Have you ever
asked yourself what you mean when you talk about the "original purpose"
of the Siberian? There is an apparent tendency among many fanciers to
talk about racing as the breed's natural work or original function.
It strikes these authors that this is a glib oversimplification, certainly
not supported by the Standard, and that there is a very important, largely
unexpressed position that deserves to be made EXPLICIT: The Siberian
was not, for the first twenty or thirty centuries, bred for racing!
For what characteristics were early Siberian Huskies
selected? We think immediately of desire to work; of some speed and
considerable endurance; we think of arctic survival ability (really,
this should come first!); we think of efficiency of digestion and metabolism
(crucial in the arctic!); we think of compatibility in a group of dogs,
without loss of natural social order or dominance structure (because
that prevents fighting and subsequent blood loss); we think of good
social interaction with humans, especially children (it is known now
that pets play a psychologically healthsaving, lifesaving role in our
society, and thus probably in all societies); and, of course, the ability
to rear sound healthy young. These are the irreducible few really important
traits that must have originally influenced the development of the breed.
Let us draw some analogies. The American Quarter
Horse was developed for the primary purpose of assisting the rancher
in his everyday management of cattle herds, specifically roping and
cutting of cattle for branding and marketing, and as an all around utility
animal. Because of his speed and agility, he was used for weekend sport
racing. The Quarter Horse today can be used as a pleasure animal, a
show animal, or a racing animal. Horse people, however, have too much
sense to expect the same animal to cut cows and race successfully against
thoroughbreds, which are horses bred specifically to race, and little
else. Thus, the Quarter Horse is a perfect example of a breed that has
become two breeds as the result of sport racing - fortunately for him,
there is active testing of both functions available at every rodeo and
small oval track in the country! Economics played an important role
in this evolution (yes, folks, there is money in horses!). Those Quarter
Horses that are used for racing the quarter mile are now, under the
pressure of their use as money-sport animals, recognizable from some
distance and by an amateur eye as a separate type from the short-coupled,
shorter-legged, haunchy stock horse who competes at rodeos and exhibitions.
Furthermore, if the Quarter Horse is to serve man as a racing animal,
it must be fed a diet so rich that most of it is not digested. Feces
from horses fed this diet are so nutritious and appetizing that they
themselves can be used as fodder! Speed for its own sake IS, mechanically
and biochemically, a luxury in nature, and is always wasteful. The principles
of power transmission through the body of a four-footed animal tell
us that there is necessarily a compromise of speed for strength, and
strength for speed in each body structure.
From a strictly mechanical point of view, the automobile
is another example. The Honda Accord was developed to provide comfortable,
economical transportation with minimal maintenance. It can, however,
be adapted for the sport of racing, and if it is to be used as a racing
car - which is not its original purpose - it must sustain significant
mechanical changes which render it no longer the economical, reliable
automobile it was designed to be. The carburetor must be changed completely,
fuel efficiency is sacrificed, and wear is exaggerated - tires, clutch,
engine, everything!
And now, to the point: Nature wastes nothing. Everything
has a purpose and is used to the fullest. The harsh Russian arctic environment,
where efficiency is crucial, is the original home of our breed. We can
scarcely imagine the stress of survival and the need to measure out
every calorie, to drain mileage and warmth out of every scrap of food.
"A piece of blubber, measuring 2 inches each way, and some shreds of
putrid walrus-meat or whale-skin form the daily ration of every dog…the
dogs can go several days without feed, even on the journey…when not
at work, the dogs can subsist on very little." (The Siberian Husky,
Vol. 1, Louise H. Foley and Raymond Thompson, Raymond Thompson Co.,
1962, p. 20). And this was during the demanding winter season! In the
summer, the dogs were reportedly turned loose to forage.
Coming from this environment, one would predict
that the Siberian Husky would serve a function close to survival. However,
realistically, taking sociology into account, there may have been some
minor specializations - i.e., dogs preferred for different functions:
hauling heavy kills, or exploration, or hasty retreat or pursuit, or
even on occasional racing.* But the overwhelming influence must have
been survival and work, and racing was probably more functional than
for sport in this land of constant trial. In general, there is much
evidence which indicates that speed was far from the highest priority
in the breeding or these original dogs. Quoting again from Foley and
Thompsen, p. 36, "The average trotting-speed of good dogs is generally
from 4½ to 6½ and ten miles an hour(sic). In general, dogs are inferior
in speed not only to horses, but even to reindeer, but they occupy first
place, reindeer second, and horses last, when capacity of running long
distances with only brief rests is considered…. These figures, giving
the speed of dogs, apply to well-trodden and level trails."
An important caveat: We do not want to minimize
the worth of continual work-testing of Siberians, by whatever means
are available in our culture (or on its fringes!), as a large and important
part of our evaluation of them.
Any work that roughly resembles that for which
they were used throughout most of their history is desirable, under
humane conditions, so long as the interpretation of their performance
in that test takes into account the difference between the test and
their original function. This is especially important in the case of
speed per se (The greyhound, bless his simple soul, was bred to chase
game in a temperate climate!), since the principles of power transmission
through the body of a dog tell us, once again, that there is necessarily
a compromise of speed for strength and strength for speed; and long
distance travel implies more endurance than speed.
If anyone still insists that the "original purpose"
of the Siberian was racing, let him be precise and say that the original
purpose of the Siberian, in this country, since its importation seventy-some
years ago, is racing.
We are now well past the need to strive to survive
in an elemental sense. We now have a choice. If you want a freight dog,
get a Malamute. If you want to race dogs competitively, get Alaskans,
or hounds. The Siberian has been, and is, an exquisite compromise among
strength, endurance, and speed, a balance between beauty and function,
with a delightful, compatible temperament. He is a "medium-sized working
dog…. He performs his original function in harness most capably, carrying
a light load at moderate speed, over great distances." Let's know him
that way, breed him that way, and love him that way.
* Could some have been especially good "igloo dogs"?
Special thanks to F.R. Cornell, Sr., 1979 Montana State Horseman of
the Year, for research material on the American Quarter Horse. ###
-- The above article is published in The
Siberian Quarterly: Hoflin Publishing, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Spring
1981 Issue, p. 16.
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