My quest with dogs began at a very young age. I grew-up having numerous dogs, mostly German Shepherds or German Shepherd mixes and a couple of cats and learned a healthy respect for them and the responsibility that came with it. Everywhere we went, if there were animals around I was with them. I enjoyed the companionship of the animals more than the companionship of people. I also had a very strong desire for a horse. It was the one thing my parents couldn’t get away from. When I was 2 I had my first experience with horses and I was forever caught up in the strangle hold of my desires.
At age 12, my father decided to rent a horse from a stable for me to ride and care for during summer vacation, hoping it would cause me to be turned off to horses and make me give up my demands for my own. To his unfortunate dismay, it only cemeted my desires even more. I had located a horse at the stable that was for sale and decided to approach him with a proposition. His first response was, “absolutely not”, but by morning he had agreed and bought me my first horse. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and partnership. She taught me a lot and we grew very close. As our relationship matured our bond as a team blossomed and we began showing at the local shows, many times beating out many of the expensive, registered horses. Our lives together lasted 15 years at which time she was suffering from osteo-arthritis with bone spurs in her knee joints that medication was no longer helping. The decision to euthanize was agonizing and took me three years to do but I knew I was only extending the inevitable and finally resigned myself to it. Since then I have not owned a horse, but maybe again someday.
My life went on and I pursued other ventures and in 1996 got married to a man I had dated for almost 2 years. In 1998, we had our first child, a boy, whom we named Joshua. We had gotten a dog about a month prior to our son’s delivery. She was a Rhodesian Ridgeback that we had adopted and named Nikki. She was a great dog and when the baby was born she was great with him. As my son got older we noticed him getting little red spots on his face, arms, neck, chest, back, and legs that he complained were itchy. After repeated doctor visits it was determined he was allergic to her. In November 2002, we acquired another dog during that time which, of course, exasperated the problem and it was only a matter of time before both dogs would have to go to new homes. Unfortunately that wasn’t to happen. One windy and rainy winter day, our wood fence was damaged and both dogs escaped. Our newly adopted dog of two months, unfortunately, was hit by a car and killed instantly, our Rodesian, Nikki, who was now 11 years old, was seriously injured and was not able to be saved and had to be humanely euthanised. That was a blow that was almost to much to bear.
After only a few weeks time my husband came across a young dog (a staffordshire terrier mix) hanging around a Taco Bell. He fed her a few bean burritos and loaded her in the van for the long drive home. The young dog then proceeded to loose her “cookies” in the car. This unfortunately, for her, happened every time we took her for a ride in the car. Anyway, we named her Maggie and, despite my son’s allergies to her, kept her for a few months. At that point we decided to put her up for adoption and I began to feel that I was never going to own a dog again or give my son the opportunity to grow up around them.
After about 3 months I began to look for a breed of dog that was hypoallergenic. I was frustrated when all the dogs were small breed dogs or poodles. I did find some new combinations that were hypoallergenic: Labradoodles and Goldendoodles but couldn’t get used to the look and the hyperness of the dogs. I continued my search and came upon the Native American Indian Dogs. Now that was a dog I could live with. I immediately contacted the breeder, Karen Markel of Majestic View Kennels, and put in my order. It was a dream come true. I had requested a hair sample and tested it on my son quite a few times with not so much as even a little red spot. He was not allergic. That was the best thing of all.
While I waited for my new puppy to arrive I had come across an ad for blue-eyed puppies. They were Siberian Husky mixes. I thought what a great companion for the new puppy. After testing my son’s sensitivity to the husky puppy, and again, not so much as even a little spot, I called my husband and he agreed to letting me get one of these blue-eyed beauties. What he didn’t know was that I had a NAID puppy on order. This he found out after I picked up the puppy at the airport and brought him home. When my husband walked in the door I pointed under the desk and said to my husband ”look at what I found, hunny?, can we keep him?. Well as the story goes, he is still with us today and is our stud dog “Zakai” who is very spoiled and considers himself the PRINCE of the house. He is truly one of the wonderful joys of our lives along with our beautiful, blue-eyed siberian husky mix “Lacy” who is also very spoiled and considers herself the PRINCESS.
I then decided it was time to purchase a breeding female for Zakai and again contacted Karen of Majestic View Kennels. We had visited her kennels around Christmas time in 2004 and met the dogs. It was great to finally meet Zakai’s mother, Hakata We. His father (Paahuma) had passed away the day before we arrived, so we were unable to meet him. While we were visiting the dogs we came across Yana Istas and Vashti. I had seen pictures of Yana since he was born and felt like I knew him. He and Vashti were very outgoing and friendly and wanted more than anything to be as close to you as they could be without literally getting in your lap. I decided these were the two I wanted a pup from. Karen said she was pregnant and due to deliver in February of 2005 so I told her to let me know when they were born and I would forward her the deposit. We put down a deposit on one of the female pups. I spoke with Karen about her keeping her for awhile and an agreement was made and arrangements to hold on to her until she was paid off and able to be picked up were established. It was agreed that I would have to pick her up by June 1, 2006. This would make her (Tehya Takoda) about 16 months old. Unfortunately, when Tehya was 11 months old (January 31, 2006), I had to give her up and relinquished her back to Karen of Majestic View Kennels. She graciously took her back and kept her as a breeding animal (now named Tate). Unfortunately, because of an accusation made by Indian Valley Kennels towards Karen, of Majestic View Kennels, our relationship has been permanently severed. Despite that, I have decided I will continue to move forward.
That’s my story for now. As I continue to share this wonderful breed of dog I will continue to add to my breeding stock. But don’t be fooled, they will be spending plenty of time in the house with the family. I enjoy my dogs to much not to have them near me. My husband kept telling me, why build kennels for them they’ll never be in them, they’ll always be in the house. As a breeder, that’s not realistic, but if it was possible, you can bet it would be the case. For now, we will share our time with all of them, just as a mother does with each of her children.
Carla Ferrier
Indian Valley Kennels
Creator of the authentic Native American Village Dog
