Formosan Mountain Dog History

The Formosan Mountain Dog (Taiwan Dog) is one of the oldest and most primitive dog breeds in the world. These dogs predate the first human inhabitants on the island, Austronesians, who migrated to Taiwan some 6.000 years ago. So, it is not surprising that very little is known about the true origin of these dogs. This breed, or better to say landrace, is in fact much older than any written records of dog breeding. A recent genetic study confirmed that the Formosan Mountain Dog descended from ancient Pariah hunting dogs from Southeast Asia, which had arrived in Taiwan sometime between 20.000 and 10.000 years ago. According to Japanese researchers who conducted this study, these ancient progenitor dogs were closely related to the Dingo and the New Guinea Singing Dog, with whom Taiwan Native Dogs share many similarities. Continue Reading →

Taiwan Dog Breed Info And Characteristics

The Taiwan Dog (Taiwanese Canis, Takasago Dog) or Formosan Mountain Dog (Formosan Native Dog) is a Dingo-like, versatile working dog originating from the island of Taiwan (Formosa). The breed is the descendant of the ancient hunting dogs of Southeast Asia, which had arrived in Taiwan sometime between 20.000 and 10.000 years ago. That’s why the Formosan Mountain Dog is considered one of the oldest and most ancient dog breeds in the world. For centuries, Formosans were mainly kept and bred by the Aboriginal Taiwanese people for hunting and guarding. Actually, they were the only breed of dog on the island. Unfortunately, that has changed with the arrival of Dutch colonists back in 1624. That was the first time foreign dogs were imported to Taiwan. Soon afterwards, they started crossbreeding with Taiwan Dogs disturbing the breed’s purity for the first time. In the coming years, numbers of purebred Formosan Dogs rapidly declined due not only to crossbreeding, but killing too, especially during the Japanese and Chinese rule of the island. Supposedly, the most brutal impact on the numbers of Formosans had the Chinese when they brought their traditional dog eating culture to the island. At the half of the last century, the Taiwan Dog breed was brought to the brink of extinction. Continue Reading →

East Siberian Laika Dog Breed Info And Characteristics

The East Siberian Laika (ESL) or Vostotchno-Sibirskaïa Laïka is a Spitz type hunting dog originating from the Siberian territory east of the Yenisei River and Lake Baikal. Similar to the West Siberian Laika, the ESL was developed from the aboriginal Laikas used for hunting and sled pulling. However, these dogs have been located in the Amur River region, Evenkiysky District, Irkutsk Province, and Primorsky Krai in the far east of Siberia. They are known to share many common things with their wild ancestors, wolves, and are of the similar ancient origin like Mansi and Khanty dogs. In fact, experts believe that they were brought in these lands by migrating tribes from the west. That is why the West Siberian and East Siberian Laikas are quite similar in their appearance and behavior. However, these East Siberian dogs, especially those from the Vladivostok and lower Amur River basin, share some traits with Chinese and Japanese dogs. These traits are probably in connection with interbreeding between some of these Laikas and dogs brought from China and Mongolia by migrating tribes. Continue Reading →

West Siberian Laika Dog Breed Info And Characteristics

The West Siberian Laika (WSL) or Zapadno-Sibirskaïa Laïka is an ancient Spitz type hunting dog originating from Ural and West Siberia. The breed was developed through selective breeding from primitive hunting dogs of the Mansi (Voguls) and Khanty (Ostyak) indigenous people. These dogs known as the Mansi and Khanty Laikas are the actual descendants of wolves and primitive Spitz dogs, who had accompanied these aboriginals from prehistoric times. The mentioned selective breeding program started during the 1920s in several Russian cities, including Moscow and Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), at the time when some local hunters had brought with them a few of these incredibly potent hunting dogs from their hunting expeditions in the Ob River region and North Ural. The breed standard was approved around 1930, but its modern shape was maintained after the WWII. The West Siberian Laika is one of three widely recognized Laika breeds, other two being the Russo-European Laika and East Siberian Laika. All three breeds are by the FCI included in the group 2: Nordic Hunting Dogs in the class of primitive dogs. Continue Reading →

Russo-European Laika Dog Breed Info And Characteristics

The Russo-European Laika (REL) or Russko-Evropeĭskaya Láĭka, as they call it in Russia, is a Spitz type hunting dog originating from taiga regions of European Russia and Finland. This dog is a descendant of the Karelian Bear Laika, which unfortunately doesn’t exist today in its purebred form. The other and more popular descendant of this ancient dog breed is, you probably guessed it, the Karelain Bear Dog. Although these two breeds have the same ancestry and are almost identical in look, there are quite noticeable differences between them, which I’ll explain down under. This Russo Karelian Laika particularly was developed through a breeding program initiated in 1944 by E. I. Shereshevsky. The program was undertaken with the help of the All-Union Research Institute for the Hunting Industry in the Kalinin (now Tver) province. The Russo-European Laika is one of three widely recognized Laika breeds, the other two being the West Siberian Laika and East Siberian Laika. All three breeds are by the FCI included in the Nordic Hunting Dogs group in the class of primitive dogs. Continue Reading →