Laika on cat???

[Dan McDonough]

I will have a West Siberian Laika soon and would like to know if anyone at all has hunted with one on bobcats. From what little I do know about them, I think that the Laika breed should do pretty well as a closer or a good rock dog becuase most of them are silent. Any experiences you all have to talk about with this breed will be helpfull.

[Dan McDonough]

I'm wondering if there is even one Laika out there hunting cats. I'm not sure what these dogs cost as pups but I've heard some pretty big numbers thrown around. That may be a little prohibitive. I figured I'd hear from someone by now. It will be interesting just to see how long it takes to find someone.

If your reading this and have any experiences with Laikas at all, I would like to hear what you have to think about the idea. Anything at all that you have to add will be greatly appreciated.

[Lynxhunter]

Dont know anything about Laikas on bobcats Dan, but I've seen some laika action on lynx. - If your interrested in that, I can put down some thoughts.


Hans

[Dan McDonough]

Hans,

Have at it. David metioned having heard of them being used in Norway. I'd like to hear everything you've got. Thanks in advance.

[thelineman]

Registered west siberian laikas born 6-8-10 out of excellent tree dogs six
females and two males satisfaction guaranteed $500.00 each have had
all shots and are on monthly heartworm preventative.

4, 12 week old Laika puppies for sale at $350.00 each


I found these prices on another forum. Just thought you might like to see them. They are pretty popular around here.

[Lynxhunter]

Well the traditional laika is probably something as far from a "catdog" as you can come, in the "traditional" understanding of the word.
- There are at least 5 things, we have to take into consideration, when using laikas on cats.

1. These dogs have for centuries been bred to be freecasted against the wind and by direct scent pick up desired animals/birds and bay/tree 'em.
2. The huge amount of wolves(last year estimared to 40.000 by russian scientists), have made the laikas "stay close" during freecasting and a lack of "stick with" while on game. Those specimens that did/do go deep got killed by wolves before they arent bred and thereby these traits seldom seen(even though Svedish breeders now have some that go as deep as you ever want....). There is a slight difference in West Siberian Laikas(WSL) and East Siberia Laikas(ESL) on this account, because most of the wolves are west of the Ural mountains, wich aslo is the "border" between WSL's and ESL's.
3. These dogs are super hot nosed. As stated above, hunts most on direct scent. No problem with the sence of smell, but they are not "wired in the head" to follow old tracks. I use to say that I would not want my laika to follow a track older that 2 hrs under good conditions. Now the ESL I've got for the time beeing, is a bit "track minded" for my liking, but I have to see how she matures.
4. Laikas are slow maturers. It's not uncommond for laikas to be 2-3 even 4 years of age before they show they're true potential. Why? Dont know, but I suspect its their extreme close conection to the wolves. There are lines around here with just 6-7 gen back to real wolf.
5. These dogs are super duper intelligent. Which is both negative and positive.... One accident can in my opinion ruin a dog, but they can also learn a positive trait for life with just repetition. I use to say that a Laika is a true test of how good a houndsman you are. - This is why you never ever, unless if it is to stop them from attacking lifestock, use e-collars on these dogs. There are numeral thoughts going through a laikas head while chasing game, so if you fry it for chasing of game, you might just as well fry it for something else that you have no controll over.... The way to stop them from chasing undesired game is not to kill undesired game for them. These dogs are extremly prayminded. And you need to kill game for them to make them spring out in full blossom. Again this comes from their extreme intelligens.

Now this may seem like alot of negative thoughts about laikas, but I can promise you: After you have seen a good Laika in action, everything else will seem like second rate.
Now I've never hunted bobcats. The only thing I know about them is mostly from what I've read on here and from all the US DVD's I've bought through the years. But if I were to make a "imaginarie" pack for super hard cats in rocks and blowdown areas, I'd train a Laika to run with a hound or maybe preferably a cur, that had some nose and brain on him and was super tight mouthed.

Be extremly carefull who you choose pup from. Its real easy to breed the hunt out of them.

Now these are my thoughts and ideas, I dont claim them "to be the truth", so disagreeing is no problem for me.

Ps: There is or at least was a Norwegian member on here, think went by "Lynxlaika". Try PM him if he still is a member. He has tonns of info. Dont know if he'll share it though...


Hans

[Dan McDonough]

Those prices don't seem so bad. Thanks for doing the footwork. I've talked to several people who have said that they have thought about these dogs for catch dogs on cats but there just aren't very many of them around. A couple of people have used Border Collies instead and I guess that would be along the same lines of thought but the b.c.'s have not been bred for hundreds of years for tree game like the Laikas have.

There is a difference that a lot of you might have noticed between the treehounds and the running hounds. Without going headlong into a couple of hours of writing, there is a noticable difference between the dogs that have been bred a certain way for 500 or more years and the dogs that have been bred a certain way for 100 or more. The same differences can be noticed between the sight hounds and the other breeds but are not as easy to compare because of the different styles. I'm sure many others have noticed this and already know what I'm refering to.

Anyhow, this should prove to be some sort of learning experience however it turns out. I only have about 5 months to do it because I have a litter of pups that takes priority over everything else. My best dog died from a turne stomach late this summer and her pups were 4 weeks old. They all survived and I'm going to put everything I've got into those five pups if it kills me. Many of you know that dog as David's old dog Rachel. She was reallly something and she puts a great deal of herself into her pups so I'm thinking I should be fine with those last five but there's a lot of work between now and
then.

[Dan McDonough]

Thanks Hans, I understand what you are saying. They may not be for me but if this particular dog has enough sense to figure out when I might be making a mistake then he might do alright. We'll see.

I have had and have trained a fair number of the type of dog you've described so this Laika will have that going in his favor. I will say that my patience for dogs that don't show some resilience in the face of adverse conditions is getting shorter. My Rachel dog kept on doing a great job through some accidents and near death experiences that would make you shutter. I have a lot of respect for a dog that has that quality and has brains at the same time. We've all seen dogs that could have their leg cut off and they would still do their job but I've only seen a couple of those that had any brains to speak of and Rachel was one of them...I want some more of that!

I'll see if I can get a hold of Lynxlaika, thanks for the lead.

[Lynxhunter]

Fun to give something back, after getting so much information from this site, Dan.

Think of them Laikas as a clean sheet of paper. If you want a Madonna, you paint a madonna, but if you want a oneline potatohead, you draw a oneline potatohead.....

Whish I could by laika pups at US prices. I have to pay $2000-$2300 for a pup out of proven parent here....

Good luck with your project, Dan. Really hope you find a good pup and have luck with it!

Hans

[Zman]

I don't have any experience with hunting cats, but have hunted squirrels with them
and they are excellent squirrel dogs.

Zman