Dog breed · Russia
The Chukotka sled dog (Russian: чуко́тская ездова́я, [t]chukótskaya yezdováya, "Chukotsky riding dog", literally "riding Chukotsky") is the aboriginal spitz breed of dog indigenous to the Chukchi people of Russia.
Chukotka sled dog teams have been used since prehistoric times to pull sleds in harsh conditions, such as when hunting sea mammals on oceanic pack ice. While most famous as the progenitor of the Siberian husky (and related to the Alaskan Malamute), Chukotka sled dogs almost died out during the Soviet era due to lack of interest in preserving genetically purebred examples and have only recently made a resurgence. In 1999, the Russian Kynologic Federation (RKF) approved the first official standard of the breed.
Characteristics: Chukotka sled dogs are prized for their high endurance, strength, ability to work and trainability. They should have a friendly disposition as required for working in teams. They have double coats and come in a variety of colors. Males and females of this dog are 53–65 cm at the withers. Roald Amundsen wrote: "At dog sledding these Russians and Chukchi are ahead of everyone, whom I could see." Unlike other Arctic dogs which are multifunctional, Chukotka sled dogs are selected strictly for fuel efficiency during long-distance runs.
Characteristics: Chukotka sled dogs are prized for their high endurance, strength, ability to work and trainability. They should have a friendly disposition as required for working in teams. They have double coats and come in a variety of colors. Males and females of this dog are 53–65 cm at the withers. Roald Amundsen wrote: "At dog sledding these Russians and Chukchi are ahead of everyone, whom I could see." Unlike other Arctic dogs which are multifunctional, Chukotka sled dogs are selected strictly for fuel efficiency during long-distance runs.
History: The Chukotka sled dog was developed by the Chukchi people as a hardy, reliable method of hunting marine mammals on sea ice and transportation in the mountainous tundra of the Chukchi Peninsula, where windswept slopes prevent the accumulation of snow. Archeological evidence from before 500 AD indicates that local populations were relying heavily on whales as a food source and that dogsled was the primary means of transporting marine mammals to human settlements.
Sportswoman and author M. G. Dmitrieva-Sulima would describe them as a unique breed in her 1911 book, "Laika and hunting with it."
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