Editing Laika (section)

==Training==
Laika was found as a [[Street dogs in Moscow|stray dog wandering the streets of Moscow]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Sputnik2/SpaceViews%20November%201997%20Articles.htm|title=Recalling top dog Laika, 65 years after pathbreaking space flight|last=Sriram|first=Varsha|work=Indian Express|date=November 3, 2022|access-date=26 September 2006|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112148/http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Sputnik2/SpaceViews%20November%201997%20Articles.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Soviet scientists chose to use Moscow strays since they assumed that such animals had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger.{{r|AJL}} She was a {{convert|5|kg|lb|abbr=on}}{{r|laika}} [[mongrel]] female, approximately three years old. Another account reported that she weighed about {{convert|6|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.{{r|AJL}} Soviet personnel gave her several names and nicknames, among them '''Kudryavka''' (Russian for ''Little Curly''), '''Zhuchka''' (''Little Bug''), and '''Limonchik''' (''Little Lemon''). Laika, the Russian name for several [[Laika (dog breed)|breeds of dogs]] similar to the [[husky]], was the name popularised around the world. Its literal translation would be "Barker", from the Russian verb "layat" (''лаять''), "to bark".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Caswell |first=Kurt |title=Laika's Window: the Legacy of a Soviet Space Dog |date=2018 |publisher=Trinity University Press |isbn=978-1-59534-862-3 |location=San Antonio |pages=}}</ref> According to some accounts, the technicians actually renamed her from Kudryavka to Laika owing to her loud barking.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://habr.com/ru/post/374197/| title = "Epoch of the Dog: Names and Stories of the Soviet Space Exploration" (in Russian).| date = 27 January 2018| access-date = 23 July 2020| archive-date = 23 July 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200723092737/https://habr.com/ru/post/374197/| url-status = live}}</ref> The American press dubbed her Muttnik (''[[mongrel|mutt]]'' + suffix ''[[-nik]]'') as a pun on [[Sputnik program|Sputnik]],{{r|NASA}} or referred to her as ''Curly''.{{r|BL}} Her true pedigree is unknown, although it is generally accepted that she was part husky or other Nordic breed, and possibly part [[terrier]].{{r|AJL}} NASA refers to Laika as a "part-[[Samoyed (dog)|Samoyed]] terrier".{{r|Sputnik2}} A Russian magazine described her temperament as [[phlegmatic]], saying that she did not quarrel with other dogs.{{r|laika}}

The Soviet Union and United States had previously sent animals only on [[sub-orbital spaceflight|sub-orbital]] flights.{{r|STO}} Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik{{spaces}}2 flight: [[Soviet space dogs#Albina and Tsyganka|Albina]], [[Mushka]], and Laika.{{r|BBC}} Soviet space-life scientists [[Vladimir Yazdovsky]] and [[Oleg Gazenko]] trained the dogs.{{r|NLM}}<ref name=":0" />

To adapt the dogs to the confines of the tiny cabin of Sputnik{{spaces}}2, they were kept in progressively smaller cages for periods of up to twenty days. The extensive close confinement caused them to stop urinating or defecating, made them restless, and caused their general condition to deteriorate. [[Laxatives]] did not improve their condition, and the researchers found that only long periods of training proved effective. The dogs were placed in [[centrifuge]]s that simulated the acceleration of a rocket launch and were placed in machines that simulated the noises of the spacecraft. This caused their pulses to double and their [[blood pressure]] to increase by {{convert|30|-|65|torr|kPa|lk=on}}. The dogs were trained to eat a special high-nutrition gel that would be their food in space. It was made up of 40% [[Breadcrumbs|bread crumbs]], 40% [[Meat|powdered meat]] and 20% [[beef fat]] mixed with [[agar]] and water. Presumably the formula was 200ml of water, agar, and 100 grams of food.{{r|SPUT1}}<ref name=":0" />

Ten days before the launch, Vladimir Yazdovsky chose Laika to be the primary flight dog.{{sfn|Chertok|2006|p=396}} Before the launch, Yazdovsky took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, he wrote, "Laika was quiet and charming{{spaces}}... I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live."{{r|APSTAT}}