Our Story
Nyyrikki Kennel Alaska is a disabled veteran family owned and operated dog Kennel Company. The idea for this company was born out the notion that disabled veterans here in Alaska could utilize a dog that was versatile enough to face the challenges of the Arctic yet trainable as a service dog. A rare and well-established working breed in Finland, Russia, Poland and other cold regions the Karelian Bear Dog (KBD) is world-renowned for its trainability, intelligence and ability to achieve many tasks. After 18 months of extensive research and establishing relationships, Nyyrikki Kennel Alaska was established in the summer of 2015. Today our kennel continues to support disabled individuals within our community through joint service animal training of our pups. We look forward to expanding our continued efforts providing empowerment and protection for active families, disabled veterans/ warriors, and Arctic breed conservation and rescue.
Nyyrikki Kennel Alaska was established in 2015 with three goals; uphold the breeding standards, establish train ability of the Karelian Bear Dog as a service animal and support wildlife protection operations. We are thankful for the acceptance of our puppy “Khione”, renamed “Freyja” daughter of “Athena”, into the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Karelian Bear Dog Program.
WDFW's Karelian Bear Dog Program was established to resolve conflicts between humans and cougar/bears in a non- lethal manner. In addition to tracking and assisting in hard releases, they can also detect evidence. This is a budget neutral program; no funds are paid from the WDFW agency budget for these working dogs. All funds are generated from outside donations.
Thanks for all the support from our Nyyrikki KBD family. https://wdfw.wa.gov/enforcement/kbd/
A Brief History of the Karelian Bear Dog
It is assumed that the Karelian Bear Dog came west from the Urals along with the migration of the Komi, or Zyrian, peoples around 900 AD. After the year 1100, the Komi people based along the Northern Dvina River traded with the Karelians and the breed spread to the area surrounding Lake Ladoga, especially Olonets.
Over the years, it has also been encountered in a territory stretching from the Karelian Isthmus to White Karelia and as far north as Lake Kemi. According to knowledge passed down through generations, the breed was used to hunt all kinds of game, such as bears, lynx, elk, deer, hares, forest birds and water fowl.
The systematic breeding of a Karelian Spitz-type dog commenced in 1936. The goal was to produce a powerfully built dog that would bark at big game.
The “premiere” of the Karelian Bear Dog took place at the first dog show of the just-established Suomen Kennelliitto, a precursor of today's Finnish Kennel Club, in May 1936.
The breed name was approved that same year. The first breed definition was confirmed in 1945 and the first individuals were registered in 1946. The outbreak of the Winter War in 1939 led to the almost complete destruction of the breed population. The damage was repaired during the Continuation War, however, with a substantial addition to the Karelian Bear Dog population being extracted from the war zone. In all, 60 dogs were brought back from Russian Karelia and 43 of them participated in the breeding effort.
