A Brief History of
THE NORTHERN INUIT DOG
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BREED
The Northern Inuit Dog (NI) was developed in the 1980s by the breed's main founder Julie Kelham, who wanted a domestic dog resembling the wolf. Although the original stock of 5 dogs, imported to the UK was of Canadian/North American origin, the breed was further developed in the UK and is now considered a British breed. It is not clear as to if there was any wolf content in the original Canadian/North American stock or not and it is not generally argued that they may have had some in their genetic make up when they were first introduced to the UK, but this breed of dog is not considered a Wolf Hybrid , Wolf dog or a Mix breed(mutt) now and is more known as a wolf look-alike breed of dog.
In it's development, northern breeds of Inuit tribe dogs were used along with Malamutes, Huskies, German Shepherds and others. The breed has been established for 20+ years now and only pure bred registered NIs are bred to pure bred registered NIs; any other mix or introduction of another breed of dog would be considered a 'Mix breed' or 'cross breed' and the temperament and looks of these dogs cannot be guaranteed by the unscrupulous seller. There are many con artists out there selling cross breeds as pure NIs especially in Europe.
THE NORTHERN INUIT SOCIETIES
The NI is currently recognized by its own independent kennel club the Northern Inuit Society (NIS) was created to protect the integrity of the breed, maintain a standard for this stunning dog and register legitimate NI breeders. They are also responsible for keeping accurate pedigree and health records. Here in the United States, the Northern Inuit Society of America or NISA fulfills these responsibilities and is ran by volunteer Northern Inuit owners. You will find as you research, owners of this breed are very passionate about their animals.
Although NIs have only recently been acknowledged by the British Kennel Club, it is not yet 'officially recognized'. It is also not recognized by the American Kennel club, however, it has been gaining much attention and interest since several Northern Inuits were chosen to play the 'Dire Wolves' in the Award winning HBO series 'The Game Of Thrones". Like the Jack Russel breed and many of the newer breeds of dog, all of which started out as unrecognized breeds and now recognized by both the American and the British Kennel Club, the Northern Inuit will indeed take its place amongst the great recognized breeds one day soon as their following continues to grow.