Tag Archives: dogs

Brian Ladoon, saviour of Canadian Eskimo Dogs, has died in Churchill

Early on Sunday 5 August 2018, Brian Ladoon died at the age of 65 in Churchill, Manitoba — and so far, the media have said nothing. Brian dedicated his life to the preservation of the Canadian Eskimo Dog — which often attracted polar bears to his property — but he was also an accomplished artist.

Ladoon and husky_Norbert Rosing obituary 6 Aug 2018

In the early days, (Norbert Rosing photo.

As a lover of Arctic dogs, I remember hearing of Brian’s work decades ago but only that “someone” was working hard to save the breed. I never dreamed I’d come to know so much more about his work through my research on polar bear ecology and evolution.

I never met the man. But he has clearly been an icon of Churchill for decades and because of that, the place will not be the same without him. He is on the right in the photo below, for the TV series “Polar Bear Town” that ran in 2015 (some episodes below).

Polar Bear Town premiere Sept 22 2015

UPDATE 9 May 2019: A reader asked what happened to Brian’s dogs and because I wondered myself, I asked around. Kelsey Eliasson responded:

“Penny his ex-partner is taking care of them with a small team of helpers… they are trying to formalize a board/non-profit for long-term needs”

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Fat polar bears chew on whale bones, chase dog

Brief interlude from Western Hudson Bay. My fascination with Arctic dogs and polar bears collides in Alaska!

BILL HESS / logbookwasilla.com

A string of remarkable photos of polar bears at the Kaktovik whale carcass dump (leftovers from subsistence whaling) on Barter Island on the north slope of Alaska and a dog having some fun, by Wasilla photographer Bill Hess, posted at this blog hereGo have a look. Note the condition of the bears, nice and fat from the look of it. Maps below to get you oriented geographically.

I had a Malamute years ago who played like this with horses…whole different game when played with polar bears!

From Anchorage Daily News feature from a few days ago. continue reading