SIBERIAN HUSKY

Prehistoric (prior to 1890s)

The Chukotka Sled Dog is considered the progenitor to the Siberian Husky. Developed by the Chukchi people of Russia, Chukotka sled dog teams have been used since prehistoric times to pulls sleds in harsh conditions, such as hunting sea mammals on oceanic pack ice.

Origination of Name and Split from Chukotka Sled Dogs (1890s–1930s)

From the 1890s to the 1930s, sled dogs from northeast Siberia and especially Chukotka sled dogs were actively imported in vast numbers to Alaska, to transport gold miners to the Yukon, first as part of the Klondike Gold Rush, then later the "All-Alaska Sweepstakes", a 408-mile (657-km) distance dog sled race from Nome, to Candle, and back. At this time, "Esquimaux" or "Eskimo" was a common pejorative term for native Arctic inhabitants with many dialectal permutations including Uskee, Uskimay and Huskemaw. Thus dogs used by Arctic people were the dogs of the Huskies, the Huskie's dogs, and eventually simply the husky dogs. Canadian and American settlers, not well versed on Russian geography, would distinguish the Chukotka imports by referring to them as Siberian huskies as Chukotka is part of Siberia.

 

Leonhard Seppala's winning Siberian team for the 1916 All-Alaska Sweepstakes race.

Smaller, faster and more enduring than the 100- to 120-pound (45- to 54-kg) freighting dogs then in general use, they immediately dominated the Sweepstakes race. Leonhard Seppala, the foremost breeder of Siberian sled dogs of the time, participated in competitions from 1909 to the mid-1920s with a number of championships to his name.

 

Gunnar Kaasen and Balto

On February 3, 1925, Gunnar Kaasen was the final musher in the 1925 serum run to Nome to deliver diphtheria serum from Nenana, over 600 miles to Nome. This was a group effort by several sled dog teams and mushers, with the longest (264 miles or 422 km) and most dangerous segment of the run covered by Leonhard Seppala and his sled team lead dog Togo. The event is depicted in the 2019 film Togo. A measure of this is also depicted in the 1995 animated film Balto; the name of Gunnar Kaasen's lead dog in his sled team was Balto, although unlike the real dog, Balto the character was portrayed as a wolf-dog in the film. In honor of this lead dog, a bronze statue was erected at Central Park in New York City. The plaque upon it is inscribed,

Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the winter of 1925. Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence

Siberian huskies gained mass popularity with the story of the "Great Race of Mercy", the 1925 serum run to Nome, featuring Balto and Togo. Although Balto is considered the more famous, being the dog that delivered the serum to Nome after running the final 53-mile leg, it was Togo who made the longest run of the relay, guiding his musher Leonhard Seppala on a 261-mile journey that included crossing the deadly Norton Sound to Golovin, and who ultimately became a foundation dog for the Siberian Husky breed, through his progeny Toto, Molinka, Kingeak, Ammoro, Sepp III, and Togo II.

In 1930, exportation of the dogs from Siberia was halted. The same year saw recognition of the Siberian Husky by the American Kennel Club. Nine years later, the breed was first registered in Canada. The United Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1938 as the "Arctic Husky", changing the name to Siberian Husky in 1991. Seppala owned a kennel in Alaska before moving to New England, where he became partners with Elizabeth Ricker. The two co-owned the Poland Springs kennel and began to race and exhibit their dogs all over the Northeast. The kennel was sold to Canadian Harry Wheeler in 1931, following Seppala's return to Alaska

The breed's foundation stock per records and studbooks consists of:

Kree Vanka (Male, 1930 Siberia Import)

Tserko (Male, 1930 Siberia Import),

Tosca (Female, Harry x Kolyma)

Duke (Male, also known as Chapman's Duke, reportedly Ici x Wanda)

Tanta of Alyeska (Female, Tuck x Toto)

Sigrid III of Foxstand (Female, Chenuk x Molinka)

Smokey of Seppala (Male, Kingeak x Pearl)

Sepp III (Male, Togo x Dolly)

Smoky (Male, unknown parentage)

Dushka (Female, Bonzo x Nanuk)

Kabloona (Female, Ivan x Duchess)

Rollinsford Nina of Marilyn (Female, Kotlik x Nera of Marilyn)

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As the breed was beginning to come to prominence, in 1933 Navy Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd brought about 50 Siberian Huskies with him on an expedition in which he hoped to journey around the 16,000-mile coast of Antarctica. Many of the dogs were bred and trained at Chinook Kennels in New Hampshire, owned by Eva Seeley. Called Operation Highjump, the historic trek proved the worth of the Siberian Husky due to its compact size and great speed. Siberian Huskies also served in the United States Army's Arctic Search and Rescue Unit of the Air Transport Command during World War II. Their popularity was sustained into the 21st century. They were ranked 16th among American Kennel Club registrants in 2012, rising to 14th place in 2013.

1940s-present

Huskies were extensively used as sled dogs by the British Antarctic Survey in Antarctica between 1945 and 1994.[54] A bronze monument to all of BAS's dog teams is outside its Cambridge headquarters, with a plaque listing all the dogs' names.

In 1960, the US Army undertook a project to construct an under the ice facility for defense and space research, Camp Century, part of Project Iceworm involved a 150+ crew who also brought with them an unofficial mascot, a Siberian Husky named Mukluk.

Due to their high popularity combining with their high physical and mental needs, Siberians are abandoned or surrendered to shelters at high rates by new owners who do not research them fully and find themselves unable to care for them. Many decide on the breed for their looks and mythos in pop culture, and purchase pups from backyard breeders or puppy mills who do not have breeder-return contracts that responsible breeders will, designed to keep the breed out of shelters.

Sled dogs that were bred and kept by the Chukchi tribes of Siberia were thought to have gone extinct, but Benedict Allen, writing for Geographical magazine in 2006 after visiting the region, reported their survival. His description of the breeding practiced by the Chukchi mentions selection for obedience, endurance, amiable disposition, and sizing that enabled families to support them without undue difficulty.