East Siberian Laika

The East Siberian Laika is the largest of the Russian hunting laikas, worked on big game across the taiga east of the Yenisei.

History

It comes from the aboriginal hunting dogs of the Evenki, Yakut and other peoples of eastern Siberia, and was standardised by Soviet cynologists in the twentieth century from those regional types. Its job is to find game — sable, bear, elk — hold it and bark until the hunter arrives, sometimes many kilometres from him.

Temperament

The breed is known for being independent, hardy and even-tempered with people, deeply bonded to its hunter and reserved with strangers. The independence is functional: it works out of sight and decides alone.

Care and training

It needs an enormous amount of exercise and real work, and it roams — containment must be serious. The thick double coat sheds heavily and suits extreme cold.

Health

Generally very hardy from working selection; nothing is widely documented as breed-specific. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.