Seppala Siberian General InformationCopyright
©2003 by J. Jeffrey Bragg
THE GOAL OF THE SEPPALA SIBERIAN SLEDDOG PROJECT is to preserve the historic Leonhard Seppala sleddog as it came to us in its traditional form through the McFaul/Shearer bloodline and to re-establish the closest possible approach to the ORIGINAL SIBERIAN SLEDDOGS imported into Alaska from eastern Siberia from 1908 to 1930. We emphasise SLEDDOG VERSATILITY, aiming to provide a superior and dependable working sleddog breed, not just for dogsled racing, but for a broad range of sleddog and winter sport purposes.
LEONHARD SEPPALA, an all-time great dog driver, became famous in Alaska through domination of the Nome Sweepstakes and later throughout the USA for his crucial role in the dogsled delivery of antiserum in the 1925 Nome diphtheria epidemic. Seppala worked with and popularised the Siberian sleddog in Alaska from 1914 until 1926. Following the Serum Run he toured the USA, ending in Poland Spring, Maine, where he established Seppala Kennels in partnership with Elizabeth Ricker.
HARRY WHEELER in St. Jovite Station, Quebec, was a key figure in the preservation of the Seppala bloodline. He acquired core Poland Spring breeding stock in 1930-31 and operated the second Seppala Kennels. In 1930 the Siberian sleddog became the AKC "Siberian Husky"; in 1939 Wheeler's dogs became the Canadian Kennel Club's "Siberian Huskie" breed. Wheeler exported dogs to New England that were crucial to the foundation of present-day registered SIBERIAN HUSKY BLOODLINES, both of show and working dogs. In 1950 he sold his breeding stock and kennel name to J. D. MCFAUL of Maniwaki, Quebec. McFaul obtained further pure Seppala stock from other breeders, capably continuing the development of the bloodline. He provided Seppalas to Keith Bryar (Laconia, NH) and J. M. McDougall (Ste. Agathe des Monts, Quebec). The McFaul dogs are remembered today as the inspiration for the preservation of Seppala Strain and its development as a new breed.
SEPPALA'S SLEDDOG BLOODLINES were carried on by other working kennels in New England and Canada, the most important of which were William L. Shearer III's Foxstand Kennels, Alec Belford and his son Charlie, Keith Bryar, and J. Malcolm McDougall's Malamak kennels. Thus the lineage of Siberian sleddogs identified with Seppala's name was carefully preserved from the 1930s through the mid-1960s.
EVA B. SEELEY'S CHINOOK KENNELS (Chinook/Wonalancet/Alyeska affixes) developed and promoted show-dog bloodlines from a mix of Seppala's breeding and other sources in Alaska. The New England show-dog breeders added Wheeler stock to their own narrow foundation, but they concentrated on colour, markings and show conformation. Sleddog mentality and capability went by the board as Seeley and Lorna B. Demidoff competed to develop a black and white, blue-eyed, flashily-marked, short-coupled dog to impress all-breed judges and win prizes at Group and Best In Show level. Thus the majority of the Siberian Husky breed deserted its origins and went its own way as a beauty contestant, losing most of its working capability and leaving the original Seppala strain as a remnant minority.
THE MARKOVO KENNELS RESCUE PROJECT intervened just as extinction loomed for Seppalas. Show-dog breeders had taken the Siberian Husky in a new direction, deserting the ideal represented by the original Siberian dog. Northern breeds gained show-dog popularity, while dogsled racers turned to short, fast sprint races; interest in Seppalas declined. McFaul's Seppala Kennels closed without a successor in 1963; by 1969 Seppala strain was at grave risk of extinction. During 1969 - 1975 Markovo Kennels, run by J. Jeffrey Bragg and Betsy Bush, bred pure Seppalas from McFaul and McDougall lines, saving the Seppala dog from oblivion. The fruits of the Markovo breeding programme were widely dispersed in several geographical centres when Markovo sold its stock.
THE POST-MARKOVO YEARS saw the return of an old danger, even though the future of Seppalas seemed secure after the Markovo dispersal sale. One by one the MARKOVO SUCCESSOR KENNELS failed as the reins of Seppala strain were gathered into one man's hands. Although racer DOUG WILLETT won popularity for Seppalas through middle-distance race exposure, at the same time he undertook experimental breeding of Seppalas with Seeley-derived racing Siberians on an ever-increasing scale. As the mixed-lineage population grew, it crowded out the pure McFaul/Shearer bloodline. Many of the available Markovo breeding combinations were lost or discarded, as emphasis was placed largely on just one mating (Surgut of Markovo x Helen of Markovo) that produced winning racers. The Markovo Seppala lineage continued to narrow (and in the U.S.A. still continues to do so today), while part-Seppala racing Siberian Husky stock dispersed through the Willett satellite kennels in a growing cascade. By 1990 Seppalas were not only endangered once more by loss of genetic material, but threatened with assimilation into the Seeley-derived Siberian Husky mainstream by a large population of PART-SEPPALAS.
THE SSSD PROJECT HAD ITS BEGINNINGS in Spain when J. Jeffrey Bragg and Isa Boucher, who had carried out the Markovo rescue of the 1970s, re-entered the Seppala scene from a rural location in the Pyrenean foothills. Pure-strain descendants of the Markovo bloodline were collected in 1990-1991 from the kennels of CAROLYN RITTER, Doug Willett and others. The goal of the new breeding programme was identical with that of the Markovo project -- the preservation of UNIQUE SEPPALA characteristics and lineage. In 1993 more stock was acquired from the Ritter kennel's dispersal sale. We returned to Canada where Seppala Kennels once again became a living reality, when the fourth kennel of that historic name was established in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
NEW SIBERIAN IMPORT STOCK became available once more following the breakup of the USSR in 1989. That should have been an exciting watershed event for the Siberian Husky breed. CKC and AKC, however, refused to permit the use of these dogs in breeding, while the Siberian Husky Club of Canada stood aside and refused to get involved or to advocate for the new imports with CKC. (Seppalas at that time were still nominally part of the Siberian Husky breed, even though they had been bred as a closed strain since the 1930's, isolated from show bloodlines.) The all-breed national registries insisted on CLOSED STUD BOOKS , placing the racist notion of breed purity above genetic health. CKC and AKC rejected the concept of fresh genetic input into an existing breed, ignorant of the science of POPULATION GENETICS, which insists that small closed gene pools require periodic refreshing with new genetic material in order to maintain full species soundness and genetic health.
A NEW EVOLVING BREED came into being in Canada in 1997 when the Seppala Siberian Sleddog was recognised by Agriculture Canada, thenceforth to be separate and distinct from the Siberian Husky breed. A new animal pedigree association, THE WORKING CANINE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, was given permission to incorporate, to oversee the development of the breed and to keep its pedigree records. Nearly eight years later, in the fullness of time THE INTERNATIONAL SEPPALA ASSOCIATION was incorporated under the Yukon Societies Act to serve as a worldwide record-keeping and protective association for Seppalas outside of Canada.
NEW GENE INFLOW for continued genetic health will be provided for Seppalas by the Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project, integrating with the historic McFaul/Shearer Seppala strain true outcross stock imported from Siberia, broadening the breeding base of the population and restoring the breed's close connection with the land of its origin. Seppala breeding will continue to be governed by selection for SLEDDOG TRAITS exclusively (never for superficial cosmetic traits such as coat colours, eye colour or facial markings). Every effort is made to increase vigour and hardiness, to improve sleddog athleticism and to ensure continued GENETIC DIVERSITY and health.
THE SEPPALA SIBERIAN SLEDDOG BREED STANDARD (1995), a unique standard that enshrines sleddog versatility and performance qualities, rather than being just a description of show dog points, guides evolution of the new breed. Accepted by Agriculture Canada at the time of the breed's recognition, it is the only legitimate SSSD breed standard.
SEPPALA KENNELS in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, spearheads development of the breed in Canada and is the headquarters of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project, with the largest extant body of authentic Seppala stock. But to launch a new breed is too large a project for one kennel. The success of a breed project depends on people. Dedicated, committed sleddog drivers interested in the original Siberian sleddog, especially in Canada, can help by participating and supporting the project. There's a place for everyone -- recreational mushers, racers, pet owners. If you're interested, contact us by letter post at the address below or by e-mail. (For more information see "Contact Us" in the blue link bar at left.)
CONFUSED about Seppalas? One puzzled novice recently complained that "there are all kinds of opinions about Seppalas" on the online sleddog gasworks. Armchair mushers air their "opinions" in these forums, often without reference to fact. Here are THE FACTS about Seppalas, to help clear away the confusion and dispel the fog of unfounded opinions.
The Seppala Siberian Sleddog Breed
is represented within Canada (its country of origin) by:
The Working Canine Association of Canada
and outside of Canada by:
The International Seppala Association
If you would like to help advance the SSSD breed by your
membership, please contact the Secretary of the appropriate
association for further information (addresses on the web pages
linked above).
Committed supporters of the SSSD Project and the evolving SSSD breed are encouraged to join our new SSSD Project Forums. This SSSD Project community discussion and bulletin board is available only to those who are W.C.A.C. or I. S. A. members, who wish to become active Project breeders, or who otherwise have some close affinity or ties to the Project.
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