How Laikas start to hunt
Laikas start naturally, just take them in woods and turn loose. This is a part of
beauty of these dogs. However, training is needed for a productive hunting.
The dog must be trained to come up when called, allow you to take the game
brought down, not to run away with it etc. Some dogs learn to retrieve
well.
Laika pups should be reguarly taken in wild places with woods and
shrubs where their prospective game animals are very likely to live. If never
hunted up to a year and a half or later age, the dog may never tree
game, only hunt what is on the ground. At this age your puppy may start
treeing squirrels. Take him in woods and turn loose. He should develop his
hunitng search style. Allow him to sniff around and do not worry, if his is
running a few yards away out of your sight. He should come back and check up
with you periodically. Call him by his name from time to time, use treats,
pet him and let him to go again. Laikas start treeing game at the age of 4
months to 10 months. Some dogs start by age of one year. Dogs that
started at an oler age hunt as well as those started being younger.
By Vladimir Beregovoy September,1999
To hunt with the West Siberian Laika
By Eirik Krogstad
You may see and To Hunt Cappercalie...
One cannot talk about the the most popular hunting-dog in Russia1 the West Siberian Laika, without mensioning the native huntingpeople Hanty and Mansi. It was them that created the early naturedog in west siberia a long time ago. The dog lived and was shaped by the tough conditions siberia offered, and this is something that still exist in todays purebred West Siberian Laika.
The breed is very popular in Russia amongst professional hunters, as well as ordinary hunters, but in Scandinavia it’s outnumbered by the East Siberian Laika, because the dog is used mostly as a big game dog.
The West Siberian Laika is a very versatile hunting dog, and it can be used to hunt all kinds of game that exist in northeastern europe. Moose, wild boar, brown bear and lynx are big game hunted with the West Siberian Laika and Racoon dog, marten. mink, badger, capercallie and black grouse are the most common small game hunted with the breed.
The West Siberian Laika is known to keep close contact with the hunter and this is important in areas populated by wolves, and a hunter will never expirience that his dog stay in the woods barking at a game over night. The West Siberian Laika always come back and do not bark at a game for more that 30 minutes at the time. Many Nordic huntingbreeds don't let the game go and stay there barking untill the hunter comes up and finish the hunt with a sure shot. This is very good, but in Scandinavia the wolf is increasing in number and most hqntingbreeds was shaped in a time when the wolf was gone from the scandinavian woods, and this will lead to that many dogs will be killed in the future. Many has already been killed. The West Siberian Laika has a built in fear for the wolt and that is why it keep such close contact with the hunter. In a country like Finland there is a lot of wolves but very few laikas that get killed while hunting, but there are other breeds like norwegian elkhound, Jamthund and Finnish hound that get killed.
When hunting the West Siberian Laika seek the area infront and around the hunter for game, and when ifs found the dog will either tree it and bark up the tree or it will keep the game in the same place by barking and circeling the animal untill the hunter can sneak up and finish the hunt with a sure shot. The big variety in the spieces the West Siberian Laika hunt, forces the dog to show great intelligenfs and courage. One day it will be used to hunt bear and the next day ifs used to hunt squirrel, and this is a big differents. The squirrel is followed on ifs way through the trees trying to escape the dog, or it will just sit tight and stear at the barking dog. Squirrelhunting is easy but
when the bear is hunted the situation is a completly different one. The bear will most certainly kill the dog if it’s able to catch it, and the dog has to be agressive and always ready to jump aside when the bear attack. It happens that the hunter get attacked by the bear, and now the dog must be able to defend ifs master with all means, and in the old days hunters often where saved by their West Siberian Laikas when the bear had got to them. He relyed on the dog to help him, and the weapon at that time was a spier. Bearhunters often use two laikas when hunting the bear, and the dogs will attack the predator from two sides keeping it occupied so that the hunter can sneak up and kill the bear.
The small furbearing animals like squirrel, marten, sobel, racoon dog and mink has always been important for the economy in the norteastern parts of europe, and the natives traded fur for other nessesary merchandises in the old days. Useing the fur as payment, it had to be in perfect condition and this lead to that the West Siberian Laika was trained not to bite in the animal when shot down. This is something that sUll can be seen in the breed, and so is the interest in animals or birds sifting in a tree. Treeing animals and birds comes natural to a West Siberian Laika, so the hunter must seperate the animals he want the dog to hunt from the animals he doesn't want it to hunt.
The West Siberian Laika use all of irs sences while hunting, and the russians call this "chutyo".
The capercallie and black grouse is birds that have been hunted by man as long as people have been living in the great woods of the north. The arrival of the spitzlike dogs made this hunt possible over 10000 years ago. The capercallie is a big bird and the male can weigh up to 7 kg. The West Siberian Laika handle these birds wonderfuly, and it need all ifs sences to obtain contact with a treeing bird. In the autumn it stays on the ground most of the time eating berries, and ifs the tracks they leave there the dogs find and follow. When getting close,the bird will fly away, often to a tree nearby where ifs safe from predators on the ground. Sometimes the flight is short and sometimes the bird can fly a long way before treeing, and the dog will use ifs sight in the beginning, then stop and listen to the flying bird, and under perfect conditions it can hear the bird tree up to 500 m away. Now the scent combined with sight will help the dog obtaining the bird again. The dog will start the barking as soon as the bird is found, and now ifs up to the hunter to sneak up and finish the hunt. This is very diffecult.
Another dangerous game the West Siberian Laika is used to hunt, is the lynx. The lynx is a big cat weighing up to 35 kg, and it can be a visious apponent to the dog. The most common way to hunt the lynx is to walk with the dogs, because two dogs is prefered, in a line and letting them loose when the tracks in the snow show that the lynx has started to run.
The lynx is no longdistance runner and it gets tired fast and seek for safety in a tree, or in a cave when the dogs catch up with it. The dogs will hold the lynx in the same place untill the hunter comes.
All West Siberian Laikas are agressive towards all predators.
See my laika Taiko
10 October 1999
If you want to send me email for hunting, write to Nona and I will put your text to this site. Thanks.
Created by Nona Ivanova
Last Modified on 22 Oct 1999
