AS A LEGACY of the post-Markovo years, a large body of "part-Seppala" or "near-Seppala" stock exists in North America. In numbers these dogs overwhelmingly outweigh the pure Seppala or Markovo-Seppala population, probably by a factor of something like twenty to one. They range from dogs with a stray Seppala here and their in their pedigrees through cross-strain breedings to dogs that are around 95% Markovo Seppala, the remaining 5% or so of their genes coming from non-Seppalas such as KODIAK'S LILY, KODIAK'S LAYLA, NATOMAH'S KAMIK, etc.
SO LONG AS THESE DOGS are correctly identified as Racing Siberian Huskies, there is not much of a problem. Difficulties arise, though, when owners overstate the Seppala content of their dogs, sometimes calling them pure Seppalas. The first ISSSC "Seppala Directory" listed fifty-one dogs as "100% Seppala," yet there were only fourteen Markovo-Seppalas among them. Something is wrong here, because the ONLY 100% Seppalas ARE Markovo-Seppalas! One of the dogs thus listed was actually only seven-eighths Seppala, with a non-Seppala great-grandam. If seven-eighths Seppala is 100%, then what percentage is a Markovo-Seppala? 150%? Clearly we are venturing into the realm of imaginary numbers!
As a result of overstating Seppala percentages, the distinction between Markovo Seppalas and mixed-lineage part-Seppalas is almost entirely lost. If out of a group of fifty dogs claimed as 100% Seppala only just over one-quarter are Markovo Seppalas, this must be seen as evidence that the process of assimilation is far advanced. (Of course, the problem isn't confined to the 100-percent level. There are examples of 60-65% stock masquerading as 90%+ Seppala. Overstatement of percentages occurs at all levels.) The blue-sky percentage calculations used by the International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club are creating a situation in which breeders no longer distinguish between mixed lineage and pure Seppala strain. The ultimate result will be either assimilation of the pure Seppala bloodline into the mixed Racing Siberian Husky population or else the dilution of Seppalas by the RSH population within supposed SSSD registries. Either way the results will be similar: the final loss of Seppala strain as a distinct entity after a proud history spanning over eighty years as a unique bloodline apart from all other Siberians.
By assimilation I mean the loss of the distinct identity of Seppalas by their interbreeding with the much larger population of mixed-lineage Racing Siberian Huskies. This is exactly what was happening in the late 1960s after the closing of the McFaul kennel. No one was left to breed Seppalas as a distinct strain. The bloodline was well on its way to becoming lost in the general Siberian Husky population. Remaining individual Seppalas were interbred with Anadyr, White Water Lake, Wobiska/Nekanesu, and various New England bloodlines.
Today the situation is remarkably similar. The "International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club" and its ConKC registry accept almost any racing Siberian Husky as a "percentage Seppala" and also accept any and all Alaskan Husky crosses in their "MISC: Seppala/AH" class, which can apparently be registered as a "purebred" Seppala as soon as the percentage can be graded up to 93%. Meanwhile in the AKC Siberian Husky registry, nothing has changed: Seppalas are still interbred with pet stock and showdogs on the premise that anything that can boast a purple piece of paper with the right name on it is a "Siberian Husky."
Except for those in the Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project, Seppalas now stand in need of rescue from assimilation, infiltration and dilution every bit as much as they did in 1970!
