Elkie1

We can always organise an elky meet :D I am in Mount Colah. Are you anywhere close? Odin-Genie, We are going to be at the Christmas show on the 19th December. Hopefully our newest elkie member, SUGEE76 can join us at Erskine Park, you should bring Odin around to see his sister and brother There will be a a few elkies there that I'm aware of Cepercat and Ratty500 will be there I'm sure they told me on the weekend. So a few will be there. Show starts at 4pm I think. If you want I can email you the information Maybe even convince Saral to bring Elky

No problem a day that would not be so hot - there is an evening show at Erskine Park on the 19th December we will be there and I know of possable some other elkies going to be there. Great show that is

Hello again SUGEE76, How is your puppy going? I hope he is doing very well. Will have to one day come around to a show so we can meet him

deelee - I'm also thinking of collecting all my elkies undercoat as they shed and find someone who may be able to spin it Maybe have a pair of elkie fur socks for winter I think they spin it with Alpacha wool as it is finer then sheep wool... something like that I think

thank you mm but I am already aware of all this and have already read all this and many more of potential health problems with the elkhound. and I know your not having ago at me. - As I said if we need to go further with testings we will. I can tell you now, I am not one of those breeders whith their "heads in the sand" I know of potential health risk as I asked the first breeder we got our first elkhound from and am always in conversation with fellow elkhound breeders on health and on the breed. - The main concern with elkhounds in Australia is renal failer. years ago there was a case of HD is Australia but all puppies were PTS and those elkhounds bred from were never used in any Australian breeding stock again. If we ever imported an elkhound. We would surly have them tested as the incident started with an import so I am very particular with that. I'm just going to let this all rest now and answer question of people who are interested in the breed. - not saying that you are not interested in the breed

Just to say Odin-Genie for your comment.

They can be hard to get with only a few breeders about. On averages an elkhound is around $900. (That's what the majority of the breeders I have spoken to will sell a puppy for) Thanks for answering all the questions! I need have to have a good think about Elkies!!! Gorgeous, affectionate, good guard dog, loyal kid pal. What else could I want?! A foot warmer in winter? ;)

They can be hard to get with only a few breeders about. On averages an elkhound is around $900. (That's what the majority of the breeders I have spoken to will sell a puppy for)

If you do get an elky we could have an elky meet since you are in Sydney too!!! Dont tempt me! I am being such a fickle tart in my breed choosing! I especially like the fact that they have less fur than most spitz breeds (who I am a sucker for ). My main concern is that everyone keeps emphasising the huge amount of exercise they need. My last dog was a high energy crossbreed who, when she was a pup, I needed to walk a minimum of an hour a day. She could go for a 40 min run with my OH, crash for about half an hour and want to go again! We had to limit how often she did that because she just got fitter! Is that the kind of energy level you guys are talking about? Or is it worse? Also what are they like with kids? Are they affectionate? Very dominant? (oh oh, here I go again... ) Is that the kind of energy level you guys are talking about? Or is it worse? It depends on the individual. As puppies they can be non-stop. As an adult, they will settle in their own routine. I have one very out going little puppy who never stops. Two girls who love nothing best but to sit by your side all day. A very lazy boy named Mishka ;) and two very loony girls who are in very large dog runs and would barrel you over if you were not careful. Also what are they like with kids? Are they affectionate? Very dominant? They are wonderful with kids. I have a puppy, now a year old who lives with two young boys. The dog (Elka) is very gentle with them. She hates it when the boys are nowhere to be seen, she even sleeps in the bedroom with them.

Oooh, Elkie1- can I have one of your Elkies? I am supposed to have narrowed down my breed choice butI have to admit I love the look of Elkies. Of course you can ;) Warning though, they are like tim tams, you can never stop at one

From personal experience, My sister has a cross bred dog who gets along with all my elkies. My recent little puppy (5 months of age) loves nothing better then to play with all his puppy friends in sweepstakes We also have a bitch, socialised the same way all our elkies have been but since she had a urine infection as a young puppy, around the time when a dog lashed out at her and resulted in her splitting her ear open, she will not get along with anyother dog now. She is happiest on her own. But she loves greeting people in the comfort of her own enviroment. From purely personal experience my elkhound is excellent with other dogs. He wrestles and chases dogs that want to play, leaves those alone who don't want to play. Most people in the dog park comment on his good doggy manners. He is very gentle with puppies and smaller dogs and often sits down in front of them to make them comfortable, but at the same time he is never submissive. If any dog gets too boistrous, he just walks away. He has the best possible temperament I could have asked for. You know, Hannah also has a fantastic temprement. I would love if all my elkies had her temprement. She's just lovable and will sit with you all day. If she could lay on the lounge and watch TV with you she would. right now she is sleeping in my room as she has an eye infection. She is on antibiotics and may not begoing to Spring fair. But their is always another show. Her health is more inportant than a show. She will see the vet for an examination tomorrow.

Actually, Odin is now perfectly fine with chicken. But he can't digest beef and pork. I give him lamb bones. that's great to hear, now he can enjoy the yummy tast of chicken. He seem to now take after his uncle Taz

I do health check my dogs before breeding and I do think it is important. Excellent! Glad to know you are one of the NE breeders in Oz who take the health of the breed seriously. What tests do you do on your dogs? In my breed we do hips, elbows, eyes and often cardiac & thyroid. What do you feel is important for your breed? eta: Oh yeah, how long have you been breeding? All our elkhounds have a yearly all round thorough checkup by the vet, they also get a health check before we plan on going ahead with any mating. There hips are examined - not tested , their eyes, their heart rate ( as one of our bitches came from a litter which had a puppy born with a heart murmer), breathing but mostly basic routine health checks. But if requiered would no doubt do any further testing on our dogs if it was in the best intetest for them. We have a very close relationship with our vet and they personally know our dogs very well. They have given all our dogs the all clear in health. As for how many years I have been breeding. I have owned Norwegian Elkhound for 5 years now. done lots of research on the breed before we got our first. Was very selective with our second. We started show 5 years ago and was told to breed our bitch at 18 months of age with a certain dog. I believe the bitch was not raeady to be mated and planed for her to be mated at 2 years of age. The dog we planed on using first off became in my thought an undesirable match to her and so we used another dog. We have had three litters and started breeding elkhounds in 2007. Odin-Genie owns one of my puppies from the first litter,we own the only bitch, one went to Victoria and the last puppy went to another member of Odin-Genies family. 2nd litter, we used the dog we didn't use for the first mating to a differend bitch and had 5 beuftiful puppies. 2 oh which went to the in-laws of Rachelbuck. one of which went to a young boy with autisum. 3rd litter we had 6 puppies and lost two. the vet was in contact with us all through the development of the litter if we were to loos a third, all dead puppies would have went away for test. At that time, a virus was going around my area killing whole litters of puppies. Fortunatly, the remaning 4 survived. We show the two boys and the two girls went to Victoria. All puppies are health checked (basic all over vet check - unless the vet requiers further evaluation) within 24 hours of birth and again at 6 weeks before we take any deposits. If the puppy does not seem well or moving as one should, we will imediantly have the vet do a check up on the puppy. We will never sell a puppy we don't think is healthy to a prospective buyer as I would not want to receive an ill puppy myself. All puppies we have had are all very healthy and doing very well (from last contacts with owners) I have always told the new owners of our puppies if there is something wrong, we'd like to know. if they have a question don't hesitate to ring or email or even ask. I love nothing better then to know that the puppies we have produced are doing fine in which they are. (from last contacts with owners) ETA - The dog we are using next for stud had his kidneys tested in October ths year and came back fine.

I do health check my dogs before breeding and I do think it is important. I will not breed a dog/bitch that is unfit for breeding in any way, shap or form.

This statement is a bit harsh don't you think? Where is the proof that only 3 maybe 4 breeders do testing? with this statement, you are publicly attacking other fellow elkhound breeders - This is a public forum Are you serious elkie1? Norskgra didn't attack anyone. She was letting people know that some breeders don't test and that is a VERY important point to share with prospective puppy buyers/Elkhound fanciers. Telling the truth isn't "harsh". I think Norskgra should be thanked for sharing this information. We'll in that case, maybe she should have wrote "To my knowledge" That's obvious, isn't it? I always appreciate those who know a breed well sharing about health and what testings should be done for their breed. It lets buyers know to be informed and to make wise decisions when choosing a breeder/puppy. I don't understand why you are jumping her in this thread elkie1. How about embracing your fellow breeder for her dedication to health instead of scolding her for no reason? I don't understand why you are doing that. Just so you know, I am fine with the way she has it now. Sometimes you may think your post is fine, but you need to read over it to see if maybe it is going to be taken the wrong way by some people. Everyone interprates things differently to others. - ETA I was not the only one who felt is was an attack on other elkhound breeders. I am fine with the way it is rewritten quoted below.

Unfortunantly that is one of their bad traits as the elkhound barks to alert the hunter to the prey (Elk, Bear, Deer) - it is built into them - . The elkhound is quite an intelligent dog and you can teach the elkhound not to bark. Infact, mine only bark at the postman or anyone coming into the property who should not be their. Although quiet most of the time at home, If there is a reason to bark they will bark. funny though, two of mine never bark at shows and are probably the most quiet elkies at any show however, their mother barks at shows all the time.

Wolfsong, when is the calendar going to be ready

Another thing Norwegian Elkhounds can suffer from is sebaceous cysts. Luckily only one of mine has had one, and was easy to remove. In experience, some elkhound can be allergice to different foods. an elkhound I know is allergice to beef products and Odin-Genie, Odin is allergice to Chicken products.

From personal experience, My sister has a cross bred dog who gets along with all my elkies. My recent little puppy (5 months of age) loves nothing better then to play with all his puppy friends in sweepstakes We also have a bitch, socialised the same way all our elkies have been but since she had a urine infection as a young puppy, around the time when a dog lashed out at her and resulted in her splitting her ear open, she will not get along with anyother dog now. She is happiest on her own. But she loves greeting people in the comfort of her own enviroment.

This statement is a bit harsh don't you think? Where is the proof that only 3 maybe 4 breeders do testing? with this statement, you are publicly attacking other fellow elkhound breeders - This is a public forum Are you serious elkie1? Norskgra didn't attack anyone. She was letting people know that some breeders don't test and that is a VERY important point to share with prospective puppy buyers/Elkhound fanciers. Telling the truth isn't "harsh". I think Norskgra should be thanked for sharing this information. We'll in that case, maybe she should have wrote "To my knowledge"

1. What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc) Show and breed Norwegian elkhound 2. Where and why was the breed first developed? Information taken from my website www.halgroveelkhounds.net The History The Norwegian Elkhound is a very ancient breed, having been developed over 6,000 years ago to help early Scandinavians hunt big game such as moose and bear. Remains of dogs remarkably similar to the modern Elkhound have been found in grave sites such as the Viste Cave in Jæren, Norway, where they were dated as far back as 4000–5000 BC. Archaeological digs in Scandinavia suggest this breed existed and was domesticated in the Stone age. At the end of the 19th century the breed came to England, and in 1901 the The Kennel Club officially recognised it. For many years, the Norwegian Elkhound was considered the oldest of all dog breeds, going back further than 6,000 years. Recent DNA analysis suggests, however, that several "ancient" breeds have been "recreated in more recent times from combinations of other breeds" (Ostrander et al., 2004). The researchers found "genetic evidence for a recent origin of the Norwegian Elkhound, believed to be of ancient Scandinavian origin". But this study only includes 85 of the world's more than 400 dog breeds, omits many primitive lineages, and clusters the breeds together into just four major groups called clades. Nevertheless, some researchers say that the Norwegian Elkhound is a descendant of the ancient "primitive" Pariah Dog that existed 4,000–7,000 years ago. Of the four major clades that Ostrander et al. clusters together, Clade II includes dogs with the genetic haplotype D8 from two Scandinavian dog breeds: the Norwegian Elkhound and the Jämthund [note: a haplotype is a group of alleles of different genes on a single chromosome that are linked close enough together to be inherited as a single unit]. This genetic sequence haplotype is closely related to two wolf haplotypes found in Italy, France, Romania, and Greece, and is also related to a wolf haplotype found in western Russia (Vila et al., 1997). Clade II appears to be only seen in Norwegian breeds and exhibits a vast amount of divergences. It is suggested that this clade illustrates an ancient and independent origin from wolves that are now extinct (Raisor, 2004). The Norwegian Elkhound evolved, at least partially, from ancestral grey wolf subspecies now found in south central Europe and western Russia and may very well be one of the most ancient of all dog breeds. In Medieval times it was known as a dyrehound or dyrehund and was highly prized as a hunting dog but rarely seen or bred outside of Norway. The Norwegian Elkhound - A Scent Hound The Norwegian Elkhound belongs to the collection of dogs referred to as Scent Hounds, which specialise in following the scent or the smell of its quarry. It wasn’t until the mid 1500's that hounds began to be classified according to their purpose, i.e. sight hounds, scent hounds, etc. Scent Hounds have distinctive characteristics, features and traits which are perfect for their purpose. They have large noses which have deep, open nostrils and their lips are loose and moist, designed to pick up scent particles and follow the trail of an animal. Their ears are long which concentrates the scent on the nose. Their bodies are designed for endurance, an essential asset when following any scent trail. Hunting takes different forms and as man opts for hunting their quarry either on foot or on horseback the scent hounds have been selectively bred to produce small legs, to enable a man to easily follow on foot, or longer legs suited to keep up with a man on horseback. Most scent hounds were used in packs - making a loud, deep baying noise alerting hunters to their location. As a pet the Norwegian Elkhound is intelligent, friendly and reliable. Also noted - The elkhound under coat can also be used for bird nesting material. -first hand experience while breeding Budgies. :D 3. How common is it in Australia? not that common in Australia 4. What is the average lifespan? An average of 12 to 15 years. Some have lived longer. 5. What is the general temperament/personality? Temperament and personallity based on my elkies. Caring, energestic, intellegent, boistous, can be lazy, loyal ETA - protective, playful, not clumsey. 6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? An elkhound has a tendencey to put on weight, so exercise is a must for the elkhound. Usually excercise will suite the lyfestyle of the individual elkhound. 7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? yes, if all the research and preperation for the breed has been met 8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? Yes 9. How much grooming is required? Elkhounds blow their coat two to three times a year so grooming is requiered to keep the coat free from dead hair. Brushing also helps stimulate the natural oils in the coat giving the dog a more healthier coat. Elkhounds are self cleaning and have a water resistant coat. An elkhound has no doggy odor and requiers no clipping of any kind. 10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? We had a puppy go to a family with two small boys, the puppy - now a year old sleeps with the children in their room and is very protective of them. Both boys have animal hair allergies but are fine with the Norwegian Elkhound. 11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? Luckily in Austrralia, the elkie has not had many health problems. They do however get sebaceous cysts. Renal problems have also surfaces in the breed here in Australia. 12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? (eg what health tests have been done (if applicable) and what is an acceptable result to those tests so the buyer has an idea of what the result should be) a person should ask to see current Registration papers of both sire and dam, current medical records of both sire, dam and puppies. You should ask about the grooming, excercise, feeding, training that the puppy should require. And if the breeder is a member of the ANKC and holds a current breeders prefix. However, I do encourage prospective puppy buyers to research the breed to see if the breed is right for them.

Cool shall be done as such Now I just have to remember all the pedigree names Corvus you will have to tell me what your boys are I have no clue! Just to remind you. Emma is Halgrove Emerald :D

I likie Pedigee but Pet would also be nice. How about Pedigree & Pets?

Voted

Since it is 1st October and I will be at work today, I will post my piccis again.