Husky is a general term for a type of dog used in the

polar regions The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the pol ...

, primarily and specifically for work as

sled dog A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transpor ...

s. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that maintain arctic breed traits (also known as Alaskan huskies) represent an ever-changing

crossbreed A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

of the fastest dogs. Huskies have continued to be used in sled-dog racing, as well as expedition and trek style tour businesses, and as a means of essential transportation in rural communities. Huskies are also kept as pets, and groups work to find new pet homes for retired racing and adventure-trekking dogs.

Etymology

The term "husky" first came into usage in the mid to late 1700s. At this time, "Esquimaux" or "

Eskimo ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

" was a common term for pre-Columbian Arctic inhabitants of North America. Several dialectal permutations were in use including Uskee, Uskimay and Huskemaw. Thus, dogs used by Arctic people were the dogs of the Huskies, the Huskie's dogs, and eventually simply the husky dogs. Canadian and American settlers, not well versed on Russian geography, would later extend the word to

Chukotka sled dog The Chukotka Sled Dog (, '' hukótskaya yezdováya'', " Chukotsky riding dog", literally "riding Chukotsky") is the aboriginal spitz breed of dog indigenous to the Chukchi people of Russia. Chukotka sled dog teams have been used since prehistori ...

s imported from Russia, thus giving rise to the term Siberian husky.

History

Nearly all dogs' genetic closeness to the

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

is due to admixture. However, several Arctic breeds also show a genetic closeness with the now-extinct Taimyr wolf of

North Asia North Asia or Northern Asia () is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geography, geographical terms and consists of three federal districts of Russia: Ural Federal District, Ural, Siberian Federal District, Siberian, and the Far E ...

due to admixture: the

Siberian Husky The Siberian Husky is a dog breed, breed of medium-sized Working dog, working sled dog. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family. It is recognizable by its thickly furred Coat (dog), double coat, erect triangular ears, and distinctive mark ...

and

Greenland Dog The Greenland Dog ( Greenlandic: ''Kalaallit Qimmiat'', Danish: ''Grønlandshund'') is a large breed of husky-type dog kept as a sled dog. They were brought from Siberia to North America by the Thule people 1,000 years ago, along with the Ca ...

(which are also historically associated with Arctic human populations) and to a lesser extent, the

Shar Pei The Shar Pei () is a dog breed from southern China. Traditionally kept as a property guardian, the shar pei was driven to the brink of extinction in the 20th century. The breed is known in the West for its deep wrinkles, while a traditional less ...

and

Finnish Spitz Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. An admixture graph of the Greenland Dog indicates a best-fit of 3.5% shared material; however, an ancestry proportion ranging between 1.4% and 27.3% is consistent with the data and indicates admixture between the Taimyr wolf and the ancestors of these four high-latitude breeds. This introgression could have provided early dogs living in high latitudes with

phenotypic In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

variation beneficial for adaption to a new and challenging environment, contributing significantly to the development of the husky. It also indicates that the ancestry of present-day dog breeds descends from more than one region.

Characteristics

Huskies are energetic and athletic. They are distinguished by their hardiness and cold-weather tolerance, in contrast to many modern sprint sled dogs derived from hound and pointer crossbreeds and purebred sprinting dogs which do not have or retain these qualities. Likewise, they are distinguished from

laika Laika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into lo ...

, as they were not developed for the primary purpose of hunting game and prey animals. Huskies typically have a thick double coat that may come in a variety of colors. The double coat generally protects huskies against harsh winters and, contrary to what most believe, they can survive in hotter climates. During the hotter climates, huskies tend to shed their undercoat regularly to cool their bodies. In addition to shedding, huskies control their eating habits based on the season; in cooler climates, they tend to eat generous amounts, causing their digestion to generate heat, whilst in warmer climates, they eat less. Their eyes are typically pale blue, although they may also be brown, green, blue, yellow, or heterochromic. Huskies are more prone to some degree of

uveitis Uveitis () is inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye between the inner retina and the outer fibrous layer composed of the sclera and cornea. The uvea consists of the middle layer of pigmented vascular structures of the eye and ...

than most other breeds.

Breeds

:''This is a list of dog breeds which contain "husky" in their name. To see a complete list of sled breeds, see

Sled dog A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transpor ...

.''

Alaskan husky

The most commonly used dog in

dog sled racing Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter List of dog sports, dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some Europe, European countries. It involves the timed competiti ...

, the Alaskan husky is a

mongrel A mongrel, mutt, or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed, including those that result from intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongrels have no kn ...

bred specifically for its performance as a sled dog. The modern Alaskan husky reflects 100 years or more of crossbreeding with English Pointers, German Shepherd Dogs, Salukis and other breeds to improve its performance. They typically weigh between and may have dense or sleek fur. Alaskan huskies bear little resemblance to the typical husky breeds they originated from, or to each other.

Labrador Husky

The Labrador Husky originated in the Canadian region of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

. The breed probably arrived in the area with the Inuit who came to Canada around 1300 AD. Despite the name, Labrador huskies are not related to the Labrador retriever, but in fact are most closely related to the

Canadian Eskimo Dog The Canadian Eskimo Dog or Canadian Inuit Dog is a breed of working dog from the Arctic. Other names include ''qimmiq''Mackenzie River husky Mackenzie River husky describes several overlapping historical populations of Arctic and sub-Arctic sled dog originally bred to support fur traders for Hudson's Bay Company and later prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush. A mixture of nativ ...

describes several overlapping historical populations of

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

and

sub-Arctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

- type dogs, none of which constituted a

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

. Dogs from the

Yukon Territory Yukon () is a territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s westernmost territory and the smallest ...

were crossed with large

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an breeds such as St. Bernards and Newfoundlands to create a powerful freighting dog capable of surviving harsh arctic conditions during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Sakhalin Husky

The Sakhalin Husky is a critically endangered

landrace A landrace is a Domestication, domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural Environment (biophysical), environment of agric ...

and sled

associated with

Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

and adjacent areas. They are also known as Karafuto Ken, Sakhalin Laika, or Gilyak Laika. While bred primarily as a

, Sakhalin Huskies are also used for hunting bear and fishing. There are approximately 20 Sakhalin Huskies remaining on Sakhalin Island.

Siberian Husky

The Siberian Husky is smaller than the similar-appearing

Alaskan Malamute The Alaskan Malamute () is a large breed of dog that was originally bred for its strength and endurance, to haul heavy freight as a sled dog. It is similar to other arctic breeds such as the husky, the spitz, the Greenland Dog, Canadian Eski ...

. They are descendants of the

s bred and used by the native

Chukchi people The Chukchi, or Chukchee (, ''ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, o'ravètḷʹèt''), are a Siberian ethnic group native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean all within modern Russia. They s ...

of Siberia, a people of Paleosiberian origin, around the year 2000 BC. Imported to Alaska in the early 1900s, they were used as working dogs and racing sled dogs in Nome, Alaska throughout the 1910s, often dominating the All-Alaska Sweepstakes. They later became widely bred by recreational mushers and show-dog fanciers in the U.S. and Canada as the Siberian Husky, after the popularity garnered from the

1925 serum run to Nome The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the territory of Alaska, US territory of Alaska by 20 mushing, mushers and about 150 sled dogs ...

. Siberians stand 20–23.5 inches, weigh between 35 and 60lbs (35-50 for females, 45-60 for males), and have been selectively bred for both appearance and pulling ability. They are still used regularly today as sled dogs by competitive, recreational, and tour-guide mushers.

References

External links

* {{Primitive dogs Dog types Sled dogs