History of the Siberian Husky

Few dog breeds are as old as the Siberian Husky. Developed by the indigenous people of Siberia over 2000 years ago, the dog retains many of the wolf traits of it's ancestors. They still have a pack mentality, look similar to the wolf, and howl at the stars for no apparent reason. The Siberian Husky was used to pull the people and equipment around on sledges during the cold winter months. During these times the dogs slept with the masters in their dwellings and had to get along well with people and other dogs. Brought to Alaska soon after the turn of the century, many scoffed at the small dog and were thought to be of little value in coping with the hardships of the country. Fox Maule Ramsey was a believer in the small dog after a team of Siberians placed third in the All Alaska Sweepstakes of 1909. He entered 3 teams the next year and placed first, second, and third. The first place team set a record for the race that has never been duplicated or broken.

In 1925 disease hit Nome Alaska and the nearest serum was in Anchorage. Transport by plane wasn't possible because of the weather so the serum was shipped to just south of Fairbanks by train. There it was picked up and transported by relay on dog sleds. The 600 mile trip took mail drivers 25 days to complete but during the serum run the distance was covered in just 5 days. Leonhard Seppala ran his team the next to the last leg. He and his lead dog Togo covered over 300 miles including the most dangerous section over the ice covered ocean. The last leg was run by the lead dog Balto and a statue was erected to him and sled dogs of the serum run in New York's Central Park, where it remains today.

Much of the information provided here comes from the book "The Siberian Husky" by Michael Jennings and I urge you to get it and read about the friendly and heroic Siberian Husky.

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This page updated 31 October 2008