# Introducing the West Siberian Laika



## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

This is a hunting dog for those, who have a house on land in a safe from car traffic place. One dog for many kinds of game, from squirrel to moose and bear. The dog must be raised and kept as a family dog; can live outside a year around; will chase away, tree or bay predators coming close to the house. All puppies start 100% naturally, no teaching how and what to hunt is needed; just turn the puppy loose, where squirrels are and it will start treeing by age of 4 to 10 months. The dog is reliable with livestock and kids.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Nice looking dogs! Are those in the picture yours? How big are they? That's not a breed I'm familiar with but it looks like you might be in Russia. I love how the internet can connect people all around the world so that we can all learn about each other! Thanks for joining us!


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Bit more local than that I think but yes very nice dogs. Are they in America or will they be?


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

They are already in America and being used primarily as squirrel dogs over here. They are good hunters, but have their down sides like any other breed.


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## Madame (Jan 1, 2003)

Look like good dogs but I'd want to know more about them.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

There was somebody promoting them as hog dogs a while ago. That person apparently has given up on certain hog dog hunting forums because everyone was saying with all that hair, the dog would overheat which kind of makes sense but that person insists that is not the case.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

There are about 300 Laikas in USA and Canada. We have LHANA (Laika Hunters Association of North America). The breed was introduced in 1990. I imported first Laikas and we are keeping these dogs in hands of hunters. Currently, I have only one female. On the picture my Nayda with her 4 months old puppy. The puppy started finding his own squirrels soon after this picture had been taken.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

Laika can be used to hunt wild boar, but this is not their natural game. Laika does not like crowds and unfamiliar dogs. Laika is the best naturally treeing dog and moose baying dog. Any game hiding in tree crowns can be hunted with a Laika. Here, in Virginia, one hunter discovered that his Laika is treeing wild turkey. When the dog is treeing a turkey, come up quietly; the bird stays on the tree, when dog is barking, but would take off, if frightened by the hunter.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

This is in California. All Laika boar hunting team. Only dogs raised together and belonging to one household can hunt together. Laikas a re jealous individualist dogs. One male and one or two females is enough to go after big game. To hunt squirrels and other small game, one dog is better. Unlike hounds, Laika is silent during the chase and barks only, when animal is treed, stopepd or stands the ground. The dog hunts with you and for you in a relatively close range, within hearing distance and prefers hot tracks. All dogs on this picture are out of my first imported Laikas.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

Nayda with new born Nubian Goat kids. Usually Nayda is running loose, but when kids are born, I locked he in the pen so she would not bother the goats by her close presence. She was barking and wheaning like crazy in her pen. One time she managed to get out of the pen, while I was inside the house. When I came up to the barn, I found her with the kids, licking and guarding them. I learned that she did not mean to use them as asnack. Since that moment, she became a self appointed baby sitter and a guardian for goat kids. I do not know, if every Laika would do it, but Nayda does it by her own initiative every spring, when goats are kidding. When the kids grow, she is loosing her interest to them and returns to her usual activities in nearby woods.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

This is another year and Nayda is again at it. The rest of the time she is sniffing in nearby bushes, treeing squirrels for her own fun and catching rats. Laika is a quarrelsome dog, jealous and individualistic with dendency to be a dominant dog, if you have other dogs. However, a pair of Laikas raised together make an excellent hunting team to go after big game. They will tree a black bear, if you have them and will never allow a bear to come up to your house unnoticed. There will be plenty of noise and the dogs will attack the bear from behind and on the flanks, forcing it to tree or retreat. Native people of Siberia (Mansi) believe that most aggressive Laikas are best for bear hunting. They do not fight to death, like Pitbulls do, but just enough to establish the pecking order with each other. When strangers are coming, the Laika will bark, some are protective, but usually not quick to bite. Laikas are very loyal loving dogs in the family, including kids and even pets, like a cat. However, stray cats will be chased and treed.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Interesting! Looks and sounds sort of like an Anatolian that hunts. My Anatolian was quite a hunter in her own right. They're very nice looking dogs! Thanks for sharing!


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

This is one of my best puppies; he is 4 months here, results of his first hunt.


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## Windy_jem (Feb 19, 2006)

They look sort of wolf-ish. Beautiful dogs though.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

Windy_jem said:


> They look sort of wolf-ish. Beautiful dogs though.


Yes, they have a wolf's beauty, but they are smaller, tails are carried high, curving over the back and they are serving people. Unlike wolves or wolf hybrids, they have courage and desire to go after big game alone with you. I wil post two more pictures next, showing a gray, like wolves, Laikas.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

Coat color of a pure West Siberian Laika is wolf gray of any shade, from nearly black to almost white, cream and any color with white patches. Here is a portrait of an excellent West Siberian Laika male.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

This is one of my West Siberian Laika males.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Also from what I remember, seems the first dog in space was a Russian Laika? They let her die up there in space!


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## crazygoatgal (Jan 15, 2008)

ufimych said:


> Coat color of a pure West Siberian Laika is wolf gray of any shade, from nearly black to almost white, cream and any color with white patches. Here is a portrait of an excellent West Siberian Laika male.


That is a truly magnificent looking animal. I have such a love and respect for the wolf, but refuse to purchase or support hybrid breeds because when trouble arises people are quick to judge the "wolf" in them when in actuality it is the dog part of them that is responsible for the negative behavior. I would give my eye teeth to spend time with wolves, obviously not in the wild. they seem like wonderful animals, but I don't hunt so I am not a candidate for a prospective home. Oh well.


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

Not in Sputnik. They sent in space a mutt, a street mutt, not a Hunting Laika. In Russian, word Laika means barker. Hunting Laika is a bark pointing dog. Russians often give it as a name to pups, espcially to mutts. Hunting Laikas are oldest aboriginal breeds of native hunters of NE Europe and Siberia.


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## Windy_jem (Feb 19, 2006)

Just beautiful!!


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## ufimych (Oct 15, 2008)

Laikas were the only dogs available to native peoples and Russian frontiersmen since antiquity. Hunters used primitive weapons before firearms had been invented. Bears were hunted only occasionally and Laikas were important for warning and for protection against bear attacks in everyday life. A noted Russian artist Vadim Gorbatov depicted a hunting scene from the remote past. His Laikas may be able to help, or may not. There is no dog capable to fight bear, but Laikas are brave and quick dogs capable to draw attention of the bear on themselves by biting hard from the rear, while avoiding being caught and kileld quickly.


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