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Northern Inuit Dog | |
---|---|
Other names | dog British Timber dog Utonagan |
Origin | United Kingdom |
Breed status | Not recognised as a breed by any major kennel club. |
Dog ( domestic dog ) |
The northern Inuit dog, along with its offshoots, the British timber dog, the tamaskan and the utonagan, is a crossbreed of dog developed from a 1980s breeding project in the United Kingdom with the objective of producing a dog breed resembling wolves. [1] [2]
Northern Inuit dogs originated from dogs of unknown breed ancestry imported from North America in the 1980s that were crossed with Alaskan Malamutes, German Shepherds, Siberian Huskies and possibly Samoyeds. [2] The aim of these breedings was to develop a dog resembling a wolf in appearance but suitable for companionship and trainable for various tasks. During its development, the northern Inuit dog breeding initiative diverged into several related breeds, including the tamaskan, the British timber dog, and the utonagan. [2]
The northern Inuit dog is a medium to large dog, with the males larger and heavier than the females. They have thick coats of varying color. The ears are upright, with the muzzle and skull usually the same length. They have straight, furry tails. [3] Genetic testing has identified a color variant linked to partial recessive red traits that at least 50% of northern Inuit and tamaskan dogs carry. Initially detected in DNA samples from prehistoric dogs dating back 10,000 years, this variant was identified as one of the earliest mutations discovered in domestic canines. [4] [5]
Northern Inuit dogs are often confident and friendly. Their good-tempered nature has led to them being used as therapy dogs. They enjoy human company and sometimes develop separation anxiety. They bond quickly. Their trusting nature is known to make them bad guard dogs. They are good with children, but they should be supervised while near kids, due to their strength and size. They are known to howl. They are very intelligent and bore quickly, leading to them being hard to train. They are also quite sensitive. The breed is known to chase small, swift animals, like squirrels.[ citation needed ]
The breed is a very healthy breed, with dogs often living for twelve to fifteen years. However, northern Inuit dogs are known to develop elbow and hip dysplasia, a condition where their joints do not form properly, leading to pain and lameness later in life. They can also develop achondroplasia, cryptorchidism, and degenerative myelopathy.[ citation needed ] Oculoskeletal dysplasia has been identified in seven northern Inuit dogs. [2]
The Northern Inuit Society, founded in the early 1990s, exists to govern the wellbeing of the northern Inuit dog, as well as its breeding. It is currently the northern Inuit dog's only governing body. It also holds the complete pedigree database for the breed. All northern Inuit dogs are tested before breeding. The Northern Inuit Society does not approve of mixing the breed with other dogs.[ citation needed ]
The Tamaskan Dog Registry is the overseeing registry of tamaskan dogs. While there is a standard for the tamaskan, the TDR maintains an open studbook. Tamaskan dogs are recognized by the American Rare Breed Association. [6]
The Siberian Husky is a medium-sized working sled dog breed. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family. It is recognizable by its thickly furred double coat, erect triangular ears, and distinctive markings, and is smaller than the similar-looking Alaskan Malamute.
A dog breed is a particular type of dog that was purposefully bred by humans to perform specific tasks, such as herding, hunting, and guarding. Dogs are the most variable mammal on Earth, with artificial selection producing upward of 360 globally recognized breeds. These breeds possess distinct traits related to morphology, which include body size, skull shape, tail phenotype, fur type, body shape, and coat colour. However, there is only one species of dog. Their behavioral traits include guarding, herding, and hunting, and personality traits such as hyper-social behavior, boldness, and aggression. Most breeds were derived from small numbers of founders within the last 200 years. As a result of their adaptability to many environments and breedability for human needs, today dogs are the most abundant carnivore species and are dispersed around the world.
A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in harness, most commonly a sled over snow.
The Alaskan Malamute is a large breed of dog that was originally bred for its strength and endurance, to haul heavy freight as a sled dog, and as a hound. It is similar to other arctic breeds such as the husky, the spitz, the Greenland Dog, Canadian Eskimo Dog, the Siberian Husky, and the Samoyed.
The Saarlooswolfdog is a wolfdog breed originating from the Netherlands by the crossing of a German Shepherd with a Siberian grey wolf in 1935. The offspring were then further crossed with German Shepherds.
Dog breeding is the practice of mating selected dogs with the intention of maintaining or producing specific qualities and characteristics. When dogs reproduce without such human intervention, their offspring's characteristics are determined by natural selection, while "dog breeding" refers specifically to the artificial selection of dogs, in which dogs are intentionally bred by their owners. Breeding relies on the science of genetics, hence a breeder who is knowledgeable on canine genetics, health, and the intended purpose of the dogs attempts to breed suitable dogs.
A wolfdog is a canine produced by the mating of a domestic dog with a gray wolf, eastern wolf, red wolf, or Ethiopian wolf to produce a hybrid.
A mongrel, mutt, or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed, including those that result from intentional breeding. Although the term mixed-breed dog is sometimes preferred, many mongrels have no known purebred ancestors.
Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that maintain arctic breed traits represent an ever-changing crossbreed of the fastest dogs.
A dilution gene is any one of a number of genes that act to create a lighter coat color in living creatures. There are many examples of such genes:
Dog crossbreeds, sometimes called designer dogs, are dogs which have been intentionally bred from two or more recognized dog breeds. They are not dogs with no purebred ancestors, but are not otherwise recognised as breeds in their own right, and do not necessarily breed true.
A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. Crossbreeding, sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism. While crossbreeding is used to maintain health and viability of organisms, irresponsible crossbreeding can also produce organisms of inferior quality or dilute a purebred gene pool to the point of extinction of a given breed of organism.
The Canadian Eskimo Dog or Canadian Inuit Dog is a breed of working dog from the Arctic. Other names include qimmiq or qimmit. The Greenland Dog is considered the same breed as the Canadian Eskimo Dog since they have not yet diverged enough genetically to be considered separate breeds, despite their geographic isolation.
The Dobermann is a German breed of medium-large domestic dog of pinscher type. It was originally bred in Thuringia in about 1890 by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector. It has a long muzzle and – ideally – an even and graceful gait. The ears were traditionally cropped and the tail docked, practices which are now illegal in many countries.
The Alaskan Klee Kai is a spitz-type breed of dog, developed in the late 20th century as a companion-sized dog resembling the larger Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky. It is an energetic, intelligent dog with an appearance that reflects its northern heritage. Bred in three sizes, its weight range is from 5 to 22 pounds as an adult, depending on whether its a standard, toy, or miniature.
The Boykin Spaniel is a medium-sized breed of dog, a Spaniel bred for hunting wild turkeys and ducks in the Wateree River Swamp of South Carolina, in the United States. It is the state dog of South Carolina, where it was discovered and further developed by hunters in the early through mid 1900s. September 1 is Boykin Spaniel Day in South Carolina, originally established in 1984.
Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) is a group of genetic diseases seen in certain breeds of dogs and, more rarely, cats. Similar to retinitis pigmentosa in humans, it is characterized by the bilateral degeneration of the retina, causing progressive vision loss culminating in blindness. The condition in nearly all breeds is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, with the exception of the Siberian Husky (inherited as an X chromosome linked trait) and the Bullmastiff (inherited as an autosomal dominant trait). There is no treatment.
Tamaskan dogs are a breed of dog that have been selectively bred to resemble a wolf or wolfdog. The Tamaskan Dog originates from Finland. Although their exact origins are uncertain, these mixbreed dogs were primarily arctic breed crosses of Alaskan Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Canadian Eskimo Dog, German Shepherd, Labrador Husky, and Siberian Husky. Tamaskans are not recognized as a breed by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale but are recognized as a breed by the American Rare Breed Association.
Dogs have a wide range of coat colors, patterns, textures and lengths. Dog coat color is governed by how genes are passed from dogs to their puppies and how those genes are expressed in each dog. Dogs have about 19,000 genes in their genome but only a handful affect the physical variations in their coats. Most genes come in pairs, one being from the dog's mother and one being from its father. Genes of interest have more than one expression of an allele. Usually only one, or a small number of alleles exist for each gene. In any one gene locus a dog will either be homozygous where the gene is made of two identical alleles or heterozygous where the gene is made of two different alleles.
The Alaskan husky is a breed of medium-sized working sled dog, developed specifically for its performance as such.