Just curious. He doesn't look anything like the Sibes I'm familiar with today, and I've never seen a predominantly black Siberian. Other than his paws and chest, he looks completely black in the old pics and available footage. I can't find anything saying that he's NOT a purebred Sibe, so I'm confused. Haha!
 

 

 

The color doesn't throw me off so much, they come in any color and any pattern, but his face as a puppy looks nothing like a husky to me. Weird!

Yes, Balto is a pure bred Sibe. He is what is called a "Seppela" line Siberian. Hopefully Lani or Ceara will see this, as they know MUCH more about this then I do.

The Siberians of that time are a lot different then the Sibes we see now. There is a distinct line in Siberian breeders/owners who think Siberians with Seppela line in them should be an entire different breed apart from Siberian Huskies. IMO, Seppela is just a LINE, not a breed. Yes, the line looks a lot different then the modern lines do, but a Sibe is a Sibe is a Sibe.

The black is a registered color of the Siberian. You can have all black (Jet Black is the "looser term", I think), and all sorts of different blacks. You should join "Colors of the Siberian Husky" on FB. Debbie is a color FREAK and I have learned a lot from her site. There is this thing called KB blacks, monochrome blacks...all sorts of crazy stuff. You'd love it there.

Yup, they come in almost all colors!

If you look at Metchta's scrapbook, look on page 12 and you can see her sire which was mostly black.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t8215p220-time-to-share-a-secret-with-you-allmechta-s-photodump?highlight=photodump

Yes Balto would be considered a purebred he was not the 'ideal' design of the Siberian which is why Seppala had him neutered at a young age. (keep in mind though this was a time before the breed was officially recognized by the AKC.) You can see he still has a very 'typie' head IMO though he is a lot heavier in bone, more of a freight type dog, than what the Siberian should be.

Here are some examples of the mostly black Siberian still seen today-

Kiana Siberians-



Karen Yeargain-


Jill Wilson-

My Loki is considered a "Jet Black"  jet blacks have no white undercoat (Loki's is black) they can have some white as he does on his belly, tip or tail, etc.  Also to be a true Jet Black the roof of the mouth must be bi colored, (Loki has black spotting in his mouth and on his gums. ).  This is the info I got from my vet who is a Husky nut lol.

I don't mean to threadjack, but June, that puppy picture is SO CUTE! Looks like he's saying, 'How YOU doin'? ' haha

Hmmm. Juneau looks a lot like Loki, but I'm not sure if she's jet black. Her roof of the mouth is bi-colored. Her paws are bi-colored as well. Her dad was completely black, but I'm not sure if he was a pure sibe. Her mom was a typical gray-white husky. I found her on cragslist from an older lady.

LOL I know Jackie--Loki has always had "attitude" it sows in his pics lol. If Juneau has a white undercoat she wouldn't be considered jet black. It looks like she does in the pics but it's hard to tell. Still can't get over how much they look alike. Beautiful dogs!!!!

HuskyMom09 wrote:

Karen Yeargain-

Jill Wilson-

You know Karen and Jill? Small world!

And thanks to everyone who replied. Seeing a mostly solid black Sibe is odd. I'm sure there aren't too many out there. Funny that the most popular Sibe in history is a black one though. Ha! And yes, he doesn't look at all like the Sibes we see today. Looks like a mixed breed to me. I love the history of the Seppala lines and the origins of the Sibe. I remember reading somewhere that most of the Sibes we own and love today can be traced back to those very dogs who ran the Iditarod in 1925 to save the children of Nome. Pretty amazing!

Many -many- siberians from that time were actually heavily masked, dark colors, agoutis, piebalds, white etc. (read: many things that we do not see much of today)   Seppala himself at one point actually was trying to breed for all white/blue eyed dogs. Fun fact.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Histoire-des-courses-mythiques-et-des-grands-mushers/553886141302105

The man who runs this page shares amazing historical photos of the breed and you can very well see all of the variations in size and color that the breed comes in.

Also, like Kelsey said, we have a group called "Colors of the Siberian Husky" that is all about education and run by the woman who bred my red girl.  It's a pretty fantastic group and a chance to see many different variations of coat colors that are still around in the breed today.

counter wrote:

HuskyMom09 wrote:

Karen Yeargain-

Jill Wilson-

You  know Karen and Jill? Small world!

And thanks to everyone who replied. Seeing a mostly solid black Sibe is odd. I'm sure there aren't too many out there. Funny that the most popular Sibe in history is a black one though. Ha! And yes, he doesn't look at all like the Sibes we see today. Looks like a mixed breed to me. I love the history of the Seppala lines and the origins of the Sibe. I remember reading somewhere that most of the Sibes we own and love today can be traced back to those very dogs who ran the Iditarod in 1925 to save the children of Nome. Pretty amazing!

My main leader Mason is from Karen and out of Roper and Cooper that run on Jill's team! We run with Jill frequently since we live only an hour apart I'm actually meeting up with Karen this weekend, getting ready for the 2013/14 season!

I didn't know Balto was a purebred. I should probably question Disney more than I do  

O.k. my turn, just 'cuz I wanna type something. I do believe that Balto's "problem" from Seppala's point of view was that he was to stocky, I think what he was looking for was lean fast racing dog. Can't remember why I think that, but I do. Lastly, Balto is on display in a Museum in Cleveland Ohio, the whole team was brought to the lower 48 for a "good will" tour. After all the hoopla cooled down they were app sold to a dime museum and put on display in deplorable conditions. The city of Cleveland took pity on the dogs and purchased them and they lived out there lives in the Cleveland zoo. History channel or PBS, one of the two for the credit.

Something that also has to be taken into consideration is that back in those days, the breed was yet to be developed and basically consisted of various landraces imported from Russia.  Depending on how you look at it, the Sibes back then weren't purebred as many of the imports came from different tribes and trading posts, and not just the one that is commonly advertised (Chukchi/Chukotka).  So with that in mind, there was a greater variety in appearance between Sibes before standards became popular.  Even now though, there is still a great variety in appearance depending on the purpose (show, race, other) and lines.

Funny enough, the first picture of Balto make me think of a cousin breed, the Russo European Laika: