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Greenland Dog

The breeds · northern

UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 274

Greenland Dog.

FCI utilization: sledge dog (274; Group 5 Section 1, Nordic Sledge Dogs; with working trial); since ancient times the Inuits' only sledge dog, selected for sturdy strength, hardiness and endurance. FCI temperament: energy, mental strength and boldness, a passionate and tireless sledge dog, friendly to people including strangers, not closely attached to any one person and not suitable as a guard dog. UKC: used by the Eskimos since ancient times as both a hunting and a transportation dog; a strong instinct for hunting polar bear and seal. Meandering Wild Places: the Thule people's dogs gave the means to hunt seals and polar bears and to move goods over long distances. Wikipedia: a large husky-type dog kept as a sled dog..

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.
66–88LBWeight, all linesbreed 66.1 to 88.2 lb.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 23.5 in · bitches 21.5 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2022

The standards print a minimum only, with no maximum; low is the lower of FCI and UKC, high is blank.

Weight

66.1 to 88.2 lb

EditorialMeandering Wild Places

Single editorial source; no registry weight.

Coat

FCI: double coat, soft dense undercoat and a dense, straight, coarse outer coat without curl or wave; short on head and legs, longer on the body, bushy on the underside of the tail; any colour, solid or parti-coloured, except albino and merle (disqualified); a long, soft coat is a severe fault. UKC: same description; any colour permissible. Wikipedia: all colours from black to fawn; a triangular patch on the shoulders called the úlo marks most dogs.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2022

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · Double coat of soft dense undercoat and dense coarse outer coat, a polar-type spitz built for arctic conditions (FCI, UKC)

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2022

Derived from the coat description (heavy double = 2). No measured data.

The dog at home

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

Energy

FCI: energy, mental strength and boldness; a passionate and tireless sledge dog. Meandering Wild Places: an endurance athlete, pulling weight over long periods rather than sprinting, sometimes up to 70 km in a day. Wikipedia: the dogs work only in winter, gathering strength during the summer inactivity.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2022

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 utilization: sledge dog (274; Group 5 Section 1, Nordic Sledge Dogs; with working trial); since ancient times the Inuits' only sledge dog, selected for sturdy strength, hardiness and endurance. FCI temperament: energy, mental strength and boldness, a passionate and tireless sledge dog, friendly to people including strangers, not closely attached to any one person and not suitable as a guard dog. UKC: used by the Eskimos since ancient times as both a hunting and a transportation dog; a strong instinct for hunting polar bear and seal. Meandering Wild Places: the Thule people's dogs gave the means to hunt seals and polar bears and to move goods over long distances. Wikipedia: a large husky-type dog kept as a sled dog.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2022

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

Primary game

FCI: on hunting seal and polar bear it shows a strong hunting instinct. UKC: a strong instinct for hunting polar bear and seal. Meandering Wild Places: seals and polar bears.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2022

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

Also used on

Meandering Wild Places: transport over long distances (sometimes up to 70 km in a day); in traditional Inuit society the dogs' sense of smell helped hunters locate seal breathing holes in the ice; today long-line fishermen at Ilulissat use them to haul Greenland halibut from the icefjord. FCI: pulling or carrying gear for people strolling in woods or mountains. Wikipedia: a draught animal in the Arctic for centuries; Amundsen used them on the 1912 South Pole expedition (cites the Greenland Dog Club of Great Britain).

EditorialMeandering Wild Places

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

Search pattern

Meandering Wild Places: used in traditional Inuit society for scent, to help hunters locate seal breathing holes in the ice. FCI and UKC: a strong hunting instinct on seal and polar bear. FCI gait: an efficient, harmonious, fluent and tireless trot, which a sledge dog needs most.

EditorialMeandering Wild Places

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

Cold water

4 of 5 · Thick double coat; Meandering Wild Places says it withstands temperatures below -40 C and sleeps outside in the snow; a polar spitz built for arctic conditions (FCI)

DerivedMeandering Wild Places

Derived from the coat and the stated arctic cold work. No measured data; the work is on ice and snow, and no swimming or water-retrieve source was read.

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. 2 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Grønlandshund, Greenland Sled Dog, Qimmeq, Kalaallit Qimmiat, Qimmeq Qimuttoq

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