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Our Alaskan Malamute Percentage
A study of the influence of the confirmed Malamute % in American Bred Siberian Huskies
Nothing is nearly as ego shattering to the would be Siberian Husky "pure bred" fancier, than to find out that the American Bred Siberian Husky was not even pure bred in the beginning. Although there are many alleged cross-breeding stories from throughout the history of the breed, above you see a picture of a documented Alaskan Malamute that is in every American Bred Siberian Husky's pedigree. Liska, was the Dam of Suggen, Suggen was the Sire of the famed Togo. I will say with a certain amount of confidence that every registered Siberian Husky goes back several times to Togo (if you have a verifiable pedigree where this is not the case send it to me).
Pictured above, you can see what appears to be Togo, his offspring. You will notice that because these dogs are a result of a recent outcross, they have deep pigmentation of skin and hair. Because the outcross was Alaskan Malamute, they also have rounder features than the original Siberian Import dogs, a totally different physique, bigger paws, and wider spaced ears.
You can immediately notice the difference in body type that had become popular by the time that the breed exploded into the show world in the 1930's. This may explain the reason that the dog also immediately non-competitive in the racing world, less than 2 decades after it was introduced. With the genetically diverse stock that had started the breed in the beginning, the breed should have remained competitive in the racing circuit for years to come. We must remember that the first stock, came from all over East Siberia, not just from one tribe. No matter how varied the lot of dogs was, they had the same physique and metabolism in common. With the introduction of Alaskan Malamute into the mix the structure of the head, chest, ribs, and even bone density was affected.
Genetically, our breed gained a large amount of diversity from just this one admitted outcross. To try to cover it up, or view it as negative would be immature and irreparable, after all it was a decision made by our breeds true founder. What we must do as owners of the American Bred Strain of Siberian Husky, is to look at the original imports, as the desirable body type for our breed. The popularized, ring fancied, very filled out, rounded featured percentage Malamute look, should be recognized and bred away from. After all, the majority percent of our dogs that comes from Siberia, are dogs that can handle the rigors of surviving and working in a starving country. The physique of a true descendant of such a dog, can not handle excess weight. Excess weight in the before described dogs, can lead to diabetes, thyroid problems, sway back, and other skeletal degeneration.