The frozen lands within the Arctic Circle, or close to it, of Northern Europe, Siberia and North America are home to a variety of dogs all of which fall under one generic type, known as the Spitz type. This is not a specific breed, it is a type. By the way the name is originally German which is why the correct plural form is “spitze”.

No-one seems to know the actual origins of the type but pretty well all of the breeds of Spitz type known today have their origins in those harsh northern climes, either the Arctic or remote cold parts of East Asia. Spitz type dogs are recognisable by their thick, long fur, frequently white in colour, their pointed ears and muzzles and their tails. The tail is normally seen curled up and over the animal’s back. This is particularly noticeable when the dog’s attention is attracted or it is excited by something.

Historically these have been working dogs and over centuries they have been selectively bred to serve their human masters in three principal ways, as herding dogs, to assist with hunting and to pull sledges over the snowfields. The different breeds of Spitze vary in size and build and were used for different purposes accordingly.

Some of the more powerful, larger breeds were used for what we might call big game hunting, targeting brown bears and moose. The Karelian Bear Dog, Norwegian and Swedish Elkhounds and the Akita Inu would typically be employed in this sort of activity. Across Scandinavia, hunters of smaller animals and birds would favour smaller breeds like the Finnish Spitz or the Lundehund.

Up until sometime in the 19th Century three particular Spitz breeds were being employed more than any other for pulling sleds or sledges because of their size and strength. The Greenland Dog, the Canadian Eskimo Dog and the Alaskan Malmute were the favourites.

Then in the 19th Century speed became name of the game (sounds familiar doesn’t it?) as fur trapping became profitable. Just as the fisherman who gets his catch to market first gets the best price, so it was with the trappers and their furs. The Siberian husky (bet you were wondering when huskies would get a mention!) became the more popular choice in Alaska and Canada because they are smaller and above all faster than the others. The Sami people of Scandinavia, otherwise known as Lapps, began to favour the Finnish Lapphund for the same reasons.

In Alaska and Canada people started racing sleds as a sport and that became a lucrative business. Again the Siberian husky was the sled dog of choice which is probably why nowadays people tend to refer to all dogs that pull sleds as “huskies”.

The Arctic regions are inhospitable to most forms of life, particularly humans and most dogs. Wolves have always inhabited these wild and chilly parts of the world and are well adapted to the conditions. Many Spitz type dogs are quite wolf-like in appearance and they are equally well adapted to the harsh arctic conditions, which has led to an assumption that they are closely related descendants of the Arctic wolf. In fact modern scientific research indicates that the line of descent of the Spitz dogs is quite separate from that of the wolf. There may have been some cross breeding long ago due to isolated instances of wolves mating with Spitze.

That’s just a brief account of Spitz dogs in general and their lives as working dogs. Next time we’ll look at some of the specific breeds and their stories.

This article was provided by freelance copywriter uk, Pete Hopper of Write For You.