Northern Inuit Dog - History

History

There are two stories regarding the history of the Northern Inuit Dog. In the late 1980s, the founder of the breed, Eddie Harrison, bred several mixed-breed rescue dogs of unknown origin or heritage with Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, and German Shepherds to produce the early Northern Inuit dogs. The breed's intent was to create a dog that closely resembled a wolf in appearance while possessing the gentler, more trainable character of the domesticated dog.

The other story relating to this breed is that a few Canadian Eskimo Dogs or Labrador Huskys were brought into the UK from the USA in the late 70's or early 80's and crossed bred with Alaskan Malamutes and German Shepherds.

Over the years various groups have split from the original Northern Inuit Society to form their own breed groups. These have included The Inuit Dog Association, The British Timber dog, Anglo Wulfdog, The British Inuit Dog Club, and The Utonagan Society; the latter has also now splintered into different groups. None of these clubs have been accepted by larger organizations such as the British Kennel Club.

In 2011 Northern Inuit dogs were cast as the direwolves in the first season of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.