Yakutian Laika

The Yakutian Laika is an Arctic working spitz from the Sakha Republic in north-eastern Siberia — a sled dog, hunting dog and reindeer herder in one animal.

History

It has worked with the Yakut people for centuries in some of the coldest inhabited country on earth, hauling sledges, finding seal breathing holes and helping herd. It was recognised as a breed only in the twenty-first century, long after the population itself had nearly collapsed.

Temperament

The breed is known for being friendly, energetic and unusually people-oriented for an Arctic dog — it worked closely with families rather than in isolated teams, and that shows. It is sociable with other dogs and poor as a guard.

Care and training

It needs a great deal of exercise and something to pull or find; a bored Laika is destructive and vocal. The thick double coat sheds heavily and the breed suffers in heat.

Health

Generally hardy from centuries of hard selection, with hip dysplasia and eye conditions among the known tendencies. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.