Greenlandic

The Greenland dog or Greenlander (Grønlandshunden in Danish) is a fairly large breed of dog similar to the husky, used as a sled dog or for hunting polar bears or seals. It is an ancient breed descended from dogs brought to Greenland by the first Inuit.

The Greenland Dog comes from the arctic coastal regions of northern Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Archaeological excavations have proven that this dog arrived in Greenland with the first Sarqaq Inuit, between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago. Objects found in the regions inhabited by the Inuit confirm that these populations, their sleds and their dogs came from Siberia. Remains found in the Siberian islands have a carbon-14 dating of around 7000 BC. This makes the Greenland dog one of the oldest dog breeds. The Vikings, the first Europeans to settle in Greenland, noted the existence of this breed of dog there. Later, merchants, explorers and whalers used these dogs for their sleds, trained for this by the Inuit of the region. Among the explorers who used Greenland dogs as sled dogs was Roald Amundsen, who took ninety-seven of them for his expedition to Antarctica, where he was the first man to reach the South Pole.

In Greenland, these dogs are used under much the same conditions as their ancestors, that is, as draft animals and valued for their strength and speed rather than their malleable temperament. Due to a pack instinct, the Greenland Dog requires a firm and determined handler to be a good companion or work animal.