For most of the last thirty years, I’ve priced Seppala puppies lower than I probably should have.

That wasn’t because they weren’t worth more. It was because I wanted as few barriers as possible between good homes and a rare breed that needed people willing to invest their time, energy, and hearts into preserving it.

For a long time, that made sense. Today, it doesn’t.

Over the past three decades I’ve raised, trained, bred, and campaigned Seppala Siberian Sleddogs because I believe they are worth preserving. Like a handful of other dedicated Seppala kennels across North America, we’ve worked to keep alive a small registered population of dogs that traces directly back to the historic working dogs of Leonhard Seppala.

That work isn’t glamorous. It’s pedigrees and health records. It’s raising litters. It’s hard decisions about breeding. It’s feeding dogs on subzero mornings and training when common sense suggests staying indoors. It’s years of effort that most people never see.

Last year our team completed the Centennial Seppala Expedition across Alaska, retracing the route that Leonhard Seppala and Togo traveled a century earlier. The dogs involved in our upcoming breeding plans were part of that journey. They didn’t earn their credentials in a show ring or a marketing campaign. They earned them on the trail.

The expedition also forced me to think seriously about the future.

A breed preservation program has to be sustainable if it’s going to survive. Passion matters, but passion doesn’t pay for feed, veterinary care, transportation, genetic testing, equipment, or the countless expenses that come with maintaining a working kennel.

For years I’ve absorbed much of that cost myself because I believed in the mission. I still do.

If Poland Spring Kennels is going to continue preserving and promoting the Seppala Siberian Sleddog for the next thirty years, the kennel has to stand on its own feet.

Because of that, puppy placements will now begin at $2,500 for approved homes.

I know some people will be surprised by that number. Others may wonder why it didn’t happen sooner. The fact is, that is the baseline for what Jeffrey Bragg was selling me Seppalas for 25 years ago. 

The truth is that these dogs are rare. They represent decades of preservation work by multiple breeders dedicated to maintaining the Seppala working tradition. They come from proven bloodlines, and in our case, from dogs that have recently proven themselves in the coldest darkest days of the low arctic, completed one of the most ambitious dogsled expeditions undertaken.

I remain committed to placing puppies in the right homes. For working kennels and serious preservation-minded owners, I’m always willing to have a conversation.

My goal hasn’t changed.

I want to see Seppala Siberian Sleddogs thriving fifty years from now. Making that happen requires not only passion and dedication, but a model that can actually endure.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this kennel over the years. I couldn’t have done it without you, and I look forward to what comes next.

— Jonathan Nathaniel Hayes
Poland Spring Kennels