To provide you with a glimpse into the origins of the Karelian Bear Dog, we present information and history that was gathered based on our own research as well as translations of Russian publications that was shared with us by Vladimir Beregovoy, a zoologist now residing in the United States who traveled throughout much of Russia during his work for the Institute of Biology, Uralian Branch of Academy of Sciences of the USSR. We are grateful to Vladimir and the zoologists, wildlife biologists, hunters, archeologists and ethnographers who have published valuable information that is archived or still circulating in Russia today.

Life As a Primitive Hunting Dog

Far back in time, well before the Russian Empire and long before dogs became pedigreed, dogs of similar "type" (morphology and temperament) existed in northeastern Europe. The dogs wouldn't generally travel far from home on their own, so physical isolation allowed local types of dogs to remain somewhat distinct.

Right, one gets a sense of the strong bond between hunter and hunting dog from this picture of a Kazakh hunter in Kazakhstan (which existed as the Kazakh SSR republic in the Soviet Union prior to full independence) with his primitive dog, a Tazi/Tobet mix, and golden eagle, both of which assisted in the hunt. He is wearing a fur hat made out of fox pelts known as a "malakhai." The Tobet is large fearless guardian dog (of sheep, cattle, and home). The Tazi (Saluki in Arabic) is considered a primitive hunting hound, perhaps the oldest known breed of domesticated dog, appearing on the Egyptian tombs of 2,100 BC. The Tazi were so esteemed that they were often mummified like the bodies of the Pharaohs (rulers of the Egyptian kingdom in the pre-Christian, pre-Islamic period) themselves. As a side note, Kazakh couture (fashion design) strutted its stuff at the Palace Hotel in Manhattan in November 2006 for a crowd that included Kazakh diplomats there to celebrate their independence day, where designer Nina Lazaridi showed updated Central Asian classics that included the malakhai.

The dogs of northeastern Europe lived for millennia (thousands of years) off leash in villages, without fences. It was the same across Komi country, the birthplace of the native dogs that the Finns later chose to preserve through selective breeding and named the Karelian Bear Dog. Survival was challenging for many of the native peoples who inhabited the very cold taiga forest regions just south of the Arctic. Hunting with dogs made their existence possible. Hunting provided meat for their families, and pelts could be sold or traded to obtain other goods like guns, gun powder, lead, tobacco, tea and flour. Pelts were so valuable that Russians called them "fur-gold". That made the best hunting dogs themselves an economically valuable commodity. Traveling by sleds pulled by reindeer or sled dogs, the native peoples would make their way to trading posts and provincial fairs to buy and sell furs, tea, tobacco, reindeer... and, yes, dogs. On the way back home from a trading event, which often included plenty of festivities and drinking, dogs were even sometimes left behind, where they lived out their lives mingling freely with the local type dogs. Vladimir Beregovoy -- who himself traveled N. Ural and the Yamal Peninsula as late as the 1960s -- tells us that large groups of dogs (up to 50) would greet him barking and wagging their tails as he entered a village.

The Geography of the Karelian Bear Dog

In appearance, the Karelian Bear Dogs exhibit traits of the native dogs of Finland, Karelia and the northeastern part of European Russia. The four primitive breeds of Laikas that were established by the Russians as purebreds between about 1930 and 1940 belong to the same large group of similar breeds from northeastern Europe as do the Karelian Bear Dogs that were selectively bred in Finland during that same time period. Right, like the Karelian Bear Dog, Laika are also known to work bear (photograph by Marina Kuzina, 2005). The word "Laika" originated from the word "layat," which means "to bark." Vladimir tells us that the Russians sometimes refer to the Karelian Bear Dog as the "Finnish Bear Laika" and the Akita as the "Japanese Laika."There was a famous Russian space dog named Laika who became the first living creature from Earth to enter orbit when she was launched into space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. Found as a stray from the streets of Moscow, she paved the way for human spaceflight. Despite her name, she was not of the Laika breed. True hunting Laikas have never been sent to space.

Native Ugro-Finnish tribesmen who lived their lives and hunted with their aboriginal dogs inhabited a vast region -- stretching from the Kola Peninsula and northwestern parts of European Russia, including Petersburg province, Ladoga Lake region, Kirov (Vyatka) province, Arkhangelsk and Vologda province, southward towards middle part of the Volga river, and eastward across Siberia to the Ural Mountains, widening from southern Yakutia in the north to the Amur River in the south. Below, a map of Russia puts into perspective the vastness of the area inhabited by aboriginal dogs. The Kola Peninsula (part of the Murmansk Oblast), Karelia, Arkangelsk and Vologda are shown at top left. The middle of the Volga river takes us southward to Samara (number 15 on the map). Eastward to the Ural Mountains takes us into the Komi Republic, southward through Perm and Chelyabinsk to Orenburg. Traveling eastward through Siberia, southern Yakutia is pictured in green in the eastern third of the map and borders with Amur (just to the south). The Amur River flows along the southern border of Amur, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria in northeast China.

Right, the area described above is bounded in the northwest by the Kola Peninsula, a peninsula in the far north of Russia, part of the Murmansk Oblast. It borders upon the Barents Sea on the North and the White Sea on the East and South. The peninsula is shaped like a finger that is pointing east. It is covered by taiga in the south and tundra in the north.

Below, the Volga, widely viewed as the national river of Russia, flows through the western part of the country. It is Europe's longest river. As a reference point for locating the middle part of the river, locate Samara (number 15 in the map of Russia at the top of the page) in the southwestern Russia.

Yakutia can be clearly seen in the northeastern part of Russia (in green in the map at the top of the page). Between the western part of the taiga described above and Yakutia, you must go through parts of Siberia.

Below, using a map of Russia, you can see that Siberia is a vast region that extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the borders of both Mongolia and China. All but the extreme south-western area of Siberia lies in Russia, and Siberia makes up almost 60% of the total area of Russia. Below, in dark red is Federal Siberia. The light red (on either side) represents popular scientific Siberia.

Right, the Amur River, located in the southeastern part of Russia, is Earth's eighth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Manchuria in northeast China. [more] [back]