# West Siberian Laika



## sevendogs (Sep 19, 2003)

I would liek to introduce my favorite breed of dog here. This is the West Siberian Laika (WSL). It may be of interest to some exactly because it is very much different from majority of breeds discussed in this forum. First, this one of the worst dogs for obedience and steadiness during hunting and even in everyday life at home. WSL is a natural dog. This is not only in its appearance, which is very much wolf-like, but also in the hunting style and in general pattern of dog/master relationships. WSL does not fit to live on a small city backyard or inside permanently. It is a very affectioned dog, strongly attached to his owner and his family and makes a good family dog, but it comes naturally, without much efforts. The dog easily learns rules of the house, accepts other animals of the same household (pets and most farm animals). WSL is a hard core hunting dog. Its primary profession is finding and treeing small game, suh as squirrel, marten, raccoon, grouse and wild turkey. The treeing comes 100% naturally, just take your puppy in woods and turn loose. He will start on squirrel at age from 4 to 10 months. Besides treeing small game, Laika will bay moose very well, where this animal is available; it will find and bay or tree bear. With bear, two WSL (male and female) are the best hunting team. WSL is easy to to teach duck retrieving, it will take swimming even at subfreezing temperature. I admit that retrievers and spaniels are better for work in water, but WSL will do the job. SOme dogs bring ducks only on the dry terrain, but some would bring them right to your feet. One dog for all kinds of game, depending on the season, local conditions and availablity. WSL is exceptionally healthy and vigorous dog. My olest dogs are 14 and 16 years old now; they heve never seen or needed a vet. They had quite adventurous hunting life. WSL is not for everyone's taste. Here are drawbacks for some: 
1. WSL is territorial and not friendly to other dogs, particularly unfamiliar dogs of the same sex; territorial and would defend you campsite or house area from stray dogs or even dogs of your hunting buddies. If raised together, they accept other dogs. Laika is faithful, jealous and idividualistic dog. It does not want anyone between him and your family. 2. WSL does not like crowded places with many unfamiliar people and unfamiliar dogs. Therefore, they cannot be safely taken to a competition hunt. 3. WSL needs time and space for regular free exercising. The best environment would be a house on land, better away from highways, where the dog can be taken for a walk free of leash. 4. Laika cannot be rented or borrowed for hunting, because he would never go with an unfamiliar person. Laika cannot be given to someone else for training. You are his owner, hunter and trainer and the dog learns easily on the job. Take him in woods and turn loose. The only training needed is build bond with your dog, spend more time with him and take him in woods or other kind of hunting grounds often.
My website: http://www.laikabreeds.multiservers.com/
and http://www.nordicart.multiserves.com/
I will be glad to answer any questions, e-mail me directly [email protected]


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

Extremely interesting breed. I have questions.

1. How come I can't find the breed under the AKC website?
2. What group does it fit under? sporting? working?
3. History of the breed.
4. Can these be found in the USA?
5. How does this dog do in hotter climates? I assume northern climates are what it is best suited for.
6. How many do you own? Can I assume 7?
7. Are they used primarily for hunting or are they used in other ways such as herding, security, drug smelling, for blind people, etc..?



> Laika cannot be given to someone else for training. You are his owner, hunter and trainer and the dog learns easily on the job.


I like that quality.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

I had asked Seven dogs to post about these dogs he is an expert with them and I think authored a book about training and hunting them

They are a very interesting breed from Russia.

I have looked at some pictures of his dogs on other web sites, they look like wolves or what we would call sled dogs.

Take a look at the BEAR HUNTING field trials on the hunting part of his web site, wow!

Thanks for posting them

Sevendogs when you hunt grouse with them do they flush birds or point them?


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## sevendogs (Sep 19, 2003)

live2hunt said:


> Extremely interesting breed. I have questions.
> 
> 1. How come I can't find the breed under the AKC website?
> It is not recognized by AKC, but it is recognized by UKC and FCI.
> ...


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## sevendogs (Sep 19, 2003)

Bobm said:


> I had asked Seven dogs to post about these dogs he is an expert with them and I think authored a book about training and hunting them
> 
> They are a very interesting breed from Russia.
> 
> ...


Bobm, thank you very much for your kind words about Laikas. Laika can flash pheasants and partridges, but some of them range too far and flash them before you come upo for a sure shot. In woods, they tree grouses and wild turkey exactly like they tree squirrels. When under tree, Laika barks moderately (not 100 times per minute), just enough so you can hear and find where the dog and the bird is. Laika does not jump on tree trunk, does not scratch bark and does not bite branches. He sits away from the trunk and watches the bird (or squirrel) so not to loose it. The bird stays on the tree watching the dog and the dog takes his possition opposite to you so to draw attention of the bird on himself and away from you. One of my friends here, in Virginia, shoots wild turkeys treed by his Laikaregularly. He learned to come up quitely not frightening the bird. Laika is a bark pointing dog. However, his barking and actions are different, depending on the game. For example, bird or squirrel, barking is moderate, with interruptions. Feral cat, gray fox, raccoon or weasel family animal, barking is vicious with squealing. At moose barking is very mild, with breaks of silence and some funny noises like wheaning. At bear Laika barks like it would bark at a human. Some squirrel hunters in eastern states were surprized, when they saw a black bear on tree, when they hunted squirrels! My dogs treed a young bear near my neighbor house, but it was not a hunting season. Laika is silent during tracking, searching or chasing and opens only when animal is stopped, bayed, treed or stands the ground or in a den. This allows the dog to show up close to bear suddenly and bluff leaping high with grawl and barking. Some black bears go to tree.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Very interesting, I would love to see one hunt are there any down in Georgia?
As a boy about 1959 I was given a spitz type pup and hunted him during my youth he would retrieve ducks , hunt pheasants ( later learned to point them) was a great squirell dog and just a lot of fun, fond memories

Seven dogs did you live in Russia as a young man??

Is Russia open to non resident hunting??


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## sevendogs (Sep 19, 2003)

Bobm said:


> Very interesting, I would love to see one hunt are there any down in Georgia?
> As a boy about 1959 I was given a spitz type pup and hunted him during my youth he would retrieve ducks , hunt pheasants ( later learned to point them) was a great squirell dog and just a lot of fun, fond memories
> 
> Seven dogs did you live in Russia as a young man??
> ...


I emigrated with wife and two children in 1979. It was a hard time to find a job here at that time. Ten years later, when I bought an old farm in Oklahoma, I was able to obtain first Laika puppies. Finnish Spitz hunts very similar to Russian Laikas. Perhaps Laika is less barky and is a stronger swimmer and it is faster on difficulr terrain. I keep in touch with Russian hunters. Now, the country is very much different then in time, when we lived there. Now, Russia is very much open for foreign hunters. I would suggest to go and meet good honest people among hunters. A foremer Soviet republic Kazakhsan is another good place to hunt. I have good friends there, too. If you are interested, I can help you to establish contact with them. E-mail me directly and we can talk more about this part. They hunt with sighthounds, on horseback with tame golden eagles and Saluki dogs, and with Laikas in mountain forests. It is still a sparsely populated country with plenty of game, almost like North Dakota. I used to work in Badlands dooing inventory of wildlife on abandoned coal mine sites for ND Government. It was my first job, when in USA. Now, I feel nostalgic thinking about those palces and that time in North Dakota.


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

sevedogs: It sounds like they are strong swimmers as well? Are all of them like that or do you have to train it in?

What about Mountail Lions? Do you think they would do well with treeing lions?

Are they more of a sprinter or are they built for stamina? How many miles a day do you put on them? I would venture to guess they can run for miles on end, but very curious.

This is a very interesting breed.


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## sevendogs (Sep 19, 2003)

live2hunt said:


> sevedogs: It sounds like they are strong swimmers as well? Are all of them like that or do you have to train it in?
> They are not as good swommers as retrievers, but they do not hesitate to swim just to cool off in the summer or when smell of game calls. I saw them treeing a raccoon wading in knee deep water.
> 
> What about Mountail Lions? Do you think they would do well with treeing lions?
> ...


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