Several times recently I have had people ask me, "How do I get dogs from you? How much will I have to pay? What does it take?" Often these are folks I have known or corresponded with for some time; or they may just be people who have seen the SSSD Project website and been impressed by the dogs' photos there.
The answer to these questions is simple. You do it by serving what Seppala Kennels and the Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project serve: the long-term security and survival of the Original Siberian Sleddog, as exemplified by the Leonhard Seppala McFaul/Shearer Markovo-Seppala lineage! The prime prerequisite is commitment.
That means:
- you will be seriously willing and determined to breed those dogs and those alone, in full agreement and harmony with the norms and objectives of the SSSD Project (this implies that you are no longer a Siberian Husky breeder, at least with respect to your Seppalas).
- you are willing to cooperate with us in the overall SSSD breed development programme, including the integration of the new Siberia import Solovyev bloodline with the Markovo-Seppala lineage, and will accept advice and follow reasonable breeding guidelines.
- you will join the International Seppala Association or the Working Canine Association of Canada and work to advance their purposes, and that you belong to no other organisations at cross-purposes to those of the SSSD Project.
You may have certain other objectives that you would prefer to advance, personal desires and goals of your own. Running in the Yukon Quest, or entering the Fairbanks ONAC, or driving an all-white team, for example. To have such personal goals is of course your right and is no one's business but your own. What is our business, though, is whether or not we contribute breeding stock to the service of those objectives.
Please do not expect or demand that my wife and I will act in a way prejudicial to what we serve, by selling you prime breeding stock which you will then use for other purposes incompatible with the aims of the SSSD evolving breed development project. Do not ask us to sell you superior breeding stock, removing it from the SSSD gene pool in favour of your own cross-strain breeding scheme, the ISSSC hijack programme, or a half-Alaskan racing kennel.
We simply do not have surplus sleddogs to sell for those purposes. Seppala Kennels is not a 200-dog racing sleddog kennel breeding a dozen litters annually and turning over one third of its dogyard every year. We serve the necessities of the evolving SSSD breed. We are not a commercial kennel, we do not particularly care whether we sell dogs or not; our Seppalas are not a public commodity for sale "off the shelf" to all comers.
If you are greatly concerned about the price you pay for a dog, perhaps you should not consider Seppala Kennels. Our stock is not sold at racing-cull prices. Our dogs are usually less expensive than "show prospect" Siberian Husky pups from some big-name American kennels. They are much less expensive than some rare breeds such as the Coton de Tulear or the Shiloh Shepherd dog. But they ARE more expensive than part-Seppalas from ISSSC/ConKC. In any case, the initial purchase price of a dog is eventually dwarfed by the additional and ongoing costs of sleddog kennelling, equipment, feeding and veterinary care. If you cannot afford to BUY the dog, you certainly will not be able to care for it properly.
I may consider you a good friend. I might admire what you are trying to do with your dogs. I may be pleased that you consider our dogs a desirable bloodline or a useful outcross. Nonetheless these factors will not inluence decisions about where we place breeding stock. It isn't that I think that "my way" is the only legitimate way to breed sleddogs; but it is the way I have chosen to support and implement for Seppalas from Seppala Kennels.
The sleddogs of Seppala Kennels are reserved for the development of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog evolving breed. That's the way it must be in such a project as this one. It astonishes me that people just don't get that, and may actually think that we should be happy to see good dogs removed from the SSSD gene pool. We have no further interest in the Siberian Husky breed as such and we are unmoved by what anyone might happen to think about our dogs relative to that breed. I don't know how to explain this any more clearly than I have done here. I hope that those who enquire about Seppala Kennels stock will realise that full commitment to the Seppala Siberian Sleddog breed is an indispensable prerequisite to any dealings with us involving breeding stock, and that we shall expect to see ample evidence of such commitment. There is nothing in any way personal about this. You must expect to be tested and questioned. You will have to convince us that you are fully committed to the WCAC/ISA vision of the SSSD breed. We must be satisfied that you are in this for the long haul. It is not quite as simple as just buying a dog.
Our own commitment is and always has been to the long-term security and survival of the Leonhard Seppala McFaul/Shearer Markovo-Seppala lineage and concept. That, for us, takes precedence over personal considerations. We consider the survival of traditional Seppalas as paramount. For that reason we must look for, seek to establish and support other breeders who share that long-term vision. If you think you may not still be driving sleddogs five years from now, then please don't waste your time on us. See one of the racing kennels instead; they usually have a much shorter time horizon together with a free-and-easy breeding policy that supports the "whatever works" philosophy. If, on the other hand, you have a steadfast desire and determination to contribute to the survival of the original Leonhard Seppala type of Siberian sleddog as a breed in its own right, then we welcome your participation.
the "Four Horsemen," with their breeder and owner
