Your questions for official representatives of 'Northern Inuit' type dogs Controversial

As many of you know, there is much controversy surrounding these dogs and those involved in the creation and breeding of them. We know that official representatives of these breeds use this website, so, we are putting up this questions thread in an effort to get some facts, and give the official reps a chance to address concerns and quell any 'misinformation'.

We will allow one week for questions to be submitted, then a month for questions to be answered. There will then be one round of further questions relating to answers provided, and a final set of answers - then the thread will be closed. People can then draw their own conclusions from what they read.

We are under no obligation to host this Q&A, but as we have a care of duty towards dogs, their health and prospective owners alike, we feel it is the responsible thing to do.

If you are going to take part in this thread please read the notes below before posting. Thanks.

Posting questions

Anyone can post questions related to this breed, however, you must follow these rules:

• Do NOT accuse anyone of wrong-doing. If you heard something, say so, and ask if it is true. For example:

"I have heard from an owner who's Northern Inuit dog is epileptic (her dog's name is Spot btw) that she duly informed her breeder about the dog's condition and passed on advice from her vet that the same mating should not be repeated as the condition is genetic - yet the mating was repeated despite months of notice. Was the mating actually repeated? If so why?"​

• Do NOT name any breeders. You may say 'the breeder of my dog', or 'a breeder in _town/city_' instead. However if you think it will help the official representative identify the case to answer your question more effectively, you can mention any associated dogs names (as per the example in the previous point). This is because we do not allow 'naming and shaming' on our forums.

• You have one week from the date this thread was posted to post questions.

These are the most important rules, and is the only legally acceptable way for us to host this Questions Thread. However please keep checking back in case we add more rules as we may have missed something. Any posts not abiding by these rules will be removed without notice. Also note, there will be a private research section where members will be able to post more info (including names/dates etc) at a later time.

Answering questions

• Please wait one week after this thread has been posted before answering any questions.
  
• You may only answer a question if you are a current representative of your breed. I.e of the breed club/society. OR, someone who was involved in the creation of this breed.
  
• When answering please state your full name and your position/details of your official affiliation.

General notes

It should go without saying that just because someone asks a question it does not make it 'fact' - people often hear things on the grapevine and things can get mixed up or exaggerated... sometimes people may even make things up. So take what you read with as much a pinch of salt as you deem necessary.

Here are some official questions from Dogsey:

• Could you please provide accurate details about the origins of this breed, how it was created, why it was created - and by who, etc.
  
• What is the character like for such a breed?
  
• Can you please detail the exercise requirements for these dogs.
  
• What about training? Are they easy to train? Any special notes re training?
  
• Recognition status - Is the breed recognised by the KC, AKC or FCI? If not are you in talks with them? If so what is current situation?
  
• Size - Would you say the dogs are Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large?
  
• Height - How tall should an owner expect their dog to get? (a range such as 57 - 63 cm is ok). How tall should an owner expect their bitch to get?
  
• Weight - How heavy should an owner expect their dog to get? (a range such as 30 - 32 kg is ok). How heavy should an owner expect their bitch to get?
  
• Colours - What colours are permissible in this breed?
  
• Life expectancy - What is the average or expected lifespan?
  
• Coat - Please provide details of the dogs coat.
  
• Grooming - Please provide grooming details.
  
• Health - Please list the Health Issues related, or are known to affect this breed.

This information is usually available from any Breed Club or Society. And is commonly used in books about dog breeds, or breed profiles such as the ones we have on Dogsey

For a representative of the NIS.

1. What breed is the dog known as dark raven?
2. Who were his parents, and what were their breeds?
3. Why, in a breed still so small, is his breeder unknown?
4. Why aren't all stud dogs hipscored, regardless of when they were born?
5. Can you explain why some dogs don't have a date of birth that is known?
6. Why are some stud dogs used over 20 times? given that the gene pool is so limited.
7. What health issues are present within the breed? and how many dogs are recorded as being affected?
8. What is being done to correct the mistakes of the past, all of them including but not limited to:
I) Health issues
(II) Incorrect paperwork, including pedegrees, dates of birth etc.
(III) The over use of stud dogs.
(IV) breeding dogs with physical or temperamental trates which are not standard? for example, overly shy/agressive dogs, or dogs with patchy coats.
(V) lack of genetic diversity within the breed.

1: Why do NI breeders on the whole constantly portray the breed not only as a pet but as a "working" dog when only a handful of people "work" the odd dog from the odd breeder?
2: Do you think that they are at all "working" dogs when their behaviour is so inconsistant, even though they are supposed crosses of three working breeds?

I have heard that a breeder in Newark sold a dog called Hugo or Tatty Teddy to a breeder in Essex. I also heard that this dog is suffering from many health problems including hair loss, sores and blindness. I also heard that this same dog has now been rehomed by the breeder in Essex and that the reason given for illness was that the dog is allergic to life, although I heard that the blindness was not known about until the new owner took the dog to the vets.

Could I ask exactly what is wrong with this dog and have the nis proven that the illness is not hereditory. Could I also ask are the nis continuing to breed from this dogs close relatives.

What are the officially tested Hip scores and eye certifications for individuals of this breed, and where can they be seen?

If these scores are not as expected, what would be your justification in using affected dogs in your breeding programme, when most established breeds are working to avoid using high scoring or affected animals?

• When do you think you will achieve breeding true to type? I.e the goal where mating two members of your breed will result in pups, that will look so similar to others in your breed that people start recognising them as a 'breed'. To demonstrate, here are photos of dogs of the Rottweiler breed.

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They share enough of size/colouring/markings/height/weight/temperament to be recognised and classed as a breed.

Not that i think this one will be answered honestly.. but here goes.. was there any wolf/wolf crosses put into NI's at the beginning before they became NI's?

I think some very valid questions have been asked.

It would be great if someone in the breed, be it a breeder or a committee member could answer the questions.
I don't think people are being malicious asking these questions, I think they are genuine and valid questions. Honestly, I adore these dogs , as people who know me will know, but I am worried for their future. Please put our minds at rest by giving us some positive info on the dogs.

How can you guarantee the indiscriminate breeding of the dogs that are not true to type.

Why do you get so many break away groups and arguments when one disagrees with another.

Why are some dogs being bred from with high hip scores.

Why do you want a dog to look like a wolf.

I say breeder in the above, I know Azz has said official representative, we have many Dogsey members who own and breed these dogs and are involved in the Breed Club, pehaps the club would appoint someone?

1. Can you tell us the status of ALL Von Willebrands tested dogs, and what precautions you have taken to guard against further affected results.

2. Can you explain why some patchy NI are "allowed" to be bred from when they are very clearly very poor specimens of this type of dog, yet others that appear better constructed are not allowed. What do you base your assessment of said dogs on?

3. Why are the breeders NOT taking responsibility for the dogs they have bred, and why is NIS welfare there apparently for breeder cast offs, when other lie in general rescue without help from the "club" that should be there for them?

4. Can you tell us what tests are being considered (if any) to combat heart defects in the NI. This is well documented in some places from the owners of these dogs.

5. What on earth do you base the ridiculous cost of these crossbred puppies on? How can you justify such exorbitant prices, when it appears that the pedigrees are not worth the paper they are written on?

1) Why do the NIS produce so many litters? Surely the demand for these dogs isn't that great that you need to keep churning them out.

2) Why is the breed standard written around the Mahlek dogs? Are they honestly such perfect specimens of the breed?

3) Is someone with an animal cruelty charge really the best spokeswoman for the NIS?

4) How often should a stud dog be used?

5) What is the NIS definition of line breeding? And how is that different to in breeding in their eyes?

6) Why does the NIS have such a high rate of rehoming their dogs?

7) Why is there so much backstabbing within this 'breed'?

Would any member of the committee be willing to step down in order to improve the NIS?

9) Why don't you admit all the health problems this 'breed' has? What possible benefit could there be for the dogs in lying?

10) Would the NIS be willing to drop the price of their pups to prove they are not breeding for huge profits?

- why are people that own this type of dog scared to tell others of there bad experiences, and if they are brave enough why are they threatened for speaking out, and the breeders of there dogs dont want to know as soon as the money is handed over. Do you think this is fair.

Surely as people that want to see this type of dog become astablished, you want people to know the good and bad points, not sugar over the bad points and keep people that have bad things to say quite.. good and bad feed back should be welcome, so the good breeders can work out hows best solve possible problems?

- How can you prove that the accusations of fake pedigrees is not infact true, and that dogs names have not been changed?

- why after 100 NI's have tested clear for eye problems will you stop making the test compulsary.

how did you come about making it 100 and not 500, or 1000. whats the reason behind the choice?

How many NIS registered NIDs are there out there?

Why stud a dog out to a NIS registered bitch when the puppies are not to be NIS registered?

What does it mean when a stud dog is said to be avaliable to 'a limited amount of bitches' ? Is it just talk or is there a cap on the number of times the stud will be used as a stud? Or does it mean something else?

what about the dog looking to be re homed today, he is supposed to be an Alsatian x Rott but looks just like the dogs posted here, you can't single out N.I's in this way, people who own them do recognise them, maybe thats why just looking at pics isn't enough

Why do breeders charge SO much money for pups????

Has anyone any idea what happened to the Pawnee dogs from 6/7 years ago ?