More on the Amur Laika

The next dog I get is going to be an Amur Laika. This is actually a real life embodiment of my concept of the perfect dog. Before I discovered this breed of dog, I actually imagined it and thought of various breeds of dogs I would have to breed together in order to create it. I thought of maybe breeding an Akita to a German shepherd and then crossing it with an alaskan or siberian husky. The qualities I wanted were that of a leggy agile akita, that was an obediant companion dog and also had sled dog ability so that it could be used as a skijoring dog and also a hunting dog.

American Akitas, are very large and blocky;very big boned. They are not a sled dog. They can be trained as a sled dog, but lack endurence and can be very dog aggressive.

They also are challenging to train and are very protective and can be agressive toward humans. A dog that is very protective and can be aggressivce towards humans combined with being difficult to train, is a very potentially dangerous dog.

Contrast this with the siberian husky. The siberian husky, is a capable sled dog with natural beauty, not dog aggressive, not agressive to humans at all, actually, no watchdog ability whatsoever. However, very hard to train, as far as being off leash. This dog does not tend to come when called and can roam for days even weeks if allowed loose.

German sheperds are very trainable, obediant dogs. They are protective, but easy to control with proper training. However, they are designed for the flying trot, which is not the best gait for sledding or skijoring. The working lines are better, but they still aren't built the best for sledding because of their heavy heads and fronts.

The Amur Laika, combines all the traits I want. Superficially, they look a lot like a siberian or alaskan husky, but perhaps a bit larger. The difference is in their temperament. They are protective, and give a warning bark, when strangers approach, but will not bite humans. They are more trainable than siberian husky and can be off leash. They don't stray but keep close contact with their master. They also have good sled dog abilities. Check out the racy lines on these dogs:



The Amur Laika is actually a subspecies of the "East Siberian Laika". The live in the Amur river region of the soviet union. This is where Siberian tigers live.



These dogs have actually been used to hunt Tigers. They also are used to Hunt brown bears and 500 lb. wild boars.

Notice how close this region is to Japan. The japanese have recently altered the type of the Japanese Akita and created a seperate registry to differentiate them from the American style akita. The American style Akita hearkens back the the earlier type of fighting akita that showed the influence of european giant breeds like the St. Bernard and Mastiff. These older style Akitas are massive (over 100 lbs) long bodied with massive mastiff like heads. The japanese breeders wanted to breed these qualities out and return the akita to what they percieved to be its original more natural form. So they imported laikas from the Amur region and added them to the gene pool. The newer version of the japanese akita is leggier and more agile and not so massive of bone.


The bone and head structure of the Amur Laika, however, is heavier and sturdier than that of the "West Siberian Laika." The west siberian laika is finer boned and only about 50 lbs. Below is a photo of a "west Siberian Laika." These are from the western region of Siberia, closer to Europe and Central Asia.



The Amur Laika is about 65 lbs. This is a larger more substantial dog, but still very agile. This incidentally is also the upper size limit of an efficient sled dog. The type of sking I want to do would require a larger type of sled dog that can pull a pulk or small sled but have the endurence to travel long distances on remote trails, in deep unplowed snow conditions.

Testament to the amazing abilities of the Amur laika is the story of "Otchum."

Otchum

This was a Laika from the Lake Baikal region of the former soviet union, owned by French adventure and arctic explorer, Nicholas Vanier. Othchum led thousands of miles of arctic expeditions, with a team composed of his offspring, that resulted from a mating to a Greenland dog bitch. This dog also acted as a companion on horsback rides in the summer, a pack dog and a companion and babysitter to his yound daughter. I have a picture book by Vanier with several pictures of his beautiful dog "otchum." Vanier has also written a book about this dog and his amzing exploits.

Here is a link to a page about that book with some more pictures. Scroll down for pictures. The page is in french:Otchum book

Unfortunatly OTchum was killed in a dog fight with one of his sons. These dogs however went on to take Vanier in many more arctic journeys, including a winter long trip across the entire contiennt or North America.

Otchum was a very handsome obediant dog.