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West Siberian Laika

The breeds · northern

UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 306

West Siberian Laika.

FCI utilization: hunting dog for all-round purposes (306; with working trial); a native Russian hunting breed selected from Khanty and Mansi hunting dogs, the most prevalent hunting breed in Russia, spread through the wooded areas from Karelia to Kamchatka. FCI temperament: a vigorous dog with a very well developed sense of scent and game detection and an alert, sensitive, pronounced passion for hunting, equally keen on feathered and furred game. UKC: an all-around hunting dog used on birds and small game and occasionally on large game; a strongly developed hunting instinct and a keen sense of direction. Beregovoy: primarily a hunting dog; the Mansi, Khanty and Russians use the same dogs for hunting and as alarm dogs, some work well driving reindeer herds, but a good hunting dog is never used to pull a sled. Project Upland: takes to water and retrieves more willingly than other Laikas, in the opinion of many hunters the most versatile Laika. Wikipedia: any hunting Laika is a bark pointer; a poor kennel 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.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 21 to 24.4 in · bitches 20 to 23 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2010

Low and high span FCI, UKC, Wikipedia and Project Upland. Beregovoy's 19 to 20 in (males) and 18 to 19 in (females) describe the aboriginal Mansi and Hanty laikas the breed was founded from, not the breed, so they stay in text and out of the span. No ideal is printed.

Coat

FCI: dense, harsh straight outer coat over a well developed, soft, abundant, woolly undercoat; collar on neck and shoulders, side-whiskers, trousers without feathering; brush-like hair between the toes; colour grey with reddish-brown, red with reddish-brown, grey, red, fawn and reddish-brown in all shades, pure white or white with patches. UKC: double coat, hard straight outer coat with abundant undercoat; beard on the cheekbones, collar, slight breeches; colour white, salt and pepper, red and grey in all shades, solid black permitted. Beregovoy: most common wolf grey, red and pale red, black and white, sable also common. Wikipedia: wolf grey, pale red and white most common.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2010

UKC permits solid black; the FCI colour list does not name black. Both stand.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Double coat, dense, very hard and not too long, with abundant undercoat (UKC, FCI); a forest breed of the Urals and West Siberia

DerivedUnited Kennel Club

Derived from the coat description (medium double = 3). No measured data.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

Beregovoy: likes and needs freedom for physical activity; a poor kennel dog that, penned or fenced for long, digs or climbs out and barks without purpose; kept exercised and busy with hunting it is content. Wikipedia: needs regular exercise between hunting seasons, walking trips, to stay fit.

EditorialVladimir Beregovoy, 2012

Editorial; no registry or Royal Kennel Club band.

The work

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

Role

FCI utilization: hunting dog for all-round purposes (306; with working trial); a native Russian hunting breed selected from Khanty and Mansi hunting dogs, the most prevalent hunting breed in Russia, spread through the wooded areas from Karelia to Kamchatka. FCI temperament: a vigorous dog with a very well developed sense of scent and game detection and an alert, sensitive, pronounced passion for hunting, equally keen on feathered and furred game. UKC: an all-around hunting dog used on birds and small game and occasionally on large game; a strongly developed hunting instinct and a keen sense of direction. Beregovoy: primarily a hunting dog; the Mansi, Khanty and Russians use the same dogs for hunting and as alarm dogs, some work well driving reindeer herds, but a good hunting dog is never used to pull a sled. Project Upland: takes to water and retrieves more willingly than other Laikas, in the opinion of many hunters the most versatile Laika. Wikipedia: any hunting Laika is a bark pointer; a poor kennel dog.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2010

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

Primary game

FCI: equally keen on feathered and furred game (no species named). UKC: birds and small game, occasionally large game. Beregovoy (quoting Shereshevsky): dogs inclined to work on capercaillie and big game; Beregovoy (Hunting With Laika, all Laikas): grouse and squirrel to wild boar, moose and bear. Project Upland (Laikas): squirrels and grouse are typical game. Wikipedia: treeing squirrels and other small game comes naturally, and bear is barked in a distinct threatening voice.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2010

FCI names no species. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).

Also used on

Beregovoy (Hunting With Laika): duck retriever, a long tradition among Moscow-area Laika hunters; the West Siberian Laika picks up duck retrieving easily, swims at subfreezing temperature and retrieves from thick aquatic vegetation and muddy shores; moose, wild boar and bear (Laikas in general). Beregovoy (breed page): some herd reindeer. Wikipedia: introduced in 2004 at Karuizawa, Japan to reduce human-bear conflicts, where bear incidents fell from 255 in 2006 to four in 2017 (cites the Japan Times); a good hiking companion that warns of bears.

Breed clubVladimir Beregovoy, 2012

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

Range

No source classes the breed close, medium or big. FCI gait: free, energetic, short trot alternating with gallop. Project Upland (Laikas): unleashed, the dog simply vanishes in the woods and knows where the hunter is. Beregovoy: the dog needs freedom for physical activity; run loose in the field it may tree an animal and stay far behind for some time.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2010

Descriptive only; no range classification published.

Search pattern

UKC: when he finds game, he alerts the hunter by barking. Wikipedia: any hunting Laika is a bark pointer, pointing at the animal by barking and staying with it; the voice at a bear sounds threatening, unlike the routine repetitive bark at a squirrel; squirrel finding starts at 4 to 10 months; adult males in particular should hunt only with dogs raised in the same household. Beregovoy (Hunting With Laika, all Laikas): silent during search and chase, barks only when the game is found and treed; stays away from the trunk and follows treed game from tree to tree; moose: silent chase, curved approach, one dog or two raised together; bear: a pair raised together makes a good team; wild boar: two or three raised together, a pair of adults holds up to a 200 lb boar by ears or hind legs. Project Upland (Laikas): bears are worked by two or three dogs taking turns charging and dodging; with moose the bite-dodge-bark routine is risky and the work is a delicate balance. FCI gait: short trot alternating with gallop.

Breed clubVladimir Beregovoy, 2012

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

Field trial standard

FCI: classified with working trial. Beregovoy: a Russian rule requires all dogs to be rated at officially organised field trials, and only dogs rated satisfactory are registered with permission to breed. Project Upland (Laikas): points-based bonitation (form, field ability, offspring); squirrel field trials in natural conditions, retrieve and blood-tracking trials; fenced boar and bear trials no longer permitted.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 2010

The Russian Kynological Federation trial rules were not read.

Water work

Project Upland: waterfowl hunting is an important part of Khanty and Mansi tradition, and the West Siberian Laika usually takes to water and retrieves with more willingness than other Laikas. Beregovoy: retrieves ducks easily, does not hesitate to swim in subfreezing water and is strong enough to retrieve from thick vegetation and muddy shores.

EditorialProject Upland, 2021

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

Cold water

4 of 5 · Dense double coat with a woolly undercoat (FCI); retrieves ducks and swims at subfreezing temperature (Beregovoy), takes to water more willingly than other Laikas (Project Upland)

DerivedVladimir Beregovoy, 2012

Derived from coat plus the stated cold-water retrieving. No measured data.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

Beregovoy: aboriginal Laikas of the Urals and West Siberia are among the healthiest dogs; no serious hereditary problems are known; minor pariah-type abnormalities occur, umbilical hernia and monorchidism seen occasionally in puppies.

EditorialVladimir Beregovoy, 2012

Single editorial source (the breed importer); no registry or survey data.

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

Also called
Zapadno-Sibirskaya Laika, Zapadno-Sibirskaïa Laïka, WSL, West-Siberian Laika

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