leddyr

Leddyr is a term used in Norwegian to refer to animals that lead or guide, or to animals used to pull loads. In standard Norwegian, the word for pets is kjæledyr, and leddyr is uncommon outside specialized or historical contexts. The sense of leddyr can be found in older texts and in some Scandinavian-language dictionaries as "guide animal" or "draught animal."

Common types include guide animals (such as service dogs and, in some contexts, horses or ponies used to guide visually impaired handlers), and draught or working animals used to transport goods or people, including dogs in sled teams, horses, mules, oxen, and reindeer in traditional economies.

Welfare and training considerations include proper nutrition, veterinary care, exercise, socialization, and, for working animals, task-specific training and rest. Ethical considerations include welfare during training and the impact of harnessing or workload.

Historically, leddyr appears in literature and historical records describing teams of animals used to pull carts, plows, or sleds; the term's modern usage is narrow and largely replaced by more specific terms.