The SSSD guidelines are compatible with the eligibility rules of the Working Canine Association of Canada, and are in fact a simplified version of the W.C.A.C. rules. This fact will allow -- for the first time -- for the import/export of Seppala Siberian Sleddogs between Canada and the rest of the world. Until now there has been no animal pedigree record-keeping body in the U. S. A. and other countries accepting SSSD stock from its original source -- the SSSD Project in the Yukon Territory -- under the original W.C.A.C. guidelines and definition. Conversely, the great majority of so-called "Seppala Siberian Sleddogs" of the Continental Kennel Club and its "International Seppala Siberian Sleddog Club" were ineligible for SSSD breed status in Canada where the original and legitimate SSSD breed is under development. The founding of I. S. A. with its guideline and definition compatibility should facilitate a free exchange of SSSD breeding stock between Canada and other countries.
The I. S. A. guidelines for Chinooks are new, similar to and modeled on the Association's SSSD guidelines. Recent years have seen conflicting tendencies in the Chinook breed, giving rise to uncertainty and confusion. Originally most Chinooks were registered with the United Kennel Club in Kalamazoo, MI; more recently other organisations such as Chinook Owners Association and Chinooks WorldWide arose, splintering the gene pool and giving rise to a number of crossbred bloodlines. (COA registry was organized in 1989. Their "purebred" registry was transferred to UKC in 1991. COA still manages their crossbreeding program, and recommends final upgrade candidates to UKC. CWW was a splinter group of COA; they organized in 1993 and made bylaws changes allowing for the creation of another Chinook registry in 1994, although their registry wasn't actually created until 1998. Then in 2001, amidst a lot of hubbub about the validity of CWW's registration efforts, they transferred their purebred registry to AKC/FSS and abandoned their cross registry altogether.) Now UKC Chinooks are being accepted for entry into the American Kennel Club's Foundation Stock Service, as part of AKC's bid to take over the "rare breeds" scene and bring such breeds under its own control -- thus making them into showdogs along with all the other working breeds that it has already made into useless beauty contestants. The I. S. A. Chinook initiative is intended to provide a refuge for working Chinooks, just as I. S. A. now attempts to protect Seppalas from assimilation into the non-working mass of A.K.C. Siberian Huskies.
It is hoped by the Board of Directors that both sets of guidelines will provide a clear basis for the assembling of a solid gene pool of honest working stock in both breeds, a basis for future growth and development and a permanent guarantee of survival for these historic sleddog breeds in something as close as possible to their original form.
