![]() ![]() Predictably, many populations of native Laikas were lost or diluted when other breeds of dogs were brought in by newcomers during the exploration of Siberia and the Russian north in the 1800s. Since there were no other breeds of dogs around at the time and all dogs were of roughly equal quality, nobody really paid much attention to how their Laikas were bred. The result of this cruel selection, according to contemporary accounts, was that in the old days one could come to a hunting village, pick any random dog, and it would hunt as well as any other. Many sources claim that in the summer, dogs were deliberately not fed they were supposed to provide for themselves by catching mice or anything else they could eat. Any that were not up to the task were culled. Traditional lore said that at the start of the hunting and trapping seasons, a hunter would take a number of young dogs out to the taiga, where each one would have a chance to prove themselves. Laikas are the product of severe and merciless selection. In this case the Laika’s job is not just to bark, but also to prevent such an escape. At bay, marten and sable-both members of the mustelid family-are not as naïve as squirrels and are much more likely to seek an escape. The Laika’s job is to follow this baffling track using evidence as scant as a bit of bark fallen from the treetops. Right and left, back and forth… wherever their nostrils catch the scent of food. They travel quickly across the ground, then climb a tree and hop from branch to branch in search of squirrels and birds, then run along a fallen log. The trail left through the woods by these animals is long, winding, and complex. Ideally the moose will stay put, occupied with figuring out if the obnoxious, barking animal should be stomped on or avoided, until the hunter arrives to take the shot.īut the absolute pinnacle of Laika performance is hunting marten and sable. A Laika’s work on moose is like a showdown straight out of a spaghetti western movie it’s a delicate balancing act designed to create uncertainty in the moose’s mind. The long legs of a moose are deadlier than a bear’s claws and, if the bull starts putting one of them in front of another, it won’t stop until it is far out of the hunter’s reach. With the moose, the bite-dodge-bark routine is both counterproductive and risky. For this kind of hunting, the Laika requires a combination of courage, intelligence, and agility any dog that doesn’t have all three is either useless or short-lived. Naturally, as the bear turns around to attack the impudent creature behind it, the other Laika will go for the bear’s newly exposed rear end. As the bear charges one of the dogs, another dog sneaks behind to deliver a solid bite in the tender area between the bruin’s hind legs. Bears, for example, are pursued with a team of two or three Laikas who keep the bear at bay by taking turns charging and dodging it. Other types of game require different approaches. Squirrels and grouse are typical game animals for Laikas. Meanwhile, your job is to stalk the location of the bark and make out the quarry (hint: a Laika’s muzzle ought to be pointed at it). Either way, the Laika sits under the tree and barks carefully while the forest critter tries to figure out what this weird kind of fox or wolf is doing. It could be a squirrel the dog found in a tree or chased there from the ground, or the Laika might have flushed a covey of black grouse and followed one of the birds to its perch. If you’ve been hunting a lot with this particular dog, you already know what it has at bay from the nuances of how it gives voice, but there’s always room for the unexpected. Sometimes you may even see its face make a brief appearance in the bushes as if to say, “You there? Good,” before it disappears again.Įventually you will hear a cautious bark. Fear not, for the Laika is there and knows exactly where you are. You walk along in your chosen direction, wondering whether the dog became lost, or perhaps called it a day and ran home. Unleashed, the dog simply vanishes in the woods. Your first hunt with a Laika is almost sure to leave you bewildered. ![]() Only when the quarry is secured in one place-such as chased up a tree-does a Laika give voice. In fact, the Laika must keep silent as it searches for game, even as it follows a hot trail. This doesn’t mean the dog is supposed to yap and woof all the time. The word “laika” stems from the Russian verb “лаять” (, to bark). New England Grouse Shooting, by William Harnden Foster.The Upland Shooting Life, by George Bird Evans. ![]()
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