Karelian Bear Dog Info

Karelian Bear Dog (Karjalankarhukoira) is a hunting Spitz mainly used for hunting moose and bear which holds the game at bay. Some bear dogs are better in hunting big game, others are better at small game such as marten, raccoon dog, foxes, rats & squirrels. Some individuals will even fetch waterfowl & ducks. Karelian Bear Dogs are also used widely in North America for “Bear Shepherding”.  They bark and chase bears away from places that will put the bears in conflict with people thus bears avoid getting shot.

Karelian Bear Dog is medium sized, robust in conformation, strong, only slightly longer in body than the height at the withers, with a dense coat and pricked ears. Eyes are rather small, slightly oval and brown (preferably dark brown). The expression is alert and fiery. Coat color is black; it may be dull or shaded with brown. Most individuals have clearly defined white markings on the head, neck, chest, belly and the legs. (FCI standard)Ideal proportion for black to white is 70/30 percent.

Approximate life span is around 12 to 16 years.

Karelian Bear Dog is a Finnish breed. The actual introduction of Karelian Bear Dog took place in the first dog show of the Finnish Kennel Club show in 1936 in Helsinki. The Komi dog or Zyrian Laika (Laika of Perma) is considered to be the origin of the breed. The basic stock dogs originated from Ladoga´s Karelia, Olonets and Russian Karelia, where they were used for all different types of game hunting. The first Karelian Bear Dogs were registered with the Finnish Kennel Club in 1946. Today the breed is still considered to be one of the rarest breeds in the world.

The Karelian people had their black spitz dog with them, when they immigrated to the area north of the Finnish bay, hundreds of years ago. The Karelians who were great hunters walked to the north and east to find the best hunting fields and came thereby to settle down in the most impenetrable and isolated areas. The roads were not projected so the towns, which was far away of each other, were isolated. Therefore this black spitz dog kept uninfluenced by other dog breeds.

Usvan Murri – Owned by P. Karjalainen from Sippola. Here we see a wonderful breed type that was produced in 1960′s. Bred by Veikko Mielonen “Usvan Ukko”.

If you got a bear dog, it is quite common that they have Usvan blood in their ancestors. You can trace back the pedigrees at this site: http://jalostus.kennelliitto.fi

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