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Tough Questions about Seppala Sleddogs!
You'd like to know more about the Seppala Siberian Sleddog project and to find out whether there's a place in it for you . . . or maybe you want to know whether it's the kind of thing you would like to participate in. Especially if you have a few years of experience with sleddogs, or if you are a fancier of Siberian Huskies, there are certain questions that you might want to ask. Some of them are tough questions. Here are our attempts to answer the most frequently asked questions as clearly as possible.
(This pamphlet is aimed primarily at experienced sleddog owners who may already have owned Siberian Huskies or other northern breeds. If you are just starting out with sleddogs, or are just curious about sleddog sport, our pamphlet "What Is the Seppala Siberian Sleddog?" may be more appropriate to your needs.)
? There have always been a lot of different ideas about Seppalas as a distinct variety of Siberian. What's your interpretation?
For our
purposes, Seppala strain consists primarily of the direct descendants
of the dogs owned and bred by Leonhard Seppala from 1914 to 1931,
plus the direct descendants of Siberia import dogs; we specifically
exclude from the definition the dogs owned, bred and promoted by Eva
B. Seeley's 'Chinook Kennels' in the 1930s, and their descendants
through such bloodlines as Monadnock, Anadyr, and Igloo Pak. Siberia
imports are included, because Seppala himself regularly added new
stock from Siberia to his own breeding and continued this practice
throughout the period of his involvement with the dogs from which
present-day Seppalas descend.
The Seeley kennel's foundation mating involved
dogs from other lines than just Leonhard Seppala's, and right from
the outset the Seeley breeding programme had the avowed aim of
changing the original Siberian dog in a number of ways into something
more easily popularised as a show dog. As the Seeley kennel was
actively engaged in promoting the Alaskan Malamute breed along with
the Siberian Husky, and since its main business was the supply of
sleddogs to various Antarctic expeditions and to the U.S. Army, the
suspicion of Malamute/Siberian breed crossing has always hung over
the Seeley line, a suspicion strengthened by the existence of
85-pound Siberian Huskies of short-legged, heavy-boned type which
continue even today to be produced regularly by some Seeley-based
show Siberian bloodlines.
The authentic Seppala line in its purest form is
easily traced through a series of major successor kennels and
breeders that followed on after Seppala himself: Harry Wheeler (the
second Seppala Kennels), William L. Shearer III (Foxstand), J. D.
McFaul (the third Seppala Kennels), Keith Bryar, J. Malcolm McDougall
(Malamak), J. Jeffrey Bragg (Markovo), Gary Egelston (Seppineau),
Bruce Morrow (Uelen), Douglas W. Willett (Sepp-Alta), Deborah
Serbousek (Windigo), Carolyn R. Ritter (River View), J. Jeffrey Bragg
and Isa Boucher (the fourth Seppala Kennels) -- plus a number of
other minor breeders. As a practical matter, today only the
descendants of the ten Markovo/Seppineau "second foundation" dogs of
the 1970s make up the pure core population of Seppala dogs.
There are other definitions and theories about
Seppalas, but that in its simplest form is our working definition for
purposes of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog project.
? Why do you want independent breed status for Seppalas?
From the
earliest days of the AKC and CKC Siberian Husky breed registries, for
two-thirds of a century Seppala strain has continually risked the
loss of its identity. It has always been a tiny minority numerically,
it has never enjoyed a secure existence, and at times it has been in
imminent danger of extinction, largely because it has never had a
well-defined status as a distinct entity.
The Siberian Husky Club of America (the senior
breed club) does not even accept the existence of a pure Seppala
bloodline. The SHCA-backed breed book, The New Complete Siberian
Husky by Michael Jennings, attempts to deny the reality of Seppalas
and makes light of the whole concept of a distinct Seppala Strain
(see page 51 of the Jennings book).
Throughout the history of the registered
Siberian Husky, breeders of show Siberians took what they wanted from
the Seppala gene pool, using it to create show dogs while denying the
validity and existence of Seppala Strain itself, or simply running it
down. Eva B. Seeley used Seppala sires (from both Leonhard Seppala
and Harry Wheeler breeding) on a non-Seppala foundation to create her
Chinook strain of show dogs; Lorna B. Demidoff used Cold River stock
(bred by Millie Turner from Wheeler dogs) on a Chinook kennels
foundation to create her Monadnock strain of show dogs. Many other
lesser lights attempted the same thing both in Canada and the USA. It
still goes on today, particularly in England where cross-strain
Siberians bred from Sepp-Alta and show lines have recently enjoyed
success in the show ring.
Since the days of Harry Wheeler and Bill
Shearer, from the earliest days of the Siberian Husky registries,
Seppalas have been bred as working sleddogs in a unique way, as a
closed strain, much as if they were a breed unto themselves. Yet
since those days, too, those who failed to understand or to respect
the concept have crossed Seppalas indiscriminately with other
'mainstream' Siberian Husky bloodlines. From our standpoint, the main
effect of all the strain-crossing has been to obscure the unique
Seppala concept and, in the end, to make fewer pure Seppalas
available for future breeding. Over and over serious breeders of
Seppalas have found that crossing the strain with Seeley-derived
bloodlines usually results in inferior sleddogs.
In the late 1960s the Seppala bloodline was
almost lost as a distinct entity. It was saved from extinction at the
cost of a genetic bottleneck. Yet the so-called 'Markovo bottleneck'
is far from being the only genetic bottleneck which Seppalas have
suffered. Their status as a tenth-of-one-percent minority of the
CKC/AKC Siberian Husky has led to an ongoing series of such
bottlenecks through the years, as Seppala fanciers have traditionally
sought to breed Seppalas as if they were a distinct breed, but
without full supporting structures for such an undertaking.
Consequently, the breeding population has never really been
sufficient to the task, and relatively few people have taken the
Seppala distinction seriously.
In the end, only separate breed status can
emphasise the unique nature of Seppalas sufficiently to convince
fanciers to breed them consistently as they ought to be bred.
Otherwise, it's just too temptingly easy to be a 'cross-strain
breeder,' breeding Seppalas to whatever else happens to be available
in the back yard or the kennel down the road. After all, a Siberian
Husky is a Siberian Husky, isn't it! That is how the reasoning seems
to go. Only separate breed status can defeat that
line-of-least-resistance reasoning, preserving the unique Seppala
lineage by enforcing a pedigree barrier. Without such status, the
Seppala dog, sooner or later, will undoubtedly be lost as a genetic
creature distinct from the mainstream Siberian Husky, as the pure
strain, ever deceasing in number, gradually becomes assimilated to
the majority Seeley-derived bloodlines and gets lost in the great
mass of show dog breeding. A few of us have always struggled against
that assimilation; the Seppala Siberian Sleddog project is the
ultimate fruit of our efforts.
? Is what you are calling a Seppala Siberian Sleddog really different enough from a Siberian Husky to deserve breed status?
Yes, we
believe it is, particularly when you consider each population as a
whole. Obviously, some of our Parental Generation stock, most of it
in fact, is drawn from the ranks of AKC and CKC registered 'Siberian
Huskies' since those are the registries which Seppala dogs have
inhabited since the 1930s. But our point is that they do not really
belong there any longer, if indeed they ever did. You could say that
the AKC and CKC Siberian registries have never been much more than a
foster home for Seppalas! They have been tolerated merely, and often
poorly tolerated, never fully accepted, let alone welcomed. One of
the Markovo founders, DITKO OF SEPPALA, who was a lovely standard
Seppala and not in any way extreme, was shown a few times in Southern
Ontario in the late 1960s, and the invariable reaction of local
Siberian fanciers was "oh, you've got to be joking -- that just can't
be a Siberian Husky!"
Right from the outset, the majority of Siberian
breeders wanted to develop a show dog, and by the 1960s they had
accomplished the task. Today the vast majority of the AKC/CKC
Siberian Husky population consists of show dogs, or pet stock bred
from show dogs. That majority population has about as much in common
with Seppalas as Poodles have with Portuguese Water Dogs, or as Old
English Sheepdogs have with Bearded Collies. Sure, they are related;
sure, they are superficially similar in some ways. But when you take
a close look, they are completely distinct. Seppalas have a different
appearance, a different spectrum of colours and markings, a different
kind of physique, a distinct temperament, a much greater genetic
variability, a distinct method of breeding and selection, and a
bloodline that has been kept apart from the show-dog bloodlines for
six decades. In addition, now as a separate breed they have a very
distinct breed standard of their own, plus the unique contribution of
the contemporary Russian sleddog bloodlines which have been branded
by CKC as not eligible for 'Siberian Husky' status.
That adds up to eight ways in which Seppalas are
different. We think it's a much greater difference than the
differences that exist between Papillons and Long-haired Chihuahuas,
or between yellow Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, or
between Welsh Springer Spaniels and English Springer Spaniels (among
many other 'similar' breeds) -- and nobody ever questions those
breeds' separate status. It should be obvious to anyone who examines
the actual dogs, their history, their pedigrees, and the breeding and
selection methods that produce them, that the Seppala Siberian
Sleddog breed is solidly based on a set of characteristics very
distinct from those of the Siberian Husky breed as a
whole.
? What would you say is the major difference between the two breeds, then, the one thing that is essential to the new breed's identity?
If we were held to naming just one thing, it would be that Seppala Siberian Sleddogs are (as the modern Siberian Husky is not) still the same basic kind of working sleddog as the original Siberian native dogs that were introduced into Alaska during the 1910 decade, or as close as one can now come to that original type of dog. We intend that every single dog in this breed, each individual animal to which we give unrestricted registry status, shall be an honest, proven working sleddog. That cannot be said of any of the other registered northern breeds these days. The Siberian Husky of today is basically a show dog, and a very successful one at that. In order to become a successful show dog, it has had to change in many ways from the original native Siberian stock. In contrast, the breed ideal of the Seppala Siberian is the Siberia import dog, the original Siberian native sleddog; Seppala breeding is oriented towards preserving that original ideal, not changing it. That's the real difference.
? Aren't you splitting the Siberian Husky breed? Do you think you have the right to affect the interests of others in this way?
We are doing
no such thing as 'splitting' the Siberian Husky breed. By using
existing Seppala stock to create an evolving breed we are leaving the
Siberian Husky breed intact and affecting nobody's interests
unilaterally. Those who accept the status quo, who want no change,
who wish to continue to have registered Siberian Huskies as before,
will experience no change. Their dogs will not be involved or
affected if they do not wish them to be. Our own actions do not
involve them in any way.
Even with respect to our own stock, we do not
anticipate any change in registry status for existing CKC registered
Siberian Huskies, unless the CKC should decide to undertake punitive
action by striking dogs involved in this programme from their stud
book registry. We have every right, in any case, to use our own dogs
as we see fit to advance the preservation of their unique lineage and
qualities.
The plain facts are these: certain existing CKC
and AKC Siberian Huskies are being identified as genetic contributors
to the Parental Generation of an evolving breed, the Seppala Siberian
Sleddog. Other dogs are also being used, concretely the Russian
imports, which CKC and AKC specifically refuse to recognise as
Siberians! But these Parental Generation contributors do not suddenly
become registered Seppala Siberian Sleddogs. There will be no
registered Seppala Siberian Sleddogs as such until at least three
generations downstream. Hence there is no possibility of splitting
the Siberian Husky breed because we are not changing the breed status
of existing registered stock. It is a little bit similar to the
creation of the Bullmastiff breed: registered Old English Mastiffs
and registered Bulldogs were used to create the breed, but neither
breed was split in the process! Something new is being created, but
nothing old is being destroyed or changed in the process.
? What exactly is meant by an 'evolving breed'?
The evolving breed is one of two kinds of breeds provided for in the Animal Pedigree Act of Canada. An evolving breed refers to an animal population which is in process of developing into a 'distinct breed.' The distinct breed is the regular registered breed. The evolving breed finally becomes a distinct breed by inspection, Ministerial recognition, and the registration of a population of foundation stock. Before those events can occur, the Ministry of Agriculture must be satisfied that the evolving breed has reached the goals of its programme of breeding and evolution -- that it has in fact evolved into the breed that was originally intended; that it is 'reproducing with genetic stability'; that it has passed through three generations of developmental breeding; and that it has reached a level of population sufficient to allow a sustainable distinct breed to exist.
? Is this a common procedure? I've never heard of it!
It would
appear to be rather uncommon. We are not aware of any recent examples
of evolving dog breeds in Canada! And in fact Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada initially gave us the impression of being not quite
certain how our request for evolving breed status should be
handled.
We felt it better to seek evolving rather than
distinct breed status, believing it might be easier to obtain
precisely because there would not be much question of splitting an
existing CKC breed! Moreover, evolving breed status will facilitate
the expansion of the Seppala gene pool to include imported Russian
stock and other outcrosses without involving us in questions of
whether imports come from a recognised stud book or have the required
number of generations of registered ancestry. It is a way of
beginning afresh, opening new genetic sources to our
utilisation.
? Is this project strictly a Canadian thing, or can people outside Canada participate?
At the
moment it is primarily Canadian. CKC, on request, do register dogs
owned by residents of the USA, mostly for dog show related ends,
since a Canadian Champion title (for example) cannot be conferred on
a dog that isn't individually registered in the CKC stud book.
Reasoning from that precedent I would feel sure that we can identify
US-owned dogs, at least for purposes of breeding Canadian-owned
bitches to them. But whether we could proceed from there to identify
F1, F2 and F3 generation litters bred in the USA would have to be
decided by Agriculture. This might have to be handled by a separate,
internationally-based association.
We are aware that there is a lot of interest
from outside Canada and we are trying to explore what the
possibilities are, but first we have to get the basic structures up
and running in this country before we can expand outward. It could
help to send letters of enquiry to us that we can then show to
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
? Then the Seppala dog will someday become a CKC registered breed?
We don't
foresee that! It will become a registered breed, but not under CKC
unless CKC were to change in many respects between now and then. The
evolving breed strategy became necessary in the first place largely
due to the inflexibility of CKC and their refusal to put breed
welfare ahead of clerical considerations. CKC's rejection of Russian
import stock and their refusal to consider the acceptance of new
foundation animals for the Siberian Husky breed convinced us that
radical action would be necessary just to ensure the permanent
survival of the Seppala dog. We had already concluded somewhat
reluctantly that, as narrow as the breeding lines had become, new
gene inflow was in order for Seppalas. But since Seppalas and
mainstream Siberians share a majority of the same original foundation
dogs, there was no hope for a meaningful broadening of the genetic
base from that source; anyway that had already been tried many times
over, always with the same inconclusive results. Therefore if we
wanted fresh genetic input to Seppala strain, it would have to be
outside the CKC context. Our pleas for the Club to provide a way for
us to use the Russian stock fell on deaf ears.
It would be pointless, having accomplished the
hardest parts of the task of breed renewal independently, for us then
to return to the Canadian Kennel Club with their closed stud book,
their show dog orientation, their breed-type and breed-purity
fetishes, and to lose control over the breed again. What we want to
accomplish with Seppalas we don't think can be done within an
organisation like CKC.
? But how will the dogs be registered? Isn't CKC the only Canadian dog registry?
There are
organisations in this country, such as The Canine Federation of
Canada, that don't like to hear people say that! No, the Animal
Pedigree Act of Canada stipulates that there can be only one registry
association in respect of any given breed, but that doesn't grant CKC
a monopoly on the whole canine species.
What we have done is to incorporate a new
Association under the Animal Pedigree Act, called The Working Canine
Association of Canada. This Association has equal legal status with
CKC as an animal registry. Initially, it will have only the Seppala
Siberian Sleddog on its roster, but we expect that if our project
succeeds there will be groups of breeders of other breeds who will
want to do things in the same way. The Working Canine Association of
Canada could wind up as an alternative registry specialising in
serious working breeds. But that's probably some distance into the
future.
Right now we have the task of identifying and
keeping records for the dogs involved in the Seppala Siberian Sleddog
evolving breed project, and no others, and of guiding the evolution
of the new breed. When the evolving breed is ready to become a
distinct breed, the Association's articles of incorporation will be
amended to reflect the change and we will then actually be
registering Seppalas as an independent canine registry, with full
recognition from Agriculture Canada.
? You said this couldn't be done in a registry like CKC; could you elaborate?
The Animal
Pedigree Act provides expressly for associations to make by-laws
establishing breed improvement programmes, providing for the
inspection of animals, and providing for the establishment of
performance standards as a prerequisite for registration. The Working
Canine Association of Canada will do all of these things. CKC want
basically to register all their breeds in the same way, using the
same mass-production techniques; they would be unlikely to agree to
establish special procedures for a single breed.
We intend that the Seppala breed shall be
exclusively a working sleddog breed in a meaningful way, a way in
which the Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute and so forth cannot claim
to be. To that end, we will be requiring performance proving for all
stock before it is granted breeding status. We will be inspecting
prospective breeding stock. We will keep photographic records of
individual animals. We will require positive proof of parentage -- at
first photographic proof of matings, and eventually DNA verification
of parentage. It will be a two-tier registry such as some European
countries have; young stock will be given a pink 'birth certificate'
pedigree that doesn't allow the dog to be bred, then at physical
maturity it will be inspected and performance proof required before
the pink pedigree can be exchanged for the definitive pedigree
allowing the dog to be bred to produce other registered stock. Ours
will be a much more responsible system, producing a higher general
level of quality in the dogs bred under that system. It will mean
that the breed can develop towards higher standards of performance
and general excellence.
? Where will the animals come from for this evolving breed?
The initial
core group of breeding stock will be the dogs at Seppala Kennels in
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. They consist of a founder group of pure
Seppala Strain dogs, pure bloodline direct descendants of the Markovo
and Seppineau dogs of the 1970s, plus one Russian import, together
with a group of F1 progeny of the various founder animals.
We have located several other Russian import
animals and stock derived from such imports; eventually we expect to
acquire further stock of this nature for future use in the breeding
programme.
We want to broaden the initial population base, if possible, by
admitting to the project stock belonging to other interested
breeders. We have a schedule of standards for eligibility which we
are happy to explain to any persons who think they might be
interested in the project.
Mainstream Siberians won't qualify, though. We
couldn't accept them and stay clear of the charge of splitting the
Siberian Husky breed, and we don't want to create a duplicate of an
existing breed anyway. Pure Seppala stock, in the sense of animals
that descend from the ten Markovo/Seppineau 'second foundation' dogs
in all pedigree lines, are automatically eligible provided they are
proven sleddogs and pass an inspection procedure. The inspection is a
general one for overall soundness and Seppala type; we are looking
for dogs to accept, not dogs to reject, so it's nothing to worry
about. Then we have other categories of dogs that may be acceptable.
We want to take in as substantial a base of stock to begin with as
possible, consistent with the idea that these are to be definitely
Seppalas and not just "racing Siberians" in general. We will also
accept Russian stock from the Sergei Solovyev bloodline, again
contingent on work proving and inspection. Of course we will accept
F1 Russian/Seppala crosses. We will take some (not all) Willett
'percentage Seppalas' subject to rules that have been established,
but there has to be a cutoff point and some control over what we
accept, otherwise we would inevitably swamp out the pure Seppala base
population, which is small compared to the vast number of dogs that
have 'some Seppala' somewhere in their pedigree. While the project is
starting up, from a small beginning, it's necessary to maintain
control of the parental generation of stock; otherwise we'd probably
wind up with a duplicate of the existing Siberian Husky breed.
We encourage those who are interested to tell us
what they have; then we can tell them what the standards are, and go
from there. If someone wants very much to be a part of this but
doesn't have stock that qualifies, stock will be made available to
them, one way or another on an individual-case basis.
? Does that mean that I couldn't take the Siberians I now have and enroll them in this project?
That would depend entirely on what Siberian bloodline you now have. If they are Seppalas by the 1970s Markovo definition, they definitely can be enrolled; we welcome all of those that can be found. If they are Seppalas as determined by the percentage method in Doug Willett's 1986 book The Seppala Siberian, some of them can possibly be enrolled; in some cases certain conditions and restrictions might apply. If they are mainstream racing Siberians of mixed bloodlines (involving Anadyr, Zero, Igloo Pak and similar lines) or show Siberians, then no, you couldn't enroll them in the project, but we could tell you how and where to get dogs that would be eligible.
? Do you really believe you have the right to exert that kind of control, to say which dogs qualify and which ones don't?
To begin
with, nobody else ever stuck their necks out to do this kind of thing
for Seppalas! Seppalas have suffered along in the Siberian Husky show
dog registry for six decades while no one ever made much of an effort
to change the situation, so far as we know. Those who had the stock
that it could have been done with, had too much interest in their
existing market for registered Siberian pups. One major breeder told
us, "I couldn't afford to lose the Europeans as a market."
Those of us who pioneer this project take
certain risks in doing so. CKC are not happy with us, as we've made
enough of a fuss about their refusal to admit new foundation stock to
start people questioning things like the closed CKC studbook; CKC
have said they have 'concerns' about the introduction of a Russian
dog into our kennel population. There is always a possibility that
our promotion of this new breed might result in problems for us. We
are willing to assume those risks for the ultimate benefit of the
Seppala dog.
Meanwhile most people prefer to sit on the
sidelines and wait to see what happens. Well and good, but the people
who take the risks are the people who get to -- have to -- make the
decisions. We feel no obligation to defer to the opinions of those
who accept the status quo and will not commit themselves to anything
new or risky. We believe our past experience with Seppalas (and with
mainstream Siberians as well, on both sides of the Atlantic)
qualifies us reasonably well to make the decisions that must be made
to select the Parental Generation of the evolving breed.
Having said that, we want anyone who is
sincerely interested in the welfare of the Seppala dog and who can
accept the ground rules -- the eligibility rules, the breed standard,
the breeding programme and guidelines already submitted to
Agriculture -- to join us in this project. We have no desire to
monopolise this project; it is one which demands co-operative effort.
We want to make this into a strong, vital, exciting new breed -- one
of the few true working-dog breeds on this continent, and the only
registered sleddog breed that is truly and exclusively a working
breed in the fullest sense of the word. To do that, we'll need broad
support. If we get the formula right, if we do things with greater
responsibility and integrity than other registries can offer, that
support will come as people see in the Seppala Siberian Sleddog what
they have been looking for and not finding in other breeds. We know
there are a lot of people who like Siberian-type dogs, but think the
Siberian Husky has changed too much from the original Siberian dog
and is no longer true to its breed purpose; a lot of people, too,
want to have good working sleddogs but just don't like Alaskan
huskies. We think the Seppala Siberian Sleddog is going to be just
what those people want.
? You mentioned performance standards -- will you try to make Seppalas competitive with world-class Alaskan huskies?
That's a point that needs to be clarified: we have no intention whatever of trying to make Seppalas into a registered version of the 'world-class Alaskan husky' racing dog. Right from the beginning, Seppalas have always been versatile, general-purpose sleddogs. Leonhard Seppala's dogs worked for a living. They hauled passengers and supplies on an everyday basis -- they were not racing dogs in the modern sense of the word. They even worked all summer hauling mining supplies, personnel and equipment on the abandoned Kougarok railroad (using an adapted railroad handcar, called the 'pupmobile'); no modern racer would contemplate using his team in such a way today.
Those who
want the Seppala dog to be only or even primarily a world class
racing dog are deserting the original Seppala concept. In our view
these are working sleddogs first, last and always; after that they
also have strong racing capabilities. One of the nicest things about
Seppalas is their steady, stable, easy-to-manage nature; we wouldn't
trade that Seppala levelheadedness for all the WCAHs in the top ten
North American Championship winning teams. By breeding just for
speed, Alaskan racers have ended up with some very nervous,
hard-to-manage dogs. If you select only for top speed, you inevitably
lose a lot of other qualities. We call that breeding with a
stopwatch.
We are definitely supporters of dogsled racing.
We feel that it offers a useful proving ground for sleddogs; we
certainly hope that people will continue to prove Seppalas at races,
but we are not in favour of narrowing the focus of Seppalas to make
them into dogs useful only for world-class racing. We know how many
different jobs these dogs can perform well and we value that
versatility. We want a total dog, not just a racing machine. In
addition, there is an ever-growing contingent of frankly recreational
mushers out there, many of them attempting to enjoy dog driving as a
family activity with dogs that are really not well-suited to
recreational use, show dogs, Eskimo dogs, Alaskan huskies and others.
We feel that dogs should be available that are easy and fun to use
for recreational dog driving, and we know that Seppalas are better
qualified than any other breed for that purpose. We have known for a
long time how much fun Seppalas are to drive, but we would just like
for a lot more people to make that discovery.
If dog driving is about something more
significant than just the pursuit of trophies and purse money, then
it has to be about the enjoyment of a winter sport using dogs, doing
something that the dogs really enjoy and that is fun for the human
element at the same time. We think the enjoyment of the human-animal
bond is a basic value, and that it is a far superior value to the
'Olympics mentality' that thinks the only worthwhile goal in this
sport is to win, to go faster than all the other guys. We can't
accept that, because we know that, for ourselves and for the dogs,
the value of sleddog sport has nothing at all to do with how fast you
go.
That said, we have still seen a steady increase
in average speed in our own homebreds since we began, and we are
certain that the programme we are setting up for Seppalas will result
in an improvement in speed as well as other sleddog performance
parameters. Further developmental breeding will take place to improve
both speed and endurance. It's largely a question of emphasis. We
have written performance factors into the standard, but these dogs
are definitely much more than speed machines. Our breeding guidelines
have a list of twenty distinct factors that combine to make up a
desirable sleddog.
We say, "If you think you must win, if what you
want is just a speed machine, go ahead and get Alaskans; but if you
really want to enjoy dog driving, get Seppalas."
? You've written a lot about genetics and genetic defects; what are you doing to guard against genetic problems? Are you screening your founders for eye problems, hips, vWD, thyroid problems, etc.?
We are
screening dogs for some problems, but certainly not the whole gamut
of genetic diseases. We will avoid using any dogs that have obvious,
serious clinical problems, but we aren't putting hips, eyes, etc.
ahead of sleddog qualities in the breeding programme. Our initial
screening is more in the nature of establishing a starting baseline
by which we can measure future progress in genetic health.
You see, we expect the new Seppala breed to be
bred in a way that will ultimately make screening and selection for
eyes, hips, etc., unnecessary. One of the most basic concepts in the
Seppala Siberian Sleddog project is the idea of sustained new gene
inflow carried indefinitely into the future, so that the breed
becomes gradually more heterozygous in nature, deriving its identity
from desirable dominant traits instead of from inbred, selected
recessives that must remain homozygous just to breed true.
As far as we know, ours is a unique pilot
project for this kind of breeding in a purebred registered dog breed.
We hope that as the breed becomes more heterozygous through the
continued use of outcross dogs such as the Solovyev Russian stock, we
will stop seeing the expression of genetic defects that are now
thought to demand more and more screening, certification and
resulting selection. We believe that breeders of working animals
should not be forced to breed for clear hips, eyes, etc. -- the more
so since breeding clear to clear often seems to be rather ineffective
in actually preventing the disorders that are screened for. We think
that sleddogs should be bred in such a way that we need only select
for sleddog traits like attitude, pulling power, endurance, speed,
trainability, etc.; there are at least twenty separate
characteristics that are vitally important for sleddogs, which is why
their breeding is such a challenge. So why make it impossible by
forcing yourself to discard big chunks of breeding stock because they
don't pass half a dozen screening tests? If we breed for a more
natural kind of dog, a heterozygous dog instead of an inbred product
of extreme selection, then the genes that would produce defects when
they come together as homozygous recessives should revert to their
natural status, in which their presence causes few problems because
those recessive genes seldom occur in a double dose.
? How does this heterozygosity idea work? Doesn't that mean your consistency in performance and repeatability in breeding will go to pieces?
We don't
think so. Elite Alaskan husky breeders claim to experience no such
problems, and their bloodlines have a lot more heterozygosity than we
shall ever see in Seppalas. The important principle here is called
assortative mating, which means that you breed like to like with
respect to the characteristics that matter most to you -- such as
performance, attitude, and temperament -- while at the same time you
try to keep the pedigree as open as possible, keeping inbreeding to
an irreducible minimum. In that way you can make your selection
effective where it counts without losing much genetic diversity.
So far we've found that the Russian stock from
the Solovyev strain is very compatible and similar to the pure
Seppala bloodline. We think that as long as we are careful to select
outcrosses that display this high degree of similarity to the Seppala
root stock, there should be no problems with inconsistency.
On the positive side, the increased hardiness
that will result as heterozygosity increases in the breed ought to
mean fewer veterinary problems and therefore reduced costs for the
breeder and dog driver. Vet expenses these days have reached a level
at which a run of bad luck can easily put the average person right
out of the dog business. We don't think that's right; we can't do
anything about the fees that the vet profession charges, but we can
do what's in our power to make our dogs as healthy, tough and hardy
as possible.
We believe that if you have to rely on screening
and selection to produce a genetically healthy animal, there will
never be an end to it; there are too many known defects already, and
the more people inbreed, the more defects keep turning up. It's time
for a change in methods, because no matter what the gee-whiz boys at
the universities and vet schools say about 'eliminating' genetic
defects through DNA gene marker detection and so forth, we just don't
think it's economically feasible or practical for sleddog breeders to
go that route. If you've got to keep selecting for eyes, hips, blood,
etc., then your sleddog selection programme is inevitably going to
suffer. Right now that's a no-win situation for the breeder. We hope
to change those unfavourable odds by returning to Nature's way of
breeding.
? What kind of standard will you be breeding Seppalas to?
A Seppala
Siberian Sleddog breed standard has been in place since 1995. It is
based on the 'Seppala breeding standard' published in 1976 in the
book The Seppala Siberian -- A Breeder's Manual, which was the
standard that governed the Markovo Kennels breeding from 1970 through
1975. The "Seppala Siberian Sleddog Breed Standard (1995)," however,
is a new document to take the breed into the new millennium.
It is a more open standard than the AKC and CKC
Siberian Husky standards. It takes the heterotypic nature of the
Seppala dog into consideration and attempts to define the breed
primarily as a working dog, rather than laying down a lot of cosmetic
specifications. In addition, quite in contrast to other northern
breed standards, we have performance parameters and considerations
written into the standard.
We have not taken the 'sleddog engineering'
approach that has sometimes been favoured; you won't find this
standard bristling with angles and bone measurements. We don't
consider that the sleddog engineers have ever managed to come up with
a "blueprint" that has been generally agreed upon by dog drivers. So
we state the desirable breed characteristics in general terms and
leave it at that.
In view of the general purpose nature and
versatility of this breed, we feel it would be a mistake to set down
excessively detailed physical specifications. Different types of
sleddogs are needed for different purposes, so it has always been a
strong point of the Siberian dog that it is adaptable to a variety of
purposes. Therefore we concentrate on factors like mentality and
temperament, which are vital to all good sleddogs. And the good news
is: there's no height disqualification for Seppalas!
? What will these dogs look like?
They'll look
like sleddogs, what else? Seriously, there is a definite Seppala type
which is familiar to all of us who have bred and worked with them
over the years, but it's not easy to put it into words. They
certainly don't look like the show dogs of any of the northern breeds
as a rule, including Siberian Huskies. They vary quite a lot in size,
physique, coat length, colour and markings. So we couldn't take a
photo of a single dog and say, "There, that's what Seppalas look
like," as seemed to occur when Ch. Monadnock's Pando became the ideal
for the show Siberian Husky. We wouldn't promote one individual dog
as the ideal Seppala, because Seppalas are too diverse.
Yet Seppalas are pretty easy to spot in a
dogyard. Overall, very generally speaking, if they aren't white, then
they are likely to be reddish or brownish in colour, or grey with red
or brown overtones. There are also a lot of light fawns and buffs.
There are black and white dogs, but not at all like show Siberians;
usually Seppala blacks are an intense jet black, very often they are
saddlebacks, sometimes with rich reddish markings on the face, ears
and legs. The saddleback pattern with little or no dark pigment on
the head and hindquarters, is a frequent theme in Seppalas; it has
always been associated with dogs close to Siberia import lines.
There's a substantial number of piebalds, splash coats and other
asymmetrically-marked dogs; asymmetry of markings isn't discouraged
-- it's just irrelevant. There are reds, but not with liver points --
they have black-tipped guard hairs, black noses, lips and eyerims;
the show-type Siberian Husky red isn't found in Seppalas. Seppalas
have the tallest ears of any northern breed, and the ears are quite
often dark, without white linings. Most of them have rather high-set
ears, carried close together on top of the head.
Physically the majority have a very muscular
appearance. Usually they are leggy, proportionally taller than other
arctic breeds. Body form varies from moderately compact to moderately
rangy; usually they are longer in body and distinctly off-square,
although there is considerable variability of proportions. There are
long-coated Seppalas, but the Seppala long coat is usually very
smooth in outline and not in the least shaggy or hairy. Eyes can be
blue, brown, amber, or any combination. Most Seppalas have a very
alert, foxy, feral expression, but at the same time they look quite
friendly. They almost never look bored or hostile. Usually they trail
their tails, but when they put them up, almost invariably it's a
perfect sickle curve over the back that doesn't touch the body.
For more information, read our
Standard!
? So what's the bottom line? What is this breed intended to be, what makes Seppalas special?
The most
outstanding point about the breed is that they are really fun
sleddogs to work with. They are born to be sleddogs, they know their
job and they do it very well, they don't cause a lot of problems for
their driver, and they love their work. The other most outstanding
point is that their hearts are filled with love. That may sound
corny, but it's absolutely true. Seppalas, given half a chance, are
the most affectionate sleddogs going. They are great with kids, they
love to come in the house and sleep on the bed, they behave
sensitively, and they just love the people who feed them and drive
them. They need individual attention and affection from their owners,
and they return that attention and love generously. They are
basically co-operative and intelligent. Seppalas are sleddogs for
dog-lovers. If you, as a dog-driver, want the dogs in your team to be
interchangeable 'units' or speed machines, you don't particularly
like to relate closely to your dogs, then you won't like Seppalas --
and they won't be very happy with you, either. Seppalas are
individuals; each one thinks of himself as a person, and if you don't
treat him as one, he'll be unhappy. But if you want to have a dog
team, such that every dog on that team is your personal buddy, then
these are the dogs you have always been looking for! You won't find
better friends anywhere.
They also have a beauty all their own that goes
far beyond the superficial flashiness of other breeds; their beauty
is a very natural thing, the same kind of beauty that wild animals
have. Seppalas have a wholeness and a harmony that come from the fact
that they have one big purpose in life, their breeding is entirely
directed towards that purpose, and their hearts are in what they are
doing. So their purpose, their love, and their beauty are all tied up
in one harmonious package; we think that makes Seppalas unique among
northern breeds.
? How can someone who's interested participate? What needs doing?
There is a
great deal of scope for participation in this project! Obviously one
major aspect is the promotion of the breed. This is a breed that
almost nobody knows; the public as yet has no idea what a Seppala is.
We need people -- families especially -- across Canada who can
demonstrate these dogs, show off their qualities both as companions
and as sleddogs, and tell people what they are seeing!
Also we need representatives for the new
association who can talk with people who are interested, who are
qualified to inspect dogs for identification, who can oversee
performance tests, and give authoritative information and answers to
questions about the breed, the association and its procedures.
Needless to say, we now have before us the task
of taking the breed through a three-generation breeding programme and
developing a population base to satisfy the requirements of
Agriculture Canada so that it can become a fully-fledged 'distinct
breed' recognised by Agriculture as a purebred. That will require the
efforts of a cadre of committed breeders co-operating to carry out
the developmental breeding and work-proving programme.
We will shortly be founding a breed club,
affiliated to the association, which will serve more or less as other
breed clubs do to unite fanciers and breeders and to help organise
breed activities. The breed club, of course, will need dedicated
officers and members.
There is really a great deal to be done;
everyone who participates in this project can honestly feel that they
are doing something significant and vital during these early stages
of the breed's development as an independent entity. In an
established breed with thousands of breeders and tens of thousands of
dogs, breed activities can get to be rather a "ho-hum" affair, but in
a rare breed, and still more in a totally new evolving breed, just
about everybody can consider that they are contributing in an
exciting and significant way.
? Where can I see Seppalas, or where can I get them?
The Working Canine Association of Canada, P.O. Box 21162, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada Y1A 6R1, can provide further information, including the names and addresses of any breeders that may be in your area. If there's no breeder near you, Seppala Kennels, P.O. Box 21162, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada Y1A 6R1, may have stock available.
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