Laika (dog breed)

Laika

East Siberian Laika
Origin	Russia
Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

Laika (Russian: Ла́йка; IPA: [ˈlajkə]) refers to a type of hunting dog of Northern Russia and Russian Siberia, and is a generic name for several breeds.

Fédération Cynologique Internationale uses the word Laika in the names of three standard breeds: Russian European Laika (FCI standard No. 304), West Siberian Laika (FCI 306), and East Siberian Laika (FCI 305), which had been bred from the aboriginal dogs of northern Russia and Siberia.

The Karelo-Finnish Laika, not listed in the FCI nomenclature, is also a Russian breed, with the first standard published in Leningrad in 1936. It is a close relative of Finnish Spitz, as both breeds were bred from similar native dog populations. The Karelo-Finnish Laika and the Finnish Spitz have been (re-)merged into a single breed in 2006

The Russian word laika (Russian: лайка) is a noun derived from the verb layat' (Russian: лаять, to bark), and literally means barker. As the name of a dog variety, it is used in Russian cynological literature (not only in Russian, but sometimes in English as well) to refer to all varieties of hunting dogs traditionally kept by the peoples of the northern Russia and adjacent areas. This includes not only the three or four breeds known as Laikas in English, but also other standard breeds that FCI classifies together with them as the "Nordic Hunting Dogs" (Group 5, Section 2 of the FCI classification).