Karelian Bear Dogs

The history of dogs in every region is linked to the history of the people with whom they lived. The Karelian Bear Dog is the namesake of Karelia, an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia and Sweden. After centuries of conflict among these three peoples, the territory is now divided between the Russian Republic of Karelia, the Russian Leningrad Oblast, and two Regions of Finland: South Karelia and North Karelia

The Komi dog originates in the virgin forests of the Komi Republic to the northeast of Russia. Its people were conquered by Russia in 1472 thus the Russian connection to the bear dog.

The Karelian Bear Dog in Finland is a primitive breed that has not been interbred with any other breeds (including the Russian Laikas) and in Finland there is no confusion between the breeds. "In the native home country of the Karelian Bear Dog, which is Finland, we do not have problems like this, because the Finnish dog breeds are well known here. Both Karelian Bear Dog and Russo-European Laika have their own separate FCI breed standards (the one for Russo-European Laika was not recognized until in the 80’s), and these two breeds should never under any circumstances be regarded as the same as they are not. The KBDs are bred for their hunting instincts in their home country of Finland and their beauty comes from their abilities in the field. Not every dog makes a good big game hunter and only the best are allowed to breed." (Laukkanen, the Finnish Spitz Club March 1999) This is how the hunting instinct has been preserved as opposed to the KBDs bred in some other countries.

The Karelian Bear Dog should not be confused with the Russo-European Laika. This close relative was bred by Russian hunters who wanted to distinguish their own Karelian Bear "Laika" from the Karelian Bear Dog in Finland, and introduced other strains of native Russian laikas to the breed.

Despite the erroneous information still out there, the Russo-European Laika is not the same dog as the Karelian Bear Dog. The following, widely repeated remark is doubly spurious: “Closely related to the Laika, the Karelian Bear Dog is descended from an old Finnish breed to which Russian breeders introduced Utchak Sheepdog blood.” Such a breed did not and does not exist in Russia. We do not know who introduced this false statement about interbreeding with the Utchak Dog, but it occurs in many writings about the Karelian Bear Dog. Unfortunately Mark Derr also picked this up and included in his article about Karelian Bear Dogs published in Smithsonian. One question remains. What kind of dog the Utchak Dog is? Is it merely a corruption of "ov(t)charka" (овчарка), the Russian word for "sheepdog"? (See, South_Russian_Ovtcharka, Caucasian_Shepherd_Dog .) We would like other members of R-PADS and guests to help us to find the answer to this question."(HISTORY OF THE RUSSO-EUROPEAN LAIKA AND MYTH ABOUT ITS INTERBREEDING WITH THE UTCHAK DOG by Vladimir Beregovoy and Marina Kuzina PAWS 2000)

Last but not least, the Finnish people have never mixed the Karelian Bear Dog with any other breed of dog.

Two Bear Dogs from Southern Karelia (circa 1900)