The Real Russian Retriever

 Hunting, Hunting  No Responses »
Nov 162011
 

So while breed historians like to state Russian blood made their way into the stocks of Golden Retrievers, the Soviets developed an actual retrieving breed:

via arsik.ru [Image: Potokera RR]

Shocked? So am I. That’s no Golden! It’s a HUSKY! Wait, not a husky, a Finnish Spitz. See, the Soviets developed their own strain of generalist hunting dogs by mixing dogs of the Karelia territory: Finnish Spitz, Norrbottenspitz and Karelian Bear Dogs in Moscow and Leningrad. However the kennels collapsed post-WWII, and Finnish Spitzes were imported heavily to resurrect the doomed breed. From that, the Russian rednecks devised the Karelo-Finnish Laika.

via arsik.ru [Image: Potokera RR]

It is curious however since many spitzes don’t readily go to water like the British retrieving breeds. So the association of waterfowls and spitzes never really connected in my head. It is important to note, however, these dogs are not expected to retrieve to hand but rather retrieve ducks and geese from marshes and tall grasses. Understandable. Note to self: don’t be a control freak.

Apparently these dogs retrieve quite naturally, probably because of their high prey drive; however heading to the opposite side of the pond and devouring the bird upon arriving on shore need to be trained out. Given how food-orientated these dogs are, it would not be difficult to delay the instant gratification of gutting their own birds. See, the dog expects its “prize,” offals such as giblets and feet, after a successful shot.


via arsik.ru [Image: Already retrieving at hree and half months old, Nikelberga LV, 2000]

It is noted these dogs are bank-runners, taking the shortest route on land before diving in for the tedious swim. Apparently these dogs could be trained as early as a few months if the prey drive kicked in early. However, given how soft these dogs are, yet defiant, I doubt rejiggering their brains with electronic collars for line-running would tide over well and could potentially ruin a good dog.

One would have to keep in mind, these spitzes are not specialists, however they are generalist hunters bred to be stubborn and keen. The keenness is why dogs can be employed as “hunt-point-retrieve” dogs during birding seasons, yet act as bear or boar dogs during the off-seasons.

Wait, an all-season dog? If the Finkies are anything like Shiba Inus, they would associate certain objects with certain games, let it be a certain type of gun, a boat or just the type of clothes one wear. Hell, anchoring a boat to the top of the SUV is enough to get a dog excited about going on a fishing trip. Or hitching a trailer meant going bushwhacking.

Finkie on a Tanuki

 Hunting, Hunting  No Responses »
Oct 262011
 

A footage of a Finnish Spitz working a raccoon dog:

The Soviets introduced the Siberian Raccoon Dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides ussuriensis) between 1928 to 1958 to East Europe in attempt to expand the fur trade. The problem is the raccoon dogs are now viewed as a pest species in much of Europe since the grouse populations were decimated; however scientific researches say otherwise. To combat the invasive species, dogs are effective for culling since the raccoon dogs are too elusive for guns and traps. Of course, some may say that only pint-sized working dogs can do these kind of jobs.

See how in the thickets, the hunter located his dog by following the barks? That is how a bark-pointer is used. I have yet to go on a hunt which employ bark-pointers as bird-dogs, only with pointers and retrievers, but I would love to someday.

Life of a Finkie

 Absurd Finds, Dogs  No Responses »
Oct 122011
 

Final showdown between Gin the Finnish Spitz and Akakabuto the Capercaillie:

via deviantart.com [Image: Viik]

If the reference doesn’t make sense, it is a parody of Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin, a Japanese anime centric around Nihon Ken being used as bear dogs. Since the TV series has become so immersely popular in Scandinavia, the comic fits.

In the anime, Gin is a silver brindled Akita, a descendent of Riki and Shiro: dogs who were slained by the great bear Akakabuto; and Gin sought to seek vegenance for his father and grandfather. In this context, the assumption is his family pursued the capercaille resurrection for generations, in which the bird constantly evading the dogs in a true grouse fashion, but never the dogs succeeded in in making it perch. At least this is one way of looking at the interpretation.

Find the Grouse

 Dogs, Hunting, Hunting  2 Responses »
Sep 282011
 

Let’s the Capercaillie takes the role of Waldo for a minute, shall we? Okay. We are looking for a sihouette of a bird roosting in a tree. It’s sort of shaped like a turkey.

So, where’s the grouse?

Clue: Look at where the dog is positioned and how he is positioned. Neck angulation tells all.

Click on “Pages: 2″ to reveal the answer.

His Dog, Skip

 Coat  No Responses »
Sep 212011
 

Awhile ago, I made the erroneous assumption Finnish Spitz are AyAy ee based on transference of knowledge on the coat genetics behind Australian Red Border Collies, Golden Retrievers and Duck-Tolling Retrievers. The theory was sound, the application was off-base. Quite frankly, it is surprising no one corrected it after all these months until recently.

An deep red Finnish Spitz with dark whiskers.

A Finnish Spitz with black whiskers. Click to enlarge.

There is one fatal flaw: ee recessives harbour white whiskers. Most Finnish Spitzes have black whiskers and black leather; so they are really just a red sable with minimal white. If they were ee, then the whiskers would had been washed out. Now, it is not impossible for eerecessive dogs to have black whiskers as subtle somatic mutations is common in Golden Retrievers. To expect the same from the Finkies, however, does not explain the breed-wide consistency.

However people who think this way shouldn’t be blamed. It is not an uncommon practice in the show ring to trim the whiskers to tidy up the dog, and oftentimes white whiskers are washed out in the flash of the photographs. Given even pet groomers are in the habit of trimming, one should be in the habit of waiting for a photograph which clearly demonstrate the whiskers.

On paper, all Finnish Spitz should be AyAyBBCCDDEEGGmmSStt. However this is not necessarily the case. Turn the SS into a spsp, one has a Norrbottenspitz on their hand as it is well-documented in breeding for Finnish Spitz, the non-solid alleles were culled; and some of the Swedes purchased piebald dogs from Hugo Roos, which later split into their own breed. Or at least that’s the version cited by a few Finns over e-mail exchanges; the Swedes, on the other hand, have a lovely romantic story about piebald dogs being undiscovered on small farming land holdings and rescued from the onset of pre-war extinction. Now, the frequency of the piebald allele must be extremely low as a spotted spitz thrown from a Finnish Spitz is unheard of in this day and age; but it is foolish to say it has been effectively filtered out of the gene pool since the frequency remains unknown; and the two breeds, Norrbottenspets and Finsk Spets were once considered as one breed and registered as such a century ago up until early 1900s. So it stand to reason it is entirely possible there are sp carriers, just the necessary pairing haven’t has their lottery number pulled. It is more fair to assert the Finkes are AyBCDEGmmStt.

However we do know Finnish Spitz are actually Ee breed-wide. Meet Skip:

A light pale Finnish Spitz with pale whiskers and a grey nose with a slight pink hue.

Meet my... er... his dog, Skip.

Contrary to what some may believe about the nose, he is not an albino. Sometimes a double-merle will have pink noses, but the merling is a dominant trait and merle is frown upon; so it’s a no-go. Skip has a snow-nose, which indicates he is either a liver (b) or a blue-dilute (d). Now, not all bb have distinctly brown noses or eye leather as a handful are dark enough to appear black; and with the blue-dilute, while the nose is normally grey, it can appear to be black In both scenarios, sometimes this fade with age into a pink. There seem to be other factors at play determining the shade. We do know “snow nose” is more prevalent in dogs with yellow pigment. From going through the archives of Skip on Walks N’ Wags, we can conclude he is most likely a blue-dilute.

Now some believes he is a mutt or a mongrel. Not necessarily so. When we are talking genetics, in regard to recessives, frequency and probability must be taken into account. Simply failing to conform to the standards does not make a dog a mix as selecting against an allele doesn’t make it disappear; it is just simply reshuffling to the point where the presence of homozygous is presently virtually unheard of. The other thing to take into account, there are several Russian-registered Finnish Spitzes who appear to be a fawn. However, at the same time, there are also plenty of honey-pale Finkies with black whiskers. Since the quality of Russian photographs are poor, we are limited to what we can see and conjecture; but they do give us plausibility.

In conclusion, the deep auburn Finkies don’t have the same genetic makeup as the Golden Retrievers. The whiskers alone are an indicator. Keeping that in mind, as seen in Skip, it is entirely possible to have the same genetic code of a Golden in a spitz body.

Sources

Dilution or Pale Colour 2009. Sheila Schmutz. http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dilutions.html (accessed September 8, 2011).

Nose Color 2008. Jess Chappell. http://abnormality.purpleflowers.net/genetics/noses.htm (accessed September 8, 2011).

The B Locus in Dogs 2010. Sheila Schmutz. http://homepage.usask.ca/~schmutz/dogbrown.html (accessed September 8, 2011).

Images

Finnish Spitz « Walks N’ Wags 2011. Calley. http://balmaindogblog.com/tag/finnish-spitz/ (accessed August 1, 2011). [Images: Calley, 2011]

Finnish Spitz Picture File Index. http://www.breederretriever.com/photopost/pindex/655/ (accessed September 8, 2011) [Image: Unknown]

 

Hunting with the Karelo-Finnish Laika

 Hunting, Hunting  6 Responses »
Aug 242011
 

A documentary set in Sweden with the red prick-eared barking dog landrace. Unfortunately it is not in English, but still amusing to watch:

Note the hunters give their dogs a prize after every shot. This keeps them excited for the next hunt. Besides, primitive dogs are well-known for their cunning intelligence and being manipulative in their refusal to work for free.

Actually, there is a copy of this in Swedish on a hard drive in its entirety. The above YouTube clip is edited as some are out of sequence. However it comes from a segment of the Dianas Stigar series known as Jakt med Trädskällare. If anyone wants a copy, please ask so I can direct them to a legal source.

Once again, if a transcript could be provided, please e-mail info at prickeared dot com. Much appreciated.

Finsky Spic

 Absurd Finds  No Responses »
Aug 032011
 

No, the title is not a phonetic spelling of “Finkie Spitz.” “Finský špic” is actually what it is in the Czech-Slovak languages. And amusingly enough, since I reverse-searched to see if there is any historical data, albeit there is very little, this photograph came up. Instantly, it sparked a “daaaaaaaaw” moment:

Looking fairly rugged there.

via muj-pes.cz [Image: Poutin Vekku]

How do I know? Look below:

Straight from the WordPress dashboard.

Hákarl and Red Light Districts

 Absurd Finds, Dogs  12 Responses »
Jul 202011
 

Technically, the title should be “Surströmming and Webcamming,” but that probably won’t ganders as much gawkings as the correlation between Iceland’s hákarl and the Netherland’s Red Light District. However for the sickos:

Um, what are we suppose to do next?

via http://www.leipipirs.se [Image:  Kent Reinfors]

Kidding! Actually, it’s astounding how many people never seen a dog mate before and they equate humping behaviour with sex; let alone, a quite a handful never seen an mature intact dog before. So now that the viewers have been solicited into Finnish porn, be gone.

Of course, not to disappint those who came for the kæstur hákarl, National Geographic has a wonderful segment on this unusual foodstuff here.

Moose Training

 Hunting, Hunting  5 Responses »
Jul 132011
 

Found this clip on YouTube while looking up on Google for practice of hirv-koulutus [trans. "moose-training"]  The device is called a konehirvi [trans. "moose machine"], and it can readily be purchased off the Internet.

The moose machine, or what Google mistranslates as “the terrible machine,” which is a apt name for such dangerous beast, is suppose to ease the cautious nature of the dog and allows the handler to encourage the dog to approach and bark. Once the dog gains the confidence in barking at an artificial remote-controlled moose, he is then taken to a hirvenhaukkukokeen [trans. "moose trial" or lit. "moose-baying test"] to judge the dog’s range and search ability and its approach to the real thing.

Keep in mind, the moose machine is not a substitute for encouraging the dog to range out and perform a wide sweep; nor is it an indicator of the dog’s willingness to work. It serves only as a measurement for how the dog would perform in close quarter.

Elkie Meets Finkie

 Dogs  7 Responses »
Jun 292011
 

While poking around websites dedicated to squirrel dogs in the States, there were references to Elkhounds ["Norwegians" or "Elkie"], Finnish Spitz ["Spitz"] and West Siberian Laika ["Laika"]; I ran across an advert from West Virginia about a half Norwegian Elkhound, half Finnish Spitz. The goal of his purpose-bred cross is to retain the eagerness of searching games of the Spitz, but to cross in the biddablity ["good handle"] of the Norwegian. Whether or not the mix is successful remains ambiguous.


via abovetopsecret.com [Image: dogfin]

Actually, it is not quite uncommon to see mentions of “3/4 Cur, 1/4 Spitz” or “1/2 Spitz, 1/4 Norwegian, 1/4 Feist” et cetera with a Finkie somewhere listed in the pedigree. Some people enjoy the persistent nature of the Spitz, but dislike the fact they hunt deep without ranging closeby– hence the attempts to dilute certain traits while trying to maintain desireable attributes.

However, if the photographed Norwegian-Spitz mix ends up at a rescue, I am sure it would be labelled as a “German Sheperd mix.”

Hat tip: Scottie from retrieverman found this picture when the idea of a cross was blabbed.

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