Autumn is not a Siberian Husky nor an Alaskan Malamute, though she likely carries strains of both. She was very purposefully bred, but she is not any AKC-recognized breed at all. Loosely, she is called an Alaskan Husky, which encompasses the group of Northern dogs who are bred for sled-pulling without regards to their physical appearance. I find AKC descriptions of dog breeds quite humorous. They say things like, "Dog must have an erect carriage, an alert expression, and a solid coat of black or grey. Brown is unacceptable." I just made that up but that's about the gist of it. These descriptions crack me up because they remind me of descriptions on wine labels. They sound poetic and all, but I don't really understand what they are talking about.
Anyway, Alaskan huskies can have pointy ears or flopped ears, and can be any color or mix that any dog can be. They can have long tails or short tails or no tails, and can carry them up or down. The only characteristics they have in common is a love of pulling and running, a thick and furry coat, a hardy constitution, and a friendly temperment that can get along with a crowd. They are subdivided into different types also, according to where they work and the type of running they do. Down South near Anchorage, huskies are bigger and more powerful, for plowing through thick, wet snow. Autumn is a sprinter, so she is small and lean (she is just a bit under 40 pounds!). Our neighbors down the street have a team of giant, extremely furry dogs that they take out with an old-fashioned, wood-framed sled that looks like Santa's. Man, are they cute! The newfies of dog-sledding!
Autumn is particularly special because she was raised in a family that loved her as a companion as well as a working dog. She was close to both her human parents and their children, and they neither cull puppies nor euthanise retirees. It's a sad fact that many mushers cull puppies whom they don't anticipate to be good racers. And quite a few do not get placed out to retirement homes as Autumn and her brethren have been.
Anyway so that is my report for today. Sorry to end it on a sad note. :/
4 comments:
Hi everyone, have a happy new year and 2008. Stay safe, warm and hydrate. It is about 45-50 in my place, for the first time, I really feel cold to the bones. It is easy to fall for Autumn, she is great. Be alert out there, a tiger killed a visitor in SF Zoo.
Happy New Year Daisy, Dan, Autumn and all the rest of your fuzzy ones...have you adopted a moose yet? We saw a few Alaska license plates on our drive from Seattle back to the bay area and thought often of you. The sun is definitely warmer and more intense in California; it was nice to return home.
I am reminded of one of my favourite episodes of Nova. It was a show about dogs and dog breeds. One of the people interviewed was a geneticist who'd (iirc) recently been convinced by his family to get a dog. He noted out that humans have selectively bred dogs for all kinds of weird physical traits (ears of a certain length, coats of certain colors), but that people talk about particular breeds based on their *personalities*. His point was that the world would be a better place - people would get more out of their dog companions, and dogs wouldn't be shipped off to shelters for bad behavior - if breeders were selecting exclusively for temperament, instead of physical characteristics. Which would you rather have - a happy, healthy, smart dog who won't bite your kids or eat your sofa, but looks like a mutt - or a neurotic mess that has the right color fur.
Well, the American Kennel Club says, of Newfies: "Temperament
Sweetness of temperament is the hallmark of the Newfoundland; this is the most important single characteristic of the breed." Every time I read that, it makes me melt a little inside. :) Of course, this same breed standard also includes the usual jazzed-up and baffling descriptions of exact physical appearance characteristics...
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