- Calling the Alaskan
Husky a breed is, at present, somewhat controversial, but I don't
know of a really good alternative term. One of the definitions of a
breed generally includes either a closed breeding pool (whether through
human intent or geographical isolation), or the intention of closing
the breeding pool in the future; in this case, there is at present no
serious, widespread intention of ever closing the breeding pool to a
dog that can pull a racing sled fast over snow, regardless of its ancestry
or appearance. This said, there is sufficient uniformity enforced by
the nature of the task, and in the base stock (mostly Siberian
Husky), for these dogs overall to maintain a semblance of a breed
type—and that type is spitz. They even have a recognized breed-specific
neurological hereditary defect. All considered, including the fact that
this breeding for function is how almost all breeds were originally
developed, for the purposes of this project I consider the Alaskan Husky
a de facto breed.
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- "Performance Dogs
Get in the Mix" by D. Caroline Coile, Ph.D. In: Dog World,
April 2006, pgs 16-7. In discussing the breeding of dogs for performance,
the author uses Coyote Hounds and Alaskan Huskies as her two examples.
- Huskies in Action
by Rico Pfirstinger. TFH. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, introduces
the reader to some of the world's best sled dog teams.
- Complete Owner's
Manual to the Northern Breeds by Margaret H. Bonham. Barrons,
2001. An introduction to the spitz breeds of the Northern type, including
the Alaskan Husky.
- "Alaskan Husky encephalopathy—a
canine neurodegenerative disorder resembling subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy
(Leigh syndrome)" by O Brenner, JJ Wakshlag, BA Summers, and A
de Lahunta. In: Acta Neuropathologica, July 2000, volume
100, issue 1, pg 50-62. Case report of five Alaskan Huskies with a neurodegenerative
disorder the authors suggest is a hereditary metabolic derangement of
unknown nature.
- Rivers: Diary of
a Blind Alaska Racing Sled Dog
by Mike Dillingham and Rivers. The story of an Alaskan Husky who ran
the Iditarod twice after going blind.
- All About the Spitz
Breeds by David Cavill. Pelham, 1978. An introduction to several
of the many spitz breeds and varieties, illustrated with excellent color
photographs. One chapter deals with "Eskimo Dogs", under which
title he groups the Alaskan Husky, the Greenland Husky, and the Esquimaux.
- "Evidence for extensive
DLA polymorphism in different dog populations by LJ Kennedy, A Barnes,
GM Happ, RJ Quinnell, O Courtenay, SD Carter, WE Ollier and W Thomson.
In: Tissue Antigens, July 2002, vol 60, p 43-52. Using
DNA sequence-based typing, researchers studied the DLA alleles of 12
Alaskan Huskies and 115 Brazilian mongrels, comparing them with 568
European dogs and 40 Alaskan gray wolves. Results predict that the polymorphism
of the DLA genes will increase as dogs from a wider geographic distribution
are studied, which has great implications for disease susceptibility
and immune responsiveness in dogs.
- "Seasonal variations
in blood volume and circulating metabolite levels of the Husky dog"
by JP Hannon and JL Durrer. In: American Journal of Physiology,
March 1963, volume 204, pg 517-9. This study measured seasonal variations
in blood volume and chemistry in six Alaskan Husky males, native to
Alaska and maintained outdoors in Alaska, and then compared the results
to those for artifically cold-acclimated laboratory rats. The changes
observed were comparable between the dogs and the rats.
- A neurologic problem
in a breeding kennel of Alaskan huskies ([Senior seminar]) by
Timothy M Robinson.
- Subacute necrotizing
encephalopathy in Alaskan huskies ([Senior seminar]) by Ellen
G Scott.
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