My hobby has brought a lot of meaning to my life. In addition to bear dogs, I had one Finnish Spitz named Jenkki. I got it as a puppy from Vainikkala. Its sire was show champion Vili, dam Veera. It also barked at elk and was awarded a certificate at a dog show.
I have seen many kinds of dogs in trials and learned different things from them. My hobby has made it possible for me to follow the different phases of Karelian Bear Dogs over time. Males have always been a bit prioritized. In my youth, females had the part and roles of ‘mothers’. Today, there are good hunting females in almost every district.
I think it is spectacular that new, young dog enthusiasts are raised by gifting them puppies.
Not one of the dogs I have seen and experienced has been a bad one. Each of them is just one of a kind, just like us people.
Us dog enthusiasts have different emphasis in what makes a good dog. One example of this is the determination the dog barks and follows game with. Heikki Kauppinen from Ilomantsi once got to the point: “Today, a clock is not enough to follow a dog. You must have a calendar with you”.
I received a letter, dated 27th December 1957, from Heimo Rautava. I cite a part of it here: South of Käenkoski in Ilomantsi, a wolf had been shot on the road with a rifle. A hound and a bear dog did not follow the tracks. The men came to pick me up from Hattuvaara. Three hours had passed since the shot was fired. When I took Usvan Juri and Mukka to the track, they started eagerly pulling. I kept the dogs on leads. It was late evening, pitch black dark and raining. After having tracked for a while, Juri yanked heavily on the lead. I let the dogs loose. A bark started and stopped moving. Juri nibbled from the back, Mukka from behind. The wolf would have killed one dog. The wolf was shot.
The next morning, Juri’s son Mukka started a bark. I assumed from the tone of the bark that it was an elk. It was a bear. Bear hunt had ended the night before.” With kind regards, Heimo
I have much experience of a bear dog’s intelligence. My best experience of this happened in 1968 in Säkylä at the national Hirvenhaukut championships. I had Jouko Engelberg as my judging buddy.
On Saturday, we had had Usvan Peku, owner Alpo Harala, bark at an elk that attempted to harass the dog all the time.
On Sunday morning, we took Usvan Panu, owner Martti Suoknuutti, to the same terrain as yesterday. I told the guide that we should go a wider circle at first so that we can see how the dog seeks and in what range.
Panu found an elk near the same spot as on Saturday. We listened to a new fight. Sounds of banging and crashing were heard from the bog. After a couple of hours, the barking sounds came closer to the group. We were standing on a ridge, where there was an old clear-cut. A few large pines grew sparsely. Each group member hid behind their pine tree when we saw Panu moving the elk.
The dog teased the elk and lured it to follow. The elk came up towards us, as it was walked on a lead. I stood still behind my pine tree when the elk passed by from about 10 metres away. Then it stopped about 15 metres away, with its rear end towards me. After a while, Panu came to me, looked me in the eye and poked my knee. The bark continued and the dog went to the next group member. Each group member was woken up: “Well shoot already, the animal is right in front of you”.
Then the elk took off. We heard distant barking. Panu reported back and was put on lead. We gave it 98 points, which chief judge Erkki Kainua approved of. Usvan Panu won its first Hirvenhaukut championship title.
Reino Kotro has told me stories of similar skills of his Hirvenhaukut championship winner Musti.
When I go on walks with Opri here in Järvenpää, Southern Finland, every once in a while, someone asks if my dog is a Karelian Bear Dog. Sometimes, Opri gets admiring comments.
Many spectacular experiences would be missing from my life if I had not been involved in dog sports for these 60 years.
I believe that, at least in part, it has been thanks to my dogs that I have remained active and found joy in nature. However, I no longer enjoy going berry-picking as much, but listening to the bark of a Karelian Bear Dog is like listening to music.
Jouko Mutanen sent a letter, dated on 13th March 2016, to the Pystykorva magazine. The letter was published with his permission:
“Today, on 13th March 2016, we had a sad day. A tumour was found on Opri’s neck. We found the situation to be so difficult that we decided to put Opri to sleep. It would have turned 13 years in two weeks.
In memory of my Karelian Bear Dogs, I would like to add a few verses from “Rainbow bridge” (writer unknown):
“Pets that have been especially close to someone go to the Rainbow Bridge after they pass away. There, they can run and play together. The sick and the old regain their health and vitality. There is just one small thing: each of them misses someone they had to leave behind.
The day will come when one stops and looks into the distance. Suddenly, it begins to run away from the group, flying faster and faster over the green grass. You look once more into your pet’s trusting eyes, which were no longer in your life but never out of your heart.
Then, you cross the Rainbow Bridge together.”
The memoirs of Jouko Mutanen have been published in the Pystykorva magazine in 2014 in seven parts. The memoirs are now available online for the first time ever. Mutanen gave the original texts he wrote to the Finnish Spitz Association (Suomen Pystykorvajärjestö) in 2012.
