Kai came to us at the end of June 2000 at the age of 8 weeks. He was our first Malamute and he completely changed our lives.
Having just moved into our new, more Malamute friendly home, we had decided that we would begin our hunt for our ideal dog and were put in touch with Roger and Louise Hale in Co. Monaghan, Eire. They had just mated their bitch, Angel, to the two times Crufts Best Of Breed winner, Scout, owned and bred by Ann Allen.
After lengthy discussion with Roger, he agreed to put us at the top of the list for a male puppy, all we had to do was
wait.
We traveled to Ireland and picked up our
nameless puppy and brought him home on the ferry, attracting a lot of attention on the way!
Once home, he grew into his new name ~ Kai ~ and we settled into life with a Malamute.
By Christmas, we had been persuaded to give showing a try. He did OK and during his career he has notched up 12 x 1st places at Open Show Level
and in Championship Shows, 6 x 1st places and 2 Reserve Best Dog awards. He qualified for Crufts each year that he was shown. We retired Kai from showing in 2005 as he was never particularly happy flouncing around the ring!
His dislike of showing is a
disappointment as he possesses some very special qualities including his
excellent tail-set, magnificent bone, superb coat and lovely head. He is
from a slow maturing line and took some time to fill out and fully mature into a
striking example of the breed. He's now a distinguished old gentleman with
the mind of a puppy!
At home Kai is a real
teddy-bear. He has a particular liking for cuddly toys, especially if they
squeak, and always has one of his favourite "babies" close at
hand.
Kai's main interest in life
has been working in harness. He discovered quite late in life that he was actually bred to be a sled dog and
enjoyed the winter months when he showed us all what he is made of. He also takes part in weight pull
competitions and having initially lead us all to believe that he was struggling
with even the lightest weight, he is now, at the age of almost 9 years,
"pulling his weight" and gaining legs towards his WWPD. After
competing in only a couple of competitions during the 2008-9 season, he still
managed to place 6th in the 81-100lb class at the Allerton Park Championship.
kai's
weight-pull results
see
more pictures of kai
