Alaska is our stunning new boy from Finland, originally jointly imported with Vanessa Brotto of Articmal, and Pam Francis of Magpielane, and now owned by just Vanessa and I. He was raised in Finland being thoroughly loved and spoiled by Saila Tapio and Mika Kujamäki of Teelikamentten until he met all of the import requirements to come to Australia. He arrived on 7 June 2007 and will have a month in quarantine before living with and being shown by Vanessa. He will be much loved by all three of us and a very much longed for and welcome addition to our breeding programs.

Pam, Vanessa and I had talked about importing a boy together for quite some time. One set of plans, for a boy of some similar lines to Alaska, fell through a number of years ago, and our focus moved onto our own imports and other breeding. But when we saw this litter at Teelikamentten Kennels, our interest was re-sparked.

A number of people in Finland contributed to making Alaska a reality for us. The biggest thanks, of course go to our wonderful friends Saila and Mika. We are always just amazed at the generosity of these wonderful breeders in Finland who raise our babies for us only to send them to the other side of the world. We owe an incredible debt of gratitude for the trust, friendship and dedication that these two wonderful people have given us. But others contributed to making this happen, from Terttu Hakala at Terhakan Kennels who supported us in our initial conversations with Saila, to Matti Takanen at Lumiturpa Kennels for helping to pick this beautiful boy out for us.

We have been very impressed with Alaska from the first photos we received. Like his sire, he has a lovely solid construction, with good bone, and is beautifully balanced. He has nice moderate angulation, good topline and tail set, is perfectly proportioned, and has lovely fluid movement that just takes your breath away. Just a young puppy at the moment, we are expecting him to grow into quite a stunning specimen of the Finnish Lapphund breed.

Alaska's sire, Int Ch Fin Ch Dk Ch V-03 V-04 PMV-06 Lumiturpa Api, is extremely well known amongst Finnish Lapphund circles as the consistent top winning dog in Finland over the last few years. A boy that takes your breath awy in the flesh, it had seemed an unreachable dream to think that I may own one of his sons one day, so I am still pinching myself that it is really true. Api is another son of Fin Ch V-01 V-02 Lumiturpa Nörri, one of the breed greats, which makes Alaska a cousin to my own Emmi.

His dam is the beautiful girl Staalon Hurlumhei "Kiia", whose blood lines will link in beautifully with some of our existing Australian lines. Her sire is one of the more famous Swedish born Finnish Lapphunds Int, Fin, Sw, N Ch Fjällfarmens Alaska, and our own Alaska's name sake. He is another boy that we have all dreamed of bringing into our breeding programs. Kiia's brother Staalon Hervoton is a very influentual sire in Finland, and her daughter Fin Ch Teelikamentten Encore "Piitu" has done some significant winning, including BOS to Api's BOB and BIS at one of the Lapphund Club of Finland specialty shows in 2006.

Alaska has already made his own mark in Finland, being show three times and taking one Best Puppy and two Best Opposite Sex Puppies - once at the March specialty show where I had the pleasure to show him myself. He will hit the show ring in Australia, still in puppy class, for the first time in late July 2007. We are expecting and hoping for some amazing things from this lovely boy!!

For more photos of Alaska, CLICK HERE