I can't let Cam start all the stirring threads, so here's a question for you all.

Why do you have the dogs in your house/kennel/yard that you do?

Perhaps another way of putting it would be........

What's more important to you
the type of dog you have,  (type in this instance is more a pure bred, Sibe, Sammy, Mal, Eurohound, Alaskan, mongrel than racy v showy type)
 the ability of the dogs you have,
the personality/nature of the dogs you have
the look of the dog.

For those that race:-
What's more important for you - that your dogs are KC registered and look like your preferred breed or having a kennel of dogs that were purely bred for racing and performance.  (this presupposes that all the dogs in each situation are well cared for, selected and bred using only healthy stock, etc, etc)

For those that race and/or just work your dogs:-
Do you think you would change your answer to the question above, if you lived in Scandinavia or the US/Canada, with ready access to any length of trail, snow and heady competition?


 

This is a good 'un!

I have Sibes because I like them, and I work them because they need to work to be happy, and because it's the only way to really assess their quality when considering breeding. Because of that I would say that the type of the dog is most important to me.

By type, I mean a combination of structure, personality/temperament, ability and looks (probably in that order of importance).

In terms of racing, what is most important to me is that they are Siberians and strong breed type (as correct as possible according to the KC standard) is paramount in that. I strongly believe that the features described in our standard are (mostly) what defines a good working Sibe, so that's my starting point. Then I look at how the dogs work on the trail. Speed isn't my overriding priority, but drive, attitude and most of all stamina and toughness are. Speed would be a nice extra addition to all that!

If I had the trails and snow available abroad I would be pretty likely to stay with the type I currently have - in fact one of the things I have considered as a problem for me if I was to emigrate would be access to more dogs of the lines I've concentrated on for so long. However I have seen one particular line of Alaskans which impress me greatly and if there was not the pressing need to have KC registered dogs to take part in competition, then I would probably add a few of those to my kennel to breed as a separate line. Here, I just don't have the space or the money.

It's quite difficult to describe exactly how I prioritize the things I look for in my dogs, because it just happens that those who have the sort of type and construction I prefer have also got the best working ability. Whether I have just been very lucky, or whether these things have become genetically linked in the lines I prefer I don't know. I do know that I wouldn't change my preference just because we aren't fast enough to get high race placings - I am pretty sure that trained for sprint, trained more regularly and driven more aggressively my dogs could do that, but it's not my aim. I want to come across the line with the dogs looking as strong and willing as they did at the end of the first mile, and then go home and look at them all and think "wow - you're beautiful". 

Why do you have the dogs in your house/kennel/yard that you do?
As SIX of the dogs we have, which is about half of our kennel, are re-home/rescue the choice I guess has not totally been ours, but that's what happens when you are willing to take on others cast-off, problems, etc. I suppose those who do not have the heart to re-home and help out in that way have the luxury of totally honing their kennel to their wishes. That said I would not part with any of our guys, well maybe the red one  


What's more important to you
the type of dog you have,  (type in this instance is more a pure bred, Sibe, Sammy, Mal, Eurohound, Alaskan, mongrel than racy v showy type)
Defo pure bred sibe, KC docs ain't so important as that does not stop me from running the dogs, and I don't show.

the ability of the dogs you have,
Well they have to be able to do what they have been bred for over the years and more than a couple of miles 

the personality/nature of the dogs you have
I have always been pleased with the nature of the earlier dogs from the Sassicaia Kennel, and also of the high percentage Sepps which also leads on to a happy pack environment. As far as I am concerned, if your dogs can not live as a pack either you raised them badly, which I am sure would not be the case, or you have a problem in your lines. I was told recently that good racing dogs are more edgy and need to live in pairs as they will fight in bigger group, or words to that effect. Strange how the likes of of Forstals, Kisko's, etc seem  to manage to keep large packs 

the look of the dog.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder............a good looking dogs does not change the time it takes to go round the trail.

For those that race:-
What's more important for you - that your dogs are KC registered and look like your preferred breed or having a kennel of dogs that were purely bred for racing and performance.  (this presupposes that all the dogs in each situation are well cared for, selected and bred using only healthy stock, etc, etc)

I find it interesting that one of my girls has no 'Ch' in her pedigree and has been bred for generations by WORKING ONLY North American kennels, then over here, qualifies for Crufts at her first championship show, then takes 1st at Crufts. Form follows function........
If my dogs work well, I'm happy.


For those that race and/or just work your dogs:-
Do you think you would change your answer to the question above, if you lived in Scandinavia or the US/Canada, with ready access to any length of trail, snow and heady competition?

No, but my training would.

Cya
E
www.sleddog.info

because we picked and wanted each and every one of them     
we wouldnt be without any of them 

My reasons have changed since from where I started to where I am now.

When I started we wanted a husky, it was important that it was KC registered, but I dont think we really understood all the implications of registered v unregistered back then. Back then we wanted "typey" dogs, but now it is working attitude and temperament that impresses me the most.

Having sibes is important to us. We toyed with the whole hound thing, but for us, sibes suit us.

If I lived in Scandinavia/Canada .....maybe things would be different. You can never know how you will "feel" about a situation until you are in it.

Interesting thread...

We picked the breed initially but having looked and spent time with other breeds wouldn't change.  Sams have their drawbacks but given that we're living with them its the overall package which counts.  We like that we can let all of ours off the lead (although sometimes with bated breath as to whether we will get them back and we don't get the fighting problems which some of the other breeds have.  The ones with us were picked for trying to produce the ultimate show/working sam which demonstrates that breed is true to its origins.  So important for us to show that sams can work well to all those sam folk who don't think sams can work and important for us to show the show folk that working sams can show successfully too.  At the end of the day though they live with us in and out of the house so temperament and attitude the most important of all together with having healthy happy dogs.  Doesn't matter where we'd live we'd still stick with the sams and having seen some of the ones from overseas would be glad to bring in some of that style and attitude.  We've got a lot to learn from overseas about sams I think .

Regards

Liz and the whitespirit crew.

Ex hubby wanted one as a pet I didn't want to get a dogs at all
Well, Sura arrived and the rest is history Wouldn't be without them (He is though )
Suz

I just love Sibs.

They have to be pure bred, the really McCoy, not necessarily KC registered and if beautiful thats a bonus.
Their nature, their ability to get on as a group, temperament is paramount.
They need to be willing to work but its not essential that they win races.

And if we had miles of virgin snow to train on I wouldn't change any of the above, not one iota, BUT we'd all be alot fitter!!!!

Liz,

have you seen this guy's dogs?
I loved my Sams,  but that yap........... 

ooooops...    http://samoyeds4serum.com/  i mean this guy

well, we wnated a dog that looked like a wolf so we got a husky.  we got a brown one because we didnt want a plain white one.  they dont look like real huskies. 

next we decided we wanted a black and white one with blue eyes but all the breeders told us we would have to pay extra for blue eyes.  we just got one with brown eyes..  we met a guy outside the spar who told us our dogs were half wolf as all huskies had wolf in them.  we thought this was great and decided that when we 'studded' him out    we could use that in the advertising! 

we decided to get a gsd so we could breed it with the huskies and have 'real' wolfdogs/ utonagons/ tamaskan dogs / northern inuits.  unfrotunatley we had to get the gsd spayed. 

next we decided to get a grey and white because they look really like 'wolfs'  this time we got two so they would look cute together in matching harnesses when they ran once a year at aviemore. 
we met another guy outside the spar who told us that they were 'real huskies and that their eyes would change colour to blue as they got older'. unfortuantley this didnt happen 

next we met a guy in pets at home who told us that our new boys weren't real huskies because they didn't have blue eyes!! he told us we couldnt show them either   (does this mean they cant run either?? )

we were so dissapointed that we finally paid the extra for a dog with blue eyes but other people have told us that he isnt a 'real huskie' either because his ears are too big and he has a big bump on his nose!

we then got another gsd so we could try to breed wolfdogs again and we also got a white husky pup because people think she looks like a gsd so we can pass her pups off as gsds if the market for huskies is slow.  someone also thought she was a 'spritzer' puppy so we could maybe sell them as those too....we plan to breed her on her first birhday. 

so acording to the 'breed expert' guy outside the spar and the guy outside pets at home we dont even have real huskies.....

no matter........someone told us about this great place where we can dump all the dogs you dont want anymore and make room for new ones.................i think i want one of those rare spotty dogs next................


how much money my dogs can make me.

Excellent 
Not at all politically correct and far from dull.
I dare you to post that somewhere else 

i aim to please....

that you happy now?

 

where would you like me to post it? 

The feckin DISCOVERY channel stated the difference between a mal and a Sibe was Sibes have blue eyes... (what about the 6 stone of surplus dog???)   
 
I think the guy doing the naration on discovery channel shops in spar!

I'm with peter, post it you're double dared!

M

I'll answer my own questions - and I'm still very interested to read other's thoughts.

Why do you have the dogs in your house/kennel/yard that you do?
Because they are the dogs we have bought as pups and adults or bred ourselves over the years. Every dog we have ever bought, bred or rehomed is either in our house, yard or in a urn on the top of the bookcase.
I would say the dogs we have represent the changes in our approach brought about by our experiences.

What's more important to you
the type of dog you have,  (type in this instance is more a pure bred, Sibe, Sammy, Mal, Eurohound, Alaskan, mongrel than racy v showy type)
We started with Samoyeds - and it had absolutely nothing to do with racing, showing, the frozen wilderness, Jack London or the desire to own a wolf. I bumped into a guy when I was 17, that had 2 Sams he had found on a beach. They were the most beautiful looking dogs and I resolved that if I ever got married, had a house with a garden, I would get a Sam. Fast forward 6 years, got married, came back from honeymoon and drove to Brighton to collect Sabre, a 9 year old Sam needing a new home. Since then, we've bumped into the show scene due to wanting a pup ( we've avoided the showscene completely), the race scene because someone said we should go look - and see where that led us.
I'm going to say that I don't care about what type of dog I have now. It's about the actual dog more than what it says on the label.

the ability of the dogs you have,
That has become more important to me - especially as I develop more and more of an interest in running distance. Ability combined with discipline makes me a happy driver and the team a more relaxed one.
However, as I said above, just because some of our dogs don't perform at the level of the rest, doesn't mean they get moved out. Otherwise Tindale would have been long gone ! (Anyone want a 12 y.o. useless red?)

the personality/nature of the dogs you have
Yes, this is a huge factor. I would forgo buying a fast race dog if it was a complete muppet around the kennel. Our dogs live loose, we have to have harmony when we have 16 or 17 dogs playing in the yard. And as part of that equation we have to remember that a working dog is only a working dog for part of its life - the rest of the time, he/she/they are our pets. They'll be our pets for longer than they'll be our race dogs so they need to be companionable.


the look of the dog.
Not an issue - well.........  I'd never have a toy dog !

For those that race:-What's more important for you - that your dogs are KC registered and look like your preferred breed or having a kennel of dogs that were purely bred for racing and performance.  (this presupposes that all the dogs in each situation are well cared for, selected and bred using only healthy stock, etc, etc)

It used to be important, because I thought they had to have a KC registration to be any good.
I've shifted my mindset on that - I've lost interest in the papers and prefer to look at the actual dog.


For those that race and/or just work your dogs:-
Do you think you would change your answer to the question above, if you lived in Scandinavia or the US/Canada, with ready access to any length of trail, snow and heady competition?

Having lived (albeit for a only a few months) in the US - it did change my mind - at least it sowed the seeds of change. I guess, hand on heart answer is - I love my Sibes, but if I lived overseas, my next dogs wouldn't be KC registered.
I've spoken with several "big name" Siberian racers in the States and I always ask them why they race Sibes. To a man, (and it is only men I've asked  ) part of the reason is that they (the drivers) hate being told what their dogs can and can't do. A couple of them have confessed that it is sheer bloody mindedness that keeps them running Sibes.