Canadian Eskimo Dog: Arctic Work and Survival
The Canadian Eskimo Dog, also known as the Canadian Inuit Dog or qimmiq, is an Arctic working breed used to haul freight and people. Its powerful physique gives the impression of a dog built for hard work rather than speed. By the 1960s, traditional working dog teams were increasingly rare in the Canadian North. Inuit communities also used the dogs to hunt seals and other Arctic game. Changes in transport affected an animal woven into everyday work, while disease and the killing of sled dogs added further pressures.
The breed's ancestry reaches back to dogs associated with the Thule people, who relied on them for transportation from Siberia. A genetic study in 2015 indicated that Canadian Inuit dogs and Greenland Dogs maintained an Indigenous heritage predating colonization. It also found that the two geographically separated populations had not diverged enough to warrant treatment as separate breeds. Their genetic grouping differed from Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Huskies, and Alaskan Malamutes. A shared maternal DNA type pointed to a common female ancestor; among other dogs examined, the nearest match came from remains in Florida dating back about a thousand years.
Hunting gave the Canadian Eskimo Dog work beyond the harness. Explorers described dogs locating seal holes from a great distance, and handlers sometimes used them to hunt polar bears. The dogs were reported to be so enthusiastic about hunting bears that handlers sometimes shouted nanuq, the Inuktitut name for the bear, to encourage them when pulling sledges. The dogs did not respond similarly to wolves, instead howling fearfully at their approach. Their appearance and vocalizations led some explorers, including Charles Darwin, to suggest a wolf connection. Genetic testing has found no recent wolf ancestry. Their fur was valued for its resistance to wear, and famine could make dogs an emergency food resource.
The breed remained in demand for polar expeditions through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. About 20,000 dogs lived in the Canadian Arctic during the 1920s, but their numbers fell sharply by the 1960s as traditional teams became rarer. Snowmobile use and infectious canine diseases contributed to the decline. In 1959, very low numbers led the American Kennel Club to remove the breed from its registry. By 2008, one estimate put the purebred population at only 300. The collapse in numbers prompted efforts to find surviving dogs in remote communities and build a breeding population from them.
The Eskimo Dog Research Foundation began that work in 1972, with Canadian and Northwest Territories government funding and Canadian Kennel Club support. It bought dogs from remote Inuit camps on Baffin Island and the Boothia and Melville peninsulas, drawing on a remaining Arctic population of about 200 dogs. Brian Ladoon also acquired dogs from northern Canadian communities in the 1970s after Bishop Omer Alfred Robidoux gave him a mission to save them. Ladoon shifted from breeding Malamutes and Huskies to this breed. After breeding for 30 years, Ladoon had the largest genetic stock colony of these dogs in the world.
The decline also carries a painful history of police killings. Between 1950 and 1970, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police killed Inuit sled dogs; estimates range from 1,200 to 20,000. Some elders alleged that the killings were intended to intimidate communities and disrupt Inuit life. An internal investigation in 2005 acknowledged killings but attributed them to public health purposes. It also found that required capture and owner-notification procedures were rarely followed and that explanations were not always given. The Qikiqtani Inuit Association rejected that investigation and commissioned its own report, which strongly criticized the killings while finding no deliberate conspiracy against Inuit communities.
The Canadian Eskimo Dog has a dense coat with a soft underlayer and stiff guard hairs. A thick neck mane is especially prominent in males; females are smaller and finer boned, often with shorter coats. Upright triangular ears and a heavily feathered tail carried over the back complete the spitz outline. Many colors occur, including white, silver, black, and coats with contrasting patches or facial masks. These dogs are alert, loyal, and affectionate with their owners. Many of these dogs have a stronger prey drive than some other breeds because they often had to forage and hunt for food; they often prefer sleeping outside in winter.
Public recognition and organized sledding gave the Canadian Eskimo Dog new roles. Nunavut adopted the Canadian Inuit Dog as its territorial animal symbol on May 1, 2000. The Ivakkak long-distance race began in 2001 to promote traditional dogsledding and revive the breed, with participation limited to Inuit mushers and purebred Canadian Inuit Dogs. Teams also work in tourism and commercial polar bear hunting. In August 2019, Canadian minister Carolyn Bennett apologized to Baffin Island Inuit for historic mistreatment, including the slaughter and forced decline of their dogs. A donation to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association included funding for the annual Nunavut Quest sled race.