Misjko

Misjko was our first Laika. He entered our lives at the end of 1999 and on August 6th 2010, he we unexpectedly had to say goodbye. He is a dog that left an indelible impression and is the subject of many anecdotes.

Name	Kara-Kitáj Frukt
Alias	Misjko
In Russian	Мишко – Mishka: little bear and nickname for the Russian name Mikail
Breed	West Siberian Laika
Date of birth	13th October 1999
Place of birth	Budapest, Hungary

Titles	Dutch Champion, Amsterdam Winner 2001
Diplomas	2nd prize FCI blood track trial 1.000m/24h in Varsány, Hungary 6th November 2004
Keywords	charismatic, dominant, self-confident, steady, brave, loyal, fair, lazy

Misjko's character

Misjko was a dog that enjoyed to be the centre of attention and he loved people. He was a dog that somehow always got a lot of attention, but not always in a positive way. He stood out because of his appearance, but also because of his wild and incontrollable behaviour in some situations. Misjko did not like routine and enjoyed everything which was new.

Although Misjko was constantly looking for interaction with other dogs, he rarely played. Instead, he was quite dominant in his approach

which resulted in a fight sometimes. Mostly innocent, as he was a fair fighter. After a few years, he became more tempered and at a later age, encounters with other dogs did not cause any problems anymore.
Misjko was quite a lazy dog, he would not do no more than was necessary to reach his goal. He often needed encouragement and seemed to have a very good sense for knowing whether something was serious or not. He never let me down during exams and in such situations he simply did what he was expected to do.

Misjko was not a very fanatic hunter and he clearly preferred wild boar and forest birds. Retrieving, but mainly blood tracking were his specialties.

Raising and training Misjko literary cost me blood, sweat and tears. But Misjko developed into a great and loyal dog, that will always have a very special place in our hearts.

What makes Misjko special

Since Misjko has been part of our lives, he appeared to be a perfect travel companion. Whether it is during the occasionally long car rides through Scandinavia, on the ferry or in the metro, train or bus, taking Misjko with us always was uncomplicated. He felt himself at home everywhere, in our small tent, caravan or camper, hotel room or cabin, Misjko usually seemed to find his own comfortable place.

Due to his steady and self-confident nature, Misjko has proven more than once that he was a dog that we could

rely on. Somehow he had a special sense for certain, unsafe, situations, which he perfectly indicated.

I learnt a lot from Misjko, not only about dogs and their behaviour, but also about myself and other people.

Although Misjko was a very strong and powerful dog, he suffered from epilepsy. Despite his disease, we are grateful that he was able to join us on all our cycle, skiing and hiking trips until his death.