory, she can do it all.
Females like GAEDA at full maturity can weigh around that 55 to 60
pound range. GAEDA is 60 pounds in this photo.
The inner coat is what keeps the Elkhound so warm in the winter.
Double coat dogs "Blow Out" or lose this inner coat each spring. All
of it comes in a very quick burst. If you brush for a week once it
starts it's all done for the year. Ashten has just finished the
first big brushing on Jaegar in this image. In the old days they
used to keep this and make yarn, then mitts. It's super warm, just
like wool. Other than the spring coat brushing, maintenance is very
easy on Elkhounds.
Norwegian
Elkhound puppies like those to the left, a litter from Tora and
Bram, are all born black. They slowly over weeks begin to lighten
up. Around the 2 1/2 week mark they will just start to open the eyes
and by 3 weeks will be working to see. Around that same time they
are moving pretty good and are able to stand and so on.
Elkhound females will have somewhere around 5 to 7 pups, I have
had litters up to 10. If the female is fed well all the pups are
going to
wean
very close to the same weights. I rarely have a kg difference at the
weigh-in at 7 weeks. We keep the pups with the females until 8
weeks, although she is barely feeding anything at that time, they
are practically weaned. We start feeding pups at 4 weeks. Elkhound
pups are extremely hardy, here they are sleeping outside day after
Christmas in Central Alberta, it's about -15 degrees Celcius. They
have access inside to the kennel but prefer outside.
As
you can see from the pups Tora has by weaning time they are all
getting to be pretty good sized rascals. Our big boys are sometimes
up to and just over 12 pounds. They are eating a good sized baseball
of ground meat three times a day as well as grabbing a little milk
that might be left by this time.
There is nothing more rewarding than having the ability to
provide a world class Norwegian Elkhound to a great family. Here the
two young Murray boys stand with their famous Elkhound Male Gunnar.
Gunnar comes from a long line of family dogs dating back as far as
the records go. He is from champion hunting stock, and champion show
dogs, world champion Elkhounds line up his heritage. But above all,
Gunnar like all other great Norwegian Elkhounds lives to please his
handlers. You will not find a better family dog than the Norwegian
Elkhound.
