A little history of amazing dogs
Let's start with the name. Why "husky" ? That adjective describes a certain type of voice, low key and breathy. The husky has been named after the sound of its very characteristic barking (that you will most definitely hear when you visit !)
The Chukchi legend says that the husky was born from the love of a wolf and the moon. Its wolf-like appearance has a very distinctive feature : a tail shaped like a crescent moon. At nightfall, the husky howls to beg the moon to come down again.
The song of over a hundred huskies is a very special moment that you might have the luck of witnessing.
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The adventure of the Siberian Husky starts about 2000 years BC, close to people living in the area of the Kolyma river in Russia. That people, the Chukchi, had a breeding method of systematically eliminating any individual of the species showing signs of aggressivity. Indeed, they destined the huskies to the protection of their resources but also of their children. To insure the safety of the latter, they had to be extremely prudent. Although these methods are fortunately no longer used, the modern day husky keeps his golden character, with all humans but particularly with children.
At our place, little ones and adults don't hesitate to walk through the whole pack. Our visitors often tell us how surprised they are at the softness and the affection our dogs demonstrate, but their history partly explains their lovely personnality.
Let's move forward a little, to 1909, first known date of the participation of a husky team to a nothern race. The 9-husky crew made the third place in the All Alaska Sweepstakes (653 km). A spectator, impressed by their performance, shipped 61 other dogs from Siberia to form 3 teams. The next year, these 3 teams arrived 1st, 2nd and 4th.
Huskies to the rescue
Huskies aren't done impressing everyone. In 1925, a deadly epidemic of diphtheria, a highly contagious disease affecting mainly the young and the elderly, spread across the town of Nome, in Alaska.
The need for antitoxin is extremely urgent. The climatic conditions make airborne transport too risky for the technological level back then. The choice is made : the shipment will arrive by train until Nenana, the closest train station, and will be taken over by sled dogs teams for the remaining 670 miles. Two teams must cover that ground by meeting halfway through. After a large call, 18 more teams apply to help. The standing record of 9 days to run that distance is smashed : in barely 4 days, the doses get to Nome. The team that has run the longest bit's leader dog was named Togo, and the one that finished and got to Nome was called Balto - two names that became legendary.
Their itinerary is retraced today by one of the most famous dogsledding races : the Iditarod.
