Sulimov Dog
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| Other names | Shalaika |
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| Origin | Russia |
| Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) | |
The Sulimov dog (Russian: Собакa Сулимова), also known as the Shalaika (Russian: Шалайка), is a Russian jackal-dog hybrid originating from an initial hybrid between two Lapponian Herders and two Turkmen golden jackals. The breed was developed by Klim Sulimov for Aeroflot airline security. He is described as a Senior Research Assistant at the D.S. Likhachev Scientific Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Environmental Protection. The primary use of this breed has been to aid airport security as sniffer dogs. Quoting Sulimov, "My dogs combine the qualities of Arctic reindeer herding dogs, which can work in temperatures as low as -70°C, and jackals which enjoy the heat up to +40°C. They're perfect for our country."
During the breeding process, male jackal pups had to be fostered on a Lapponian Herder bitch to imprint the jackals on dogs. Female jackals accepted male dogs more easily. The half-bred jackal-dogs were hard to train and were bred back to Huskies to produce quarter-bred hybrids (quadroons). These hybrids were small, agile, and trainable and had excellent noses. They were then called Sulimov dogs after their creator and may one day be registered as a working breed of dog. Twenty-five Sulimov dogs are used by Aeroflot at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, for functions which include bomb-sniffing. Their breeding program dates back to 1975, but was not applied to bomb detection until 2002.
The jackal-dog hybrids were bred together for seven generations to establish the breed. To improve trainability, other dogs were bred into the line: a reindeer herding hound, a fox terrier, and a Spitz. The result was an easily trainable dog with a superior sense of smell. Only about 40 of these dogs are in existence and they are all the property of Aeroflot. They are trained from puppyhood to recognize 12 components of explosives. Unlike more common sniffing dogs, they take the initiative in searching.
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