Who we are
Welcome to Camp Polarhike!
Here’s a bit about us and how this all started us off in the world of Malamute.
We own a small kennel of Alaskan Malamutes located in South Australia. I have been lucky enough to share my life with this wonderful breed since 2012.
Shortly after getting my first malamute Duke, I became interested in dog sports specific to the breed. We became involved in Dryland Sledding and Weightpull and before long - I had well and truly caught the malamute bug.
Unfortunately Duke was diagnosed with hip dysplasia early in his life.
I was heart-broken and decided to get another dog to continue our involvement in dog sports.
I put my hand up to foster dogs through a local breed specific rescue. Logically, I made this decision to experience a multi-dog household before committing to the purchase of a new dog, however I was also determined to experience all aspects of this breed and their breed specific traits even in less than ideal circumstances.
Typically, That decision made the family grow immediately by 2. We welcomed King as a foster fail and shortly after, my first pedigree Alaskan Malamute, Mavya from Malpac Kennels in Aldinga Beach.
I volunteered for AMRAA (Alaskan Malamute Rehoming Aid Australia) for a number of years and assisted in foster, behavioral assistance, grooming and temperament checks. I experienced a wide range of dogs and learnt a lot of lessons on the challenges of a multi-dog household alongside my orginial 3 malamutes Duke, King and Mavya. Our time with AMRAA resolved at our final and un-regrettable foster fail, Felix.
This is where the kennel really started to take shape. I was devastated when I was delivered the news about Duke. Volunteering also opened my eyes to the potential risks of poor breeding practices, and the damage it can cause. I began to research ethical dog breeding and delved deep into the depths of the purebred dog world.
Mavya opened many opportunities for me. With the support of Jacqui and Dave (Malpac) I was able to show Mavya to her Neuter Championship within 8 months of her entering the ring. The more experience I got in the pedigree dog scene, the more I branched out. Mavya was the first Alaskan Malamute to be officially awarded her Working Weight Pull Dog title in SA - she even went one better and 12 months later was also awarded her Working Weight Pull Dog Excellence.
Mavya and the rest of the kennel also excelled in Dryland Sledding. We have travelled all over Australia to compete our little team. We were awarded many "fastest Alaskan Malamute team" awards in the classes we competed in from different states across Australia.
As my love for the breed and the activities I did with them grew I realized how important the preservation of this ancient breed is and the dream of having a kennel of these wonderful dogs was born.
In 2016, my Stormy was born. The start of Storms life began with Malpac but as time went on, I fell in love and eventually welcomed him to our family. Storm is a big boy and took a long time to mature, teaching me a lesson in patience. We decided to let him mature before pushing him in the show ring, instead we focused on proving him in function.
Storm has achieved some wonderful things in his life. An incredible lead dog, leading from 4 up to 8 other Malamutes. Obtaining his Working Weight Pull Dog title within months of being eligible and going on to be awarded his Australian Champion title.
In 2019 Storm sired a litter with Sheena from Malpac. The dream was born and from that litter I announced the arrival of my foundation bitch, Moro.
Our passion for biological fulfillment for our Alaskan Malamute saw us travelling hundreds of kilometers behind teams of dogs ranging from 2 up to 8 dogs. This opened up a unique perspective for us. Understanding how the structure of these dogs work performing their original job had been invaluable. Often being spotted running the dogs through grapevines we had access to in Aldinga Beach.
Seeing differences in dog gait and locomotion during sledding and weight pull made me curious about dog structure overall. This sparked a new passion and ultimately altered my perspective of the Ideal Alaskan Malamute.
Understanding the importance of healthy drive, temperament, sound structure and strong breed type.
All of our experiences ultimately led us to importing our first Alaskan Malamute, Winter, with a strong desire to add positively to the genetic diversity of the breed in Australia.
Seeing how these lines blended with similar lineage overseas, careful research and consideration we chose a dog we thought would be most appropriate for our program.
Winter proved to be an invaluable asset to our breeding program producing healthy, sound and workable progeny excelling in both the conformation ring and the working field.
His daughter Reasan (Moro x Winter 2023) winning TOP WEIGHT PULL DOG in 2024 in her first working season under The Alaskan Malamute Club of Victoria.
Moro was the beginning to a far more than we ever could have imagined.
She excelled in the Conformation ring, obtaining her Grand Championship by 3 years of age. She is the second bitch in Australia to earn their A20 Champion and pending, her International Champion title (C.I.B). She is the first Alaskan Malamute in Australia to hold multiple conformation titles AND earn the highest accolades in Weight Pull achieving her Working Weight Pull Dog Excellence in her first 2 years of competing. With careful selection, she has also contributed beautiful progeny to top it off.
Moro is a breeders dream and the backbone of our entire operation at Polarhike.
We have since imported a second Alaskan Malamute, Sif, to Australia. Sif arrived late 2023 and we are very excited to see our future plans come to fruition.
Our knowledge and understanding of this unique breed is forever growing. Our journey is only just beginning but we couldn’t be more passionate to continue our successes in the preservation of this stunning working breed.
