More about our kennel
Our kennel dates back to 2023 and is historically the 3rd Swedish Elkhound kennel in the Czech Republic. The name of our kennel can be translated as “Voice of the North” .
Beginnings
It all started with the fact that we wanted to get a new dog friend, especially for big game hunting. Since we were also heavily involved in hunting cynology with our previous hunting dogs and participated in various hunting events, especially driven hunting for wild boars, we had the opportunity to get to know countless dogs and bitches across hunting breeds who were or still are hunting guided. Most of the hunting breeds of dogs commonly used in our country for their original purpose of breeding - hunting - are united by the issue of increasing frequency of various diseases or declining heredity of hunting traits or character or exterior anomalies. After all, with our first two hunting dogs, we unfortunately also had personal experience with this. And so we decided to look for "something new", or the most suitable hunting breed in all respects.
The criteria were clearly given...
• A hunting breed useful for big game hunting
• A hunting breed with a high percentage of retained hunting qualities
• A hunting breed not suffering from major health problems
• A hunting breed not used extensively for other, non-hunting breeding
• Hunting breed recognised by the FCI
• Hunting breed of medium or larger size
Our search finally led us to FCI group number V - spitz and primitive breeds, section 2. northern hunting dogs. Many of these dogs were bred and have been bred for many decades for the purpose of hunting big game, bears and wild boars. Typical of most of them is their hunting trait of barking at game, or stopping game with their voice and avoiding direct encounter/contact. A large proportion of these breeds are still bred in their country of origin primarily for the purpose of hunting and great emphasis is placed on the preservation of hunting skills. The breeds range in size from medium to larger and are generally considered to be free from health problems.
This was followed by going through the breeds, watching videos of Scandinavian moose, bear and wild boar hunts, reading and researching. Finally, it came to the choice of a particular breed... the SWEDISH ELKHOUND absolutely captivated us with its appearance, characteristics and above all hunting skills. Naturally we searched for all available information about the breed, which we later found out was very misleading on Czech websites. We started trying to get a puppy. There were two kennels in the Czech Republic at that time, namely Jamthund kennel and Pod Taborem kennel. But both were unfortunately no longer active. So we had no choice but to look outside the Czech Republic.
Without the knowledge of Nordic languages and friends abroad it was a difficult process and at times it seemed hopeless. When we started looking abroad and had more opportunities to gain new knowledge, we set some clear criteria for choosing a puppy. For both the dog and the bitch, the parents of the future puppy, it had to be ...
they had to be champion hunters,
they had to be beauty champions or have an excellent mark,
they had to have an x-ray result for HD A/A and ED 0/0.
In short, they had to be healthy, meet the standard with excellent qualities, and they had to be the best at what they were designed for in their country of origin.
It took a long year and a half, but in the end everything was done. Our first Swedish Elkhound TOR was born in MY HUNTER kennel in Norway. Our first experience with importing a puppy followed. Everything went smoothly, we set off with our backpacks and an empty crate on the plane to Oslo. From there we then travelled by train to meet the wonderful breeder Carmen. We spent 3 unforgettable days with her. I will never forget my first meeting with Nakee, our Tor's mother, and her piercing gaze. On the way back, there were three of us, so in July 2020, a little two-month-old furry knot landed in the Czech Republic and started something we would not have imagined at that moment.
After a year of living with Tor and our first season of hunting together, we were already determined that he would definitely not be the only Swedish Elkhound in our home. Without much thought, things were set in motion and in June 2022 we welcomed our second Jamthund, a female Vanda, originally from Finland, from the kennel HUPELIAHON KENNEL, whom we started calling Freya. With the growing experience of life with jamthunds and especially their unprecedented unerring work, slowly but surely new goals began to take shape.
Breeding
The first thoughts about breeding came after our first season of driven hunting for big game and wild boars , where both of them confirmed me that the Swedish Elkhound belongs to Czech hunting and it was confirmed by the fact that the work of such young dogs received positive feedback from all sides. The sight of working jamthunds, who individually search for game and work on it with taste, willingness and naturalness, keeping a proper distance and caution, but in case of need, even from a great distance, going to each other's aid, made me happy then, as well as today, and more than once took my breath away. The truth is that already at the time of the importation of the Tor from Norway, a surprisingly large number of people expressed an interest in owning the breed and a large number of them in its use in hunting. With the importation of Freya, the number of inquiries about breeding only grew. In general, all those who contacted us were struggling with the problems associated with acquiring a puppy from Scandinavia, which they could not overcome for various reasons.
However, the idea of breeding was confirmed only in 2024, when after a long effort we managed to adjust the breeding conditions of the Swedish Elkhound in the Czech Republic to a form corresponding to the country of origin, which was decisive for us. Without this fact we would never have started breeding.
Our primary breeding goal, which we would like to achieve as a kennel, is to help create the highest quality and widest possible breeding base for the Swedish Elkhound in the Czech Republic. However, to consistently keep the Swedish Elkhound in hunting/hunting practice.