Born: 25th. March 2001 in Malta

Sire: Jackie

Dam: Ch. Patsy Safra Tal-Wardija

Sex: male

My name is Kjetil Stokka and I live in a place called Disenå 8 miles northeast of Oslo, Norway. I would like to recount my trip to Malta to collect my Pharaoh Hound (Kelb tal-Fenek) – “Barun”. First I must say that I am new to the breed since I only got my first Pharaoh Hound bitch from the kennel Al Mozel in Trondheim in the autumn of 1999.

But in 2000 I decided to get myself a male. I had breeding plans for the future. Purely by coincidence I was lucky to contact Peter Gatt in Malta and asked him about the possibility to import a dog from him to Norway. Peter told me that he was planning a litter in 2001, so I could acquire a dog if I wished, or wait for a later litter in 2003-2004.

I decided to go for the first litter in 2001, and today I don't regret my decision. However there were a few problems to iron out. It was not possible to import a dog to Norway without quarantine something that cost about 25,000 Nor kr, and Peter would absolute not have any of his puppies spend several months in quarantine. We therefore had to come up with several alternatives. 

I contacted the Norwegian Animal health supervision, and they advised us that we could import the dog into Norway with exemption from the rules only if the dog was vaccinated in Malta when he was 11-12 weeks old, and only if the vaccine was effective. If this was the case, then the dog could be imported to Norway without quarantine at about 7 to 8 month old. 

This was satisfactory for Peter! However he was not prepared to keep the puppy in so many months, since he would get a very strong bond to the puppy and would find it very difficult to let it go at that age. So the only possibility was to find someone who could keep the puppy until the age of 7 to 8 months, at which time “Barun could be transported and ready for Norway. Fortunately Peter found a retired couple living in Malta, who were prepared to keep the puppy in their home as one of the family. Payment terms were arranged for Barun’s stay. So many thanks to this couple, without whose help, things would have been difficult. While Barun was in Malta he was showed in various Shows organised by the Malta Kennel Club under several judges. He got very good critics every time, so there was no doubt about the quality of my future companion. 

Barun as a puppy in Malta, November 2001

After a long wait through spring, summer and autumn of 2001, the time had finally arrived for me and my family to travel to Malta to collect Barun. Since it had cost 12000 Nor kr- in freight for Barun to be transported from Malta to Norway, I decided that it was far better, and cheaper, to travel to Malta and collect him myself, since it was now possible to travel back home with Barun as excess luggage for only 1000 Nor. kr.  

When my wife Trude, my little girl Emilie and I arrived in Malta we were welcomed by Peter and his wife Lucienne.  Instead of driving us straight to the hotel, Peter suggested that we all go to his house to see the dogs. I had been looking forward to this so I immediately said “yes please”. I had decided that when I first travel to Malta, I should try to learn all I could about Malta’s National Hound. On entering Peter’s home we were welcomed by 5 beautiful Klieb tal-Fenek – Ram, Patsy (the mother of Barun), Tita, Ziffa and Barun. First it hit me, the dogs were more slim and more light than the dogs in Norway, and the fronts was more narrow (slim). The temperament was very good and all the dogs were calm and confident. I especially liked the bitch “Tita”, which Peter had choosen to keep for himself. Never have I seen a puppy dog with a firmness like that in all joints, and what a coat! Shining, soft and close to the body. 

That Saturday the Malta Kennel Club had organised their International Dog Show and Peter had arranged to enter all the puppies in that show. It was a little strange; when we were in Malta we saw almost no dogs, but in the show there were plenty of them. It was interesting to follow the show; everything was in order and well organised, and there was many beautiful dogs. On Sunday it was the Pharaoh Hounds day. In the show there were 4 Pharaoh hounds all belong to Peters breeding. This shows that farmers and hunters don't care to show off their dogs. They have their own meetings where they meet with their Klieb tal-Fenek. First it was Peter with his big male. Ram is a big dog about 70 cm high at the shoulders. Then it was the puppies! First I entered the ring with Barun, I think I was the first Scandinavian to show my own dog in Malta. It was a great event. Barun got first prize. Later, it was Helene’s turn. Helene had also come all the way from Sweden to collect Ziffa - sister to Barun. Ziffa! Won over Peter’s Tita and got first prize. Peter’s bitch Tita got second prize. (later Tita become World Winner bitch 2002 in Holland) Afterwards it was Barun against Ziffa,  Ziffa beat Barun to get best Puppy In Breed! Actually Ziffa continued to win the group 5 and eventually also won Best Puppy in Show under the renowned judge Mr Hans Lehtinen. So huge congratulations to Helene from Sweden. What an event she had experience and could take home to Sweden! 

Peter had promise to show us Malta and we used some days to that effect. Malta is a very interesting island with many cultural treasures. Actually the oldest building in the world is in Malta; even older then Egyptian pyramids. We visited the Maltese glass factory, where Peter said that I could possibly find a glass statue of the Kelb tal-Fenek. I was in luck. They had made 6 as a test and they had only 1 left, so I bought it as a souvenir of Malta and the Kelb tal-Fenek. We also got a book about the Pharaoh hound, written by the Maltese Cecil Camilleri. Peter asked me if I was interested in a picture of the Pharaoh hound, it shows that a world-known painter from Malta had painted a oil painting of 3 Pharaoh hounds. They had made 850 prints of the painting and then destroyed the pressure plate. We bought print number 792.  

I asked Peter if he could show me the hunting land in Malta, and he did. We travelled a day around and had a good look at the hunting ground where the Kelb tal-Fenek hunts. The Maltese hunters hunt for rabbits with the help of the Pharaoh Hound. In Malta the Pharaoh hound is called  Kelb tal-Fenek which means the dog after the rabbit or rabbit hunting dog. I quickly understood that in Malta one must say “Kelb tal-Fenek” and not “Pharaoh Hound”.  

One has to actually see the hunting terrain in Malta on which the Kelb tal-Fenek hunts to appreciate the breed even more. It was difficult to walk on and almost impossible to run on because the ground is made of sharp stone and rock everywhere. So the hunting dogs must be really careful where to place their legs whilst hunting. I asked Peter about how many Kelb tal-Fenek live in Malta, and he said 1000-2000 dogs. The breeding methods used by the Maltese farmers and hunters is difficult to understand; actual hunters around the world use similar breeding methods, but it explain why the breed has survived so clean in Malta during these several centuries. Yes; maybe 3000 thousand year and more. When a hunter get a litter he take the puppies to the hunting land. He keep 2-3 puppies and the rest he gives away or puts down as they say. And it is only the best hunting dogs who get the opportunity to breed and bring the breed further, because of that not many dogs obtain adult age. The dogs do not get vaccinations so it is only the strongest who survive, and a hunter will only mate a good hunting dog to another good hunting dog, and then, only to replace his dog who is getting old. In Malta the interest for the Kelb tal-Fenek is not big, it looks like it is just farmers and hunters who keep Klieb tal-Fenek in Malta. It is considered as a farm animal, which can produce meat by hunting. Finally it is interesting to note that Malta’s veterinary say that it is not often that a Kelb tal-Fenek visit due to illness. 

Then the day to travel home arrived. Peter had already arranged for the vaccine and Titre test and everything was in order. Peter drove us to the airport and he arranged for Barun to have a nice trip to Norway. It was plain to see that Peter loves his dogs. It was not easy for him to say good-bye to Barun. He told us that it was the same every time he send a dog abroad. The trip from Malta to Norway was very smooth. We had one stop over in Sweden before we arrived in Norway. The customs officer told us it was interesting to see Barun because he must be the first dog from Malta to Norway. The customs officer had some problems to find the microchip on Barun but lucky she found it. 

Today Barun is almost 2 year old and everything is fine, he is healthy and sound and we have got permission of NKK to freeze semen from him; something we will do in the near future. Gjensidige assurance have also been nice, so we have insured him as a breeding dog. In Norway we have had great use for the hunting quality to the Kelb tal-Fenek, since we live in the countryside we get many rats. Barun has effectively, together with Bambi, removed almost all the rats. They dig the rats from the ground and kill them quickly and effeciently. The biggest rat Barun has catch was 30 cm long. He has also caught many birds; he lay and wait until the birds are inattentive, then he rushes in to catch them in the air. In the autumn we had problems with mice but Barun also catch mice. It seems as hunting is the only thing on his mind. Another thing which surprised me about the Kelb tal-Fenek, is it's patience with children. Both Barun and Bambi are good with children, so the Kelb tal-Fenek is a good family dog. 

Since we live on a farm I have build a several hundred meter long fence around the house. I was a little uncertain about the height of the fence, since the Kelb tal-Fenek are so very good at jumping. The fence was made 120 cm high. But the problem is not the height! The problem is that the Kelb tal-Fenek digs under the fence; the biggest scapegoat is Bambi. Bambi digs under the fence everywhere and runs away. They run to the neighbour, who has horses, but lucky they always come back again. These Klieb tal-Fenek are really sly dogs. I must lay some netting on the ground. 

In the future we plan to have a litter from Barun and Bambi so we look forward to that. I know Peter will export more dogs in order to increase the gene-pool in the breed. So maybe it will be possible to import a dog direct from Malta. Peter’s e-mail address is petergatt@onvol.net.  

Hope this story was interesting.

Kjetil Stokka