"Laika" is a Russian word, which means "barker". They sent a mutt in space and Laika was just name of that mutt. There is a large group of aboriginal dogs of NE Europe and Siberia, which Russians call Laika. There are several officially recognized Laika breeds: the Russo-European Lika, the West Siberian Laika and the East Siberian Laika. The Russo-European Laika is very similar to Karelian Bear Dog, but the West Siberian Laika and the East Siberian Laika are bigger and come in several coat colors each. Russian cynologists of the Soviet period also established the Karelo-Finish Laika, which appeared to be a sibling breed of the Finnish Spitz. RKF began accepting it as Finnish Spitz, but major hunting clubs disagree, beause they believe that the Karelo-Finnish Laika is better at hunting and they do not want to mix it with excessively barky Finnish Spitz. The term "laika" was coined by Prince Shirinsky Shikhmatov in late XIX century. Before that Russians called these dogs by names of ethnic groups of Siberian people, with which the dogs were associated. For example, the Votyak Laika, the Komi Laika, the Kevrolian Laika, etc., etc. In late XIX-early XX centuries, there were dozens of aboriginal type Laikas, but most of them extinct during industrialization era and WW-II time. The recognized breeds were established on basis of still remaining aboriginal dogs of large geographic regions. Most typical hunting style of Laika is barking under tree, when game animal is found.
