Canadian Eskimo Dog

The Canadian Eskimo Dog — the Qimmiq — is the Inuit sled and hunting dog of the Canadian Arctic, and one of the most endangered breeds in the world.

History

It has worked with Inuit communities for a thousand years, hauling sledges and holding polar bear and musk ox at bay, and it was central to Arctic travel until snowmobiles arrived. Thousands were killed during the mid-twentieth century in circumstances Canada has since examined in a formal inquiry; the population fell to a few hundred and has not recovered.

Temperament

The breed is known for being hardy, bold and intensely pack-oriented, affectionate with its people and forceful with other dogs — it is a working animal shaped by an environment that punished softness.

Care and training

It needs an enormous amount of exercise and work, serious containment, and an owner who understands that it is not a household spitz. The heavy coat suits extreme cold and suffers badly in heat.

Health

Generally hardy from severe natural selection, with a very small population as the standing genetic caution. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.