Seppula Husky - Page 2

Its always about the money at the dogs' expense. I seriously doubt the account that any dogs were ever 'neutered' because of something as superficial as 'didn't like pups structure. Why would anyone waste the time and feed to raise a pup up from a working litterand then waste the time to train it and put it in a team when dog teams in those days were intrinsic part of survival. I think an author took creative liberty with that one. I bet nobody even considered castrating a dog in those days.

I believe it's true that Balto was neutered, who knows when or why for certain.There are numerous accounts of mushers neutering males to keep them from fighting.  I feel sure they didn't use a general anesthesia either

I don't believe they neutered them to keep them from fighting. The dogs had a hard life, they were literally whipped into shape and fighting was not an option. I owned twelve husky x wolf hybrds, only two were females, one spayed the other not, all but two males were intact. One male i had cut when he was around two because of prostate prob. The other was cryptorcid. I kept entact males in pairs in their big yards they lived in, no fighting, and the females with a neutered male each...the neutered males would fight another male in a heartbeat! In the team, they were under my control, so did not fight. I want to add, that before either male was castrated, they lived peacefully with another male...the fighting started after they were cut.

Well believe it or not, Joan, it's true. Current sled dog guidelines suggest neutering to prevent fights.

http://www.gov.bc.ca/agri/down/sled_dog_code_of_practice.pdf

SPAYING AND NEUTERING
Introduction
The most effective method of preventing dogs from breeding is to spay or neuter
all dogs that are not intended for breeding. Spaying (ovariohysterectomy) and
neutering (castration) are good options for dealing with heat cycles and for
preventing unwanted litters. Spaying and neutering can make it easier to run
females and males together, and can reduce dog fights, health problems, and food
requirements (
Preventing Breeding (p26), Mush with P.R.I.D.E. Sled Dog Care Guidelines

I think Togo was cheated. Balto gets all the credit when it was Togo that did most of the work.

No No No, that is not the part you cut to stop fights,
I remember seeing a program were they shortened the sled dog's teeth so that the consequenses of fights were not so harsh. It sucked when this happened thow. I was thinking back to Joanro and Blitzen talking about the sled dogs staked out at night in hopes a for Wolf / Dog Puppies.

There are many stories about what was done to sleddogs. Filing teeth was one of less traumatic things. If  a dog chewed its harness and/or traces, their teeth were often knocked out and during the working winter months they had to survive eating frozen fish and gruels. Another reason for neutering the males was to prevent bitches from being in whelp when they were working in harness. The dogs were not pets, they were only alive because they served a purpose and that purpose varied from tribe to tribe depending mostly on the terrain in which they lived. Don't assume that all sled dogs are treated any better today, some are not thus the need for the above sled dog care guidelines.

Chinooks are another interesting breed.

Balto's True Story................http://www.baltostruestory.net/

Blitzen, I'm pretty sure Seppala never saw that link:-)
Every one believes what they want, and with the www, any choice can be supported. I prefer to go with personal experience.

This looks like a good Documentary on the serum run.  thanks to BBC
Icebound The Greatest Dog Story Ever Told

Published on Apr 15, 2014
On January 28, 1925, newspapers and radio stations broke a terrifying story -- diphtheria had broken out in Nome, Alaska, separated from the rest of the world for seven months by a frozen ocean. With aviation still in its infancy and one of the harshest winters on record, only ancient means -- dogsled -- could save the town. In minus 60 degrees, over 20 men and at least 150 dogs, among them the famous Balto, set out to relay the antitoxin across 674 miles of Alaskan wilderness to save the town. An ageless adventure that has captured the imagination of children and adults throughout the world for almost a century, the story has become known as the greatest dog story ever told.