Engineering the Perfect Sled Dog

Animal breeders have known for centuries that pairing specific parents with desirable traits would likely yield at least a small percentage of the right kind of offspring.

But the process has always been a little bit like cooking with a remembered recipe: Add a little bit of this to a little bit of that, and the end result is never guaranteed.

Now researchers from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., may be on the way to solving this uncertainty.

They've moved one step closer to pinpointing exactly which canine breeds carry the traits sled dog owners want. This research could mean someday lead to teams of genetically "perfect" Iditarod racers.

The researchers analyzed 199 Alaskan sled dogs to determine exactly which breeds were in the mix. They then compared that data to genotypes from more than 140 purebred dogs from which sled dogs were originally bred.

They found that the Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky were associated with enhanced endurance; the Pointer and Saluki breeds were connected with enhanced speed; and the Anatolian Shepherd demonstrated a positive influence on work ethic.

The team essentially established a genetic profile for the most desirable types of sled dogs, be they sprinters or long-distance racers.

They also found sled dogs had much higher genetic diversity compared to their purebred counterparts.

"We observed that inbreeding values were five-fold lower in the Alaskan sled dog population than the average purebred domestic breed," the paper stated.

The researchers speculate this is because the sled dog was bred solely for performance rather than looks.

"The Alaskan sled dog offers a rare opportunity to investigate the development of a dog breed based solely on performance, rather than appearance, thus setting the breed apart from most others," they wrote.