West Siberian Laika

The West Siberian Laika is a dog breed whose breeding center is the forested region of western and eastern Siberia. The breed is the product of crosses between two related varieties of Laika, the Khanty and the Mansi which will respectively give rise to the standards of the Ostyak Laika and Vogul Laika at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1947, the two varieties were merged into one, and in 1952 the unified standard was approved. The West Siberian Laika is the most common hunting dog in Russia and the breed is very widespread in the forested regions of Kamchatka. In Russia, there are kennels specialized in breeding it.

The West Siberian Laika is described in the FCI standard as a dog of stable and balanced temperament, confident and alert toward strangers.

The West Siberian Laika is a medium-sized spitz-type dog, dry and of robust build. The bone structure is well developed without appearing heavy or coarse. The musculature is strong and well developed. The body length from chest to point of rump is slightly greater than the height from withers to ground. Firmly curled, the tail is carried on the back or over the hindquarters. The eyes are oval, fairly deep-set in the orbits, and brown in color. Attached high, the erect ears are triangular in shape. Sexual dimorphism is clearly pronounced: males are larger than females with obvious masculinity. The topcoat is straight and coarse, shorter on the ears and on the front faces of the limbs. The coat lengthens at the withers, on the neck where it forms a collar and on the back faces of the limbs where it forms fringes. Thanks to the strongly developed and thick undercoat, the coat is somewhat raised and appears abundant. Accepted colors are white, pepper and salt, red or gray in all shades. Black and parti-colored or patched colors are admitted.