Northern Inuit

The Northern Inuit is a breed of dog that is known for their striking wolf-like appearance. But despite its fierce looks, this breed is very friendly and sociable, making it an excellent choice for families and individuals. 

One of the most notable characteristics of the Northern Inuit is its heigh level of intelligence and quick-wittedness. This makes them a pleasure tow work with since they pick up on things easily. But be aware that they can get bored easily, so keep the training sessions short, fun and diverse. They best response to positive reinforcement. Please don’t treat them harshly since they have a sensitive temper. They can be stubborn and strong-wield and test your patience therefore consistent and firm but gentle training is important.

The Northern Inuit is typically gentle and patient with children and enjoys playing and spending time with them. However, keep in mind that they are big and strong dogs so its best to always supervise them. 

When being properly socialised as a puppy they get a long well with other dogs and animals thanks to their friendly demeanour.  They make for loyal companions that always want to be by your side and enjoy all kinds of activities but can develop separation anxiety. 

They are not a hunting breed, but some might develop high prey-drive. 

In general, the Northern Inuit is a wonderful breed that isn’t too demanding but experience with dogs is preferable.

For more information, please visit NIIU.

Northern Inuit History

This story starts with Edwina “Eddie” Harrison, who had a dream to create a dog that resembled a wolf with traits of family pack hierarchy, loyalty, and trainability. In 1988, she began experimenting with various breeds to achieve her vision. However, around 1996, she was reported to the RSPCA for keeping her dogs in poor conditions due to failing health, which resulted in her dogs being shared out among others with no clear record of which breeds were used to create the Northern Inuit.

Some descendants were left, and the Northern Inuit Dog Society of Great Britain was formed, which later split into other breed clubs. These splits allowed breeders to focus on breeding dogs with wolf-like appearances and avoiding extinction.

The Northern Inuit experienced a surge in popularity after appearing in the TV series Game of Thrones, as people became interested in the “Direwolves.” However, the NIU breeders are now focused on breeding for health while maintaining the breed’s type and temperament. The Northern Inuits International Unleashed is working with other breed clubs to ensure a diverse gene pool for the breed and prevent inbreeding. Today, the Northern Inuit remains a breed beloved for its wolf-like appearance, family-friendly nature, and trainability.

Training

We are using the puppy culture program created by breeder and trainer Jane Killion. It is designed to help breeders and owners raise emotionally balanced, confident, and well-behaved dogs. 

The puppy culture program emphasizes early socialisation and training for puppies, starting from birth and continuing through their critical development stages. It includes a variety of techniques and methods, such as early neurological stimulation, early scent introduction, positive reinforcement training, and exposure to different people, animals, and environments. 

The program also focuses on teaching puppies self-control, handling skills, and appropriate behaviour around people and other animals. It aims to help puppies grow into well-rounded, happy, and healthy dogs that can adapt to different situations and environments. 

All of our future puppy owners will be getting some basic training materials using puppy culture. 

We advise all future puppy owners to train your dog using positive reinforcement and the ”pigs fly” training system by Jane Killion since Northern Inuits are non-biddable dogs and need a different training approach. But of course as always, every dog and human is different, so feel free to work with the training method that suits you and your dog best. 

All future puppy owners will be getting the book “when pigs fly” by Jane Killion in their puppy package. Here is a short excerpt of this book: 

It is very important that you realize your primary task is to shape your dog’s mind-set, not train any particular behavior. Once you have your dog in the correct frame of mind, you can teach him anything in short order. Most people head to the bookstore or to training class because they want their dog to learn the canon of pet obedience sit, down, stay, come, loose leash walking, and polite greeting rituals. As you go through this book, you will see that we don’t begin with teaching those behaviors. We begin with lots of learning games that may seem irrelevant to you. You will find that sometimes we take a very long time to teach a behavior when there might be a way to teach it more quickly. There is a reason for this. The games we play and the way we teach them will fundamentally begin to change the way your dog thinks and prepare him to learn anything you want him to learn. You have to bear with me and take your dog systematically through the process. Remember, the non-biddable breeds in Scott and Fuller’s study performed better than the “easy to train” breeds when presented with a problem that they had to figure out on their own. Under the Pigs Fly system, whenever possible, we are going to hand the problem over to the dog and give him room to do what he naturally does best think it out.

https://books.google.de/books?id=bWPhhOif9_gC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Diet

This breed thrives from a raw diet. Unlike a Labrador or a Golden Retriever, they can respond sensitive to high processed food. Therefore, low processed high-quality food is best for them. If you don’t feel comfortable with feeding them raw diet, you can always reach out to us or use the Internet for more information on the advantages and disadvantages and what to look for if you buy prepared food. 

Exercise 

The Northern Inuit requires a moderate amount of physical activity. Compared to their northern relatives or the german shepard they are relatively lazy and prefer relaxing in the garden rather than running 20 kilometres. Most of the time a leisurely walk is sufficient for them.  However, some Northern Inuits do enjoy participating in sporty activities such as canicross, jogging, bikejöring, hiking or swimming. It is essential to strike the right balance between physical activities and mental stimulation, such as scent work, dog dance, or basic training, to keep them mentally sharp and engaged.

Health

All our dogs used for breeding are completely health tested; this includes hip and elbow testing, eye testing and doing a full DNA testing by embark.

Like many other breeds, the Northern Inuit Dog is known to suffer from a few hereditary health issues which are worth knowing about if you are planning to share your home with one of these active and good-looking dogs. The conditions that seem to affect the breed the most include the following:

Hip dysplasia
This is no more or less prevalent in the Northern Inuit breed than any other breed. Hip dysplasia can be hereditary or environmental, caused by poor nutrition or even by a difficult birth. All breeding dogs should be hip scored so that the chance of hip dysplasia can be reduced.

Elbow dysplasia
Should be viewed in the same context as hip dysplasia above. All breeding dogs should be elbow scored.

Glaucoma
Primary and Secondary. This is not a breed wide problem, but can be inherited, therefore all breedings dogs should be eye tested. Glaucoma is found in many breeds of dogs so this is not a breed specific disease.

Degenerative Myelopathy
Tests are available through various approved laboratories. All breeding dogs who are not clear by parentage should be DM tested. The Northern Inuits International Unleashed is working hard to eliminate this disease by DM testing any dogs who are not clear by parentage, before accepting the dog into the breeding programme. DM is found in many breeds of dogs so this is not a breed specific disease.

OSD3
A life limiting genetic condition which causes limb deformities and severe eye issues. A test has been developed and any dog who is not clear by parentage must be OSD3 tested prior to breeding. The Northern Inuits International Unleashed is working hard to eliminate this disease by OSD3 testing any dogs who are not clear by parentage, before accepting the dog into the breeding programme. OSD3 is a breed specific problem (only found in Northern Inuits).

Epilepsy
There currently are no conclusive findings on the mode of inheritance but epileptic dogs are never used for breeding and appropriate veterinary care is always advised. The Northern Inuits International Unleashed keep records of every dogs’ breeding lines to try to prevent epilepsy being passed down the generations. Epilepsy is found in at least 26 breeds of dogs so this is not a breed specific disease.

Addisons disease
Although research has shown there is some genetic link, the cause of Addisons is unknown. It is considered to be an autoimmune disease, and there is some indication that it is on the rise. This rise could be a result of high inbreeding – the Northern Inuits IU have a breeding strategy in place to lower the level of inbreeding so that Northern Inuits will be less susceptible to this type of disease. Addisons is found in many breeds of dogs so this is not a breed specific disease.

Retained testicles
Male Northern Inuits can be prone to retained testicles, where one or both testes do not drop. There are no lasting consequences, if the dog is neutered at an appropriate time (for this breed the recommended age is not earlier than 18mths – 24mths of life as they are slow developers). It is proven that this is mainly inherited, although some environmental reasons can be a factor too.

Unfortunately there can never be any guarantee that a puppy of any breed will not develop health issues (genetic or environmental issues), no matter how many tests are carried out. Thankfully, the majority of Northern Inuits live happy healthy lives without issue and the life span averages between 12 and 15 years old. Ask us if you have any questions about the health of the breed – we are open and honest and no questions are considered silly.

Source reference: https://www.northerninuitbreed.com