ALTHOUGH WE THINK it's really pretty simple, it sometimes takes awhile for folks who still think in terms of "Siberian Huskies versus racing mongrels" to figure out what the Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project is all about! As you view our website, it will help if you keep the following simple points in mind:
Seppala Siberian Sleddogs are a new and separate
evolving breed all unto themselves, on their way to
becoming a new working dog breed. No longer just a substrain
of the AKC/CKC/FCI Siberian Husky breed, they now have
separate status as a breed in their own right in Canada, and
internationally through the International Seppala Association.
Seppalas are, nevertheless, a carefully bred and
controlled sleddog breed; they are neither mongrels nor
crossbreds. They have their own pedigree association,
the Working Canine Association of Canada, and their own breed
standard, both recognised by Agriculture Canada. Thus far the
only association or breed club in the U.S.A. recognised by the
WCAC or the SSSD Project is the International Seppala Association
which will keep SSSD ancestral records worldwide and provide a
global international presence for the breed.
Seppalas are not accepted as show dogs
by any organisation that we are aware of; their own Canadian
association does not organise or approve dog shows or show
championships, nor does it encourage Seppala owners to
participate in these activities. We don't want to see
Seppalas in the show ring; it would only result in the eventual
loss of their ability as working sled dogs (as has largely happened
already to the AKC Siberian Husky).
Seppalas as a working dog breed are defined
simultaneously in three ways, by sleddog performance,
breed standard and pedigree, rather than only by
pedigree or by their breed standard alone. This sets them
apart from other northern breeds that have no sleddog
performance standard.
Seppalas are a multi-purpose versatile working
dog breed; they are not exclusively racing dogs,
nor exclusively recreational sleddogs. They are meant to be
used in a variety of useful ways as sled dogs, just as
the original Seppala dogs were used. Freighting, passenger
touring and excursions are as legitimate purposes for Seppalas
as dogsled racing.
The Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project is committed
to a high level of genetic health and to healthy genetic
diversity in the breed. For that reason we are adding
carefully chosen new genetic material from new Siberia imports
whose type and temperament are closely similar to those of
the original Leonhard Seppala dogs and who come from the
same landrace ancestry in Siberia. The breed will of course
remain firmly based on the Leonhard Seppala bloodline through
its McFaul/Shearer and Markovo-Seppala descendants.
Seppala Siberian Sleddogs are at present a very
small, developing population, available primarily
from Seppala Kennels in Canada's Yukon Territory where
they are being developed as an independent working dog
breed. Definitely a rare breed, they are not available in pet
shops or via the Internet.
In summer of 2002 a wildcat registry was started in the USA
by the Continental Kennel Club and its offshoot activity club
the ISSSC, borrowing the Seppala Siberian Sleddog breed name.
This happened without consultation with the breed development
project in Canada and without authorisation from the WCAC.
Initial ConKC registrations were mostly of dogs that would not
be considered SSSDs in Canada. The ISSSC refuses to cooperate
with either WCAC or the SSSD Project, does not acknowledge the
SSSD Breed Standard (1995), and accepts as "racing Seppalas"
all kinds of Racing Siberian Huskies that are not part of the
legitimate McFaul/Shearer Seppala strain. The SSSD
Project and the WCAC do not recognise the ISSSC/ConKC
registry; we warn the public that the majority of these ISSSC
dogs are not eligible for SSSD status in Canada or under the
worldwide International Seppala Association and have no
legitimate claim to be considered Seppala Siberian
Sleddogs.
The ideal of the Seppala breed is the Original Siberian
Sleddog as it evolved among native tribes of the West
Siberian peninsula and was imported into the Yukon River
country at the beginning of the twentieth century. This
ideal type was perpetuated in the Leonhard Seppala sleddogs,
in their pure-strain descendants the McFaul/Shearer Seppalas, and
finally in the Markovo Seppalas when the strain was rescued
from impending extinction in the 1970s. Today the Seppala
Siberian Sleddog population continues the ideal as well as
the bloodline.
