What’s the reason why the Norwegian Elkhound is now endangered in North America? What is the status of the genetic pool and what happened?

The gene pool for the Norwegian Elkhound in North America is very small right now, with very few lineages diverse. Diverse means simply that they are “not related” to each other, in at best 50 generations. Any lineage that has close relations, meaning dogs of the same genetic sibling/parental background are NOT DIVERSE.

Finding suitable mating Norwegian Elkhounds that are “Diverse” is almost impossible in North America currently.

Why you ask? Let me explain. The Norwegian Elkhound is a “type” of Elkhound selected as a “Distinct” type and breed from a much larger pool back in 1877 time frames. The volume of distinct dogs at that time and those entered into the “Type Norwegian Elkhound genetic pool” shortly after were the founding bloodlines.

Those founding bloodlines sent genetics to North America early 1930 onward, creating over a period of time a set of genetics in North America that breeders were using. This is all common knowledge, dates, first dogs, etc. are all recorded as the “method” was to keep the Norwegian Elkhound type in a “Registered Database” of bloodline dogs. Limiting breeding to those dogs in that pool.

It does not take anyone these days long to compute how long a finite set of genetics will last before they are all bred down to the same dog. Any computer model can forecast that today in seconds.

We have reached that point. Took roughly 100 years.

What’s the problem you ask? Well the problem is there is no one single lineage that is not related closely to all other existing lineages. Therefore, no mating pairs, meaning no pups. Meaning no breed type in North America for Norwegian Elkhounds. Thus the endangered listing by the Association.

When I say closely related, we are long past the 50 generations, we are past the 5 generations, and in the vast majority, we now have zero diversity, meaning siblings and parents, grand parents etc. on both sides.

What was the main cause? The cause is simple. No NEW genetic material added to the pool. The old breeders knew, the minute you closed the breeding pool from the larger group of Elkhounds and bred only selected few, without introducing the new bloodline genetic material from the larger group, your days were numbered.

You see, many breeders “Think” they are preservation breeders, when in reality they are simply elimination breeders. Simply breeding type Norwegian Elkhounds from the same genetic pool is not preserving anything, it is eliminating diversity.

Let me explain. If a breeder has a female and he has her bred, she has pups, she produced a good female pup for further breeding and it was held back in the breeding establishment. Now you have another generation of the same lineage, but you only have 50% of the genetics of that female, the other half is the male. If you can understand this simple concept which I know you can, you can already see that over half the genetic material of the female, and the male, are now “Lost”. The female replacement that was kept is not “New” genetic material, but simply half of each that was already existing.

Very easy to see that five generations of breeding lineages from “Existing” or “From the Finite Pool” and that genetic is basically gone.

The problem is the “Finite Pool”. Type breeding via “Registered Pools” eliminates the greater pool of genetic material that can “Add” new genetics.

Very few Norwegian Elkhound breeders keep there genetics “Outside” the Registered type pools, like almost no one. Kamia Kennels is basically the only breeder with Genetic lineages that are diverse, are not related to most or if not all in the “Registered” pools and continues to thrive with diverse lineages because Kamia Kennels does not limit the pool of bloodlines utilized.

This accomplishes many things. First and foremost a simple look at two dogs of Kamia Kennels versus almost any pair of Norwegian Elkhounds in the Registered Pool.

If we take any pair of Norwegian Elkhounds that we could find that are diverse today in North America from the Registered pool, mate them, and have a new female pup to hold back. By definition we already know, that pup does NOT CREATE any new genetic material. So that pup would have an incredibly hard time to put any new bloodlines in, if at all.

Then, we compare say, Kamia Kennels Silver Moon and the Kamia Kennels Venn, ( who is already placed with a client working with Kamia Kennels as co-breeder) and we can predict a mating. Let’s for sake of argument that the future mating produces 1 female suitable for breeding. 1 Pup.

This pup now is vastly diverse in genetic material from the “Registered Pool” as the bloodlines utilized are not from the North America pool only but from selected genetics that largely reside outside the North America pool.

This allows for vast potential to produce New pups that can go on to be infused into the genetic pool as New Norwegian Elkhound breeding dogs, that would in fact, create NEW genetics for the North American Norwegian Elkhound type breeding. A single female, mating to the same male using the Kamia Kennels proven practice of 1 male, 1 female for life concept, would create many females and males that are in fact diverse to the existing base thus adding material in to be utilized.

Here is the rub of that concept. That was exactly what was done already over the last 100 years, so doing it again is going to eventually provide the same result. Eventually breeding those new genetics down to the same dog once again.

What’s that saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result”. Well, no clear vision for the future of the Norwegian Elkhound would include using the same tactics and principles that we just witnessed to put them in this endangered situation would be wise.

European breeders and breeders like ourselves find a point now that it does not benefit the Norwegian Elkhound to follow those practices that are instituted in the closed loop pools, or “Registered” Type pools. That is no longer a theory that will work in practice long term. So any of us already focused outside on actually creating new genetics and preserving the Norwegian Elkhound using the very old, ancient principles used long before the “Type Breeding” will continue to stay outside.

That is precisely why the Norwegian Elkhound is “Endangered for the Registered Type breeders”. But that by no means includes the old world breeders with the genetic seedstock to create new genetics and build the base up using old world principles of all Elkhound genetic material in use.

I’ll follow up in another article the concepts of the old world breeders and how Kamia Kennels and those breeders are using the entire genetic base of Elkhounds which is vast and has for centuries thrived using different principles in diversity breeding which will allow the Norwegian Elkhound to Thrive! Just not in the “Registered” sense, or limited finite genetic pool sense.

In case you missed this important point. Norwegian Elkhounds in the “Registered” type pool of finite breeding are the ones endangered. Not the Norwegian Elkhounds outside the registered pool, using all genetic material like was done for centuries.

What the “Association” should have said is the following “The Registered Type Pool of Finite Breeding Principles is what is endangered.” Yes, precisely, that system is now a memory in all but a few minds. That is what is endangered, and obsolete, and not going to survive.