# West Siberian Laika



## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

This is my West Siberian Laika female named Nayda. The West Siberian Laika, just lke the Saluki, is an aboriginal hunting breed. Laika starts hunting without any training or teaching how to hunt, everything is done naturally. Just take the puppy in woods and go hunting. By age of four to ten months it will start finding game for you.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

This is my West Siberian Laika male named Alex. He was the first West Siberian laika male imported in USA from Russia. Laika is a versatile hunting dog, from squirrel to wild boar, moose and bear.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

This is Urtak, a Saluki male imported from Kazakhstan. He is out of lines used for hunting. Here, in Virginia, I take him to hunt foxes and cottontails and I hope some day he would catch a coyote.


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## Alyssa Myracle (Aug 4, 2008)

Forgive my ignorance. Does the Laika track game, or kill game?


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Laika is a bark pointing dog. The dog is using his eyes, nose and ears to detect the game as soon as possible, whichever provides a better clue, like wolves are doing, when hunting. When animal is found, Laika is treeing or baying it. The best hunting team is one dog or a pair of Laikas. The killing belongs to the hunter. Laika is silent during search and chase, but starts barking only when the animal is treed, stopped, bayed, denned, or holds the ground. The hunter comes up quitely for a sure shot. When animal is injured, the Laika may help to hold it by force. This is a dangerous moment, because there is no dog, which could hold by force a moose or a bear, but small animals are easily killed so the hunter can take his game. When dealing with bear, Laika is important as a protection dog. Unlike many other breeds, which are not afraid of bear, Laika is biting bear from behind and on flanks; if this does not help, Laika puts its own life at risk, trying to save the hunter.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Nice looking dogs and thanks for the info!


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Laika is a hunting dog of native peoples of wilderness, the taiga zone of northeastern Europe and Siberia. One dog for small and big game, from squirrel to moose; best protection dog in a bear country. Can live outside a year around, but must be raised and treated like a fmaily dog.


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## David Scholes (Jul 12, 2008)

Sounds like a great all around hunting breed. Unfortunately, In the US early in the last century the over hunting reduced game populations to an extremely low level. Most all states now have laws against using dogs for deer, elk, moose and only allow chasing other game such as bear and mtn lion "in season". I like what I see... however I think many hunters go with a more focused breed such as a retriever, pointer, hound because they would be concerned about steep fines and possibly having their dog shot for chasing deer. Not a criticism just a political fact in our current environment that effect what breeds are popular. Still, might make a good family dog... would just have to be careful on how it was used for hunting and train for what not to chase.

Thanks for sharing the pictures and info on the Laika. I think I'd like one if I ever moved to Alaska.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Laika is a special hunting dog, unlike any other breed. First, it is a close range dog, hunting with you and for you. It prefers hot tracks and is treeing or baying animlas within hearing distance from you. Second, Laika is silent on tracks and during the chase, open only when animal is stopepd, treed or stands the ground. Third, any game, which runs too fast or too far is not attractive to a Laika; therefore trash breaking on deer is not needed. A young Laika wil chase deer initially, but will quickly learn that this is like chasing a bird, doe snot bring a result. The "result" is, when the dog can tree or bay the game. Moose is usually can be bayed, because it is not much afraid of a barking Laika and this is how it is hunted. Laika is using a very specific approach to moose. One hunter in Alaska purchased a male puppy from me about 10 years ago. He wrote that if only 50% of what I wrote him about the Laika was true, he wanted to give it a try. He is hunting moose since then and nobody even understands that he is using a dog, because the dog is silent and barks only mildly, when the moose is bayed. Russians jockingly call Laika a "poacher's dog". This is because Laika's specific hunting habits fit interests of an opportunistic hunter, living off land.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Sounds like a good breed Vladmir. I question that it is unlike any other breed though. Most curs and airedales run a silent track and are shorter to mid ranging dogs. I know most airedales won't take an old track and I thin most curs are the same or they wouldn't be mid range dogs. I do see a difference in that airedales and many curs will engage the animal if bayed on the ground. You are saying that the Laika won't engage the prey?


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Don Turnipseed said:


> Sounds like a good breed Vladmir. I question that it is unlike any other breed though. Most curs and airedales run a silent track and are shorter to mid ranging dogs. I know most airedales won't take an old track and I thin most curs are the same or they wouldn't be mid range dogs. I do see a difference in that airedales and many curs will engage the animal if bayed on the ground. You are saying that the Laika won't engage the prey?


Laika will always try to use force and catch, hold or kill the prey for you. However, being a hunting dog for fur bearing animals, it should not engage into chewing on the small animal so not to damage the precious pelt. Uniqueness of the Laika is in its treeing ability, which is genetically determined and natural 100%. Every puppy starts treeing naturally at the age between 4 and 10 months. When handling a big and dangerous animal, Laika is cautious, trying to hold its attention and prevent running away, while barking so the hunter would know where the dog is and come up for a sure shot. This is how Laika can fool a big moose or tree a black bear or tease it on the ground. The dog is circling, making false dashes and biting from behind, if an opportunity occurs. With moose, there is not dog, which can hold it by force. Laika's performance in presence of moose seems strange. The dog is near the moose, but it is barking, sniffing bushes, making scent markings, like it is not very interested. The moose keeps browsing, watching the dog. Sometimes the moose would try to hit it with its deadly hooves or throw it by using antlers, but the dog would bark louder and respond by circling and barking. The idea is just to keep the moose from running, while letting the hunter to know where the moose is. This is a unique Laika's behavior, when huntin moose, and it is also natural to this breed. Whitetail does not stay and all my Laikas quickly learned that chasing deer is futile and not worthy of trying. However, if the deer is injured, the dog senses it and will try to catch and hold it by the throat.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

On the picture you see Laika baying moose. The dog is barking, but it does not appear that it is eager to engage. If it would try, the moose may kill it, or it would run too far. Laika is a hunting dog of a walking or hunter, who carries his belongings on the back, sometimes on the horseback or pulled in sleds by reindeer. He saves his time and energy. Therefore, dogs favored by sportsmen are not practical in wilderness. Some particularly smart Laikas "herd" moose, moving it slowly closer to the hunter's cabin. The hunter waits and kills the moose, when it is possibly closer to the cabin to save labor transporting the meat to store. About 5 years ago, one hunter in Alaska asked me about the Laika. He wrote that only 50% of what he red wa true, it was worthy to give it a try. He bought a male puppy from me and used him to hunt moose. Nobody even new he was using a dog to kill moose, because the dog did not bark in excess and it did not look like a hound, a sort of a companion dog, or like a sled dog. Sorry, I posted a wrong picture. I will find the right one later on.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

This is the right picture. There are many dog breeds, which would run after moose, but only Laika plays it right and holds the beast within hearing distance from you. By some reasons, when approached by ohter dogs, moose runs for many miles without stopping. Laika never runs straight towards the moose, but makes a circle, like it is not very interested at first. The dogs may crowl, wagging tail, wheaning and barking sound not really aggressive. The hunter knows that the dog found a moose just listening this sound.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

This is a four months old male of the West Siberian Laika of my breeding. He started, like a pro. Results of his first ina life hunt.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Cool......cool dogs, cool pictures (especially the moose). Great explanations too.....thanks and welcome to the forum.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Thank you for looking, Carol. Laika is one of the oldest aboriginal breeds of NE Europe and Siberia, a dog of hunters, who live off land. This is painting by a noted Russian artist Vadim Gorbatov. A Russian frontiersman of XIX Century. His gun misfired, may be his Laikas would help, or may be they could not. If the master is attacked by any animal, Laikas put their lives on the line, trying to protect him. They atack the bear from behind and on the flanks, biting hard. Sometimes it drawsbear's attention away from the man, but sometimes it does not. The dogs may be injured or killed.


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Very cool dogs - my first dog was an elkhound/husky X and she turned out looking kind of similar to the laikas but stockier. She was very good on groundhogs and rabbits - you could always tell when she was "hot" after rabbits or had something up a tree bowowowowowowow....


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## Erik Berg (Apr 11, 2006)

Don´t know much about huntingdogs, the westsiberian laika looks similar to the ancient national breed of Sweden, the Swedish elkhound, or jämthund as it´s called here. It seems the swedish elkhound is a bit larger and more specialized for hunting elks what I´ve heard, even if they are aslo used for bears and lynx. Some pics of this breed, the first from year 1915,

http://www.ackers.se/images/hanar/1915.jpg

http://www.ackers.se/images/hanar/falk.jpg

http://www.ackers.se/images/hanar/emppu.jpg

http://www.ackers.se/images/galleri/bjornkamp.jpg


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

Great pictures and information. Northern breeds have always had a soft spot in my heart, great dogs just not when you live in town...lol. It's alwasy interesting to learn how dogs are used in other cultures.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Erik, you are right. There are several national breeds of common aboriginal roots across norhtern and Northeastern Europe and all the way eastward across Siberia. Russian word _Laika _stands for a Spitz type aboriginal dog in general. For example the Akita is called the Japanese Laika. The West Siberian Laika is most similar to the Jamthund (Yamthund), but the Yamthund had been changed considerably and specialized to moose hunting. The Laika remains a generalist, one dog for all kinds of game, from squirrel to moose and bear. I have a friend in Norway, his name is Eirik Korgstad. He is a great Russian Laikas fan. He hunts with his Laikas capercaillie, marten, moose and even fox.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Vladimir, 

How are they around people? Social or not? Friendly or aloof? 

Would the drive to hunt be able to be channeled towards "hunting" humans? (from a search and rescue outlook)


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Carol, I visited your website. Your dogs are doing a great job. Hunting Laikas are affectionate in the family, but typically, they are aloof with unfamiliar people, do not like crowds and unfamiliar dogs, territorial and very much oriented to hunt. Laika's behavior is independent, very much pre programmed for survival. They are great dogs, if you live in a house on land, safe from car traffic to be exercised properly. They start hunting whatever is possible as soon as they are turned loose, at least mice, or rats. They have excellent sense of direction and never get lost, if they run on their own. In a new, unfamiliar place, Laika will start looking for some game animals, if possible, but wiol get confused by presence of many vehicles, new people and other dogs. Historically, these dogs had been shaped by natural selection for ability to survive in the wilderness and the ability to hunt for a human master. Therefore, I expect, they would be hard to direct in an unusual environment to do unnatural to them job. However, among Laikas, there are rare poorly hunting individuals. May be those would work best for your purpose. I guess the Canaan Dog, which has a similar look, would do a lot better in the search and rescue area.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Thanks Vladimir, I appreciate the explanation. 

Not sure I would take this type of dog in if it was not a good candidate for any other work....

The Canaan dog I have heard of, and know there are a couple doing SAR work. 

I was just thinking, with the drive to want to hunt, like you explained, that maybe they would work. But the social skills are a must, technically, I have a couple dogs that love to search and find their victim as they know that is where the reward is, but other than that, they are pretty standoffish to people except family. 

Odor detection might be an option since then they are hunting an odor (like human remains) and they would not be looking for anything live.


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

Laikas are not just hunting dogs in general. They are genetically predisposed to hunt a range of specific game: squirrel, weasel family animals, moose and bear. They also pay much attention to grouses, which they tree in Europe and Siberia, such as capercaillie and black grouse. A mature dog will focus on searching these species and ignore many other animals and birds, which have no value to the native hunter. In USA, they continue hunt squirrels, but raccoon should be learned to be recognized as a game of interest, which Laikas do on the job at night. They hunt, like wolves, using eyes, nose and ears, whichever helps to get a clue, where the animal is, close range, hot tracks are preferred. Once the smell of the target animal is picked up, the dog is impossible to call off. If it is possible, it is a sign of a very bad hunting Laika. Hunting overrules everything else. Only if the life of the hunter is in danger, like bear attack, for example, the dog will fight to death, trying to save his master. This is the best warning and protection dog, where bears are common.


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## Brad Anderson (Nov 29, 2008)

Hi All!

*Vladimir* - I have really enjoyed reading your posts about Laika, I have always been a fan and admire you for bringing them into the US.

I am a big fan of Russo-European Laika, I actually seriously considered getting one for protection while hiking as we live in an area were Mountain Lion attacks are incredibly common.

The Japanese breeds we have, Shikoku Ken and Kai Ken, are very similar to Laika. They are natural hunters and require very little, if any, training to hunt properly with humans. They hunt without sound and bay their prey until the human comes to kill. Traditionally Shikoku and Kai were used to hunt Boar, Deer, and occasionally Bear. They are tenacious hunter like Laika and have incredible courage and sharpness. They have been known to bay an animal for several hours while the hunter finds them to finish the job.

I would really love to find a place that I could do trial testing with my Kai, against Boar. Have you ever done this with any of your Laika in the US? 

Thanx!

----


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

In our country, very few hunters use West Siberian Laika to hunt wild boar. Here is a hunter in California with a team of Laikas of my breeding. He is going only after wild boar. However, not every WSL will do it. Some of them will bay moose well, but stay away from wild boar, totally disinterested.


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## Jaana Aadamsoo (Dec 5, 2008)

In Estonia there are many hunting laikas. I think west siberian is the most popular of them (and of working hunting breeds in general). From people that have or have had them I have heard that they are a pain to keep as pets because of their enormous will to hunt and work. A person described that when you have a laika and a man with a shotgun happens to walk by your house, you will be looking for your dog because he WILL go hunting. But our neighbour had one that was just a dandy showdog that didnt cause touble. I think they are so popular cause they are easy to keep (they live outside mostly), they are cheap around here (a decent dober pup costs at least 10000, you can get a laika for 3000 or even less) and the best ones don´t need much training to be great help in the woods. 

We have a dachshund that is trained for bloodtracking and undergroud work (sounds neat, doesn´t it  ) and a trainer told a funny story about a laika that was put on a bloodtrail of a hurt moose. He tracked and gave tongue until the moose was on its feet but once it fell, the dog stayed silently at the animals side. And now the hunters started looking for them both  

I really like the looks of the ones I have seen! And the pictures with the moose are great!


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

I guess there are different "lines" because my father tells me his Laika was from stock known for hunting squirrel and mink (Is "sobol" the same as "mink"??) and would totally ignore grouse. He had a very difficult time teaching it to scent and bark at grouse.

He says that type of dog was more valued because it would hunt animals for furs, which were then sold...


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## Jaana Aadamsoo (Dec 5, 2008)

It must be. But I don´t know anyone that breeds showlaikas here. All breeders I am aware of are hunters themselves. But there defenately are some pups that are not so good for work. I remember a hunter complaining about his two dogs from the same litter. One was an excellent hunting dog while the other preferred to stay with people while her brother was fighting with a moose


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## Vladimir Beregovoy (Aug 17, 2008)

You are right about Laikas. They had been for thousand plus years before the shows, or professional dog training had been invented. The dog does it, or it does not; and if does not, it is not a Laika. Native killed poor hunting dogs for making mittens and moccasins. Now, many are seeking a show champs, hunting or not. Different strains of native Laikas differ in game they prefer to go after. There are best moose Laikas, small game Laikas and any of them can turn out a to be good bear Laika. Local hunters run their own strains working best on game they like the most.


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