Animation Source Forums

I know that the Malamute is a type of Husky but I didn't know the differences. Thanks for explaining!

Ah....Ok! Now I see. Thank you!

As I mentioned recently in the thread "A solution to the mystery of Balto's true breed!":

Balto, like Togo and nearly every other dog used by Seppala (and bred by him) were of the stock of the Chukchi clan (tribe) of Inuits, from Siberia. Seppala was given a few of these dogs by another visitor to Nome when he was working for a gold mining company there. They were definitely NOT Alaskan Malamutes, which were a much larger breed (though in existence at the time...and also quite rare in the gold mining settlements...they were being more used by the Alaskan Inuit clans/tribes...especially the "Mahlemuhts" [sp?] from which the breed got its name).

Balto and dogs like him were called "Siberian Huskies", but that was not an official breed name (not until the 1930s). They were seen as huskies from Siberia. As it was common use at the time to refer to ANY breed of dog, which was employed in pulling a sled, as a "husky". Even Malamutes. Most folks, especially after talking with Seppala (and those who knew the dogs) would refer to them more commonly as "those little Chukchi dogs from Siberia".

The Siberian Husky, as we know it today as a breed (especially the show lines rather than the "working" lines), was developed during this period, but refined during the mid twentieth century...well after the Great Serum Run. Thus, most people are accustomed to seeing the "typical" Siberian Husky...the black and white, or red and white, or gray (or silver) and white markings. They would be unaware of, or surprised by, the "agouti", "piebald" or jet black Siberians, which mostly come from working lines (sledders). The show folks don't usually favor those colors or markings...and breed instead for the typical markings and colors.

They might not also be accustomed to the very closely-related "Seppala Sled Dog", a separate line and breed very closely related to the Siberian Husky, and which evolved from the same foundation dogs (including Togo and Fritz). In fact, "Seppalas", as they are known today, look far more like Leonhard Seppala's original dogs (including Togo) than any Siberian Husky does! Here is a link of some interest...take a look through the photo sections, and you'll see what I mean. There are some breeders of this purely working line (they are not recognized by the AKC or UKC, and the breeders and mushers WANT it to remain that way)...which has much more of the sledding drive in it today than the Siberian Husky breed (which has been watered down by the show and conformation people). Er...here is that link...it's for the "Seppala Sled Dog Project":

http://seppalasleddogs.com/default.htm

If ever you thought of wanting to "own" a dog like Togo or Fritz, THIS is the breed...and the place to look for other breeders of this line.

If you wished you could "own" Balto, the best place to look is for a Siberian Husky breeder who breeds only "working" lines (rather than "show" lines). Of course, every once in a blue moon, a dog like Balto does arise from the Seppala stock as well!

However, Balto was definitely not a wolf-dog.

Remember, just because it's in a book doesn't make it true. Historical foundations of truth are based upon corroboration of facts (or assertions). The more often you can find evidence of something which is corroborated elsewhere, the more likely it is true.

Authors screw up history a lot. Mostly because of poor or idiotic and sloppy research and conclusions. Other times because they don't research ENOUGH...or because they want to believe that their assertions MUST therefore be true.

And a magazine or a book like "Strange Stories" or "Amazing Facts"? I wouldn't put too much stock in it. They're sensationalistic rags, devoted to entertaining the mass market.

Well, considering the length of his posts...

LOL - sorry gang. I get to going on a post, and then I go back and read it later, and realize I need to correct the grammar or a sentence or two.

Length? Heh heh. And to think, in the role-playing forums, people get pressured to write more than one line!

Sorry. You could always read it in small snipets. And so far, most of my posts on this board have been chock full of pictures too!

It's an Italian thing (you ought to be able to understand that, Togo!)...when I can't actually talk, and can't "talk with my hands"...then I've got a lot to say in print! Heh heh...

I'll try to be less verbose in future posts...

Besides...editing is far better than loading up a thread with posts, no? LOL.

Historical information can't be wheedled down to one or two sentences you know.

Okay...now you're starting to lose me.

Yeah, a 40 year old book that has at LEAST 100 pages? The book is very reliable.

Olivia, I certainly don't want to argue with you. But I am an American Civil War living historian, and I have seen many books on the American Civil War, written even by degreed historians, which have made bad historical assertions...whether or not they were written just after the Civil War, or anytime thereafter. Even some very recent ones.

Just because a book is old doesn't make it right. And clearly they were dead wrong about Balto. So how can you trust anything else they wrote about?

Well, it just has interesting stories in it, like the mysterious faces in Belmez, Spain. Looking at the pictures in that story creeps me out. Here's the story typed from the book:

An elderly woman and her infant grandchild were witting in the kitchen of their village home when suddenly the child cried out excitedly. The innocent eyes of the child had seen nothing more than a diverting new game; but it was a "game" that terrified the old woman and developed into a mystery for which scientists, despite every test, have as yet been unable to find any natural explanation. It happened in the village Belmez, not far from the city of Coroba in southern Spain, on a hot August morning in 1971.

What the child had seen was a human face that had spontaneously imprinted itself on the pink floor tiles-a face with troubled features, infinitely sad. No recognizeable pigment of any kind had formed the image, and when the family tried to rub it out, they were horrified to find that the eyes only opened wider and the expression grew even more sorrowful. Alarmed and bewildered, the owner of the house tore up the floor and replaced the tiles with concrete. But three weeks later a second face emerged, this time with even more clearly defined features. The affair had taken a turn far beyond the grasp of the simple village folk, and now the local authorities have been involved. They ordered a section of the floor where the faces had occured to be cut away, and an official inquiry began. Workmen dug the floor up, uncovering the remains of a medevial cemetary. Meanwhile, a third apparition took place, then a fourth, then a series of faces all together. The kitchen was locked and sealed. Four more faces, including that of a woman, appeared just as mysteriously in another part of the house. But they were the last: The phenomenon melted away as inexpicably as it had begun. All this time the apparitions had attracted many kinds of experts to the house. Even the most cynical of them were unable to prove that the images were the work of a human hand. Their puzzlement was enhanced by the evidence of ultrasensitive microphones planted in the house.

These microphones had recorded sounds not audible to the ear-voices speaking strange languages, agonized moans matching the torment in the eyes of the faces on the floor. No one has yet come forward with a really satisfying explanation for the Faces of Belmez. All the experts have been able to suggest that the house was once the scene of some tragic and terrible incident, perhaps connected with some form of medevial witchcraft.