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	honorh 2013-01-20 01:48 am UTC (link)
	What bothers me about sled dogs in movies is that they use Siberian huskies 'cause they're pretty, but very few mushers--and none who actually win races--use Siberians. "Slowberians", they call them. Most use Alaskan huskies or Chinooks. Not nearly as photogenic, but wow, are they ever fast. /Alaskan rant (Reply to this)(Thread)

	itcamefromjapan 2013-01-20 06:44 am UTC (link)
	OH MAN I was totally going to rant about this. /Washingtonian-who-studied-the-Iditarod-in-elementary-school rant (Reply to this)(Parent)

white_tean
2013-01-20 01:15 pm UTC (link)

This is true (with the exception of service dogs, into which a very significant investment is made) of horses and dogs both. While there are "working breeds" of both (sled dogs, plough horse breeds) the reality is that it's rarely worthwhile for the person making a living with working these animals to invest in pure bred animals.

While breeds like the Shire Horse and Clydsedale are iconic farming breeds, the horses used to plough fields and pull carts were generally smaller mix breeds who often doubled as riding and racehorses (when my grandfather was growing up the mix-breed horses that would pull milk carts would be used as racehorses on weekends).

And there's all this silly marketing to tell us why mongrels aren't as good as purebreeds, because people who sell pedigree animals sell them at inflated prices.

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	white_tean 2013-01-20 01:20 pm UTC (link)
	What I mean is, the breeds we think of as "iconic" working breeds, are often rarely used as to do that kind of work in practice (or they're ultra-typed version of the traditional thing). But their traditional role in society adds perceived value to them. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	soc_puppet 2013-01-20 11:05 pm UTC (link)
	My fifth grade teacher literally defined sled dogs* as "Any animal with four legs and a tail, capable of pulling a sleigh". I assume she meant something about breed standards, but that didn't stop me from imagining a team of mountain lion "sled dogs". * I think she may even said Alaskans specifically, but I'm erring on the side of caution here. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	honorh 2013-01-21 12:42 am UTC (link)
	Yeah. Mushers don't care what their dogs look like, which is why the AKC doesn't recognize Alaskan huskies as a breed. The only standard is how they perform. They need to be fast, they need to be strong, and they need to be smart. And they need to love what they do. You don't go anywhere with huskies that lose heart, as many a musher has discovered. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

silrana
2013-01-22 06:49 am UTC (link)

This reminds me of one of my high school teachers, who bred border collies. He fought tooth and nail to keep them from being recognized as an AKC breed, because he said the AKC standards ruined breeds. I can remember him ranting, "You have retrievers who can't retrieve their own tails, hunting dogs who wouldn't know what to do on a hunt, and shepherds who would let all your herd wander off. But they sure are pretty."

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	singe 2013-01-21 01:30 am UTC (link)
	Yukon Cornelius would agree with her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cmdr_zoom 2013-01-22 02:06 am UTC (link)
	"A fluorescent nose (of any color) is considered a non-desirable trait in this breed." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	singe 2013-01-22 04:07 am UTC (link)
	Snerk! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	peonypavilion 2013-01-22 03:50 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah. Siberians have some potential usefulness as baggage haulers, due to their bulk, but racing sled dogs need to be marathon runners: lean, pulmonarily efficient, and very fast. And even so, no hauler or backcountry guide is gonna pay a Siberian's huge price when they can simply pick out the too-big-to-race pups from a litter of Alaskans. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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