Once we made the move to Alaska, we quickly learned how valuable Bear is to have around. A cow moose and her calves decided to call our property home, which worried us because moose are notorious for stomping and killing sled dogs, as well as charging people. One morning, we looked out the window in time to see the cow moose 10 feet from one of our lead dogs, and she didn't look happy with the sled dogs barking at her. So, we took Bear out on leash, to try to convince this gal to move on. Bear really saved the day, as the cow charged, and Bear kept her at bay while my husband got behind our truck. He was awesome, weaving in and out...even nipped her on the nose. She took off, and didn't come into the dogyard again.
Needless to say, Bear endeared us to the breed. Therefore, we kept our eyes open for the opportunity to offer a home to another of these wonderful animals. Then along came Kiley.
R. S. High Country Kiley came to us from Bear RunOff Kennel in North Idaho, out of Bart of High Country & Oreo The Protectus. Kiley is a female Karelian Bear Dog whose lines go back to High Country Kennels. Kiley is completely different from Bear, in that she is high energy and has a dynamic personality. We've had Kiley around moose, but once again, haven't had the chance to work on bear, with the only (close)encounter being the grizzlies that were making their rounds of the Two Rivers area dogyards a few summers ago. The bears skirted our property, going to our neighbors' instead. Several times we heard the Bear Dogs go berserk, only to later hear from a neighbor that the bears were back in his dogyard. We didn't have the opportunity to get our dogs out on the bears, but thankfully they stayed clear of our dogyard.
Our main Karelian Bear Dog stud wass R. S. Kenai Alpine. Alpine was the true pride and joy of our kennel. He was whelped at Karelian Bear Dog Adventures here in Alaska, out of Kenai Poncho & Tundra Ray Alyeska. His lines are from the Kenai Peninsula and trace back to Finland (Original stock). Both of Alpine's parents actively work on bear down on the Kenai, and Alpine certainly had the strong drive of his parents, which he passed on to his progeny. We are sad to have lost Alpine. He was truly a giant among his breed.
