|
| First Dog | Dog Care | Dog Training | Dog Feeding | Dog Health | Dog Breeding | Dog Showing | OutDoor Dogs | Working Dogs | Careers with Dogs | Forum | Pet Links | Site Map | Home | |
SIBERIAN HUSKY |
|||||||
|
Additonal Breeds Starting With Letter:
Pet Sites
 |
A variety of primitive paleo-Asiatic tribes have been present in Siberia for half-a-million years, during the time when the vast North was a warmer and more hospitable hunting ground. These tribes continued to live much as they had during the Stone Age. Each group relied on dogs as helpers, and each developed a specific type, based upon such factors as hunting requirements and snow cover, terrain and temperature. The Chukchi
tribe, often referred to as the "Dog Breeding" Chukchi, was
based along the coasts of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans on the peninsula
that reaches out from Siberia toward Alaska. When a harsh cold settled
into the area about 3,000 years ago, the Chukchi people adapted by creating
a culture based on the longdistance sled dog. The tribe lived in permanent
inland settlements and had to go long distances to hunt the sea mammals
which fed both people and dogs. A small sledding dog was ideal, one that
could exist on very little food. Neither sprinters nor freighters, these
dogs were endurance animals and could pull light loads of killed game
at moderate speeds over incredible distances. When a Chukchi needed to
haul something heavier, he merely borrowed extra dogs from friends and
harnessed up 16 or 18 instead of
the usual six-to-eight hitch.
All males
except the finest lead dogs were castrated after a year in harness,
not only to control the breeding urges but to help maintain fat on their
bodies. By keeping all but the unneutered lead dogs tied during the
winter when the bitches came in heat, a workable system of line-breeding
was established. Because the Chukchi women did most of the dog care
and selection, these dogs were used to children and were accustomed
to being a part of the family.
Siberian Chukchis were brought
into Alaska in the early 1900s, and quickly gained a reputation for
sledding. The Chukchi dog in pure form, or crossed with other native
sledding breeds, became universal, especially in chores where speed
with endurance was of utmost importance, such as mail delivery and
long-distance sled dog racing. He was, at that time, still called
Chukchi or "husky," a generic term for a sled-pulling dog.
|
