THE NORRIS BLOODLINE was founded on two Eva B. Seeley males, Chinook's Alladin of Alyeska (by Czar of Alyeska x Tcheeakio of Alyeska) who was brought to Alaska by Natalie Jubin, and Alyeska's Sugrut of Chinook (by Alyeska's Kobuk of Chinook x Keo of Alyeska), a stud dog belonging to Dr. Roland Lombard. The Norris foundation bitches were the pure-Seppala Candia (by Bugs x Foxstand's Sukey) and the 96% Seppala Bayou of Foxstand (by Surgut of Seppala x Duchess of Huskyland). Gatineau was soon added to the mix through Starina of Gatineau (by Foxstand's Saint x Ilona of Seppala) and her daughter Billkoff of Gatineau (by Nicko of Gatineau x Starina of Gatineau). Also added to the mix were a pair from old Canadian bloodlines Yaddam and Ava of Huskie-Haven, littermates from Austin Moorcroft in Ontario (by Charney of Seppala x Nony of White). With the sole exception of Candia, who was pure Seppala by a Cold River sire out of a Shearer bitch, all of the early Norris foundation animals were of mixed lineage. (In the early days Siberians bred by Earl and Natalie Norris were registered simply as "[name] of Anadyr"; later on a prefix was added thus: "Alaskan's [name] of Anadyr.")
Norris' breeding plan was always to mate his bitches to his best male leader, then to linebreed on that dog until he produced a better male leader to linebreed upon. Thus there was a succession of linebred male leader stud dogs that started with Chinook's Alladin of Alyeska, progressed through Ch. Bonzo of Anadyr CD, Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr, Alaskan's Astro of Anadyr, Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr II, et caetera ad infinitum -- always linebreeding on the Seeley male line.
When J. D. McFaul sold his Seppala dogs and retired in 1963, Earl Norris acquired the remaining Seppala Kennels stock. That fact, however, does not make Anadyr a Seppala bloodline, nor did Norris have any personal interest in the perpetuation of the McFaul/Shearer lineage. McFaul males were occasionally bred into the Anadyr mix to preserve soundness, but had little effect on the overall character of the Anadyr strain, which has never resembled Seppala strain either in behaviour or appearance; in fact, it is difficult to imagine a bloodline more distinct from Seppala than Anadyr. Further Seeley influence was added to Anadyr in the 1960s through breeding to Igloo Pak's Tok (who, like the famous Nicolai, was a son of Alyeska's Sugrut of Chinook). In subsequent years various other mixed-lineage bloodlines were also added.
The ISSSC has now begun to assign "Seppala percentages" on the order of 70% or more to Anadyr stock, calculated on the "back-to-the-boat" plan as there is relatively little unique-Seppala McFaul/Shearer ancestry in the Norris line. Common Siberian Husky pet-stock and show bloodlines would show similar Seppala percentages when calculated in the same way. These percentages can be justified only on the assumption that Seppala Siberian Sleddogs and Racing Siberian Huskies are completely identical, exactly the same thing (in which case there would be no point whatever in having a distinct Seppala registry).
The Anadyr bloodline is quite common in the Siberian Husky world. The Norris kennel population for many years usually numbered on the order of 200 dogs. It did a great deal of breeding, exporting stock by air world-wide. Anadyr is probably the most prevalent single Siberian Husky bloodline in Europe. It is outnumbered in the USA by mass-production show bloodlines such as Innisfree, but is probably the most common Racing Siberian Husky lineage there, as well. It is not in any meaningful way a Seppala line and has no place in the Seppala Siberian Sleddog gene pool.
SAMPLE PEDIGREE --
Ch. Bonzo of Anadyr CD (Opens in a new window.)
SAMPLE PEDIGREE --
Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr (Opens in a new window.)
SAMPLE PEDIGREE --
Alaskan's Astro of Anadyr (Opens in a new window.)
