The old Elkhound breeders knew if a dog couldn’t stay with them, know where they were and how to get back to them, the dog was pretty much useless. So they continually bred for the dogs that would exhibit “Handler Focus”. This then became an instinctive skill after generations and generations of breeding.

Handler focus is the ability to stay with you, know where you are and work around you all the time, with the ultimate instinctive skill dogs checking in and returning systematically all the time.

Instincts are what the dog has inside bred into them, or bred to retain what was already there, so that you don’t have to train it.

Training a behavior is very different from an instinctive behavior.

Instinctive behavior is very hard and almost impossible for the dog to ignore. It just functions on instincts. The ancient lineages that Kamia Kennels has utilize instincts entirely almost. I rarely train anything, I simply wake up the instincts. I have stated so many times this statement.

Train to the instincts

Handler focus instincts are in our lineages. They are NOT in all lineages anymore, or if they are they are super dull. In our lines they get stronger and stronger as we move along in genetic lineage depth. But, let me clarify, 5 generations of breeding strong handler focus instinctive skill Elkhounds is not really going to change it much as it’s already top shelf. But take an Elkhound with lessor handler focus instinctive skill, breed it to one of our handler focus lines and BOOM! The skill level in the pup is right back to where the Kamia Elkhound is. If it’s not right at that level it’s imperceptible to see a difference.

You can also “Wake Up Instinctive Skill” but that takes a mentor dog almost all the time if the lessor skilled Elkhound is going to wake up. A man simply can’t do it in my opinion, but another highly instinctive Elkhound can wake it up. It will never get woke up much, but some is enough in some cases to make a suitable dog for remote terrain.

It’s guaranteed though by breeding a Full Handler Focus Instinctive Skill Elkhound it will pass this instinct down. Amazing right. I know, seen it hundreds of times, fascinating to watch every single time the pup comes out.

Handler focus is really my favorite instinct that we have in our Elkhounds. Our Norwegian Elkhound lineages all have handler focus, our Swedish Elkhounds all have handler focus and of course, Our Full Blood Elkhound lines all have it.

It’s easy to see handler focus, especially if you are hiking with young pups in remote terrain. This is the ideal place to see it. The reason I can hike with 9 or 10 pups, just little guys in remote terrain is “Instinctive skill” handler focus instinctive skill, it’s not because I trained them in a few days this skill. Heck, lots of times the very first hike I can take with them will show the skill level same as a big dog.

The video below will showcase super rich instinctive handler focus pups. Riatta is a sibling to Revna and literally Kofu, Magnus and Tiera are all siblings as well as they are out of Tuva, the Twin to Tekla from Karu.

What you will also see is one of THE BEST HANDLER FOCUSED JAMTHUNDS – AILA

I can do video after video of handler focus pups and showcase them as they develop into mature Elkhounds.

As we are now approaching 5 and 6 generations of these lines with handler focus its so easy to showcase using some of my existing dogs with pups coming, or on the ground now.

This next video is Ana, she is very young but super rich in Instinctive handler focus. This is a sister to the mother of Revna. She also traces back to the same genetic lineages as Kayley. So both litters we have on the ground now are following this instinctive ability. This is a ten week old Norwegian Elkhound pup, but you’ll see an incredible young Norwegian Elkhound daughter of Tekla and Dajr acting like a two year old. This is Instinct at the finest level for handler focus.

Trying to train a dog with NO Instinctive Handler Focus is like beating your head against a tree. You’ll simply end up with a headache and the dog will be long gone.

If you are going to be working remote terrain the more instinctive handler focus the Elkhound has, the better the experience for you and your Elkhound.

I have found over the decades that “Handler Focus Instinctive Skill” just follows right down the lineage. It does not matter which pup, or pups I take to the mountains, or any remote terrain they simply exhibit the behavior. No training, no long work sessions, just get them out and they begin to exhibit it.

I found instinctive abilities in pups that are profound to witness, all they really needed was the environment to “Wake Up” the instinctive skill. It just comes flying out.

Looking back at genetics directly in these lineages of current pups we have seen generation after generation of Elkhounds show it. Cross lineages literally at the same time too. Here is Jaegar with a young Tekla. Tekla is the mother of Luna, and Jaegar’s dad, the father.

This particular genetic goes deep into our lineages and Kai, the half sister to Tekla, niece of Jaegar is the Great Grandmother to the Kayley litter. She was astounding from day one.

This lineage simply hands it down. Now if you consider that the generations we have already witnessed and we take a look at the Jamthund background lines of Aina. Remember her, focused and working ready to go from the day we got her. Here she is out with Tekla, who became her best pal.

MANE was so good he could Mentor at 16 weeks. Heck, at 16 weeks he “Mentored” Leif, turned Leif into a total Rock Star and Leif was a year old. MANE could take little pups and work with them and express uncanny ability to showcase handler focus.

The beauty of instinctive skill in pups showing up early is you can work multiple pups off leash remote terrain and have no issues. It’s like working 1, in fact, way more fun.

All our genetics pass this down to the pups. So you can have the best experience possible when you work your pup and get your companion locked right in.

Enjoy your Kamia Kennels pup, outdoor lifestyle and recreation awaits with some great adventures ahead.