Northern Inuit Dog

The Northern Inuit Dog is a breed of dog that originated cross-breeding in the late 1980s, in an attempt to create a domestic dog breed more closely resembling the wolf. The Northern Inuit is an established breed that no longer needs to cross breed.
Description
Appearance
A dog of large build, athletic but never racy.
BREED STANDARD
*Ears: Fairly wide apart but not low set. Not too large, carried erect.
*Head: too broad, skull slightly domed. Muzzle equal in length to skull, strong and gently tapering. Cheeks flat. Nose preferably black but a ‘snow nose’ is permitted. Nostrils small. Slight stop. Lips close fitting and black. Perfect scissor bite.
*Body: Topline level, Ribs long to give overall proportions of height to length as 10 - 9, well sprung from the spine but flattening on the sides to allow the elbows to move freely. Loin short and deep with no exaggerated tuck up. Croup broad and fairly short but not steep. The tail is a smooth continuation of the croup and must reach no further than the point of the hock. May be lifted when excited and carried upright or sickle in movement.
*Neck*: Strong and muscular with a well defined nape.
*Forequarters*: Shoulders flat. Moderately angulated upper arm but shoulder blades well laid back. Elbows fitting close to the chest which must not be too broad ( approx 4 finger width between front legs ) or drop below the elbow. Distance from ground to elbow slightly greater than that from elbow to withers. Oval bone, neither too heavy or too light, pasterns upright but flexible. Feet oval and toes open and well knuckled. Pads black and well cushioned with hair.
*Eyes*: Oval and set at a slightly ablique angle, any colour permitted.
*Coat: Dense double coat, slightly harsh in texture, well defined ruff and breeches. Tail bushy.
*Size: Height: Bitches-Minimum 23” (59 cm) Maximum -28” (71 cm)
Dogs- Minimum 23” (58.4 cm.) Maximum 32” (81.3 cm) Pad base to Shoulder
Overall balance more important than size.
*Colour: Pure white or any Colour Sable from Grey or Apricot through to pure black. White faces permitted on any Colour. Masklike or cap like markings permitted on the faces of any Colour other than whites. Where white appears on the legs and feet the Colour change must be gradual.
*Weight: Female min 25 kg - 55 lb up to 38 kg - 84Ib . Male min 36 kg - 79Ib up to 50 kg -110Ib
*Faults:
Curly tails, long or single coats, Ink Marked, black and tan colours. Cow or sickle hocks. Any departure from the standard should be considered a fault;the seriousness with which the fault is regarded should be in proportion to its degree.
Temperament and Health
The Northern Inuit dog is totally non aggressive. They are the most versatile of dogs, but they are not for the novice owner as they can be very stubborn and are very quick-witted. The owner of an Northern Inuit must show themselves to be the Alpha member of the pack or be prepared to be the underdog, and be taken advantage of. A firm hand is most definitely needed.
They are intelligent, independent thinkers, which can make them more difficult to train than other, more biddable breeds, which is why they are not for the novice owner. They are good with children, but are boisterous when young so should not be left alone with them, as with all large powerful breeds. They are very loyal and form a close bond with their owner and family, pack-oriented. Separation anxiety may arise when they are left alone and unsupervised too long, leading to destructive and sometimes self-mutilating behaviours; Training from the onset is a must for this breed. Often, they will do better with another dog for company. Socialization should begin early. The downside of their cleverness is that they do not obey their owners for the sake of obedience but this may be related to making sure the owner is Alpha, and (even more so than many breeds) require motivational, reward-based training. The Northern Inuit is a 'primitive' breed.
Some genetic problems have become apparent in Northern Inuit lines, such as hereditary cataracts, hip dysplasia, and epilepsy, all of which should be tested for prior to breeding by responsible breeders. The Northern Inuit Society covers all topics of Health with regards to the breed and list of registered breeders.
History
There are few stories regarding the founding of this breed. The Northern Inuit of today is ran by the Northern Inuit Society, the only governing body of the pure bred Northern Inuit.
In the late 1980s, the founder of the breed, Eddie Harrison, utilized several mixed-breed rescue dogs of unknown origin or heritage, crossing them with the Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, and German Shepherd to produce early Northern Inuit dogs. The breed's intent was to create a dog that phenotypically closely resembles a wolf in appearance while possessing the gentler, more trainable character of the domesticated dog. The other story relating to this breed is that a few inuit dogs/ Canadian Eskimo Dog or Seppala Siberian Sleddog were brought into the UK from the USA in the late 70's early 80's and crossed bred with Alaskan Malamute Alaskan Husky and pure pedigree German Shepherd. However, like many spitz-type breeds, Northern Inuits have a more "primitive" nature than many breeds and are not recommended for inexperienced owners.
Over the years various people have split from the original Northern Inuit Society to form their own breed groups. These have included The Inuit Dog Association,The British Timber dog, Anglo Wulfdog, The British Inuit Dog Club, and The Utonagan Society; the latter has also now splintered into different groups. None of these clubs have been accepted by larger organizations such as the British Kennel Club. Although not officially recognized by The Kennel Club, Northern Inuits are eligible to be registered in The Kennel Club's Companion Dog Club and participate in some performance events, including agility and obedience. They are ineligible for sled dog mushing events or pulling a rig (wheeled sled), as only purebred Kennel Club-registered dogs can be entered in these.
The highly respected Northern Inuit Society provides information regarding the breed and information relating to fostering/adoption rescue NI dogs.
The society also advises that any member of a dog breed classified as a Northern Inuit must be registered with the organization, as this is the only governing body for pure members of the breed.
Those who are considering breeding these dogs are well-advised to peruse and honor the society's breeders code of ethics.
NIS Registered breeders can be found on the website.
There are many website claiming to breed the Northern Inuit dog but do not state they are NIS registered, without this claim and to check on the NIS website, these dogs could have been crossed with other 'WOLF' type breeds, which do not resemble the Northern Inuit temperament and personality.
The NIS run Northern Inuit dog shows every year across the UK with championship standard qualified judges to judge them.
In 2011 Northern Inuit dogs were cast as the direwolves in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, based on the first of an epic series of books, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. On the show, they are adopted as pups by the children of a nobleman named Ned Stark when they come across the orphaned pups as their mother is killed by a wound from a Stag. All five of the Stark children are to take care of the 'pups' including 'Jon Snow'. The Northern Inuit is present within the first season of the show, regards to the Stark children storylines. Pure bred Northern Inuits were used for filming and the NIS website celebrated the dogs used for the show. The makers of the show (on which the animal training duties are headed by Jim Warren) initially considered using actual wolves but decided against it because wolves present certain dangers, especially working with child actors, and they are illegal in the U.K., where parts of the show is filmed.
Since the show aired in the USA, there has been high interest in the breed including export of the breed into the U.S.A as the breed is not bred outside the UK, and the breed has no affiliation with claimants of breeding outside of the British Isles. The NIS website shows no breeders outside of the UK and Ireland. http://www.nisociety.com/apps/links/
Similar breeds
Other domestic dog breeds selectively bred to resemble wolves include the Anglo Wulfdog Utonagan and Tamaskan Dog, and the hybridized Saarlooswolfhond, Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, Kunming Wolf-dog and Lupo Italiano.
External links
*Northern Inuit Society
Game of Thrones wiki - direwolves *

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