Sakhalin Husky

No real official documentation exists for this rather rare breed. The Sakhalin Husky apparently originated in Japan in the early part of the 20th century.

There is no evidence to support this hypothesis, but he apparently comes from a mix between the Japanese Spitz and the Akita Inu.

This dog was mainly used by the Japanese as a sleigh, hunting and guard dog over the years.

This breed, native to the land of the rising sun, is very rare and remains practically unknown on the entire surface of the globe.

For the Japanese, he is an excellent working dog, as well as an extraordinary life companion, but unfortunately remains confined within the Japanese borders.

It was in 1958 that the breed became very popular following an emergency evacuation during an expedition to Antarctica, that forced the explorers to leave 15 dogs behind.

They believed then that another rescue team would come shortly after to retrieve the dogs, but this was not the case.

Almost a year later, a new expedition discovered that 2 of the 15 dogs had survived entirely on their own in the wild. Taro and Jiro thus became very famous heroes in their country.

Taro lived until his death in 1970 at the University of Hokkaido. He is now stuffed and exhibited in a museum in the country.

Jiro died in 1960. His body is kept in the Ueno Park, at the National Museum of Nature and Science located in the city of Tokyo.

A more fictionalized version of this event was produced on the big screen in 2006. The movie Eight Below referred to this expedition, but the production used Siberian Huskies and Malamutes instead of using the true breed of the event, the Sakhalin Husky.