Willow man introduces new dog breed to Alaska

WILLOW -- When Alaskans think of dog breeding, many of us think of sled dogs. Competitive mushers have been crossing husky-mix dogs and selecting for stamina and tough feet long enough that Alaskan sled dogs no longer look like huskies -- and while they can be raised as pets, their urge to run often leaves their human companions behind.

Enter Ted Berry, a lifetime dog owner and retired agriculture professor who wanted a dog that didn't mind cold or deep snow and still had the temperament of a pet. While researching pure-bred dogs the Berrys found the Eurasier, a breed developed in Germany in the 1950s. The couple had raised pure-bred German Pinschers before and through friends, were able to locate Fritz, a male Eurasier puppy born in Germany. The Berry's first met Fritz at Sea-Tac Airport in 1996 -- he has since convinced them of something no amount of book research could.

"Now we had found the ideal breed of dog for a companion animal in Alaska," Berry said.

In 1999, the Berrys brought a female Eurasier named Berta to Willow, and on Jan. 3, Berta gave birth to a litter of seven. Unlike some male canines, Fritz was right there at the birth and actually helped lick the newborn pups clean.

There are only about 250 Eurasiers in the United states, and Fritz and, according to Berry, Berta's seven puppies are the first generation of Alaskan-born Eurasiers. The breed isn't currently eligible for American Kennel Club (AKC) registration, but Berry said there is a movement afoot for AKC recognition. Both Fritz and Berta carry German papers and the puppies will be registered with the Canadian Kennel Club. Both clubs are known to strictly control breeding, so the registration papers include a promise not to breed the dog until it's old enough to pass a veterinarian's checkup.

"Because there aren't that many dogs, you want the best gene pool you can get," Berry said.

Jean Berry first spotted the Eurasier in the Reader's Digest Illustrated Book of Dogs and showed the entry to her husband. The book describes an effort by German researchers to develop a breed similar to the laika. The laika is an ancient breed from Siberia, but like so many east Asian contributions, the laika was cut off from the West during the Cold War.

Berry has an English translation of a German book on Eurasiers that tells a slightly different story. The book tells the story of Julius Wipfel, a man who once adopted a dog left behind by Canadian troops after World War II. Wipfel's Canadian dog was likely a Samoyed-husky mix, but there's no way to know for sure. Wipfel was so fond of his Canadian friend that he studied the Samoyed, the wolf spitz, the chow, the husky and even behavior patterns of wolf packs in his quest for a breed of dog like the one he remembered.

The apparent contradiction between the Wipfel story and the Reader's Digest version doesn't bother Ted Berry. As near as he can tell, Wipfel met the researchers on the laika project and added his work to theirs.

"What matters to me is the beautiful outcome, which Wipfel named the Eurasier," Berry said.

The Berrys are no strangers to raising animals. Ted and Jean both grew up on farms. An Alaskan since the late 1970s, Ted has raised Angora goats on Fairview Loop Road and Tarentaise cattle outside Willow. Now that he's semi-retired, the Eurasiers scratch Ted's animal husbandry itch.

Like huskies and musk oxen, Eurasiers are double coated. They have an undercoat of soft fur and an overcoat of long stronger hair, called "guard hairs." Eurasiers come in several color patterns. Fritz has reddish chow-like colors and Berta is white, gray and black. Their undercoat is odor free so it's possible to comb it for spinning wool. But what Ted Berry raves about is their temperament.

"One of the things that turned us on to this breed is they're quiet," Berry said. "If you hear them start barking you'd better get up and take a look at what's going on, because when they bark, they bark for a reason -- they don't just yap to hear themselves yapping."