This week we are going to talk about one of the rarest, but apparently least popular on the AKC list of official breeds, the Norwegian Lundehund. This Norway native is also considered one the oldest and most primitive of the dog breeds in the world. There are various statements on how old the Norwegian Lundehund is as one source says there is archaeological evidence of skeletal remains that go back to the Viking Age and a lineage that goes back thousands. Another source states that the furthest back is mentions of a dog with such skill being written down as far back as the 1400s or the year 1591. Regardless of which one is correct it is clear that this dog has been around for a while. These dogs have quite the fun and unique job which caused them to evolve to have some fun and unique physical features. The Norwegian Lundehund can literally be translated to “Puffin Dog” as their job was to hunt puffins in Norway all along the steep cliffs. In order to adapt well to their job they were selectively bred to have 6 functioning toes on EACH paw, be able to have their legs fan out at 90º like an airplane, fold their ears shut forward or backward to protect against water and debris and be able to flex their head back onto their spine for quick about face maneuvers in small caves. They not only were responsible for finding and retrieving puffins but also they were watchdogs and helped herd small livestock where their unique capable stability comes into play again on the rocky terrain. Much like with other types of jobs the Norwegian Lundehund became obsolete once nets and other methods were introduced plus the Norwegian authorities had a dog tax which made having a dog made life more expensive and families often had multiple Norwegian Lundehund at this time. In the 1960s the Norwegian Lundehund had barely survived a wave of distemper only for another wave of distemper to come through and almost wipe out the breed again. This left the Norwegian Lundehund with 6 that were purebred where only 4 were used to repopulate the breed and those 4 were related. This “genetic bottleneck” as it is called in the sources was and is a concern for Norwegian Lundehund enthusiasts. This level of inbreeding has caused some health issues as one might imagine and this includes low fertility and something called intestinal lymphangiectasia which basically is a digestive disorder that does not allow your body to absorb the nutrients one needs from food. Essentially a dog with this disorder can starve to death no matter how much they eat.

How many times have you come across someone walking their dog barking and lunging in an uncontrollable manner and the owner says “oh don’t worry he’s friendly he just wants to play” when in fact the dog is either fearful or showing more aggressive body language? I have seen this many times while working in the vet field and it astounds me how many people misinterpret their own dog’s behavior. What is play drive? Play drive is part of the joy system in Panksepp’s emotional command system and when other systems are in play (seek, rage, fear, care, panic and lust) the play drive can also be the most suppressed if a dog is in another “mode”. If you have dog that comes across their Achilles heel they may not have any interest in playing with you. This is because their seeking mode is prominent at that moment. Once your dog has a better understanding and increased impulse control they will soon learn that engaging with you is more fun and productive so chasing the animal is not worth it. This is something that takes time and practice to achieve but is well worth it in the long run. The type of play you have with your dog is also very important for achieving this goal of reengagement with you after seeing a trigger. The play has to fulfill the desire that the dog wants to do which can be achieved with Predation Substitution Games and also knowing what kind of toy they find rewarding. This must be done when the dog is not over threshold and has their thinking brain back online and if your dog is not interested in either the treat or their toy do not fret. This is important information as it tells you that your dog is not ready yet. The play drive system also serves as a buffer between prey and aggression drives as it provides a safe way (pending your fingers) for your dog to “scratch that itch” but in a safe way. Fetch is associated with the seeking system (aka the prey drive) and a game such as tug is associated with the rage system (aka the aggressive or fight drive) but while also keeping the play system engaged.

Today we are going to talk about the Xoloitzcuintli. You may know this dog has the Hairless Mexican Dog or Mexican Hairless Dog. First let’s just get pronunciation out of the way because my God what a name! I am going to quote from the AKC website: “to pronounce this three-car pile-up of letters, try ‘show-low-eats-queen-tlee. Or just know when you’ve been beaten and use the shorthand ‘show-low’ instead.” The Xoloitzcuintli is considered another one of the oldest dogs but also one of the rarest breeds with statues that look like the hairless variety going back over 3,000 years. (I have only seen 1 that I can remember and it was over 10 years ago). They are native to Mexico and nearly went extinct in the 1950s until the Federation Cynologique Internationle (FCI) took action, recognized the breed officially and a gentlemen named Norman Pelham Wright along with a team of Mexican and British dog authorities ventured off to find any purebred Xoloitzcuintli that may have still existed in remote areas of Mexico. They ended up finding 10 strongly suited Xoloitzcuintli and became the foundation stock to revive the breed and by May 1, 1956 a breed standard was established in the breeds native land and around the world. The Xoloitzcuintli is named after the god of lightening and death, Xolotl, and it is believed they were made from a sliver of the bone of life which is where all of mankind is from, according to the Aztecs. The Xolo, being beloved by the Aztec people, believed that they would guide man to the world of death in exchange for man protecting the Xolo in life. The Aztecs also believed that the Xolo had healing abilities not only for the physical but also the spiritual and were often buried beside their custodians. This would be accomplished by killing or being burned alongside their masters to ensure safe travels in the world of death. If a person could not afford to own a dog a stature in the shape of one would be provided. The Xoloitzcuintli did also aid those in life by lending their furnace like abilities to warm aching joints and other afflicted areas. If food was scarce they were also used for food as well as they were the only domesticated animals alongside turkeys. It wasn’t just during times of scarcity but also religious ceremonies due the powers they were thought to have had.

I did not write this but I think it is important and puts into words well what I wanted to talk about today. From Canine Evolutions on Facebook: There is a question I get asked constantly: "Bart, should I play fetch with my dog every day? He LOVES it!" And my answer is always the same: No. Especially not with working breeds like the Malinois, German Shepherd, Dutch Shepherd, or any other high-prey-drive dog, like hunting dogs, Agility dogs, etc. This answer is often met with surprise, sometimes with resistance. I get it-your dog brings you the ball, eyes bright, body full of energy, practically begging you to throw it. It feels like bonding. It feels like exercise. It feels like the right thing to do. But from a scientific, behavioral, and neurobiological perspective- it's not. In fact, it may be one of the most harmful daily habits for your dog's mental health and nervous system regulation that no one is warning you about. Let me break it down for you in detail. This will be long, but if you have a working dog, you need to understand this. Working dogs like the Malinois and German Shepherd were selected over generations for their intensity, persistence, and drive to engage in behaviors tied to the prey sequence: Working dogs like the Malinois and German Shepherd were selected over generations for their intensity, persistence, and drive to engage in behaviors tied to the prey sequence: orient, stalk, chase, grab, bite, kill. In their role as police, protection, herding, or military dogs, these genetically encoded motor patterns are partially utilized- but directed toward human-defined tasks. Fetch is an artificial mimicry of this prey sequence. - Ball = prey - Throwing = movement stimulus - Chase = reinforcement - Grab and return = closure and Reward - Reinforecment again. Every time you throw that ball, you're not just giving your dog "exercise." You are triggering an evolutionary motor pattern that was designed to result in the death of prey. But here's the twist: