I had never heard of the Karelian Bear Dog before coming to Montana.  My first dog in Montana was a pound puppy – labeled a Lab cross.  I grew up with Labs and knew this dog was not Lab – labeled that way only because of his mostly black coat I assume.  My vet told me he, Zack, was part Karelian Bear Dog.  I looked up the breed information and was a bit daunted but as it turned out, Zack was an excellent companion, easily trained and very sociable.  He was with me nearly 24/7 for 6 years.  I put him to sleep after a 6 week ordeal with lymphoma.  By now I had read about Karelians and met several others – short story, I found Karl in a litter in Choteau (Sho-toe) Montana and he became part of my family in May of 2001, joining me and my 5 year old tuxedo cat, Gus.

The baby pictures…

Grown up Karl

Karl – Karelian Bear Dog

Karelian Bear Dog History