#waterfowling laika

[zaryathelaika]

Judging from the hang time Zarya is giving while retrieving her favourite soccer ball, she might become a decent frisbee dog. Her hind legs are not as powerful as Pavel's, the kangaroo laika, but damn, she has a high clearance. Pavel will retrieve as well, but he only does it because of the trust system and mutual relationship, which would otherwise be easily broken in the wrong hands. He likes working with his partner, but is very picky about who he wants to work with. Pavel will retrieve game birds for his new partner. Won't post pictures because Tumblr doesn't have a way to blur photos like Twitter or Mastodon. Zarya retrieves because she lives for the retrieve. Laikas are not supposed to be frisbee dogs, and there are highly specialized retrieving lines from Moscow. Although the original Indigenous population will retrieve because Mansi and Khanty peoples hunt waterfowls; but the arrangements are more like "oh, you need a moose dog? I have two, want mine? I only need to feed one. Do you have a marten dog to give in exchange for the moose dog? I am in need of one" rather than any kind of systematic breeding. At the risk of going off-topic, there is a guy local to me claiming to have retrieving lines imported from Ukraine.

[losech]

Western Siberian Laikas are such cool hunting dogs, but I wonder, what is their "style" of hunting like? I think in this country and the UK folks are used to one of a few styles of hunting (pointers, flushers, treeing, coursing) and primitive type dogs aren't very common for hunting. I know folks use WSLs for treeing, but what else can they do? Do they have a natural instinct to do certain behaviors like purpose-bred hunting dogs?

WSL are predominantly bark-pointers, meaning they track down and bark at an animal. That can be running it up a tree or holding it at bay. Some WSL are used as flushers or retrievers (upland and waterfowl), or to find places to set traps, and I know a couple who find shed antlers. They will also happily catch critters, but if they don’t have a natural or taught retrieve they often hunker down to eat it. They are generally pretty versatile, but for the most part, are used as bark-pointers.

[wilderun]

Update! 

I’ve pretty much decided on the West Siberian Laika pairing I’ll be importing from! These are the parents, photo credit to their owner, Galina Katanova. They're both incredibly versatile hunters who work big game, tree small game, and retrieve waterfowl, plus both are show titled and have correct temperaments. I’m hoping for an agouti, but I’ll be picking off of structure and temperament, first. The litter will be born towards the end of this year. The timing works perfectly for me, since I'm moving this Fall, and this litter will be ready to import once I’m settled in 😍 So excited to bring these lines here to the US! 

[ezatluba]

The Very Good Adventure Dogs of History

Some incredible pups have accompanied explorers (or even gone solo into the unknown) over the centuries

Jun 3, 2019

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It turns out that courage, resourcefulness, sharply honed instinct, and occasional mischievousness serve both humans and beasts well. Like the explorers they accompany, the best adventure dogs have just a hint of masochism in them, enduring—and even enjoying—conditions that many people wouldn’t think of bearing.

Here are five intrepid dogs who made their mark on history by journeying where humans are few and dangers abound.

Stickeen

The Unflappable Alaskan Mutt Beloved by John Muir

When Muir began a canoe voyage through southeastern Alaska’s icy fjords in 1890, he only reluctantly accepted the presence of his friend’s dog. The fluffy little guy had the personality of a “small, squat, unshakable desert cactus,” Muir later wrote in the short story named after the canine, “Stickeen.”

Then Stickeen voluntarily joined Muir on a storm-ravaged day of glacier travel he would later deem “the most memorable of all my wild days.” It culminated in the crossing of a treacherous snowbridge spanning a 50-foot-wide crevasse that could have easily become an icy grave for both of them. Muir’s usually inscrutable companion became despairing and frantic given the peril before him; after surviving the ordeal, he became exultant, “pouring forth a tumultuous flood of hysterical cries and sobs and gasping mutterings.”

Both creatures were changed by the experience. They became inseparable for the remainder of their shared journey. Writing nearly two decades later, Muir declared that their “storm-battle for life brought [Stickeen] to light, and through him as through a window I have ever since been looking with deeper sympathy into all my fellow mortals.”

Seaman

The Newfoundland Who Journeyed West with Lewis and Clark

Purchased by Meriwether Lewis in 1803 for $20 (a sizable sum at the time), Seaman became an important member of the Corps of Discovery’s 28-month undertaking to explore the Louisiana Purchase and map a water route from the eastern U.S. to the Pacific Ocean.

A skilled hunter and swimmer, Seaman quickly proved his usefulness. He killed and retrieved waterfowl and deer to help feed the corps’ 32 members, alarmed them when grizzlies ranged close, subverted a near disastrous buffalo stampede, and accompanied Sacagawea as she established contact with Native American tribes.

The limited rations, ticks, mosquitoes, prickly pear cacti, and encounters with aggressive wildlife that bedeviled the expedition’s humans also afflicted Seaman. About halfway through their journey, Lewis saved Seaman from almost fatal blood loss by stitching up a bite from an aggrieved beaver the dog had attempted to retrieve.

Since the last journal entry mentioning Seaman was recorded two months before the corps returned to Saint Louis, little is known about what happened to him—indeed, whether he even survived. However, an entry appearing in an 1814 book, A Collection of American Epitaphs and Inscriptions with Occasional Notes, pertains to a collar that presumably belonged to Seaman. This has led some to conclude that Lewis and his loyal companion enjoyed several years together prior to Lewis’s death in 1809.

Bothie

Explorer of the North and South Poles

Reportedly as fearless and amusing as he was stubborn and prone to mischief, Bothie was a Jack Russell terrier who became the first—and to this day, the only—dog to reach both the North and South Poles.

He and his adventurous owners, Ranulph and Virginia Fiennes, undertook a three-year expedition around the world via the poles starting in 1979. Ranulph, deemed the world’s greatest living explorer by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1984, brought Bothie along for their journey, save for the Africa segment (which was too hot).

In a 1985 Los Angeles Times story about the dog’s accomplishments, Ranulph described him as a “contrary-souled,” yappy mongrel and “a fully fledged renegade.” Bothie rocked a specially made red polar suit and boots to help him survive the extreme cold he encountered, a getup that inspired posters and life-size Bothie toys.

Naughty as he could be—he enjoyed liberating frozen eggs from buried food stores in Antarctica, licking them until they melted, and demolishing the stinky treasures—Ranulph and Virginia felt he brought a sense of normalcy to their 52,000-mile journey. After its completion, they wrote Bothie the Polar Dog to memorialize his adventures.

Laika

The Moscow Stray Who Became the World’s First Cosmonaut

Laika, a husky-spitz from the streets of Moscow, was about two years old when she made her ultimately fatal contribution to the Soviet Union’s space program. Chosen for her resourcefulness, docile nature, and urination habits—she didn’t need to lift a leg in tight quarters—she became the first living being to orbit earth.

Prior to the launch of Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957, Laika underwent training to acclimate to increasingly small, pressurized spaces and strong centrifugal force. Doctors surgically implanted electrodes in her body to monitor her heart and respiration rates, blood pressure, and physical movement.

She survived the launch and orbited space for several hours before succumbing to heat and/or dehydration, although the official Soviet line for many years was that she lived for closer to a week before eating poisoned food sent into space with her.

Laika was never meant to survive her trip into space; had she lived until Sputnik 2 completed its 2,570 orbits, she would have burned up upon the satellite’s reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. But her sacrifice helped pave the way for the humans to follow, and her name (Russian for “barker”) and story have inspired everything from band names and books to museum exhibits and statues.

Tschingel

The Peak-Bagging Beagle of the Alps

One-third of a team deemed “the most famous trio in the Alps,” Tschingel was a consolation gift given to a young American named William Coolidge and his aunt Marguerite “Meta” Brevoort by their alpine guide after a failed attempt on Eiger, in Swizerland. Tschingel quickly gained notoriety for her climbing accomplishments, which included 11 first ascents, primarily in the Dauphiné Alps of southeastern France.

Some of their hardier expeditions took a toll on Tschingel. During the trio’s 1871 climb up Eiger via the west ridge—this one successful—Tschingel was roped up for the final ascent and part of the descent. Bleeding profusely from her paws, she bravely soldiered on, leading the way over rocks and ice, avoiding crevasses along the way, and earning a reputation as “a born guide,” Coolidge later wrote.

Four years later, Tschingel became the first canine to climb Mont Blanc; that same year, the Alpine Club named her an honorary member, recognition that was not bestowed upon Brevoort—one of her era’s most accomplished mountaineers—since the club did not open its doors to women for another century.