Talk:Alaskan husky

Need photos
The featured photo is not of an Alaskan Husky. It is of either a pregnant or fat Siberian Husky. None of these photos accurately depict this dog type. This is one of my sled dogs, out of Doug Swingley bloodlines. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idol_swingley.jpg Asigglin (talk) 23:03, 30 July 2015 (UTC)


 * I found an image in Flickr that you may use. It is located here and it has a compatible CC license. Since I don't know much about dogs I leave it up to you people to decide if it is good enough for the article. -- Rune Welsh | &tau;&alpha;&lambda;&kappa; | Esperanza  12:31, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

I think it is safe to say that this breed has two good photographs and does not the tag anymore. If no one objects, I will remove the tag on the 25th.--Coaster1983 20:31, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Seeing no objection, I have removed the tag.--Coaster1983 19:54, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

I have uploaded three pictures of Alaskan Huskies, two of whom are owned by me, and one who is owned by a close friend. I didn't want to add them to the page because I wasn't sure where to put them, but if anyone wants to edit them into the page, feel free. You can find them here: Katie, my sled dog and pet. She was around 13 or 15 in the picture. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kay.jpg Ruby, my lead dog and pet. She is the daughter of Katie, the dog in the picture above. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rubyhusky.jpg Harmony, a puppy from a litter of my neighbor's dogs. Her mother was a large white working sled dog from a small village near Nome, Alaska. Though she doesn't look much like a husky, she is one. I think she'd be a good example of an Alaskan Husky that doesn't look like what most people expect to see. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harmonydog.png

Breed table?
Should this have the breed table, or is this the equivalent of collie and Jack Russell Terrier? I'm not sure because I don't know enough about the breed/type. -- sannse (talk) 18:33, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't know either; I added it based on the fact that it's in the List of dog breeds. There sure isn't much info to put in the table! Elf | Talk 19:03, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Alaskan Husky
The breed is the most healthy, strongest, trainable and good minded husky I know. A standard version of the Alaskan Husky would at a point loss some of these qualities. If you ask the breeders, they know the breed table of the dogs they have. /denmark

Breed History
"Alaskans are strong working dogs with thousands of years of breeding and history in the north country." Um...how can they have thousands of years of breeding and history if the breed is defined as a mongrel cross of New World Alaskan Native dogs and Old World breeds such as hounds? Fledchen 02:31, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Good point. The dogs have long history of intentional selective breeding, but not under the name "Alaskan Husky", and not with written records. So I'd agree that thousands of years is an overstatement.

When did the term "wolfdog" appear in this article? If you follow the link, the wolfdog article says at the end that not everyone considers the Alaskan husky to be a wolfdog. Several things make me doubt this. Given the known history of the breed as mentioned above, it does not include wolves. Although wolves are physically capable of pulling a sled, I have yet to hear of a known wolf hybrid that was willing to do so at a competitive level. I think we should stick to what we know in this article. Until there is a definitive test, such as a genetic one, the truth of whether there is or is not wolf in the breed may be difficult to determine. I would like to change this, but first, are there any other comments?botanybob (talk) 05:11, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Small Dispute
I just wanted to point out that referencing the Alaskan Husky is the sled dog of choice for sprint races is a bit, well, I'm not sure how to put it. If I had to pick a breed that's most commonly used in sprints it would be the eurohound, but honestly almost every musher breeds they're dogs to their specific qualifications, so I'd say the Alaskan Husky the sled dog of choice for most sled dog races, since almost any dog running in a race can qualify as and "Alaskan Husky," except of course the few exceptions when people run either purebred Siberians, or other purebreds.

Anyway, my point is, if we're going to talk about a sled dog of choice for sprint races, we should say eurohound and not Alaskan Husky.

On another matter, and I'm not sure this should be added as it's rather horrible, but happens quite often, the point on Alaskans who fail to meet performance standards is mostly true, but there are a few mushers out there who kill any puppy who's not up to standard.

Sorry if I'm a bit picky about this whole subject, I am both a musher and Alaskan Husky breeder. I have quite a few edits I'd like to add, but before I do I'm working on them in my sandbox so I can get opinions on them (they aren't up yet.)

Thank you, Aelyanariah (talk) 7:30, 31 Aug 2009 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I suggest that Mackenzie River husky be merged here, due to the fact that it is a strain of alaskan husky. -- T K K  bark !  13:41, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

Genetic signature?
"The Alaskan husky does have a unique genetic signature of microsatellite-based markers that are more consistent than those found in Malamutes or Siberians."

This needs citation. Neither of the USA's two largest dog DNA testing companies - Wisdom Panel and DNAMyDog - are able to test for this breed, which suggests there is not actually a unique genetic signature developed.

EDITED TO ADD: Found and added citation. Genetic signature developed is for identifying endurance vs. sprint dogs only and is not for breed identification purposes.

Drafting
, apologies I think my last edit may have inadvertently undone an edit of yours. Cavalryman (talk) 05:15, 14 September 2021 (UTC).
 * I had some saved, so it ended up working out. I'm working to consolidate some of our content together for the different sections so that the article flows well while making use of all our sources. Mcfuggins (talk) 05:32, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I think care needs to be taken using some of the sources:
 * – should only be used a primary source about the Yukon Quest
 * – again should only be used a primary source about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which it is
 * – I think this is of questionable reliability, personally I wouldn't use it, I am not sure we need it
 * Kind regards, Cavalryman (talk) 05:47, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I removed the sleddogcentral source, I agree it is biased and with your print sources we do not need it. Could you explain why the use of the Iditarod and Yukon Quest sources as primary sources for the races would be a problem in use on this article? They do reference the breed within the material. Just want to understand what's appropriate is all. Mcfuggins (talk) 07:20, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Basically they should only be used to cite information about themselves, for instance that Alaskan huskies are the most commonly used breed in the field. Cavalryman (talk) 10:34, 14 September 2021 (UTC).
 * I've reduced use of the race-specific articles to citing only racing field specifics such as breed usage in races. I took some time as well to clarify wording and help sections flow within each other. I am fairly happy with where the draft is at right now, and I'm prepared to submit it for review. Please let me know if there are other changes you feel should be made before submission - I will wait a few days before sending it on myself Mcfuggins (talk) 23:23, 2 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I made some changes to description and history. The one overarching thing I’d be careful of is implying that the Alaskan husky is solely the descendent of sines and malamutes crossed with European dogs. Many of the genetic references indicate a heavy influence of Alaskan type village dog. Some Alaskan huskies, such as the Hedlund Husky, have no outside genetic influence. --Annwfwn (talk) 13:27, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

So the peer reviewed, science-based sources for this article provide evidence that the Alaskan husky is a landrace breed. While the snobs may not like that terminology, the evidence does not support their position. Perhaps instead of removing the word breed, we add a controversy segment to explain why they continue to support that. Annwfwn (talk) 15:02, 8 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I am with you on use of "breed", although I am the editor that removed this due to the back and forth over the term in other areas of the WikiProject. I am in full support of adding the word breed, for consensus' sake if nothing else. I don't think a controversy section is necessary, as this controversy exists in the Wiki community, not in the scientific community, and they have been given this label by the most comprehensive study conducted on the topic. However, the use of the term landrace is less clear here. The original village dogs of the late 1800s and early 1900s could have been considered landrace with no arguments, but I am not sure the modern Alaskan Husky population does, with the degrees of progression and selection in their breeding over the decades. I am far from an authority on this so I do not want to weigh in without someone else who is, but for consensus' sake, I think it is appropriate to note that the breed is derived from a landrace population, and to extrapolate no further than that. Mcfuggins (talk) 22:19, 8 January 2022 (UTC)