For those of you interested in the article about Lynn and Jennie during their time in Kylämä, Tuuli has kindly translated it out for everyone. I'm sharing what she sent to me although I admit that I did slightly edited a few confusing sentences (just some errors in translation) and "spelling mistakes" on it.
Sorry for playing "grammar police", Tuuli, but I felt that I just had to fix some kinks
Overall, I kept most of the article the way it is and just want to say thank you to Tuuli VERY MUCH for the initial translations.
This is an article of the Tamaskan breed in the early days when the founders went to Lapland.
Article by: Kartriina Saukkonen
Translated by: Tuuli Salmi
Edited by: Lucas Fong
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Dog Family Enjoys the Peace of Nature
The Sharkey family moved from England to Kylämä (Kylämä is a small village in Kuhmoinen, a municipality of Finland)
When passing a house along Kelkantie road an excited barking and howling noise can be heard. A few dozen dogs in their pens welcoming the visitors. "Some people consider it strange that we have so many dogs", Lynn Sharkey explains. "People can have as many as 50 dogs back in England. We love dogs and have always had them".
Lynn, her daughter Jennie, and grandson Finley moved to the Kelkantie road in Kylämä less than a year ago from near Chester in England.
Wolf Look-alike Working Dogs
Sharkey has Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes and wolfy looking Tamaskan dogs. Despite of their fierce appearance the Tamaskan dogs are friendly. They greet visitors with tails wagging, sit to be petted for a while and then lay down. "They look like wolves but are not wolves," Lynn Sharkey explains. "Tamaskan comes from a North American Inuit word 'Tamaska' meaning 'mighty wolf'. The breed has been developed in Finland for the purpose of creating a working type and sled-pulling type dog."
The Tamaskan originates from sled dogs brought to Europe from the USA. These dogs were later bred with Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes and German Shepherds. The goal was to create a wolf-like looking dog with the working type instinct. Later on some wolfish looking sled dogs were added to improve the breed.
"The Tamaskan is suitable for all kinds of work and it is a very friendly dog. It gets along with children and other animals. Our dogs enjoy being with Finley. The Tamaskans are not aggressive and they are not suitable as guard dogs", Lynn explains.
There are Tamaskan dogs in many other countries, in addition to Finland they are found in the US, Sweden, England and the Netherlands.
Fascination in Sled Rides
The Sharkeys take their dogs to dog shows and do a lot of other things with them, too. They especially enjoy mushing. It was indeed the snow here that drew the family to Finland, it makes mushing possible.
"A friend told me that this house was for sale. We heard that this was a nice and quiet place surrounded by woods. We visited and fell in love with the place. The neighbours don't live too close so the dogs do not cause disturbance to them. Jämsä, Lahti and Tampere are a short drive away. It is not easy finding a job though", Lynn Sharkey explains.
Their summer was spent building compounds for the dogs, and that was plenty of work for two women.
"The people here are lovely and very friendly. Our neighbours came to visit on Finley’s birthday and even brought him a bobsled as a present. Some moose hunters have also been kind and have brought moose bones for our dogs", the Sharkeys said.
They haven’t always found a common language with the neighbours and acquaintances but they are trying.
"Finnish is a difficult language but we are trying our best to learn it," the Sharkeys told.
