The Yakutian Laika is a multi-purpose laika breed from the Sakha Republic, used both in bird and seal hunting, reindeer herding, and sled pulling. However, nowadays it is solely a sled dog. So far it has been officially recognized in Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Nordic Countries, and Brazil. In the US, it has been accepted to the Foundation Stock Service by the American Kennel Club. The Northeastern Hauling Laika is a sled dog from East Siberia. It is not known as a "laika" breed in its original country of Russia, but rather as the "Northeastern Sled Dog", so in its case the term "laika" is simply in international or western use. It is typically 58 to 69 cms at height, weighing 34 to 50 kg, and its coat can occur in any colour.It is currently unrecognized, even in Russia.
Herding laikas
The Nenets Herding Laika, also known as the Reindeer Herding Laika or Olenegonka is the ancestor of the Samoyed - bred by Nenets people. It is used as a reindeer herding dog in northeastern Europe and West Siberia. Unlike the Samoyed, it has different colour variations, such as white, red, brown, sable, grey, black and piebald. It is officially recognized in Russia and Estonia.
Rare hunting laikas
The Karelo-Finnish Laika, not listed in the FCI nomenclature, was a small Russian hunting dog, with the first standard published in Leningrad in 1936 by the Russian Kennel Federation. It was a close relative of the Finnish Spitz, as both breeds were bred from similar native dog populations. In 2006, the Russian Kennel Federation and the Finnish Kennel Club decided to merge the Karelo-Finnish Laika and the Finnish Spitz together as only one breed. This helped to improve the gene pool of both the Russian and Finnish populations. Other hunting Laika breeds or local variations that have been mentioned in international bibliographies include:
Zorian Laika: a hunting dog from the European part of Russia
Use of the word in Russia
The Russian word laika is a noun derived from the verb layat, and literally means barker. As the name of a dog variety, it is used in Russian cynological literature to refer to all varieties of hunting dogs traditionally kept by the peoples of the northern Russia and adjacent areas. This includes not only the three or four breeds known as Laikas in English, but also other standard breeds that the FCI classifies together with them as "Nordic Hunting Dogs". Thus, the Norwegian Elkhound is known in Russian literature as Norwegian Elk Laika, and the Finnish Spitz as Finnish Bird Laika. In Russia the word laika is sometimes used less strictly, to refer not only to hunting dogs but also to the related sled dog breeds of the tundra belt, which the FCI classifies as "Nordic Sledge Dogs". The Samoyed may be occasionally referred to as the Samoyed Laika'' - however, this name also refers to the nationally recognized Nenets Herding Laika.
Similar breeds
As the Spitz are a very ancient dog type, many smaller types of Spitz resemble each other. Medium to small sized breeds similar in appearance from various places in the world include the Wolfsspitz, Großspitz, Mittelspitz, Kleinspitz, Zwergspitz, Samoyed, Schipperke, Norwegian Elkhound, Volpino Italiano, Finnish Spitz, Indian Spitz and Japanese Spitz. Types of German Spitz
