Greenland Dog (Grønlandshunden) is a very strong polar spitz dog. Since the Inuit people of Canada’s Arctic were known to have emigrated from Greenland many centuries ago bringing their sled dogs with them, it’s possible this hardy polar Spitz breed is the forerunner of the Canadian Eskimo Dog. The relationship to other northern Spitz breeds – such as the Alaskan Malamute and the Siberian Husky is unmistakable.
Used primarily as sled dogs in the Scandinavian countries, Greenland Dogs were also put to work by the native people as hunting dogs whose superior sense of smell was used to track down seal breathing holes.
Greenland sled dogs
Sled dogs (Greenland sled dogs) are working animals, not pets. After they are older than 6 months, they are kept outside at all times, chained or tethered on a long lead, when they are not actually working. They are only fed about once a week during the ice-free season when they are not working, since they burn comparatively few calories just lying around. During the dogsled hunting season when they’re working hard, running, and pulling a sledge, sled dogs are fed daily.
General Appearance: The Greenland Dog is a very strong polar spitz, built for endurance at strenuous work as a sledge dog under Arctic conditions.
Head: Skull broad and slightly domed. Stop pronounced but not abrupt. Muzzle wedge-shaped and strong, broad at the root and tapering to the nose, but not pointed. Bridge of nose should be straight and broad from set-on to nose, which in summertime should be dark, but during winter, may be flesh colored. Lips thin and close fitting to extremely strong teeth. Scissors bite. Eyes: Dark for preference but may correspond to color of the coat. Set slightly obliquely, neither prominent nor too deep. Expression frank and fearless. Ears: Rather small, triangular and rounded at tips, carried firmly erect.
Neck: Very strong and rather short.
Body: Height at withers slightly less than length of body. The body should be very strong and well-muscled. Chest very capacious; back straight; loins straight and broad; croup slightly sloping; belly in line with brisket, not tucked up.
Legs: Front legs perfectly straight when seen from the front, strong muscles and heavy bone. Elbows free, but close to body. Hindlegs perfectly straight when seen from behind; slightly angulated. Hocks broad and strong. Strong muscles and heavy bone. Feet rather big, strong and rounded with strong claws and pads.
Tail: Thick and rather short, set on high and carried firmly rolled over back.
Coat: The coat should be double i.e. a soft, dense undercoat and an outer coat consisting of dense, straight, coarse hair without curls or wave. On head and legs, the coat is rather short, on the body rather long, and abundant and long on under side of tail giving it a bushy appearance.
Color: All colors, solid and particolours, are permitted and equal, except albinos which should be disqualified.
Size: Height at withers: 60 cms and upwards for dogs, for Bitches: 55 cms and upwards.
Greenland dog puppies
Image: Greenland sled dog puppies in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland eating walrus meat. Siorapaluk is a small Inuit settlement with fewer than 80 residents. It is the northernmost indigenous community in the world. Many residents of Siorapaluk still live a traditional subsistence lifestyle based on hunting marine mammals (using boats in the ice-free season and dogsleds when there is sufficient sea ice). People eat the meat of seals, walruses, and whales, and also feed it to their sled dogs.
Link: Greenland Dog club UK