Qanuk was our second malamute, an import from US. We wanted to bring home a dog to contribute with new bloodlines.
After a long time searching the internet, books, yearbooks, annuals from AMCA, we agreed, that kennel Williwaw owned by Al & Mary Jane Holabach in Seattle had the type of dogs we liked.
We were approved for a puppy, and went to Seattle when the puppies were almost 8 weeks.
We stayed at Mary Jane & Al, and spend most of the day by the puppies to watch and watch and watch…
There was a black/white boy in the litter, which Al wanted to keep. Al liked River Dance – so their boy was called Williwaw’s River Dance – Benny.
We chose the light grey boy, which was the most willing in standing and running nicely - as one can be when one is only 8 weeks old. We called him Qanuk, which means “snowflake” in Eskimo.
When we introduced Qanuk to Smilla, she was quite upset. Qanuk was not allowed to touch Smilla, or walk pass her or play with the toys without a offended roar…
Luckily Qanuk was totally unaffected by the situation. He lay down on Smillas tail, when they were sleeping, invited Smilla to play – pretty soon Smilla discovered the fun of playing with Qanuk . They became very good friends in no time.
After a couple of weeks after Qanuk’s arrival, Qanuk started to have stomach problems. It continued despite special diet and strong surveillance by us and our vet.
It did not help the situation, when Qanuk ate a shoe sole. Surgery on Boxing Day was necessary – with Karsten as assistant.
The surgery wound healed nicely, but pour Qanuk was to week to recover from the operation.
The short life intended for Qanuk ended January 5th 1999 – almost 5½ month old.
We can only guess, how Qanuk would have developed into as a grown up malamute, but if he just would have been half as handsome as his brother Benny, we would have more than satisfied…