Mary Allen
Inuit Dogs are eager workhorses from the icy north. They are strongly oriented towards the pack but are also open to people. However, keeping them in Switzerland is unusual and expensive, as Tim Socha explains.
“Nutcarsuitok” died on December 6, 2018, at the proud age of 15 years and four months. He was the last of three Inuit dogs kept by Timothy and Sheena Socha in the Aargau village of Auw and was considered the oldest Inuit male ever. “You didn’t know how old they could get,” says Socha. Because the conditions for the working dogs were so harsh that they died early or were killed because “retired” animals could not be fed.
In their original homeland, Baffin Island in northern Canada, the Inuit Dogs were domesticated as polar bear hunters, pack dogs, and sled dogs. They show an almost excessive zeal whether it is eating, playing, or working. Inuit dogs can travel up to 100 kilometers a day on an ice surface that is easy to walk on and pull weights of up to 80 kilograms. The animals are extremely compact and strong in build, with broad paws, a large head, and long teeth; they also have excellent eyesight.
Anyone looking for the Inuit Dog in the directory of the international dog association FCI will not find it; because the FCI lists the breed as “Canadian Eskimo Dog”. Tim Socha points out that “Eskimo” means “raw meat eater” and is a swear word for the indigenous Inuit people. “That’s why we say Inuit Dogs.” He further explains that the breed name Husky comes from the word Eskimo (French «Esquimau»), thus nothing other than
“Eskimo dog” means and is now used more generally to refer to Nordic sled dogs (see box Related Breeds).
Lots of Exercises, Meat, and Fat
“But the only true husky is the Inuit Dog,” says Socha. Unlike the husky, he has brown eyes, not blue-gray or two-tone. In addition, Inuit Dogs are highly intelligent and have their own language. They don’t bark in the same sense as normal dogs but have an extremely varied repertoire ranging from growling, gasping to howling. Inuit dogs are actually more of a wolf than a dog, says the native American, and you can hear that and see it in their behavior.
Timothy Socha was fascinated by the imposing animals with the thick, bushy fur when he set off on his first expedition to Spitsbergen in 1999. “You can’t do a trip like this without a gun and a dog team,” he says. “I liked the Inuit Dogs so much, I wanted my own.” He was well aware that Nordic dogs don’t necessarily belong in a Swiss apartment. “I took a break and worked for polar explorer Paul Schurke for three months as an auxiliary expedition leader to better understand how to deal with the Inuit dogs.”
Back in Switzerland, the then 53-year-old built a large kennel for his three dogs, two females plus the male “Nutcarsuitok”, which roughly means “the one with the enormous energy”. Nomen est omen, the dog owner had to ensure that the dogs got enough exercise and high-quality food. «Meat and fat above all. Or sometimes salmon, with a bit of rice.” Socha produces most of the food himself because the commercially available dry food is not suitable for this breed. They are not typical pets, but rather partner dogs in extreme conditions. “You can’t use them as protection or guard dogs either, because the Inuit Dogs are dogs of a people who are not sedentary and have no property.” Consequently, they would never have learned to defend anything.
Forever Loyal to the Pack
However, Timothy Socha had to be careful when meeting other dogs. “Inuit dogs see all other dogs as inferior.” You have to be aware of this fact if you want to keep the breed. He tells how he often used a 3-wheel cart that the dogs could pull through the forest early in the morning or late at night to avoid encounters with other dogs. Luckily there were no problems with the neighbor’s dog Bernie, an Appenzeller who submitted from the start.
Inuit dogs are extremely pack-oriented – for this reason, they should never be kept alone – and live in clear hierarchical structures. “One is the boss dog, that’s clearly regulated and doesn’t have to be constantly fought out,” says the Inuit expert. It is important that each dog has its own sleeping and feeding area. And you shouldn’t make the mistake of giving a low-ranking animal a biscuit first, otherwise, there would be trouble. “They are leaders. I was able to learn a lot from them, especially as a teacher,” says conductor Socha, who runs a music school in Rotkreuz AG.
But again and again, he is drawn from the Aargau to the Arctic, where he goes on guided tours through the wilderness – accompanied by the beloved Inuit Dogs, who sometimes howl with the wolves.