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What is the Zero Bloodline?


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Someone please help before I lose my tiny grip on sanity, lol.

I was out walking Buddy and Star this morning and bumped into a guy, bloody nice bloke, who knew his huskies. He recognised the Budster's bloodline, which I already knew as we have his KC papers, and he said that Star looked like she had some Zero in her. After many hours of searching t'internet all I have discovered is that the BSHRA don't let them race. I guess the reason being that, from what the guy told me this morning, Zero dogs are flippin' fast.

Can any of you good people cast any light on this please? We don't have any of Star's papers so can't trace her tree back for clues.

Cheers

Paul

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Zero seems to be one of the major bloodlines in the UK. Apparently there are 3 others, Anadyr, Lokiboden, and Seppella. From what I can gather they are known for their speed.

Here is a link to someone page. http://www.chukotski-racing-siberians.co.uk/pedigrees.htm. If you look at the pedigree papers for the puppies you can see the Zero line back at the ggg grandparents. As they are AKC it looks like they are originally from the states.

Can't really find too much else on it, hope that helps a little at least.

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The Zero bloodline, I believe, was developed in the late 1970s or early 1980s by Harris Dunlap out of Bakers Mills, New York. Much of the information on this topic was on sites related to the Seppala Sled Dogs. Unfortunately, most of those sites have been shutdown recently. It seems the effort to maintain or replicate the Seppala bloodline became too diverse and took several directions. But I digress.

Harris Dunlap was one of the few who developed a team of Siberians that raced in open competition and were extremely fast. He started racing in the 1960s with Siberians, but later switched to Alaskan Huskies, but still bred Siberians. It is Siberians that are traced back to Harris Dunlap's line that are referred to as Zero Bloodline Siberians. The reason that the BSHRA will disqualify dogs from this line, is because they believe a dog within a certain number of generations will be genetically predisposed to be better at speed running than a dog that does not have the Zero Bloodline in its pedigree.

Dunlap was an active breeder from the early 1960s up until about 1990. Zero Bloodline Huskies were developed out of Igloo Pak, Calivali, Seeley, and Seppala Bloodlines. He also used some Canadian lines in developing the Zero Bloodline.

Does a Zero Bloodline Siberian look any different than a non-Zero Bloodline Siberian? Some say no, others say yes. There was some thought that Harris actually introduced another breed into the mix to get the results he wanted. Many suspect this other breed was the Alaskan Husky (which is a mixed breed containing Siberian Husky), which he also bred. Zero Bloodline Huskies most often have very short hair and minimal undercoat. The controversy of the Zero Bloodline seems to be more active in Europe than in the US where Harris Dunlap exported some of his dogs.

Just so you know, I did not know any of this until today, and gleaned it from researching the Internet for about an hour or so. So, since the information came from the Internet, it is suspect of having some mis-statements.

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Great post Dave

The reason that the BSHRA will disqualify dogs from this line, is because they believe a dog within a certain number of generations will be genetically predisposed to be better at speed running than a dog that does not have the Zero Bloodline in its pedigree.

Found this passage strange though - I would have thought that their speed would be a benefit?

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Great post Dave

The reason that the BSHRA will disqualify dogs from this line, is because they believe a dog within a certain number of generations will be genetically predisposed to be better at speed running than a dog that does not have the Zero Bloodline in its pedigree.

Found this passage strange though - I would have thought that their speed would be a benefit?

You are correct Rosemary, it would be a benefit - or give an advantage - for those running the dogs from the Zero Bloodline, but a disadvantage for those running dogs that were not from the Zero Bloodline. It may also be due to the controversy that Dunlap may have introduced Alaskan Huskies into the line.

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They have a short coat and minimal undercoat??

Hmmm... Kira isnt as 'fluffy' as any other sibe i've seen, and she doesnt 'blow' like others either... Theres not a massive amount...

Zero blood somewhere maybe??

But then i've been told she looks BYB bred (thanks mick :rolleyes:) we dont know her pedigree so who knows...

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Very, very controversial subject, I have asked about it on another forum and to friends who have been working their sibes for a long time.

As far as I know, and again, this is just from what I have learnt very recently, and so it could well be wrong, you can race dogs in the UK with zero in their bloodlines, but it has to be further back than 5 generations. The reason I believe, isn't because of speed, that would be totally unfair obviously. if these were purebred siberians, but because of the unsubstantiated belief by some people that Dunlap added something else to his line, thereby making these dogs non pure bred siberians. This could explain the different coat texture. I have been told that you need to be very careful when discussing this, especially if putting anything in writing, such as on the internet, as there have been court cases in the past.

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There are times when I wish I did know Kira's bloodlines, it would make for interesting reading lol

She is very fast, and the past couple of weeks she has excelled in her training (we go out usually around midnight if its cool enough) Im sure she must be from working lines, I just wish I knew which ones

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There are times when I wish I did know Kira's bloodlines, it would make for interesting reading lol

She is very fast, and the past couple of weeks she has excelled in her training (we go out usually around midnight if its cool enough) Im sure she must be from working lines, I just wish I knew which ones

That's pretty much exactly why I want to know. Curiosity more than anything :D .

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Do you work yours Paul?

Not yet. Star and Bud are both rescue/rehomes. Star was not being fed or exercised properly and Bud is recovering from a broken hip. Hopefully we should be able to have them hitched up by late 2011. Taking things slowly with them for the time being.

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Not yet. Star and Bud are both rescue/rehomes. Star was not being fed or exercised properly and Bud is recovering from a broken hip. Hopefully we should be able to have them hitched up by late 2011. Taking things slowly with them for the time being.

Awww poor things - good on your for taking them on and bringing them back to full health :)

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