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Code of Ethics
Seppala Siberian
Sleddog
International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club
This code of ethics is agreed to with the understanding that this is what the ISSSC stands for, that by agreeing to this code the applicant will uphold the ethics contained within, at home and in public for the sake of the Seppala breed and the International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club.
Item 1. The purpose of the Club is the preservation and promotion of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog as a unique breed, separate and apart from all other breeds. By becoming a member of the club the applicant fully supports and upholds this philosophy and will work toward the preservation of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog as a Seppala Siberian Sleddog and will not represent their dogs by any other breed name.
Item 2. As a performance breed with a working background, currently having several venues available to test and prove working ability, the Seppala Siberian Sleddog should never be bred for cosmetics, coat color, eye color or other superficialities. Surface cosmetics should never be used as breeding stock selection criteria. Dogs for breeding should be selected based on performance ability and adherence to the Seppala Siberian Sleddog breed standard. Although not the only test available it is recognized that racing is the contemporary best venue to fully test and prove a
sleddog.
Item 3. Breeding of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog should always be done in the best interest of the breed rather than just for maintaining the breed. Seppala Siberian Sleddogs should never be bred for the sole purpose of personal gain or puppy sales, and the continued improvement of the breed should be foremost in every breeding decision.
Item 4. Club members are expected to work together, to aid new members and cooperate toward the common goal of the preservation and promotion of the breed. Unsubstantiated accusations about members, dogs, kennels or modes of behavior are not in the best interest of the breed and should be avoided. All Club grievances should be immediately brought to the board without undue proliferation among the membership or general public.
The principle objectives of the International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club
(ISSSC) is to promote the breeding, race testing and responsible ownership of
the Seppala Siberian Sleddog.
A Seppala Siberian Sleddog is an artic-type working dog that has at
least 93% of its background stemming from the following 10 dogs:
| Kree Vanka |
Tserko |
Harry |
Smoky |
Togo |
| Kolyma |
Nome |
Pearl |
Dushka |
Sonia |
These 10 dogs lived
around 1930 and were either the foundation stock
for Harry Wheeler of St. Jovite, Quebec or immediate
ancestors of the Wheeler dogs. Wheeler
and his successor, Donnie McFaul of Maniwaki,
Quebec, called their kennel, Seppala Kennel,
after the famous Alaskan sled dog racer, Leonard
Seppala. So the Wheeler-McFaul dogs became
known as "Seppalas", and that terminology has
been carried over to the pure and almost-pure
descendants alive today. So the Seppala
Siberian Sleddog is an artic dog with a lengthy
ancestry of at least 93% (about 15/16) from
the Wheeler/McFaul kennels. The ISSSC
maintains a complete ancestry back to the 10
root dogs for every CKC registered Seppala.
It was the breedings and racing
of Wheeler and McFaul and a New Englander, Foxstand
Kennels William Shearer III, that preserved,
nurtured and developed the Seppala Siberian
up until the 1960's. Others, most notably
J.J. Bragg and Doug Willett, continued the Seppala
tradition to the present time. Now hundreds
of Seppalas are owned, bred, loved and raced
by many individuals throughout the world.
It is a goal of the ISSSC to be the vehicle
which binds these people to the mentality of
preserving, nurturing and developing that which
was the focus of the great Seppala breeders
and racers of the past.
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A New Beginning For The Seppala Siberian Sleddog:
After 70 Years, Seppala Gets The Respect It Deserves.
On June 4, 2002, the Continental Kennel Club officially
recognized the Seppala Siberian Sleddog as a distinct breed of dog. A
leader and the breed's foremost stud, Race of Seppala, was the first dog
registered under the new breed classification. Over 200 dogs from across
the USA are now CKC registered as Seppala Siberian Sleddogs. Mushers and
breed enthusiasts welcome the opportunity to finally work with a registry
committed to programs directed towards preserving and advancing the workability
and soundness of their dogs while still maintaining consistent type
and personality.
The Story Begins...
Photo courtesy of the Siberian Husky Archive;
photoshop enhancement by J. Jeffrey Bragg.
Northeastern Siberia
is a land of vast expanses and great contrasts, a land
cut in half by the Arctic Circle. It is a land of high
mountains and deep valleys, vast plains and tundras,
merciless winds and blinding blizzards, long white nights
and black days, numbing cold and intense heat, a land
of feast and famine. Dogs were held in high esteem by
the people that lived in this land because their very
existence often depended upon their sleddogs, the ancestors
to the present day Seppala Siberian Sleddog.
In 1908 William Goosak, a Russian fur buyer from northeast Siberia, brought a
team of 10 Siberian sleddogs to Nome. They finished third in the All-Alaska
Sweepstakes race of 1909. Over the next 10 years a number of additional
Siberian sleddogs were imported, and Siberian teams, driven by the legendry
John "Iron Man" Johnson and Leonhard Seppala, dominated the All-Alaska
Sweepstakes races.
In January of 1925, a child in Nome died of diphtheria.
It was imperative that serum be brought in, at once.
It was midwinter and the only way to get serum to Nome
was by a relay of dog teams, 658 miles from Nenana to
Nome, with temperatures hovering around 30 below and
lower, over hazardous ice and rough mountainous terrain,
Seppala drove his team of Siberian sleddogs 260 miles
over a 5 day stretch, averaging 52 miles a day, to be
the primary dog in getting the serum to Nome. Once again,
in relatively modern times, the existence of people
depended upon their sleddogs.
For more information about The International Seppala
Siberian Sleddog Club, please use the contact information to the right. Feel
free to contact
CKC directly for more information about starting your own CKC Licensed
club.
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