When I began researching the origins of the Akita dog breed online, I didn’t expect to find a lot of information. Much to my surprise, the history of the Akita is complex and lengthy, when compared to other popular breeds out there. I’ve decided to split my work in parts, so that you don’t get bored with the length of the article. Enjoy part one and keep checking back for updates.
Description
The Klee Kai was bred down from Siberian and Alaskan Huskies, along with the help of a Schipperke and American Eskimo to downsize without dwarfism. As such you will find the same characteristics as are found in the huskies. They are curious, tenacious, extremely strong for their size, crafty hunters and escape artists. The Klee Kai is a very energetic dog; however, not the typically “hyper” little dog. They are beautiful and proud. The name “Klee Kai” is derived from Eskimo words meaning “small dog”. There are approximately 500 of these dogs in existence in the world.
History
The Newfoundland breed is believed to have been developed by fishermen and settlers of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. If you search online for the Newfoundland dog breed history, you might be surprised to find conflicting information. Which is true? No one really knows. Maybe one day there will be a way to find out, maybe not. Meanwhile, here are the existing theories…
The Newfoundland dog could have evolved from the American Black Wolf (now extinct) or from the Tibetan Mastiff that migrated to Scandinavia and North America from Asia. Many people consider the Tibetan Mastiff to be the basic stock from which most modern large working dog breeds were developed. The Mastiff accompanied Asian migrating armies as they expanded westward, which explains how this dog left its trail in Europe.
After Kilburn-Scott created a Club for this new comer dog in 1909, the breed was named Samoyede, after the people responsible for its creation. The Kennel Club officially recognized the breed, known as Samoyede outside of Siberia, in 1912 and placed it in its proper category. In 1923, the final E was dropped from the name by the English Kennel and the AKC did the same in 1947. Eventually, these changes lead to the name not being correctly pronounced. What should have been Sahm-uh-yed (as pronounced by natives) became Sahm-oid for anglophones.
Unfortunately, these expeditions proved to be fatal to Bjelkier dogs because explorers did not know how to properly care for them and they did things to them that precipitated the dogs’ death. They sheared the dogs’ fluffy coats and cut their tails which caused the animals to develop pneumonia, freeze and die. Weaker dogs were killed and fed to the stronger ones.
Bjelkier dogs remained relatively pure and healthy in their genetic markup and they are easy to reproduce. Samoyede destroyed and recycled (for clothing) dogs that did not behave properly. The Bjelkier dog is also close to the wild wolf-like dog that humans first accepted into their camps. Humans felt a sort of kinship with wolves or wolf-like canines because their pack hierarchy and hunting ways resembled those of humans. Humans used naturally occurring instincts in these dogs to help them with various chores such as hauling sleds, hunting and herding caribou.
The beautiful Samoyed dog takes its name after nomadic hunter-gatherer groups of Asian origins (most likely of Mongolian descent) named Samoyede. Other Asian migrating groups include the Eskimos (Inuit) who became the first inhabitants of the North American continent, (Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia.) and Laplanders, who reached the Northern parts of Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Samoyede people are generally short, with yellowish-white skin, high cheek bones and concave or straight noses. Most of the Samoyede still alive today (approx 50,000) speak Turkish or Russian.
The Beginning -Siberia
The Siberian Husky was developed over a period of around 3,000 years by the Chukchi and related peoples of Siberia, the breed was developed to fulfill a particular need of the Chukchi life and culture. In one of the most inhospitable climates in the world, with extreme temperatures in winter and with winds up to 100 mph, the Chukchi relied on there dogs for survival, as they were a remarkable tool of ingenuity. In teams as large as twenty or more they could travel out over the ice sometimes covering as much as 100 miles in a single day to allow a single man to ice-fish and return with his catch, by sled dog standards they were small the large size of the teams minimized per-dog pulling power, while smaller frames maximized endurance and low energy consumption. (Even today, in long races, Alaskan Huskies the Siberians cousins require twice the amount of food the Siberians consume)
