Breed management

The starting point in the preservation work is documentation and characterization. This means identifying which genetic resources exist and mapping where they are and how many there are (population study). By subsequently characterizing the breeds, you can identify breed-typical traits and highlight specific characteristics of each breed. The next area is conservation and sustainable use. The purpose of that area is to reduce the loss of genetic variation and preserve the genetic breadth found within the breed as well as the characters and traits typical of the breed. Careful plans about how the work is to be carried out, comprehensive preservation programs and detailed breeding plans are needed for preservation to be long-term. In order to increase knowledge for the work of preserving and managing the breeds' specific characters, characteristics and the genetic base for the future, information and education are needed. These are important tools. 

The development of the breed is based on the breeders' choice of breeding animals and on the use they get. Hereditary variation is a prerequisite for the breed's ability to survive. Therefore, breeding need to be goal-oriented, long-term and sustainable. Sustainable means that it does not lead to deficiencies in terms of health, mentality and function or drains the breed of genetic variation. Every breeder has a responsibility to consider the population's survival and conservation status, not just its interest in adding to the litter box. The starting point for working with a breed depends on where/how the breed stands today? Examples of goals with the administration can be:

  • Save
  • Preserve
  • Restore
  • Manage existing population. 


Knowledge

The prerequisites for being able to establish appropriate breeding plans is that you have good knowledge of the breed you are dealing with, e.g. animal numbers, number of animals, geographical distribution, characteristics and features, uses and past history. Without great knowledge of the breed's unique features, character, characteristics and a good management plan, we risk that unique both external and mental characteristics will be lost forever.  

It is not enough to love your dog. Without knowledge, the love for one's own dog risks misdirecting the selection during breeding selection. The better knowledge the prospective breeder has of the breed's history, unique characters and its suitability, the better off the breedpopulation is and the greater the chance that the breed will be kept preserved for the future. Today, the breed is exposed to many dangers that jeopardize its preservationstatus unless sufficient knowledge and understanding exists among its enthusiasts of what is important in a Siberian hardworking Arctic Spitz

In order to be able to do a good job in the work with the breed management of a natural ancient dog breed created for physical work, knowledge is required in certain areas. 

  • Population genetics - This is a big topic that is the basis of all breeding work with long-term goals that may in the long run affect the preservation status of the population. 
  • The form (appearance) - It is governed by the function (area of ​​use) which in turn constitutes the correct breed type.
  • Appearance and proportions in relation to age, breed standard (describes the adult dog, we can generalize a bit and say at about 5 years of age) and function. This means that the correctly built young dog has more legs and less body than the adult dog. This is because the body will continue to grow in width and depth long after the dog is fully grown in height.
  • Arctic abilities - Anatomical/exterior characters that favor the dog's abilities in winter conditions. 
  • Working abilities - Basic characteristics that make the dog want and be able to work hard and for a long time.
  • Objective examination of the breeding material - People must learn to look more objectively at the dog and its functional qualities instead of focusing on opinions about what in the aesthetic appeals to the human eye or personal interpretations of value words and the breed standard as a whole. Breed management must never be about what we like or don't like, but we must make sure what is correct in relation to the breed type and the physiological composition in relation to the fact that the physiological composition of the dog is governed by its functional area in the breeds traditional work  whether we like it or not. 

The preservation of our dogs appropriate construction and arctic abilities requires that we always work with respective breed's breed standard for the eyes and critically examines it in relation to the functional and appropriate designed working dog. 


"Without a past, there can be no future"

We must have a good knowledge of the breed's origin and history in order to be able to properly preserve them and manage the cultural-historical heritage they constitute. With this, we hope that this network's website will become a basis for collecting historical image fragments and descriptions of our breeds as well as stories about the development of the breeds in the Western world.

In many cases, it can be stated that our useful breeds are and have been far more than just companionship to humans, their task has of course primarily been function and expediency in work for humans and together with humans. The economic background has been that the animals have functioned in a historical context under specific conditions in terms of feed availability, animal husbandry and the conditions of the surrounding landscape. And also depending on what benefit you had from the dog in relation to means of livelihood. These breeds have often met the owner's expectations in terms of usability and manageability. Animals that have been substandard in terms of function/fitness for purpose or difficult to handle in any way have historically probably been slaughtered. All in all, a population was obtained with good function and efficiency in relation to the effort and a population that was properly adapted to the local conditions. 

Locally in the areas of origin many of the local breeds (dog types) have also come to be very closely associated with the cultural identity of different regions. For example, the polar and subpolar breeds are inalienable cultural elements in such environments and an important part of the local identity of the indigenous people of the regions where these dogs originated. The "genuine" cultural history of the place is closely connected with the living cultural heritage, the biological cultural heritage, in the form of both the local breeds of domestic animals and the local varieties of cultivated plants. 

To function as working and utility animals in the arctic area the dogs required a special physical build and anatomy and the right mentality and qualities to work hard and give the utmost in extreme conditions and little supply of food. 


In situ and Ex situ preservation

The work of preserving the genetic resources of ancient breeds can be divided into two overarching areas: 

In situ preservation - preservation in its natural habitat, its native environment. 

A traditional keeping of animals in situ creates a prerequisite for a continuity of the selection pressure that originally created the type of dog itself that later came to be known as a breed. The selection pressure in situ is influenced by the structure of society, climate, the appearance of the landscape, flora, fauna and the work the dog was expected to do. 

Ex situ preservation - preservation outside the original environment. 

- In ex situ, selection pressure of the original properties, function, arctic abilities and working abilities is required for them to be preserved. 

- In ex situ, breeds can change if special consideration is not taken during selection. Therefore, breeding outside the species' native range is a danger to its preservation status unless special consideration is given. 

Our arctic dogs exist today both as breds in closed studbooks and in their original areas where breeding still takes place with function as the main focus. For some of our breeds it is even still possible if you wanted and the kennel clubs approve of bringing new blood home from the areas of origin. 

In our western breeding in closed studbooks, it is rare to bring in new founders (animals from the area of ​​origin). Maybe in the future we can bring home new blood directly from the breed's area of ​​origin if the genetic variation becomes too low instead of risking continuing to lose the breed's character, arctic abilities and work abilities. 

In cases where we cannot obtain new blood from the breed's area of ​​origin, we must rely on sufficient selection pressure to maintain the traits for arctic ability and working abilities and at the same time maintain sufficient genetic variation. We must continue to manage our breeds in Ex Situ preservation. 

As soon as we moved the founder dogs from their original habitats, we also lost the natural selection pressure. This is one of the reasons why we today can see that many breeds are divided in different types, one type of dog hav the forms of the functional dog and a different type of dog that often looks like another breed in comparison that often wins in the show rings, this last mentioned type have over a long time been subjected to refinement breeding, and in some breeds the appearance ended up far from the appearance to which the breed standard was established after. Have we succeeded in following the breed standard if the dogs change? Why do dogs win at shows today when they have a completely new appearance in relation to the older type of the breed, when they don't have the appropriate construction build for arctic survival and physical work? 

Today we can probably agree that we need to try to preserve the breeds in ex situ by trying to recreate the original selection pressure. This by designing test systems where we try to recreate a certain part of what left an impression on the selection value of the dogs in their area of ​​origin. We should set up tests with requirements for sufficiently high average speeds to maintain a sufficiently high capacity in the breed in general. The requirement level should be based on the assumption that only those who are better than the breed average will pass, in this way we can maintain and restore the working abilities. Using our dogs in outdoor life in front of a sled is also a way to recreate a semblance of the in situ environment and test our dogs capacities and abilities. 


Preservation breeding or refinement breeding.

Breeding for the preservation of genetic variation and the breed unique characteristics of individual breeds and populations (preservation breeding) and traditional domestic animal breeding (refinment breeding) have widely different objectives and histories. A little pointedly, one can say that refinment breeding aims to bring about genetic changes, while conservation aims at the opposite - to avoid genetic changes to the benefit of the physiological interplay of the breed in harmony with the area of ​​use for which they were historically formed.

Refinment breeding inevitably means that genetic variation is lost because individuals that do not meet the expectations of a certain person are not used in breeding. There is a conscious selection for certain types of individuals, and thus also for the genetic predispositions that these individuals carry. This means that the animals change very quickly in both appearance and characteristics if the selection pressure is directed towards appearances and attributes that are a little on the extreme side, a little exaggerated. Perhaps you are selecting for something that is also on a collision course with the arctic and working functional characteristics. It is easy to lose a purposeful appearance and characteristics that have once been lost cannot be recreated without adding them from the outside. An example of this is matador breeding with a very small number of vinous show stars (which has happened in the breed historically since it was established in the western world). 

In preservation breeding, the aim is to maximize the number of reproducing individuals so that as little variation and unique characteristics (applicability, expedient construction and polar characteristics) as possible are lost.


Can we save an exact copy?

Can we then "freeze" the external and internal characteristics of a breed or population? No, you can't. With each generation, the composition of the genes changes. The size of the changes is linked to the size of the population and you can say that the fewer animals there are in a breed, the greater the genetic effects and changes you get. What we can do to slow down these effects is to use as many individuals as possible in breeding (do not work with too strong selection breeding!). Of course, animals that can be thought to carry genetically transmissible diseases or defects should not be used in breeding, but we should not look for errors/problems that are not a widespread problem in the population. We also need to be vigilant and keep an eye on what is happening in the breed. One should also monitor characteristics such as the fertility do not start to decline, susceptibility to disease increasing, the percentage of defects increasing or the breed's ability to perform its traditional work deteriorating, etc. Because of today's modern society, careful selection will be needed to be able to maintain the characteristics that once created these breeds.  


Breeding goals and selection  

The selection of breeding animals varies between breeds depending on what the breeding goals look like for  respective breed. The breeding goals that have been set for breeds with preservation status such as our polar dogs are about maintaining the characteristics the breed was originally intended to have as well as maintaining the breed's genetic variation and an appearance within the framework of a natural variation. 


Voluntary efforts from animal keepers

The preservation work is largely based on voluntary efforts from animal keepers, breed associations and breeding organizations. It is the animal keepers who take care of most of the practical preservation work in the form of breeding, qualification, evaluation and follow-up. It is also these committed people who, in collaboration with their breed association or breeding organization, take care of the breeding work and help spread information about the breed and the Preservation work to the general public. Different media and forms of education should be used to spread knowledge about the breed.


Who is responsible?

Many different parties are responsible for the development of the breeds: 

  • The breeder 
  • The male dog owner 
  • Breed and breeding associations 
  • Kennel clubs 
  • Show judge 
  • with more 

Everyone who contributes to the breed work in any way, even if you "just" take a litter, you must be aware that you will affect the future of the breed on a population genetic basis. Even conformation judges should consider how strongly their way of judging in the rings affects the development of the breed. There are, for example, breeders who unfortunately express "if the judges want teddies, they will get teddies". Unfortunately, the results in the show rings influence many breeders' breeding choices.

The now deceased Swedish geneticist Per-Erik Sundgren said something very interesting. "remember that the selection we make today among both breeders and conformation judges may take up to 50 - 100 years before we see the real results/effects on at a population basis".