By MickB
Date 15.03.05 21:38 UTC
I think the reason most UK sibes don't do better in the group/BIS ring is because most of the top judges have experienced Siberians in Europe and the UK sibes, especially when judged in the breed by a "breed specialist," tend to look like a completely different breed - less coat, less substance and definitely less "showy"

Well I thought the BOB very nice looking. Like with GSD there must be a middle road between the heavy short legged dumpy glamarous sibe and the sometimes skeletal sibe that looks like a sibe x Greyhound :D
Being an Elkhound owners I also prefer the classic patterned dogs and not the whites and piebalds. I do wonder if these other less primitive type coloration has something to do with mixed blood in the original sled dogs. During the gold rush when there was a shortage of sled dogs any dog woudl be conscripted and probably left it's genes in the sled dogs makeup??? May of course be talking through the top of my head( or some other body mass :D), as I am just sumply speculating.
I do know that in Europe and other countries they are now using all manner of shortcoated crosses simply for racing, pointer blood seems to be one favourite for some reason?

the BOB is a very nice looking dog, he is also very well built standard fitting siberian, moderate in all respects, just as the breed standard calls for but can also perform very well in harness. he is now a veteran but still runs on his breeders team, finishing in the top 3 at most races. i think he is fantastic, not that i am biased but do have one of his sons ;-)!
most of the top kennels in ths country do still work their show dogs as the siberian is after all a working breed and should still be able to perform the job it was intended to do. there are the extremes of very shorted coated rangy siberians that are bred pureley for speed that are not typical of the breed in my opinion, but just as untypical are the very heavy boned, short legged, short backed cobby looking siberians that simply do not have the constuction to perorm the job they were originally intended to do ie carry loads at moderate speeds over moderate distances through snow.
kelly
By MickB
Date 17.03.05 17:22 UTC
"Brainless" is right - if you see photos of the original dogs imported into Alaska, the first thing you will notice is what a mixed bunch they are. Some look very much like the stockier show dogs you might find in the US, some look like the slimmer version favoured by some UK breed fanciers, and some look like crossbreeds. There is a good reason for this. In the mid 1860's, there was a major famine amongst the Chukchi which almost wiped out the entire Chukchi dog population. In the words of George Kennan, writing in his book, "Tent Life in Siberia" in 1870, "".... Part of the inhabitants and nearly all the dogs had died of starvation ......there were no available dogs in all the Northern District, from the Okhotsk Sea to the Bering Strait." As times improved, dogs were brought in to the Chukchi area from other areas and bred with the few remaining Chukchi dogs, giving rise to the variety of types seen in the early photographs.
When the Siberian Husky was recognised as a specific breed by the American Kennel Club, a breed standard was produced which. like all breed standards, attempted to crystalise within it an ideal of the breed. In the case of the Siberian Husky, the ideal was of a sled dog which could pull a lightly loaded sled at moderate speed over vast distances in arctic conditions. Once the breed standard was agreed and accepted, over time the differences obvious within the early imports became less and less and a more homogenous group of dogs, instantly recognisable as "siberian huskies" began to appear.
Even early on in the breed's modern history, however, those whose primary interest was racing, were less interested in comforming to a breed standard, than in breeding fast racing dogs.
Turning to Kelly's point, here in the UK, racing siberian huskies is a popular activity, but it is a mistake to think that the ultra short distance sprint racing we do, can in any way be regarded as "working" our siberians in terms of "the job it was intended to do." There is simply no comparison whatever. To pull a sled for up to 100 miles a day, on snow, day after day in arctic conditions, cannot in any way be compared to pulling a wheeled rig for 2 or 3 miles every weekend on grassy trails in warm conditions. Sprint racing is great exercise for us and our dogs, and a lot of fun, but don't be fooled into thinking that it can be equated with "the job it was intended to do."
Two years ago, Carol Nash judged bitches at the SHCGB Champ Show and was appalled at the state of UK Siberians. Carol is closely allied with Don Young's Black Oak kennel whose dogs have completed the Iditarod on numerous occasions so she knows about "real" working siberians. In her judging critique Carol said,
"Once the line in the US Standard about carrying a light load over a long distance is removed, it opens the possibility of an entirely different look. I understand you are focused on running your dogs, & running them as fast as possible over short distances, as those are the conditions you have available. Our goal .......is to maintain the Siberian as a working, showing dog that would be recognised as such by the founding breeders. Hopefully they will function well within these limitations. If I remove these limitations I may not still have a Siberian Husky, nor may I be certain what I now do have or where I would then go with it. Please consider exactly how far from the pioneer Siberians you want to go in this effort for sprint dogs!"
Nuff said!