The Inuit Dog Association was originally formed by a group of Northern Inuit Dog enthusiasts who wanted to raise the quality of the Northern Inuit Dog and gain positive publicity and exposure of the breed. Association means ‘union or group of like-minded people’ and everyone in the Association has the best interest of the future of the breed at heart and we have strength in working together to achieve our goal. We now have an expanded committee with new ideas and an eagerness to move the Association and the breed forward. We have two sub-committees, a Breed Committee and an Events Committee, which enables committee members to devote more time and expertise in their specialist field.

Contrary to popular belief the Inuit Dog Association is NOT creating a new breed of dog. We are still breeding Northern Inuit dogs. Where we differ from other registering bodies is that we are very concerned with the health of the breed and in this respect are investigating ways of expanding the gene pool, possibly by reintroducing one or more of the original breeds and by using only health tested breeding stock. Using state of the art technology we are creating a genetic map of the breed, which will enable us to pin point weaknesses within the breed and eradicate lines with genetic flaws.

Our breeders will be required to only breed from dogs that meet our criteria and must abide by our rules and code of practice. We require a very high standard from our Approved Breeders and all breeding stock will have to pass the required health checks before being bred from and will be DNA tested.

The Association keeps a database of registered dogs and their owners and proposes to make it available for members to peruse in the near future. We are able to supply members with a detailed family tree of their dogs, which is true to the best of our belief and our database is constantly being updated.

We hold several shows and events up and down the country throughout the year, bringing owners and their dogs together and exhibiting the versatility of this wonderful breed. In 2007 we held a series of workshops and seminars covering subjects such as showing/handling, Socialisation, Training, Behaviour, Breeding, Health and Diet. We were pleased to work with the Kennel Club and held KC Good Citizen Bronze Award testing at most of our events. We also had behaviourists and trainers available to offer help and advice to owners, whether they were members of the Association or not. We go out of our way to make everyone feel welcome and do not discriminate between members and non-members.

The goal of the Association is to gain UK Kennel Club recognition for the Northern Inuit breed. We are working with the Kennel Club with this aim and understand that the KC requires a unified application in five years time. We are willing to work with the NIS but will go ahead with our application alone if they continue to refuse to acknowledge existing problems within the breed or to work with us to improve the health of the breed.

The Association is run democratically and takes the views of all its members into account when making decisions and the committee as a whole makes these decisions. Members are given support and encouragement to actively promote the breed, which will ensure the good reputation, credibility and future of the breed.

The Inuit Dog Association is able to offer help and advice and can recommend approved breeders – genuine Northern Inuit Dogs come with an embossed Inuit Dog Association registration certificate. The Inuit Dog Association is unique in keeping to the original brief, using Northern breeds and breeding for temperament and health, as well as looks.

If members of any other group representing the breed feel disillusioned with that group, as the founders of this Association did, then they are welcome to join us and see the difference. They will retain their existing registration number for their dogs and we do not require our members to give up their existing membership. Our shows, fun days and seminars will be open to anyone owning a Northern Inuit dog but our members will receive concessionary rates and will have a few classes and social events that are open to members only. The Inuit Dog Association members will also receive a new Association pedigree certificate for their dog(s), a membership card, free car sticker and quarterly news letters and will be able to obtain a password to access a ‘Members Only’ section of the forum, where they will be able to read the minutes of meetings, raise questions to be brought up at future meetings, have a forum in which to ask questions and raise matters that they may not want to discuss on the public forum and in the near future will be able to use the database. Members can also put questions to our ‘online’ vet and our own canine behaviourist.

We have many shows and events planned for 2008, including Rallies, Shows and Fundays, sled dog demonstrations where members can have a go themselves and a talk on ‘How to get your dog into films!’ Trips are planned to a couple of wolf parks, with talks by well-known wolf experts. 

For details on how to join us please see ‘About TIDA’ page.