Friday, January 2, 2009

The Siberian Husky Dog


The Siberian Husky was originally developed in Northeast Asia by the Chukchi people, and at that time was named the Chukchi Husky. Although its ancestry is not known, this dog is definitely related to the Spitz family. Way back during the Alaskan Gold Rush, these dogs were extremely important to life in the Arctic regions. It was at that time that dog racing became an enjoyable pastime as a standard source of entertainment.

The popular Alaska Sweepstakes Race, which covered over 400 miles in the distance from Nome all the way to Candle, became an entrance for the Chukchi Huskies in 1909. These dogs did not really fare well in popularity at that time, however, there was one racer that was impressed with these animals and imported 70 of them to train for winning the 1910 race. Amazingly enough, his three teams of Huskies did indeed win first, second, and fourth-place. As you can probably guess, this immediately set the stage for the Siberian Husky to become the dominating winner for future races.

In 1925 the Siberian Husky started to show up in Canada and then soon after the United States. The AKC recognized this dog as an official breed in 1930. In World War II, a fair amount of Huskies served with soldiers for the US Army's search and rescue missions. This further helped its popularity among dog enthusiasts. Eventually it became a common household pet and of course remains the most popular of any Arctic dog breed in existence today.The