His Life

Kenai was born in Alaska during the early summer months of 1992. While our company's founder, Mike, was driving around Alaska, he saw a sign on the side of the road advertising husky puppies. There were two tiny huskies in a pen, a boy and a girl, and Mike picked the boy. He put the puppy in the car and watched as the little puppy started to shake uncontrollably while the puppy's sister started howling loudly from the pen.  Mike said "Ok. Ok." and went back and picked up Kenai's sister and put her into the car with Kenai.  Kenai stopped shaking and his sister stopped howling.  For most of the 80 mile drive home little Kenai stared up at his Dad. He spent the next couple of his puppy months playing with sister Rika in the small fishing towns around the Kenai Peninsula.  Rika was ultimately adopted by Sue, the accountant of the small fishing company Mike worked with, but Sue would bring Rika around on most days so Rika and Kenai could run around and play together.

Aged five months he embarked on his first foreign adventure, a trip many wait until their retirement to be able to enjoy; driving the Alaska Highway through Alaska, the Yukon Territory and British Columbia, and on through the rest of Canada on his way to Chicago, Illinois. Mike and his best friend, Phil, had sold some of their belongings at a pawn shop to make room for Kenai in the car and had spent a lot of time making a nice bed for him in the back of their Ford Escort for the trip.  Kenai couldn't care less - he spent most of the 3,900 mile trip on the front seat standing on either Mike or Phil's lap as they drove the long distance down the road.

From then on, he was never far from his Dad Mike's side, be it sleeping on the floor through graduate school, hiking up Colorado's 14,000 ft peaks or simply helping to clean the plates at dinner time.

Aged seven, he returned to Alaska for some of the best years of his life. There were few Alaskan adventures that Kenai didn't embrace. He took his Dad hiking on the long summer nights, cross-country skiing and sleeping in snow caves under the Northern Lights in the depths of winter (Kenai was particularly good at blocking the icy wind - laying right in the entrance to keep watch). He went white-water rafting, glacier trekking and sea-kayaking. The only activity he drew the line at was swimming - getting that thick fur wet was far too humiliating; someone might discover that underneath it all he wasn't so very big after all!

It was in Alaska that Kenai met his Mom, Gill. Not long after meeting her, work took both Mike and Gill to London, UK. Kenai patiently waited out his 'quarantine' period with grandparents Ron and Linda back in Chicago, Illinois. Here Kenai turned his attention to a new set of activities. Particular favorites were either helping Grandmom Linda with the gardening, pulling out the flowers he knew wouldn't fit, or ambling down to the lake with Grandpa Ron, where he'd supervise Ron's fishing, sniffing every fish caught before it was released.

Finally his passport was ready and Kenai flew to London, where he spent his golden years. Kenai was a huge hit in the UK. His striking looks and gentle nature earned him many friends - from the guys at the coffee stall in Marble Hill Park who made him hot dogs every weekend to the crowds by the river in Richmond who marveled at his ice-cream eating capabilities to the tourists at Buckingham Palace who wanted their photo taken with him rather than with the Guards. Even the wild woman on a Welsh sheep farm who asked if he was a polar bear and capable of eating people when she saw him filling the whole back seat of the car was won over once she saw him sniffing around outside the car.

Fun as London was, Mike and Gill knew that Kenai belonged in the outdoor world of Alaska and managed to find jobs back there so that Kenai could spend the last years of his life in the mountains.  Kenai continued to make lots of new friends and amaze people with his big size and gentleness.  He continued to go on rafting trips, winter skiing and camping trips and summer hikes with his parents, but more and more he enjoyed spending time around the house watching the birds and moose outside and taking naps with his mom inside. He was strong, brave and full of love until the day he passed away, almost 14 years old, on January 31st, 2006.

We hope that his memory will live on both through this company and the work we are doing through the Kenai Foundation to protect the world he loved.