Photo: Corel

Although the Inuit Dog is often referred to as a "breed", its proper identification is that of a "landrace":

Inuit Family, one dog only, 1926, Baker Lake, N.W.T.
                                                                Credit: L. T. Burwash
                Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Dev. collection
                                                     Library and Archives Canada

Long-time arctic resident and Inuit Dog owner/breeder authority Ian Kenneth MacRury devoted a chapter to this subject in his masters thesis The Inuit Dog: Its Provenance, Environment and History. Many early explorers insisted that the Inuit Dog was part wolf and even to this day there are some who believe this to be true, going so far as perpetuate the myth that bitches in estrus were staked out by themselves to be bred by wolves. Inuit Dogs do share elements of the polar phenotype with arctic wolves. However, MacRury's research on skull and dentition measurements show no consistent hybridization. Furthermore, it is well known that wolves have a strong preference for killing dogs, loose or picketed. Also, biologists have explained that the differences in breeding and estrus cycles between wolves and dogs is not advantageous to the survival of hybrids in a polar environment. Personal communications with Inuit affirm that the willful practice of hybridization did not occur. Based on this body of information, it can be said that the Inuit Dog has no more wolf content than recognized breeds of Canis familiaris.

Inuit Dog   Photo: Hamilton

Arctic Wolf     Photo: Corel

Some people have gone to extremes in expressing their admiration for the wolf. In their distorted 'love' of Canis lupus, they have dumped a variety of northern spitz breeds as well as German Shepherds into a genetic cesspool along with wolves to create what they believe to be a "look-alike," thinking the results bring them in closer proximity to the wild icon of their fantasies. Breeder/owners may deny wolf content, but web searches have turned up some of their outright admissions that the animals are wolf hybrids. Over the years, due to infighting and other disagreements, these devotees' organizations have splintered and morphed. Now there are several, but three: the National Esquimaux Dog Association - formerly The National Wolf Hybrid Association (a now defunct USA group), the Northern Inuit Society (Great Britain) and the British Inuit Dog Club have all chosen to misrepresent, mislead and obfuscate the public as to their creations' true identities at the expense of the primitive aboriginal Inuit Sled Dog^3,4,5.