[Home] [New Arrivals] [The NAIDs] [History] [Dog Tales] [Breed Info] [Then & Now]  [Sires & Dams] [Future Sires & Dams] [Past Sires & Dams] [Read More About It] [Another Satisfied Customer] [Site Map]                 [Contact Us]

 Karen Markel

The International Biographical Institute, located in England and the American Biographical Institute has awarded Karen Markel with the 2008 Business Woman of the Year Award. 

Congratulations Karen!

 

 

 

 

 

At the age of thirteen I broke my first horse to ride.  After that I broke dozens of horses to ride for people while enrolled in the horse 4-H program and competing at horse shows throughout my life.  I purchased many two and three year olds and broke them to ride.  I then sold them to eagerly awaiting equine enthusiasts. I offered riding lessons for the young and old alike and was a 4-H  co-leader/helper for quite a number of years.  I was Caro High School’s first Equestrian coach and our team took 3^rd place state wide the first year we competed.

I raised, bred, trained and showed Appaloosa horses.  I even bred my prized Appaloosa speed/brood mare to the best and biggest registered Black Mammoth Jack that I could find and produced a mule who won numerous championships as best of show in all day mule competitions where he won in halter, pleasure, trail, jumping classes, dressage, and weight pulling competitions.  He is currently leased to a private tour-guide hunting camp where he packs food and supplies and bagged elk from the hunters.

I was in charge of the care, breeding and transporting of all our Standard Bred trotters and pacers to the fairs and racetracks, besides pursuing a college degree in the health care field, raising two children and running my husband’s tavern.

My husband was an avid rabbit hunter but he complained that the Beagles’ legs were just too short to make it through deep snow.  I bred a female Beagle to a Walker Hound and produced long-legged pups that were excellent hunters and were not handicapped in deep snow.

Also a lover of pheasant hunting, but having trouble with his extremely high-strung, English Setter, with the “I don’t want to listen to humans” attitude, and having a Brittany Spaniel, who was a little cold-nosed but well-mannered, I bred the two.  This resulted in pups that were the best of both breeds.  Owning a business, where men made up the majority of customers, both of these mixed breed dogs were a hit.  Pups were sold before the litters were born.

I purchased my first Wolf-Dog in 1976 and in 1978 I began breeding champion A.K.C. Collies, of which Butternut Creek Kennels was my kennel name at that time, and bred them until 1993.  I continued to own A.K.C. Collies for several years after I quit breeding them.

Due to the inbreeding occurring in most A.K.C. bred dogs, I wanted to retrieve the intelligence, herding ability and the conformation of the old-type of Collie.

I began experimenting with a Border Collie, Collie, German Shepherd mix, bred to an A.K.C. Collie.  The results were amazing.  Back was the old looks and intelligence and versatility of the old type of Collie.  True they were just mutts, but many people were waiting for this special combination of breeds for a lifetime friend and companion.

Upon moving to the west side of the state of Michigan with a new husband and his three sons, two of which inherited the cancer that their mother died from, I began to raise and breed Wolf-Dogs, combining the wolfy looks with the right disposition and temperament to make them highly desirable, as they were requested for and sold nation wide.

During this time I saw my first Indian Dog and for some unknown reason was drawn to this rare, almost extinct breed of dog.  I just couldn’t stop thinking about this animal. Eight months after my initial exposure to the Native American Indian Dog I purchased my foundation female.

Wolf-Dogs were my love and passion but an ominous future lay ahead for the Wolf-Dog in Michigan and I was not so dumb, so to speak, as to put all my eggs in one basket.  I bred my foundation Native American Indian Dog to an Alaskan Malamute/Chinook/German Shepherd mix male producing Majestic View’s Hakata We.  I then boarded a big yellow “Old Yeller” type male with prick ears, Cochese, who I later found out was an Indian dog from the Native Americans in Montana. I bred him to my foundation female producing Whitney, and then to my son’s registered Alaskan Malamute, producing Majestic View’s Keyonee.  I kept a few Native American Indian Dogs around getting prepared for the inevitable law, banning the ownership and breeding of Wolf-Dogs in the state of Michigan.

I soon found that the Native American Indian Dog was the most incredible breed of dog I had ever experienced.  After much research into the history of the Native Americans and their dogs my assumptions were correct.  They possess a super intelligence, friendly, loyal disposition and are proven hunters, fantastic workers and sled dogs.

They have a hypoallergenic hair coat, so people who are allergic to dogs or suffer from asthma, can own one of these unique animals.  They shed their winter hair coat only once a year, all within a week or two, so there is not the constant shedding of hair year round like with most breeds of dogs.

These dogs were originally very wolf-like in appearance, (see History and Read More About It) but highly trainable and very eager to please their human companions.  They are wonderful animals with children, just as they have been for thousands of years.

It is the ultimate goal of Majestic View Kennels to continue to develop, refine and perfect this breed as the all-around ideal dog suited to meet the needs of each individual family member. To bring these dogs back from near extinction to their rightful place in the world is the least any of us humans can hope to accomplish.~~~

   FYI 

      There are some who question the authenticity of the Native American Indian Dog, saying that they are merely a mixed breed of dog.  However, ALL current breeds of dogs originated from at least two different kinds of dogs, mixed together to create a new breed.

     So in actuality, all registered breeds of dogs are mixed breeds, or “mutts” as some would tag them.

     Ever since the influx of European breeds of dogs introduced in the mid-1500’s to the Native American’s “camp” or “village” dogs, as they called them, the “original dogs”  bloodlines, have had other breeds mixed in with the Indians original foundation breeding stock.

      To clarify and set the record straight, the Native American Indian Dog, (NAID) and the American Indian Dog (AID), are two totally different breed types of dogs.   The AID was created some 30 yrs. ago and contains a mixture of coyote, Dingo, and Australian Kelpie. Not the “authentic” breed of the Native Americans at all.

      For one, the Dingo and Australian Kelpie, are not indigenous to the United States, nor have they ever been.

     Secondly, the coyote is about a 35 to 45 lbs animal, max, and could not pull a travois, loaded  with up to 250 lbs. of the family’s possessions, following migratory herds of wild game daily and sometimes year around.  Nor could they carry a back pack weighing up to 50 lbs. all day long either, as this is more than a coyote’s total body weight.

     Thirdly, coyotes are NOT trainable, another very substantial reason the Native Americans did not incorporate coyote blood into their existing bloodlines.   The Native Americans did not have ropes or chains or chain link fencing to contain their dogs or keep them close for use.  The dogs had to be willing to come when beckoned, as whole villages would sometimes share the dogs and the dogs had to be willing to come to anyone and be hooked to a travois, loaded with a back pack, ordered to guard and protect the very young or elderly of the village, or go off hunting or fishing  with the men and boys, or go with the women and young teen girls, looking and collecting fruit, berries, roots and herbs.

     Lastly, if the dogs did not or would not work or be of help to the N.A.s they would kill them and  many, many, Nations would eat their dogs, supplementing their diets with a staple source of protein and fat and nutrients.   The coyote, on the other hand, was considered by Native Americans, Fur Trappers, Missionaries, and Explorers, to be a foul, rank, stringy meat, with a totally unpalatable taste.  

      In journals kept by the Lewis & Clark expedition, the taste of coyote was compared to the men’s dislike, akin to paddling upstream, and unfit for human consumption.  These are the reasons why the Native Americans never incorporated coyote blood into their dogs.

      There is documented proof, (see history section), however, that up until the early 1900’s one Native American Nation still retained their “original” bloodlines of dogs and did not utilize or bring into their tribe “white man’s” dogs,  or the “Whites” big dogs, as they called them, more commonly known as the horse.  So the Native American dog’s bloodlines of this particular Nation was kept pure and undiluted until shortly after the turn of the century.

    The Native American Indian Dog today, looks, works, and behaves the same way they did for hundreds of years and, hundreds of years ago.  The NAID® is recognized and registered with two different registries, currently, and has been invited to join several other registries as well, to date.~~~  

___________________________________________

M.V.'s personal experience with the Tamaskan Dog breeders of the U.S. has proved to be very enlightening, and costly, to say the least, and the following is simply a caution to those individuals who may be interested in purchasing such an animal.

Despite denials, from the so called "reputable breeders", the Tamaskan is a wolfdog and is full of genetic health issues and problems.   M.V. Kennels~~~  

      Return to Top