1.When did you purchase your first Mal? When you obtained that dog,did you have any expectations about breeding or showing?
In l973 when my youngest daughter started school my husband informed me that he had always wanted a Alaskan Malamute. We found a female ( Keikewabic's Nanook) for sale in St.Pierre Mb. We had no intentions of breeding at that time.
2.Which were your foundation dogs and where did they come from?
Afew months later while in Wpg.with Nanook we spotted a "pick of the litter" female in the paper .
Brusky's Amik of Northor came home with us as a companion for Nanook. She was inbred on the Boru lines. Her breeder assessed Nanook and thought sh
e was sound/moved well and was a good specimen aside from her mismarkings on her head and neck..He told us of a beautiful male import at St.John's Boy School in Selkirk,Mb. We went there afew years later and bred Nanook to Bergstrom's Nordlig Thor. He was a Ch.T'Domar's Juneau son and 3/4 T'Domar and 1/4 Northwind . He had been bred by Ann Bergstrom of Chicago who later became Ann Norris of Kimiska kennels.
From this breeding of March, 1975 came our first Champion, Ch.Keikewabic's Bandit, who we kept and brother Keikewabic's Chinook, (co owned) and sister Keikewabic's Nikkina who went to Tom and Terry Delaney
of TNT kennels of Sioux Lookout, Ont.. Delaney's had a big Storm Kloud/Boru male named Tarneq which they bred to Nikkina. A daughter from this, Tarneq's Kiche was bred back to Ch.Keikewabic's P'Tis N'Ours,CAM,TT this gave us a son, Ch.Keikewabic's Locomotion Sinner,TT who later became the sire of Ch.Keikewabic's Scarlett O'Hara,TT.
We had joined the Mal Club and met Mary Ann Breen(Rosenbloom) of Tuglu Kennels when we bought Brusky's Amik of Northor. In our 2nd Club issue was a 5 month old male bred by Nancy Windover of Claremont, Ont. Ch.Skagway's Jack the Bear arrived in l974. He was out of a Oak(Northwind) sire and
T'Domar Juneau granddaughter. He was bred to Brusky's Amik of Northor and from this came sisters Keikewabic's Tikki, Keikewabic's Neetooka and Ch.Keikewabic's Gris Loup of Tuglu,ROM . Keikewabic's Tikki was leased back to us twice. Her lst breeding was to Keikewabic's Chinook (Thor/Nanook/)son ,,this produced Keikewabic's Noonah who was later bred to Chinook's brother Bandit and out of this came our Am.Can.Ch.Keikewabic's P'Tis N'ours,
This was my best dog ever and also #2 mal in Canada at one time, but most importantly my Top producer and Still the Top Producing Canadian bred Studdog.. He produced close to 40 Champions for me. He produced two litters with 5 champions in each..
Neetooka was bred to Ch.Locomotion Keikewabic's Sinner,TT(N'Ours/Tarneq Kiche) which produced Ch.Keikewabic's Scarlett O'Hara,TT, our first red.
Keikewabic's Tikki was leased a second time and bred to Ch.Northor's Beowulf owned by Joan Hodgson of Malnorska kennels in Mb. He was Tote-Um on his sire's side and his dam was a littermate to our Brusky's Amik of Northor..Keikewabic's Shaglu from this mating went to Iowa on a puppy back contract. She was bred to Eileen Kinnas's male Gycon King of the Cosmos, a littermate to Ch.Sugarbush of Alaska..Our puppy from this breeding became Int.Can.Ch.Keikewabic's Zeppelin. The third sister from the (Bear/Amik) breeding was Mary Ann Breen's Ch.Keikewabic Gris Loup of Tuglu,ROM she was bred to Mary Ann's male Ch.Anrol's Kanuyak Barak (Oak's (Northwind) and Boru). Our puppy back from this was Tuglu's Babiche. In l978 Nancy Windover (Skagway Knls.) moved to my home with her entire kennel of dogs (several) and a litter of pups. She stayed afew months before relocating..I used her male Ch.Skagway's Yukon Traveller (Inuit/Tote-Um) with Tuglu's Babiche. Keikewabic's Shebandowan,CAM was leased back from this litter and bred to Int.Can.Ch.Keikewabic's Zeppelin. This produced BIS Am.Can.Ch.Keikewabic's Nitchee,TT .
Nitchee was later bred to Ch.Keikewabic's Stopover (1/2 sister,brother breeding on Bandit) and this produced Ch.Keikewabic's Tikki Taboo, CD,TT CAM. These are the two lines I established which I called my N'Ours and Nitchee lines and except for afew outcrosses have basically stuck with them.
3.Did you have a mentor? If so, who, and how did they influence you?
Mary Ann Breen(Rosenbloom) of Tuglu Kennels in Winnipeg. She was President of the Mal Club at the time we started. She was an admirer of Dr.Ken Bournes of Boru Kennels and a advocate of inbreeding/linebreeding as was he. Her knowledge definitely influenced me.
4.Describe your beliefs/opinions on the three principle genetic breeding practises: outcrossing, line breeding, and inbreeding.
I outcross if there is something I feel I am lacking or need to improve on. It is a gamble of sorts. Depending of course on the strengths of each dogs pedigrees...
I feel most comortable with linebreeding and the assurance of being able to predict the outcome and type . It is my favorite method of breeding. Most my dogs are heavily linebred...
I inbred on both my foundation lines afew times. I found this to be an effective method of bringing the good and bad points up front...There are afew inbred dams in my dogs pedigrees...
5. What key determinants do you use when selecting a stud or bitch for breeding?
Soundness of body and mind in both males and females. Temperment and good health are essential. Structurally, if one is lacking in a certain area I would choose a mate strong in that area to compensate. All the above apply when going out to stud as well as do pedigrees and production consistency..
I try to bear in mind that I do not want to sacrifice good qualities I already have in order to bring something else in..Ideally, both are strong in the same areas and compensating each others weaknesses...
6.Name some of the dogs/bitches, you own or others, which you feel had a profound effect on the breed today?
Am.Can.Ch. Keikewabic's P'Tis N'Ours, CAM,TT
BIS Am.Can.Ch.Keikewabic's Nitchee,TT
Ch.Keikewabic's Scarlett O'Hara,TT (a N'Ours granddaughter)
Ch. Keikewabic's Kikki Taboo,CD,TT,CAM
(a Nitchee Daughter)
All these dogs are behind every dog from this kennel several times and up to 20 times in some cases...they are behind the foundation dogs of many kennels worldwide and in the pedigrees of many other kennels..
7. How do you feel the breed has changed since you began?
Todays Mals are much more consistent in type than they were when I started,, Less dog aggressive as well. We also see more coat in the ring these days.
8.Do you have any concerns about the breed today?
In view of the some recent surveys on the Breed. One cannot help but be worried about health problems out there.
9. If you were to give sage advice to a beginning breeder, what would it be?
Assuming they have their sire and dam my advice would be to: Screen puppy buyers carefully. Make sure you have enough serious interest in your litter ..Have puppy buyers research the breed. Make sure they are aware of Mals love of roaming/digging/etc. AND are prepared to make a commitment to their Mal!!...Realize that puppies are alot of work and time consuming.. and need quality time spent with them.. Keeping a entire litter can be very expensive ..Be prepared to take any puppies back or make alternate arrangements for them!
10. Given that hindsight is 20/20, and if you could go back in time, what, if anything would you do differently with your program?
There are afew dogs that I shouldn't have let get away and that I was never able to bring back into the breeding program...Also,three stud dogs that I never used .One was a T'Domar Juneau son .The other was a pure Kotzebue boy who I didn't use when I had the chance..In recent years a boy of Jeremy and Vicky Brownes who died unexpectedly..I thought all would have fitted very well into my program..
by Maureen ANDERSEN
