Rumblings in the Mushing Community: A Petition for the Seppala

The mushing community is small. And the purebred mushing community is a subset within a subset of our culture. Word gets around.

Although I have been sworn to secrecy on many of the details which will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead, nothing I am about to say should come as a shock to anyone who has been reading the purebred mushing forum conversations of late.

The Genetic Shake-up

The AKC purebred class Siberian Husky racing world is about to blow up. “What is done in secret (genetics) will be shouting from the mountaintops” in short order.

The news about to break? Most of the racing Siberian Huskies are actually, by definition, Alaskan Huskies. Some “racing line” Siberian Huskies are as much as 50% Alaskan Husky. Genetic research is showing that many of these outcrosses were done not too far back in the family trees.

I shared this information with a friend of mine yesterday who owns a kennel of AKC racing line Siberians and some Sepps. This musher confirmed, saying: “I just got the results back from the geneticists on an AKC Siberian Husky I just purchased for my team. It was 30% Alaskan Husky.”

Why am I, as a Seppala musher, discussing this? Well, these same studies are showing Seppalas at very low Alaskan Husky content (low single digits) and many Seppalas have none at all. What little there is in the Seppala gene pool is traceable to the use of racing line AKC Siberian Huskies in the past as outcrosses to deepen the gene pool—unbeknownst to those who simply believed the AKC papers.

My point—my petition—is this: The Seppala Siberian Sleddog should be recognized by the International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA) and the International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS) in the purebred class of races.

Registry and Recognition

The Seppala Siberian Sleddog is not recognized in the purebred class by the ISDRA and IFSS because the AKC doesn’t recognize it as a breed. This is despite the fact that greater rigor has been applied to our small breeding pool in past years. The proof is in the relative genetic purity of our Seppalas compared to dogs already racing as purebreds.

This should once and for all remove the air of superiority from those who tout the AKC as superior to the Continental Kennel Club (CKC) registry. As a musher who has used both, I find the CKC requires more proof and rigor in paperwork. For example, the CKC requires physical certificates with original signatures to be mailed in, whereas the AKC often allows simple digital confirmation.

The Canadian Inuit Dog is also not recognized by the AKC, yet no one would deny that it is a truly distinct breed. AKC recognition or no, it is long past due that the true Seppala Siberian Sleddog be given its due respect in the purebred racing world.

Our breed history and studbook has been more closely guarded than perhaps any other over the past 100 years. If there is value to purebred teams at all, then that value should have been extended to our beloved Seppala long before now.

If you serve on the boards of these racing organizations, please consider this petition. The board of the International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club is currently drafting a formal proposal. If you know someone who is, please pass this article along to them.