This dog is supposed to be an elkhound.
The dog is a sable spitz, though it is not gray or “wolf sable.”
And its coat is long and feathered, unlike any of the three (or four) breeds of modern Swedish and Norwegian elkhounds.
I wonder if this is the same elkhound that Stubbs painted that belonged to the prince of Wales in 1782.
One could be forgiven for calling this dog a wolfsspitz or Keeshond, and it was well-known that the Prince of Wales at the time, who became George IV, was a lover of spitz-type dogs. The House of Hanover to which he belonged was very German, and he would have had easy access to the various German spitzes, including the dogs that English-speakers always called Pomeranians.
I cannot find the exact story on this particular dog. If it had been an elkhound, surely someone would have mentioned it coming from Scandinavia.
If it is a Scandinavian dog whose ancestors were used to bay up moose, then this clearly shows that our concept of elkhound and herding spitz as distinct identities is clearly a very recent one. Most of the herding spitzes that are used on reindeer are long-coated dogs, while the elkhounds are technically smooth coated dogs with lots of undercoat.
If this dog were indeed an elkhound, then there isn’t really a long history of separation between hunting spitz and herding spitz.
They likely come out of the same generalist landrace, just as the Russian laikas do.
It could also explain why my grandfathers last Norwegian elkhound loved to herd horses as much as he loved to tree squirrels.
Or possibly the elkhound of that era carried a long-coat recessive, just as does the welsh Corgi of today. The corgi “fluffies” have just that sort of coat.
And it’s always possible that whomever labelled the painting didn’t have much knowledge of dog breeds/types/strains.
Quite a few Laika and Finnish Spitz breed-historians mention that Poland and Germany used to have hunting spitzes which treed critters. However, I wouldn’t say they are directly related to the Elkhounds of Norway and Sweden.
Wolfspitzes still make good treeing dogs these days.
We’re not going to call those Keeshonden on this blog, okay?
And no one should call it a Keesh hound!
I know this is crazy, I own a Norwegian Elkhound that looks very similar albiet with much shorter hair… the one thing is every time I good Stubbs Elkhound only this and a Pinterest article appear, does this painting have a formal name? Where is it housed and displayed?
I don’t know.