A Eurohound (also known as a European

sled dog A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transpor ...

or Scandinavian

hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. ...

) is a

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

bred for

sled dog racing Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs ...

. The eurohound is

crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

from the

Alaskan husky The Alaskan husky is a breed of medium-sized working sled dog, developed specifically for its performance as such. Alaskan huskies are the most commonly used type of dog for competitive sled dog racing, both in short-distance sprint racing as well ...

and any of a number of

pointing breed Pointing dogs, sometimes called bird dogs, are a type of gundog typically used in finding game. Gundogs are traditionally divided into three classes: retrievers, flushing dogs, and pointing breeds. The name ''pointer'' comes from the dog's i ...

s ("pointers"), but most often the German Shorthair Pointer.

History

After World War II, skijor and

pulka A pulk (from , via ; ; ; ) is a Nordic short, low-slung small sled used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog or a skier, or in Sápmi pulled by reindeer.dog sled racing Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter List of dog sports, dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some Europe, European countries. It involves the timed competiti ...

gained rapidly in popularity in Norway and neighboring Scandinavian countries. These styles of racing required small, fast teams of 1-4 dogs who competed over short, hilly distances of . Required to use purebred dogs by the Norwegian Sled Dog Racing Association, the German Shorthair Pointer quickly emerged as the dog breed of choice. At the beginning of the 1970s, the "sled pointer" had emerged, a pointing dog who was bred for sledding and not hunting. In the 1970s, "Nome-style" sled racing, which mimicked the bigger teams running long distances and overnighting in subzero temperatures seen in North American-style races, started to attract interest in Scandinavia. In 1974, the first Nome-style sled race, the Skjelbreia Sweepstakes, was hosted near

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. For this style of racing, Norwegian mushers began to import Alaskan huskies; popularized by mushers like Stein Havard Fjelstad and Roger Leegaard who traveled to Alaska to race in the

Iditarod The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at leas ...

. However, as a performance crossbreed, the Alaskan husky could not be raced in Norway until 1985, when the Norwegian Sled Dog Racing Association removed the requirement that sled dogs be purebred. This new ruling paved the way for Nordic-style mushers to breed their best performing dogs regardless of breed, with mushers mixing Alaskan huskies, sled pointers and even greyhounds for Nordic-style racing, while Nome-style mushers began to mix Greenland dogs with Alaskan huskies to produce a dog better suited to Scandinavia's heavy snowfall. The Nordic-style dogs gained in popularity across Europe and later North America, especially with the rise in popularity of dryland mushing, such as bikejoring and canicross. The term "eurohound" was coined by Ivana Nolke, to distinguish the European racing dogs being imported into Alaska.

Description

Rather than inbreeding similar-looking dogs in order to create a new breed with a consistent appearance, eurohounds are bred for the specific working traits and health needed to run short, high intensity sprint races. The foundational dogs most often used for eurohounds are German Shorthaired Pointers (and

English Pointer The Pointer, sometimes called the English Pointer, is a medium-sized breed of pointing dog developed in England. Pointers are used to find game for hunters, and are considered by gundog enthusiasts to be one of the finest breeds of its type; h ...

s), other pointers, and Alaskan huskies from tightly bred sprint dog lines used for racing. Alaskan huskies are chosen for their ability to pull for extreme distances and in subzero temperatures while pointers are vigorous and energetic sprint racers.

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

and

saluki The Saluki or Persian hound (Persian:سگ تازی، Arabic: سلوقي) is a standardised breed developed from sighthounds – dogs that hunt primarily by sight rather than strong scent – that was once used by nomadic tribes to run down game ...

may also be crossed with sled pointers; however; these dogs are known as Greysters. Greysters are popular for dryland racing, and limited-class snow racing. Eurohounddog

A first-generation eurohound cross (fifty percent pointing breed, fifty percent husky) have short coats, suitable for sprint races, which doesn't involve resting or sleeping on the trail. Often sprint racing eurohounds are housed indoors or in heated barns in subzero temperatures, whereas their Alaskan husky counterparts would be immune to the cold. When the first-generation cross is crossed again with the Alaskan husky, the resulting generation can have thicker coats, suitable for longer-distance teams. Most distance mushers prefer the pointer genetics to only be 1/8 in a dog for maximum performance. This then reduces the eurohound influence, and dogs should be termed Alaskan Husky crosses or mixed hounds. The eurohound is sleeker than a husky and can hit speeds of 25 miles per hour. Fairly common features of fifty percent crosses are half-dropped ears, black with white blazing as shown in the photo, or solid with patches of spots. Some completely spotted dogs appear as well. These dogs have a similar coat to German Shorthair Pointer and looks like standard hunting dogs. Once the percentage of pointer drops, the dogs start to look more like Alaskan huskies.

References

External links

Personal observation of some of the newer sled dog mixes
{{Norwegian dogs Sled dogs Dog breeds originating in Norway Dog crossbreeds