Images of male wolfdogs from Nordenden

The Event in Kolliger Mühle

On friday the 13th of november I took a Ryanair flight to Hahn airport in Germany and continued with a Hertz car from there to Kollig, arriving in the middle of the night, to meet the dogs and the owners of my Nord-litter now 1 year old. I must express my humble gratitude to the owners of Kolliger Mühle for their hospitality and for making their holliday houses avaliable for us. Kolliger Mühle is a several centuries old water mill located in a secluded down-valley completely cut off from the surrounding farm-land and villages of the region. Under huge trees and byside the rive Elzbach, which is the water supply for the mill, we had our Nord-litter assembly. the Kolliger Mühle is in the beginning of the landscape of the Eifel and the owners rent out holliday houses on a dog friendly basis. A branch of the famous historic pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela runs along the Kolliger Mühle. So one can make a long walk from there. http://www.kollgermuehle.nl

The litter is definitely a success. Out of 8 puppies 5 survived the selection done by mother nature the first weeks of their life. Being satisfied with the dogs on the one hand and not the least the owners of the puppies on the other. All owners have given good and caring homes for the dogs and all of them have the personal resources for the necessary caretaking of such animals. The litter has derived most of its qualities from the extremes of both the sire and the dam. Ax (mother) with her easy going, loyal and intensely bonding attitude, which she again derived from her father Fango, is represented in the behavior of some of the puppies. Skarvs (father) carefulness, pack-dependancy and somewhat shy behavior is represented in other of the puppies. Bodywise I am especially happy to see that the two males inherited the original bodytype and size of the grandfather Skrim, who is a true old-time Saarlooswolfhond type. The idea behind this litter was to combine the nice body of Skrim (grandfather on the male side) with the easy and open mind of Fango (grandfather on the female side).

Six Yellow Eyes in Gytsjerk

Christel Landeghem has captured this six yellow eyes in a moment of a "walk on the wildside" and a moment of freedom and joy out on the meadows outside Gytsjerk. The beauties are Nord-Nahanni with grandmother Duet and the male relative Jenko from Belgium.

Developing generations.

It is a huge satisfaction to see this "puppies" develop. 10 months old and already considerably larger than the average Saarloos-dog. Long upper arms, long metacarpus and metatarsus. A full extension of their bodies and limbs. I want to recreate the large, massive dog who trots as light and swift as a fox. It seems that this Nord-litter is a good step in the right direction. Photo is taken by Christel van Landeghem. From left to right: Nord-Valpar, Nord-Tuur and Nord-Nagaya.

The Trot.

A good bending of the knee-joint. A long stroke of the front limbs. A springy touch to the ground. The ability to flex the thighbone. In short: a balanced and dynamic trot.

My goal with the Nord-litter and the essence of the wolfdogs walk can be seen on this pictures. The last photo is of Valpar and is shot by Vivi and Roy Holtman. The first picture in black and white is a long time favorite of mine; Macho (photo by Nanouk Immers). The other pictures are male dogs from Nordenden.

A wolf cub and a wolfdog puppy

The wolf cub and the wolfdog puppy are both photographed at the age of five weeks. Similar socialization and care are needed to make them develop into friendly and happy animals that can interact with humans. The adult wolfdog can run off-leash with his owner, while the adult wolf must be kept on a chain when taken out of his fence.

Back to Blefjell

After too long absence the longing for Blefjell felt almost like a grief. But finally back again! The fall has settled at this altitudes despite it is still august. With temperatures around zero and heavy winds I was reluctant to step out of my sleeping bag at dawn. Anyway we managed to get up before the sunrise so we could praise the sun on top of a peak.

On the pictures are Ax and Skarv gazing over the valley below.

A weekend in the open.

A small peninsula at a lake in the Skrim-area made a perfect site for camping with the dogs. They could run free day and night, only occasionally stealing food from the supply intended for humans :-) My new "Ajungilak-Tyin" 4-seasons sleeping-bag provided a comfortable sleep under the stars.

Skarv with "brother wolf".

Pure Spirit in Desolate Landscape

Barren it is - and desolate it seems to be. Nevertheless this landscape is full of "clean spirit" that penetrates your body while treading over its surface. Devoid of demons and even of gods - it is free. A soul cleansing encounter with pristine nature.
My pleasure this summer was to finally be able to bring good friends from the "NetherBelgiumLands" to have a taste of this freshness at Mårvatn, Hardangervidda.
Photos by Christel van Landeghem and Gerard de Moor

Wolfsummer in Friesland

It seems the wolves in Friesland came up with the same idea as did the norwegian pack: to soak its coat in water to stay cool. Nahanni, the river-fairy, beautifully photographed by Gerard De Moore.

TROPICAL HEAT

The only sensible and reasonable thing to do when the mercurybar on the thermometer is exceeding 32 degrees celcius: "stay cool, refrigerate your veins! ".
Summersolstice 2009 has just passed and we are running up the first days of july.

Gråfjell, april 20th.

Give me beautiful weather in a pristine nature, .........and you can keep all the rest.

April Sun

Skarv and Ax on a lazy trot over a forest-lake. They both alternate with running on- or off-leash. Looks like we will have still a few weeks with conditions better adapted for skiing than for jogging - so: "off we go !"

Puppies from Nordenden

Ax and Skarv successfully produced a litter of healthy and beautiful puppies late november 2008. Both Ax and Skarv are archetypes of the Saarlooswolfhond breed and has passed this quality to their offspring. The photo shows the male puppy Nord Valpar and the female puppy Nord Nahanni both of which lives in the Netherlands. Photo by Gerard De Moor.

Efficiency - not laziness.

Looking over my shoulder while braking a trail I can see four wolfdogs line-trotting on a single track behind me. To be fair I wouldnt call them lazy, but rather efficient in behavior. With temperatures down 25 subzero at night the animals are fed huge pieces of raw meat and fat to keep fit. No signs of global-heating around here - the winter is back to normal.

The light of January.

A continuous 5 hours ski-run in this landscape makes a lasting impression on my mind. With this I say farewell to January and welcome February tomorrow. The days are successively getting longer and we will soon go to higher altitudes.

Nia reunited with Marijke and Gerard

After approximately half an hour of suspiciousness Nia remembered her trainers from Friesland and finelly surrendered to her former caretakers. The pictures are of Ax in a gallopp, Nia in a trot and Nia together with Marijke and Gerard in a happy reunion for a few days. Photos by Christel van Landeghem, Belgium.