Kai was one in a million
and we will always be grateful for what he taught us about the
breed. He got us hooked and he set us on the path to where we are
now. Our hearts are broken now that he is gone and we will all
miss him terribly.
Sleep tight Kai, our big
old bear
xxxx
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!
He did return to the show ring briefly at the AMCUK Open Show in May 2010 where
he came 3rd in a wonderful Special Veterans (10 years and over) class. He
did look so happy and really seemed to enjoy himself.
His dislike of showing
was a
disappointment as he possessed some very special qualities including his
excellent tail-set, magnificent bone, superb coat and lovely head. He was
from a slow maturing line and took some time to fill out and fully mature into a
striking example of the breed.
At home Kai
was a real
teddy-bear. 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 was made of. He also
took part in weight pull
competitions and having initially lead us all to believe that he was struggling
with even the lightest weight, he later, at the age of almost 9 years, gained 2
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
