OLAKHOTA NORTHERN INUIT DOGS
Hints and Tips, Pro's and Cons.
The Northern Inuit dog is most definitely a pack animal, they hate to be alone and if left for hours on end, they will destroy your house, they love company, either human or canine so it is always best to have another dog or to keep your NI with you as much as possible, separation anxiety can be a problem with the NI, dont get one if you work away all day, its not good for them and ultimately is a big cause of NI being re homed, people get them and don't realize, or aren't told of this, some people have outdoor runs for their NI, which is fine for a couple of hours.
The NI moults heavily twice a year, it sheds stray hairs all year round so your hoover will be hard at work. brushing everyday with a good quality grooming tool helps enormously but i find Moon especially looks like a mangy old rug mid moult.
Some NI can have a high prey drive so always keep them on-lead around livestock. Some have been brought up around sheep and horses etc and live alongside them quite happily, a farmer is quite within his rights to shoot any dog he see's in his sheep field, whether the dog is chasing them or not, they shoot first and ask questions later. Small furry animals will almost always be chased but most get along with cats.
On buying a puppy, its always best to see the parents too and the place the pups are reared, I always show people my adults first, because this big hairy, bouncy dog is what that cute bundle of fluff is going to grow in to and if you think you can handle it, so be it, but I wouldn't advise an NI to the novice dog owner, they are very strong willed and will try to be the top-dog, you have to show them who is boss, positive reinforcement works wonders.
The Northern Inuit is marvelous with children but as with any dogs, they must always be supervised, the NI can be quite rough at play and will often knock small children over.
All my dogs have great recall, they like me to be in line of sight and I have never had one run off, this cant be said for all NI so recall training is essential. They are a dog that enjoys exercise but they are just as happy to loach out on the sofa with mum, they will walk as long as you want to and love to paddle.
The NI, in most cases is very sociable and isn't aggressive to other dogs, they will often run over to strange dogs but mainly out of curiosity and to say hello, again there is always an exception to the rule, so it is advisable to keep dogs on leads until properly introduced and you are sure there will be no aggro.
All my own dogs are fed a raw diet, mainly chicken carcasses, beef and meaty bones, lamb ribs and tripe, once or twice a week I will give them a good quality complete dog food, I find my dogs do much better on a raw diet rather than commercial dog foods, some people have found that their dogs have an intolerance to the cereal in some complete foods. My dogs get a raw egg twice a week which they devour shell and all. They love carrots too, although they tend to come out the same way they went in lol, they like to shred cabbage and play with it rather than eat it but they quite like raw broccoli and cauliflower.
My pups are started off on a good quality puppy kibble such as James Wellbeloved, the fish variety, or Royal Canin, I introduce them to raw at around 5 weeks, but I never feed them raw tripe as it contains Campylobachter which can cause tummy upsets, one has symptoms very much like Parvovirus. tripes are always zapped in the microwave for a few minutes to kill the germ, stinks awful but the pups love it. They love chicken wings too, but must be watched while eating them as they try to swallow them whole sometimes, such is their rush to devour them.
My puppies are given their first vaccination at 8 weeks old and if they are still with me at 10 weeks old, they receive their second. I dont remove hind dew claws as I have never had a problem with them, one is attached by bone so would be an actual amputation. Some people have the dewclaws removed on buying a puppy, its their preference.
So, welcome to the wonderful world of the NI, as I said previously, they can be a difficult breed in some instances, but the NI society have a wonderful back up system, we are always at the end of a phone to help out and most breeders will take back puppies if the owners find they cant keep them, we dont want them ending up in the pounds.
The NI moults heavily twice a year, it sheds stray hairs all year round so your hoover will be hard at work. brushing everyday with a good quality grooming tool helps enormously but i find Moon especially looks like a mangy old rug mid moult.
Some NI can have a high prey drive so always keep them on-lead around livestock. Some have been brought up around sheep and horses etc and live alongside them quite happily, a farmer is quite within his rights to shoot any dog he see's in his sheep field, whether the dog is chasing them or not, they shoot first and ask questions later. Small furry animals will almost always be chased but most get along with cats.
On buying a puppy, its always best to see the parents too and the place the pups are reared, I always show people my adults first, because this big hairy, bouncy dog is what that cute bundle of fluff is going to grow in to and if you think you can handle it, so be it, but I wouldn't advise an NI to the novice dog owner, they are very strong willed and will try to be the top-dog, you have to show them who is boss, positive reinforcement works wonders.
The Northern Inuit is marvelous with children but as with any dogs, they must always be supervised, the NI can be quite rough at play and will often knock small children over.
All my dogs have great recall, they like me to be in line of sight and I have never had one run off, this cant be said for all NI so recall training is essential. They are a dog that enjoys exercise but they are just as happy to loach out on the sofa with mum, they will walk as long as you want to and love to paddle.
The NI, in most cases is very sociable and isn't aggressive to other dogs, they will often run over to strange dogs but mainly out of curiosity and to say hello, again there is always an exception to the rule, so it is advisable to keep dogs on leads until properly introduced and you are sure there will be no aggro.
All my own dogs are fed a raw diet, mainly chicken carcasses, beef and meaty bones, lamb ribs and tripe, once or twice a week I will give them a good quality complete dog food, I find my dogs do much better on a raw diet rather than commercial dog foods, some people have found that their dogs have an intolerance to the cereal in some complete foods. My dogs get a raw egg twice a week which they devour shell and all. They love carrots too, although they tend to come out the same way they went in lol, they like to shred cabbage and play with it rather than eat it but they quite like raw broccoli and cauliflower.
My pups are started off on a good quality puppy kibble such as James Wellbeloved, the fish variety, or Royal Canin, I introduce them to raw at around 5 weeks, but I never feed them raw tripe as it contains Campylobachter which can cause tummy upsets, one has symptoms very much like Parvovirus. tripes are always zapped in the microwave for a few minutes to kill the germ, stinks awful but the pups love it. They love chicken wings too, but must be watched while eating them as they try to swallow them whole sometimes, such is their rush to devour them.
My puppies are given their first vaccination at 8 weeks old and if they are still with me at 10 weeks old, they receive their second. I dont remove hind dew claws as I have never had a problem with them, one is attached by bone so would be an actual amputation. Some people have the dewclaws removed on buying a puppy, its their preference.
So, welcome to the wonderful world of the NI, as I said previously, they can be a difficult breed in some instances, but the NI society have a wonderful back up system, we are always at the end of a phone to help out and most breeders will take back puppies if the owners find they cant keep them, we dont want them ending up in the pounds.
