Working abilities

"Fit for function"

Our arctic breeds have a many-thousand-year history as working animals in the arctic areas, this means that working characteristics become an important breeding factor if the breeds are to be preserved. Breeding a working dog is more complex than breeding a pure companion breed, where the breeder does not have as many characteristics to take into account.

(Some of the information here is taken from the Swedish Polar Dog Club's breeding strategies.)

Mental qualities

What we often call traits are either physical attributes or behaviors and behavioral chains that the dog performs in different ways. If we want to improve a mental quality, we have to understand the behaviors that create the trait and what there is for heritability in it, or what causes the behavioral expression. 

• A working sled dog should behave well in a pack (not solve everything with aggression) and have a mentality that suits for life in a modern society.

• Have high energy. It is important that we learn to distinguish between energy and stress. Energy creates motivation, stress does the opposite.

• Have a high degree of curiosity. 

• Have high "Gritt"  (high drive and will to keep going) a dog that never gives up despite adversity.

• Running needs to be a highly motivated instinct, a behavior that is self-rewarding. We should not have to teach the dog ​​to run and pull, the running itself should be self-rewarding and create joy.

• Triggered by resistance to work harder. Some dogs react to resistance by backing off and others with pulling harder. A trait you can see a breeding value in.

• Lack of fears. Both sound and other fears have been shown to have a strong heritability and we don't want that.

It is more difficult to produce a good leaddog than a capable teamdog. A good leaddog can probably work in every positions in the team, while a dog that can not lead and drive the team forward can only act as a teamdog and need a dog in front of them to follow, these dogs lack some of the motivation. Do we want to increase the chance of getting to produce good leaddogs, we must select leaddogs with the right characteristics for breeding. A leaddog subject is there for not only a dog that is good at commands (most dogs can learn that) a leaddog is a dog that works hard in all situations.
 

Characteristics that are required for a dog to perform and work over time in a lead position include: 

• Great mental strength to work long and for several days as a lead dog (not all dogs have the mental strength to do that, much more is required of a leaddog than a teamdog). No matter how physically fit the dog is, it is often the mental stamina that gives up first, but the mental endurance can be influenced with targeted breeding work and good training.

• The ability not to take in the surroundings. Dogs that easily take in all the impressions in their surroundings quickly become mentally tired and can't bear to lead the team any further. You often get an evaluation of this if the dogs start at a competition where they have to handle the whole environment with strange dogs, people, a nervous musher while at the same time being able to work hard for a long time. Many owners are surprised by their dogs' mental stamina in these environments compared to at home in the woods alone.

• The gritt characteristic is extremely important in a lead dog that must be able to push mile after mile without having anyone else to follow. A team dog gets part of its motivation from having a dog in front of it.

• A good lead dog often has a so-called strong forehead bone in the works. Does not allow itself to be disturbed and drives on, regardless of what is happening around. He continues to work despite the physical and mental strain.

Importance of anatomy 

The anatomy need to complement the dog's mental qualities, it needs to have a functional body. And then what is an athletic and functional anatomical construction? Below some examples:

• The dog should fall within the breed standard by exhibiting the type of dog that is "fit for function" . We should not reward dogs that show exterior attributes that disadvantage the dog to work hard in arctic climate. The dog should have the best anatomical conditions to cope with its traditional work. The dog have to be athletically built.
• Heavy/coarse built dogs (increased or excessive weight and mass generally in relation to its size) - Predisposes to wear and tear damage to joints and ligaments in general, as well as adversely affects the speed and endurance. Compare with people, for example, a bodybuilder cannot run a marathon or engage in other endurance sports. A short and compact person is built for strength sports but has poorer conditions for speed and endurance.
• Heavy/coarse head – Tires the dog during physical work. 
  
• Heavy and broad chests and fronts – Predisposes to injuries i the front part, bow, elbow and wrist joints, etc. A dog in motion naturally ends up with a lot of force and load on joints and ligaments in the front part. Wide barrel-shaped fronts also provide for problems with the singeltracking.
  
• Overweight or a fat dog - Predisposes to increased risk of injury due to strain and wear and tear.
  
• The Siberian breeds are of a lighter type and built more for speed than the Greenland Dog and Alaskan Malamute that are larger and heavier breeds and built more for freight work than the Siberian breeds. 
• The dog need to have good leg length to move in terrain and snow. As an adult, the functional dog needs more leg length than the body is deep. For some of our breeds this is clear in the wording of the breed standard.
• The young dog need to have room for growth (more legs than body) to be able to continue to grow in width and the depth without being overdeveloped and overtyped as an adult.
• The dog should be mobile and flexible in its body. It should be agile, nimble, acrobatic and cat-like in its movements and their body control.
• The dog's physiological composition must support endurance, speed and strength. The dog must not only be built for one of these parts, but have a good balance in all three.
• Movements should be smooth, efficient and tireless in work. The dog should be able to easily switch between different gaits and tempo changes.
• The dog should have a coat of a correct structure and quantity, a polar coat. An insulating undercoat and a good protective overcoat that repels snow, ice and wetness. The coat should not be so voluminous that it prevents the dog from working.
• Muscle function that responds well to physical exercise. Even people respond differently to physical exercise, some find it easy to build muscle and others don't.
• The muzzle should be long enough to support heat exchange and the oxygenation in the body.
• To straight or weak wrists/palms – Predisposes to overloading and damage to joints and ligaments in the wrist. 
  
• Over-angled or insufficiently angled front and back - Predisposes to improper loading of joints, ligaments and bone parts. If we start from biomechanics, we understand that too sharp an angle means that more energy is needed to straighten and bend the legs during movement. But at the same time, the dog should not lack angles as it is important for the body's function. 
  
• Weak back (hunchbacked) – Predisposes to wear and tear of vertebrae.  
  
• Flat paws without failure in the toe joints - Gives poor shock absorption.
  
• Turned in or out toe position – Predisposes to wear and tear injuries. 
  
• The body's length needs to be longer than the dog's total height to support endurance and a powerful, efficient trot. A short and stocky body makes it more difficult for the dog to work persistently.  

The body should support the mental qualities for function. A construction that adversely affects the dog's ability to stay injury-free during longer regular physical exercises load should weigh heavily negatively when evaluating its qualities as a breeding animal.