West Siberian Laika

Overview

The West Siberian Laika is the most numerous of the Russian hunting laikas, used to hunt everything from squirrel and sable to elk and bear. It is a wolf-grey or red spitz with pricked ears and a curled tail, and it works by locating game, holding it with its bark and waiting for the hunter.

In Britain the breed is a rarity, but the type is familiar from the Elkhound and Karelian Bear Dog. These are primitive hunters with their own ideas about how a walk should go.

Exercise and walking needs

Two hours a day with as much freedom to move as can be arranged safely. A laika kept short of exercise becomes vocal and inventive.

Cold weather is a gift to the breed and heat is a problem. In summer walk at dawn and keep it slow.

On the walk

• Hunting: Squirrels, deer and birds are all targets, and the dog will range to find them. Keep the lead on in woodland without exception.
• Recall: Independent and bred to work out of sight of the hunter. Treat recall as a training project rather than an assumption.
• Other dogs: Often fine with the opposite sex and prickly with the same. Avoid loose, pushy dogs and manage introductions.
• Voice: Barking is the dog's job. Expect it when something is found and plan routes away from houses.

Tips for professional walkers

1. Use a long line and a harness on every walk until the owner demonstrates recall under distraction.
2. Avoid midday walks from late spring onwards; the double coat holds heat.
3. Brush out the undercoat during the spring moult, when it comes away in handfuls.

What to ask the owner

• Has the dog been hunted or has it caught wildlife, and what triggers the strongest response?
• How does it get on with other dogs of the same sex, and are there any it should not meet?
• What does the dog do when it sees a cat, and has the owner found a way to interrupt it?

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