Croatian Sheepsky

The Croatian Sheepsky is a designer dog, an intentional cross between an exceptional herding dog from Croatia known as a Croatian Sheepdog and the Siberian Husky, an ancient breed from Russia. Written accounts describing the Croatian Sheepdog date back to the 14th century and although the breed has grown in size a bit since these original writings, it seems to have remained the same otherwise since that time. Writings detailing information about the Croatian Sheepdog, then known as Canis Pastoralis Croaticus, indicate that these canines excelled at herding and driving animals, including not only cows and sheep, but also pigs and horses. Although this breed has not yet been recognized by the American Kennel Club, they have been accepted by both the FCI in Belgium and more recently, the United Kennel Club in 2006. Siberian Huskies were developed by an indigenous native tribe in Russia known as the Chukchi people, at some point in prehistory. The original Siberian Huskies or their ancestors were probably used to hunt, and at some point, they began to pull the sleds of the nomadic people they lived with, allowing them to travel farther and more quickly. They were an integral part of the Chukchi people’s everyday lives and were bred to be not only energetic and enduring but also to be companionable. In the early 1900’s Siberian Huskies were imported into Alaska as sled dogs, where they excelled. Several of the teams made up of Siberian Huskies won the annual competitions before they were canceled due World War I. Then in 1925, a diphtheria epidemic hit the small town of Nome, an epidemic that put everyone in the region at risk, around 10,000 people. In order to deliver the Serum to villagers, twenty sled drivers and over one hundred dogs, the majority of them Siberian Huskies, undertook the grueling 658-mile trip to pick up the needed medicine in a town known as Nulato and bring it back to Nome. A trip that should have taken twenty-five days was made in just under six, and it was made in unbearable conditions. The last leg of the journey was driven by Gunnar Kaasen, but conditions made it impossible for him to see the lead dogs, let alone where they were going. It was the dogs that navigated the storm to bring the serum into Nome. It was shortly after this, in 1930, that the Siberian Husky was recognized by the AKC and they are the 12th most popular dog breed as of this writing.