Shall we discuss the nonsense surrounding “Testing” for hip dysplasia in Elkhounds for a few minutes? I think so. For some, they seem totally devoid of common sense on this particular topic. I find it quite amazing myself.

For the entire life cycle of Norwegian Elkhounds, or any type of Elkhound going back as far as you can think, to the beginning, the way to “Test” any aspect of the Elkhound was in the actual use and performance of the dogs themselves, both in breeding dogs, but in the offspring. The actual day to day, year after year, working conditions trials and work was the true indicators of performance, health and standard care and observational aspects.

This includes of course, any issues with structure, joints, limbs, hips, feet, etc. Literally the entire dog is monitored by “Actual testing” in real world conditions.

Do you get where I am going with this? I am most certain you do. If you are out with the breeding dogs and working them in the remote terrain every single day of the entire lifespan of them and are working, hiking, walking, hunting, swimming, camping etc. with them, you get to see very easily if they are “Sound” or not.

Now, fast forward to today. We have completely clueless, no mind learned people who think a 1 time “Test” of some sort using any type of ridiculous theoretical examination is going to determine if a dog is going to be prone to some type of structural issue, better than a lifetime of actual use and visual experience!

Do you see literally how utterly stupid the nonsense of the learned is? I am literally dumbfounded by the sheer stupidity of it really.

Take Kamia Kennels for example, we will analyze this idiotic no mind theory versus real world use.

So, I take a breeding female, we will use Mia, she hikes with me for her entire life, literally every day, rain or shine, snow or hail, mountains, rivers, creeks, valleys, flat land, prairie, timber, you name it. Some days she goes short hikes, some days miles and miles, wearing me out. Hikes her entire life with me. Tough as nails this female. Solid as a rock. Fearless, getting in battles, fights, whelping 5 litters along the way, trashing squirrels and hunting Moose. Goes on a hike with me the day before she dies. She dies right beside me. Sound. Not a single issue with her. She just one day decides her time is up, lays down beside me and passes peacefully. Not a single flaw could I find with her. Now that is a Test!

I take her mate, only male she ever was mated to. Yes, Old Takoda Man himself. I hike with him his entire life, 17 years he flawlessly goes through the wilderness with me and Mia, goes longer than her as he is 2 years younger, but lasts longer. Fights, saves me from wolves, battles with everything, hikes everywhere, toughest terrain on the planet, not a single issue other than some hearing loss at about that 16 year mark. Great vision, could see me from so far away I could not see him, had to use binoculars. This dog was sound. We are talking thousands of hikes, thousands of miles, I wore out so many shoes hiking this lineage I am broke buying shoes. This is a Test! No flaws detected. If there was a flaw, believe me it would have shown up.

Now take the offspring of these two, Jaegar for example. Can you believe the miles this dog has on him, 14 plus years still running circles around the horse Ashten is riding? Seriously the miles I have put on him too. None stop movement and activity, flawless behavior, saved my fat ass from the wolves, the bears, the big cats, you name it, he does it all and just goes, and goes. This is a test! Not some one time, random piece of crap nonsense test that couldn’t indicate enough data to wipe my butt in the mountains. Nope, a real test, real work, day in and day out.

Look at Tora, daughter of the first two. Hike with her for the entire life of that powerful most prolific female Norwegian Elkhound in North America! Yeah, most prolific and the strongest most powerful female there was. Hiked right till the day she got tired and laid down beside me and died peacefully, just like her mother and father. All three of them just went till the end. Not sick once. Looked after me every single time. Saw more bear with Tora watching them than National Geographic photographers have.

This is a test. Thousands and Thousands of hikes in this genetic. Talking Decades of hiking and observation. Tough terrain, winter snow 4 feet deep, 5500 feet in February, straight up the mountain! This is a test.

Look at Kai, daughter of Tora, we are talking now 3 generations and hiking with her the entire life. This is every single dog in this line of ours hiking for life. Not just a single 1 time nonsense made up theoretical perspective, no, actual real world mile and mile, day after day observation. Just like all the breeders who went before me have done for hundreds and hundreds of years. Thousands of years of these dogs, all the breeders doing the exact same thing as me. Working the dogs, observing the dog, watching right till the end. No flaws. This is a test!

Rita, 4th generation in this program. Same exact thing, day after day of hiking, whelping litters just like her mother Kai. Kai as well had 34 pups like her mother Tora. Rita right now today has 11 pups nursing, third litter, a solid powerhouse female that can outhike any man any time. Again, real work flawless behavior day after day, rebreeds, milks heavy, hikes strong. This is a test!

We have Lil Griz, daughter of Rita, 5th generation decade after decade hiking working, monitoring these bloodlines. Not a single issue, structure so strong, so powerful, just incredible dogs.

Rovi and Caelidh both daughters of Rita’s second litter, 5th generation, we have them showcased all over site, hiking literally every day at his Northern Alberta facility. There are hundreds of offspring of this line out there, all the folks working, hiking and monitoring these bloodlines.

Every single line we have we do the same thing. Line after line, dog after dog. Real world use, day after day. We have pups still running from our early litters. Strong healthy and sound. This is what testing is. This is what a real test looks like. Not some fake crap created by a nonsense industry to create a money pit of testing and stupid people following along like sheep when real world examples exist.

You want to talk to me about “Tests” I’ll tell you about tests, but your ears are going to be ringing and red if you are spouting some nonsense crap about a 1 time examination by some moron “industry expert” who has no field time whatsoever with an Elkhound, not a single day on a mountain, a trail, a walk anywhere with one. Believe me, your ears will be red! I’ll chew you a new one, believe it. I am sick of this nonsense the industry is promoting.

Get the dogs out in the field, get them working, hiking, moving, hunting, protecting, fighting and whelping, see how they perform, do what they are supposed to do, watch them for life. Then, only then will you be able to say, hey, these dogs are Sound! There is NO hip dysplasia in working Norwegian Elkhounds and anyone saying otherwise is full of it!