Kulik
April 8, 2009
If he was still running the trails, this month we would have celebrated Kulik’s 21st birthday. He was an Alaskan Malamute and Grey Wolf cross: a brilliant dog who is still greatly missed, though he passed into the afterlife many years ago, after simply falling asleep under a tree at a ripe old age.
The highlight of Kulik’s day was a toss-up between dropping off the kids at the school bus stop or running free on the trails out back to the bog. He loved the attention lavished on him by neighborhood girls and was absolutely terrified of thunderstorms. He had a weakness for chasing and catching rabbits and porcupines, much to everyone’s dismay. His howling was haunting.
This drawing was done in black charcoal and graphite pencil.
Drawing Conclusions 
April 21, 2009 at 10:46 am
I bought Ethan the book,The Philosopher and the Wolf by Mark Rowlands after I heard him speak on the radio about living with a wolf. Ethan loved it and vowed to join in friendship with a wolf one day since he came to realise one never possesses them but quite the reverse! I remember Kulik, being afraid of him because of his size but being charmed by him because of his gentleness.
April 21, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Ethan will definitely have to come back to Canada if he wants to befriend a wolf 🙂 Kulik was born in British Columbia. We found him in a pet store when he was 3 months old. Even then, he had such enormous paws.
The last wolves were killed off in Nova Scotia in the 1800s and have since been replaced by coyotes in the ecosystem.
Alaskan Malamutes and Huskies are very wolfish dogs. We have two excellent books by R.D. Lawrence about wolves/Alaskan Malamutes: The North Runner and In Praise of Wolves. They’re both here for Ethan to read next time he’s in our neck of the woods 🙂
May 23, 2009 at 7:57 am
I remember Kulik, too! And since I have had a life-long fear of dogs, I was never able to really relax around him, unfortunately. He was a beautiful animal, and you have captured him so well in your drawing.
May 23, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Kulik was just a puppy when you knew him and nowhere near his full size! Thank you.
February 15, 2011 at 1:13 am
Beautiful dog. Thank you for sharing your stories about Kulik. Our half-coyote dog shared many of the same traits, and was always running off, too. (She was our last one, too.)