KENAI
Canadian Eskimo Dog

The breeds · northern

AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 211

Canadian Eskimo Dog.

FCI 211 utilization: for centuries a draught animal pulling 45 to 80 kg per dog over 15 to 70 miles a day; also a hunting dog that located seal breathing holes for Inuit hunters and would attack and hold at bay musk ox and polar bear; in summer a pack dog carrying up to 15 kg. UKC: an aboriginal breed interdependent with the Inuit for centuries, used as a draught, pack and hunting animal. Wikipedia: a multi-purpose dog, put to work hunting seals and other Arctic game and hauling supplies and people; today in sled teams for tourists and in commercial polar bear hunting (by law in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut polar bear hunts are made by dog team or on foot, partly because a snowmobile engine masks the dogs' warning). Makivik submission (quoting MacRury): foremost a draught animal on long hunting expeditions, and a companion and assistant in the hunting of seal, polar bear and muskox..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
40–110LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 55.1 to 110 lb; breed bitches 39.7 to 110 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 21.7 to 28 in · bitches 19 to 24 in

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

No ideal printed. High is Wikipedia's rounded 24 in (60 cm = 23.6 in).

Weight

dogs 55.1 to 110 lb · bitches 39.7 to 110 lb

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

No ideal printed. The Makivik/Ivakkak range is not split by sex and is counted in both rows.

Coat

FCI and UKC: thick dense double coat, stiff harsh outer coat 3 to 6 in (7 to 15 cm), very dense undercoat; annual moult usually August or September; males carry a mane over neck and shoulder; females shorter coated; clipping or scissoring the coat is a disqualification. Colours: no one colour dominates (white, red, buff, cinnamon, grey, black, parti-colour, sable, silver). Wikipedia: very thick coat with soft undercoat and stiff coarse guard hairs; almost any colour.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Shedding

Shedding 5 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · Heavy double coat: dense undercoat under 3 to 6 in stiff guard hairs, with a winter mane on males (FCI, UKC). Wikipedia: best kept in a cold climate and prone to heatstroke.

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Derived from the coat description (heavy double = 2). Wikipedia's heatstroke warning agrees; no measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

AKC breed page: Energy Level 5 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 5. Wikipedia: needs a very large amount of exercise, cannot just be walked and needs higher-intensity work; well suited to carting, mushing and skijoring. FCI/UKC: bred for hard work rather than speed; growth is rapid, reaching working size around seven months, maturing at least to three years.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands and editorial; no minutes-per-day band was published by a source read.

Energy

AKC breed page: Energy Level 5, Playfulness 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 5, Trainability 3, Barking Level 0 (AKC), Openness To Strangers 5, Good With Young Children 3, Good With Other Dogs 3, Watchdog/Protective Nature 1. FCI/UKC temperament: gentle and affectionate with the average person, rarely standoffish, very pack oriented, battle scars common where raised in groups; an almost over response to any stimulus (food, work, defense, play), so a companion for adults and not a child's pet. Wikipedia: strong prey drive, can be very vocal, very trainable and submissive.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands, not measured. Wikipedia's 'very vocal' sits beside the AKC Barking Level 0; both stand.

Grooming load

5 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming

AKC breed page: Coat Grooming Frequency 5 of 5, Shedding Level 5, Drooling Level 1. Wikipedia: brushing once or twice a week most of the year, daily during the once-a-year moult.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 211 utilization: for centuries a draught animal pulling 45 to 80 kg per dog over 15 to 70 miles a day; also a hunting dog that located seal breathing holes for Inuit hunters and would attack and hold at bay musk ox and polar bear; in summer a pack dog carrying up to 15 kg. UKC: an aboriginal breed interdependent with the Inuit for centuries, used as a draught, pack and hunting animal. Wikipedia: a multi-purpose dog, put to work hunting seals and other Arctic game and hauling supplies and people; today in sled teams for tourists and in commercial polar bear hunting (by law in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut polar bear hunts are made by dog team or on foot, partly because a snowmobile engine masks the dogs' warning). Makivik submission (quoting MacRury): foremost a draught animal on long hunting expeditions, and a companion and assistant in the hunting of seal, polar bear and muskox.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Work history by FCI, UKC, Wikipedia and the Makivik Corporation submission; the AKC dropped the breed from its registry in 1959 (Wikipedia). Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Primary game

FCI: seal (found by locating the breathing holes), musk ox and polar bear (held at bay). Wikipedia: seals and other Arctic game; occasionally polar bears. Makivik: seal, polar bear and muskox (MacRury); Inuit testimony adds caribou hunting in summer with 'summer dogs'.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Sources agree on seal and polar bear. UKC names no game beyond hunting. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Also used on

Draught (sled) work and summer pack work (FCI). Wikipedia: today's sled-dog teams for tourists, and the Ivakkak long-distance race launched 2001, open only to Inuit mushers and purebred Canadian Inuit Dogs. Makivik testimony: trapping, caribou hunting in summer, travelling and finding the trail in whiteout.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Search pattern

FCI: tracks seal breathing holes for the hunter; attacks and holds musk ox and polar bear at bay. Wikipedia: explorers noted the dogs could track a seal hole from a great distance; handlers shouted 'nanuq' (bear) to excite the team; the dogs would not pursue wolves and howled fearfully at their approach. UKC and FCI: very pack oriented, a team under one dominant 'boss' dog. Makivik testimony: the dogs were the first to recognise dangerous ice. Wikipedia (citation needed): can be very vocal.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Work is by team, with the hunter on the sled or on foot; no source describes a bay call or a voice standard. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Field trial standard

FCI 211: without working trial. Wikipedia: the Ivakkak sled-dog race (from 2001) is the working event, for Inuit mushers with purebred Canadian Inuit Dogs. No hunting test standard was read.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Water work

No water-work standard was read. Inuit testimony in the Makivik submission (Charlie Okpik, Quaqtaq): a dog that fell into water while travelling on spring ice would simply climb back onto the ice.

EditorialMakivik Corporation

One oral testimony on sea ice; not a retrieving or swimming standard.

Cold water

5 of 5 · Bred for the high Arctic: a dense double coat that 'enables the animal to easily withstand the rigours of high latitudes'; works on sea ice and at seal holes (FCI, UKC); takes pure delight in cold weather and often prefers to sleep outside in winter (Wikipedia).

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2018

Derived from the coat and the breed's Arctic sea-ice work. No measured data; no source describes swimming work.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 5; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 0; Watchdog/Protective Nature 1; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 5; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 5; Coat Grooming Frequency 5; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 5; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 4 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Canadian Inuit Dog, Qimmiq, Qimmit, Inuit Dog, Exquimaux Husky

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your canadian eskimo dog, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app