Sulimov dog
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Jackal-Dog Hybrid
Jackal-Dog Hybrid
A jackal–dog hybrid is a canid hybrid resulting from a mating between a dog and a golden jackal. Such crossbreeding apparently only occurs in captivity, as such matings in the wild have never been observed...
originating from an initial hybrid between two Lapponian Herders
Lapponian herder
The Lapponian herder is a breed of dog from Finland, one of three Lapphund breeds developed from a type of dog used by the Sami people for herding and guarding their reindeer....
and two Turkmen golden jackals
Common Jackal
The Common Jackal , also known as the Persian or Turkestan Jackal is a subspecies of golden jackal native to Middle Asia, Afghanistan, northwestern India, Iran, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan...
. The breed
Breed
A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...
was developed by Klim Sulimov for Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
airline security. He is described as a Senior Research Assistant at the D.S. Likhachev Scientific Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Environmental Protection.
The primary use of this breed has been to aid airport security
Airport security
Airport security refers to the techniques and methods used in protecting airports and aircraft from crime.Large numbers of people pass through airports. This presents potential targets for terrorism and other forms of crime due to the number of people located in a particular location...
as sniffer dogs. Quoting Sulimov, "My dogs combine the qualities of Arctic reindeer herding dogs, which can work in temperatures as low as -70C, and jackals which enjoy the heat up to +40C. They're perfect for our country."
During the breeding process male jackal pups had to be fostered on a Lapponian Herder
Lapponian herder
The Lapponian herder is a breed of dog from Finland, one of three Lapphund breeds developed from a type of dog used by the Sami people for herding and guarding their reindeer....
bitch in order to imprint
Imprinting (psychology)
Imprinting is the term used in psychology and ethology to describe any kind of phase-sensitive learning that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behavior...
the Jackals on dogs. Female Jackals accepted male dogs more easily. The half-bred jackal-dogs were hard to train and were bred back to Huskies to produce quarter-bred hybrids (quadroons). These hybrids were small, agile, trainable and had excellent noses. They were then called Sulimov Dogs after their creator and may one day be registered as a working breed of dog. Twenty-five Sulimov dogs are used by Aeroflot at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, for functions which include bomb-sniffing. Their breeding program dates back to 1975, but was not applied to bomb detection until 2002.
The jackal-dog hybrids were bred together for seven generations to establish the breed. They proved hard to train, so a so other dogs were bred into the line: a reindeer herding hound, a fox terrier, and a Spitz. the result was an easily trainable dog with a superior sense of smell. There are only about forty of these dogs in existence and they are all property of Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
. They are trained from puppyhood to recognize twelve components of explosives. Unlike more common sniffing dogs, they take the initiative in searching.
External links
- The Science of Dogs video clip, uploaded by National Geographic, showing Sulimov dogs at work