The Greenlandic sled dog listed in the Guinness Book of Records

The Greenlandic sled dog has been listed as one of the world's oldest dog breeds in the 2026 edition of the Guinness Book of Records, based on the results of the Greenlandic-Danish Qimmeq project based at Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland.

Qimmeq is Greenlandic for dog and the majestic Greenlandic sled dogs have been the focus of a successful Greenlandic-Danish research and communication project for a number of years. The project's participants are a wide range of researchers, students, veterinarians, mushers, teachers, communicators, film and photo people, all with the common goal: To describe the sled dog, the sledding tradition, the origin of the dog and all its unique significance in Greenland.

Over the years, the project has published and disseminated results - and it has been seen. In late 2024, the Qimmeq project was contacted by the Guinness Book of Records, which was considering adding the Greenlandic sled dog to the list of the world's oldest dog breeds. And after dialogue with the project about their genetic results, Guinness has named Qimmeq as one of the world's oldest dog breeds and will appear as a record in the Guinness Book of Records 2026 and beyond.

Based on archaeological findings and DNA studies, researchers can document that the Greenlandic sled dog is related to 9,500-year-old sled dogs in Siberia - and that the Inuit brought them from the Bering Strait region to Greenland 1000 years ago.

The news will raise awareness of the unique Greenlandic dog sledding culture, and patron of the dog sledding organization KNQK Doris Jakobsen Jensen says:

"For us, the sled dog and Inuit are closely linked and always have been. The sled dog culture and the sled dog is an inalienable part of our culture and the naming of the sled dog as one of the oldest dog breeds in the world is both exciting and a good advertisement for Greenland".

For more information - please contact:

• Manumina Lund Jensen, sled dog culture: +299 48 52 00
• Mikkel Sinding, sled dogs, genealogy & genetics: +45 29 66 83 55
• Morten Meldgaard, sled dog project in general: +299 58 19 55

About photos: With this press release about the Greenlandic sled dog, a number of photos have been released - you can find them here.

The photos can be used exclusively for coverage of the current story about the sled dog's inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. The photos cannot be included in photo directories or passed on to third parties. Use of photos must be credited: "Photo: Carsten Egevang".