The magical creatures kennel

The RKF/FCI-approved Cooljack Kennel was registered in 2015 (certificate of registration №18105). Now the kennel has Jack Russel terriers, Yakutian laikas and the border collie. This website is dedicated to Yakutian laikas. 

While Yakutian Laika is an ancient breed in terms of its history, it is pretty young, factually, as the FCI established the breed’s standard only in 2019. Nonetheless, Yakutian laikas have already managed to gain popularity in Europe, Brazil and USA. They have also made their debut in a Canadian exhibition recently. Yakutian Laika is a very bright and showy dog which is remarkable for its health and psychic traits. 

They can already be a great addition to homes just by their attractive looks, but this breed is very diversified. Some owners train their laiks in agility, dance in freestyle, or perform in obedience competitions. All Yakutian laikas are great partners for hiking and sports activities. 

Cooljack Kennel and its team

• Cooljack is a small family kennel. We have taken a conscious decision to stay in such a format so our dogs would be able to get as much attention and communication from all family members as possible. We have very few litters (one or two per year) which also grants us an opportunity to provide the best quality of life for puppies, giving them a lot of our time for their upbringing and socialisation. As a part of their diet, all puppies get farm milk, yoghurt, eggs, chicken and beef, while Royal Canin Starter serves as the diet’s base. If a puppy doesn’t leave the kennel before reaching two months old, we start introducing them to the outside world and get them used to the walks on a leash. You can get to know when and what documents a puppy leaves the kennel with here. 
• Our dogs have the highest grades from European and Russian experts. Among our Yakutian laikas, we have the winners of major Russian and international exhibitions. You can get to know each fluffy member closer on the “My Dogs” page, as well as the titles they have won.
• Breeding. If we want our dog to become a father or mother, it has to go through a complete health test. We test our dogs for diseases with the genetic predisposition at Deutsch lab “Laboklin”. Meeting breed standards, high grades from experts and having good health test results are the criteria that have to be followed without further discussion. For us, though, it is also vitally important for the dog to be able to be a great family member. It means that such a dog is going to have a huge amount of love and trust towards people from birth. It never shows aggression towards kids (though I also demand my kids to treat dogs with respect as well). It behaves well at the vet and doesn’t have phobias. If a dog doesn’t meet any of those requirements, it won’t participate in inbreeding. We follow that principle because you can always stop attending dog shows, you can always leave dog sports for different reasons, but your dog will always be a family member. 
• Team.
  Our irreplaceable and like-minded handler, Irina Gorozhankina, has been working with us since 2018. She is a professional, responsible, passionate and loving person. With her, our adult dogs reach podiums and juniors learn how to enjoy being in the ring and showing themselves – this is very important to us Our amazing photographer Tatyana Kuznetsova. Thanks to her, you can take a look at our dogs through our eyes. See the flow of colour, charisma, character and flame in the eyes, as well as get to know our kennel’s routine and see our dogs shine at the exhibitions.

About Yakutian laikas

Yakutian Laikas (YL) are bright, beautiful, quiet and calm dogs with strong psychics. For hundreds of years, the breed developed as sled dogs in the harsh climate of Yakutia where Winter is very cold and long, while Summer is short but extremely hot. And the reality of the situation was that these dogs also had to accompany their owners on the hunt, protect the cattle from predators and be the best friends of the children. Such conditions and the variety of responsibilities have led the breed to evolve into a universal companion dog. Selection through dogs’ temper was especially strict and has only ended relatively recently. Thanks to it we have dogs that are very tolerant of cosmetic and veterinary procedures and have a very high level of trust towards humans. The breed’s standard can be found on the website’s other page, while here you will find the answers to the FAQ.

YLs and other animals. YLs live in houses and apartments with cats, rabbits and other small pets perfectly. The hunting instinct is inconsistent throughout the breed. Some laikas have it (like dachshunds, some terriers and other breeds that have hunting roots). This instinct can either be developed or repurposed for activities like frisbee or agility – that’s entirely up to the owner’s decision. Sometimes Yakutian laikas have the herding instinct, which is probably due to one of their ancient ancestors – Nenetskaya Laika. 

YLs in the family. One of the most common questions we get is how Yakutian laikas treat kids. In our family and the families that had bought our puppies, there are small kids. YLs treat kids with care and are very tolerant of them – at this point, it can be said it’s a common fact. Nonetheless, I never leave a dog and a kid alone, and I believe no dog breed could be called a “nanny”. Befriend – sure thing, dogs and kids are often tied to each other with a two-way friendship. Another aspect of Ýakutian laikas that is worth mentioning – they really love to get tactile. A lot of people nowadays question “whether dogs actually love hugging” and how they interpret such a gesture from humans. For dogs, even hugs from their “own human” can often be uncomfortable. But that’s not the case for laikas. They love hugs from family members, they enjoy getting touched, petted or stroked. In our family, we like to joke that Yakutian laikas are big cats in disguise.

Walk and sledding sports with YLs. I don’t like comparing Yakutian laikas with huskies as I’m not familiar enough with that breed. Nonetheless, huskies’ owners, when interested in buying a YL puppy, ask me whether these laikas tend to run away. Yakutian laikas form a strong bond with the owner, they like being close to a human and people are very important to them. My dogs always walk without a leash with me and come up without issues when called. But walking on a leash is not a problem either, and they calmly walk close to me when commanded. 

When buying a puppy, it is important to plan training sessions during the first months of their arrival at home. This is vitally important for long and comfortable life with a calm and non-problematic dog. Having spent a lot of years talking with dog owners, I can calmly claim that there are huskies that can complete all Obedience standards and border collies that run away from home. It depends not on the dog’s breed but rather on the owner and their relationship with the dog.  

They need walks as much as an average human and most of the breeds – 30-40 minutes twice a day. Generally, these dogs are active but level-headed and with a balanced psyche. They switch from excitement to calmness and vice-versa. When it comes to sledding sport with Yakutian laikas, there are successful sledding teams in Russia consisting of YLs only. But the Yakutian Laika doesn’t have to be put in a sled to have a normal lifestyle. There are a lot of Yakutian laikas who live in the city and show themselves well in nose work, agility, frisbee or freestyle. In Europe, YLs are also becoming popular in the Obedience discipline. 

Another question is about dividing Yakutian laikas into show and professional branches, which I believe is not relevant for this breed. All of our great show dogs come from the line of working dogs that used to cover enormous distances for several days in temperatures below -40°C. Our dogs are great family companions and perfect ring performers with a passionate temper. We put them in the sleds only to ride kids around during the winter. And to wrap this section up, I would like to note again that I believe it’s vitally important to teach the laika, as any other middle- or large-sized dog, how to walk close to the owner, as running is already imprinted in them by nature. 

YL and hot climate. There seems to be a strange misconception that Yakutian laikas feel hot inside an apartment, that they deal with hot Summer poorly and so on. This is not true. Indoors they feel the same way other double-coated dog breeds, like collie or aussies, feel. When it comes to hot climates, this breed is widely popular in Italy and France (some of our kennel “graduates” live there as well). Surprisingly, Yakutian laikas have won over the hearts of dog lovers in Brazil. During the hottest of days, the safety measures for short-haired breeds and Yakutian laikas will be the same: avoid intense activities during the midday and walk early in the morning and the evening. The same advice is useful to people by the way. 

Yakutian Laika is an unbelievably beautiful breed and a great aesthetical pleasure for those who appreciate the living beauty of mother nature. I even call my YLs accordingly – my beautiful beasts. 

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