Nice Abby, what was the method you used?

He looks fine for still being a puppy I think. (Not that I know much!)

Pippa changed so, so much between a year (roughly January) and now. She a lot more toned than she was and just generally trimmer looking.

His coat is also super, super full (which Pippa's isn't) and that will make a huge difference. Link and Yuki's coats are both thicker than Pippa's by a good bit, from what I can tell.

Thanks Katie. He's got his full on winter coat now, and he's got the "wings" on the shoulder where there are patches of longer guard hairs. I'm assuming that's still puppy coat?? The post winter coat blow is gonna be massive I'm sure.

seattlesibe wrote:

Nice Abby, what was the method you used?

I lowered her food amount a little and ran her more (I didn't have her pull much before but now i stole the walky-dog from Megan), though she's old enough to be able to pull me.

Kay's really fluffy and looks fat even though she's not. xD I think he looks pretty good.

Jeff I have the opposite worry with Karli, sometimes I think she's too thin!!! But she wont eat any more food than what I give her now and its not like we go on crazy runs or anything. But she's super fluffy so I'm always worried lol. Link looks good to me from a pet stand point. He's not fat like some of the dogs that have come into the vet recently, just an fyi!

Haha, thanks. I know he's not fat but he could be in a tad better shape me thinks. Korra has Karli's trouble too .

Link has always had a sturdier body type since he was 8 weeks though. I remember because I was amazed by how different he was than Korra.

Oh, and Hi Jeff! I was just lurking, since you've already heard my opinion on Link

But yeah, I wish Korra would bulk up a teensy. She's just not into food when I start increasing her food. If one meal is too big, she covers her next meal with a mat or towel like a cat and then walks off...

Here she is, so y'all can see what she's been looking like

I can still feel her hips really well. Another pound or two would be nice I think..?

Hey Buddy

Korra is thin but also just small framed, as I think Link has a thick frame. He's a hell of a lot stronger too. The other day when Patrick and I walked them to the house we traded and noticed how they......just feel different. Link is like a tank and Korra is like a kids big wheel bike you've had them both enough though, you know.

seattlesibe wrote:

Hey Buddy

Korra is thin but also just small framed, as I think Link has a thick frame. He's a hell of a lot stronger too. The other day when Patrick and I walked them to the house we traded and noticed how they......just feel different. Link is like a tank and Korra is like a kids big wheel bike :)you've had them both enough though, you know.

Lol!!! Thats how I compare Yuki and my Link. Although Yuki is slowly becoming a tank herself, the other day she knocked me off my feet chasing a squirrel. What happened to my little girl

Dot wrote:

But yeah, I wish Korra would bulk up a teensy. She's just not into food when I start increasing her food. If one meal is too big, she covers her next meal with a mat or towel like a cat and then walks off...

I wish Sophie would bulk up too, lol. I thought she'd fill out once she hit two but she's still really skinny. xD

seattlesibe wrote:

Hey Buddy

Korra is thin but also just small framed, as I think Link has a thick frame. He's a hell of a lot stronger too. The other day when Patrick and I walked them to the house we traded and noticed how they......just feel different. Link is like a tank and Korra is like a kids big wheel bike you've had them both enough though, you know.

Yeah, they definitely feel different. Again, even since they were tiny. Korra was aloof, light, and agile and Link was like "OMG AUNTIE RHIA AGGNAAGNAAA" *plows everything in his path over* He will be a much better sled dog lol. On our little jog with Roommate, it looked like she was pulling but her leash was veeeerry slightly relaxed. Half-asser.

MayaAndSophie wrote:

I wish Sophie would bulk up too, lol. I thought she'd fill out once she hit two but she's still really skinny. xD

Maybe they're just naturally skinny girls then. There are worse things lol.

Yeah, I thinly he'd be a great sled dog too. Only 4 monthsish away! He's clearly got somewhere to be all the time, strong lil fella. The fact that I have him so well behaved and contained on leash given that is incredible. Such a tough life lesson to teach him that was.

Lol I really, really can't wait for him to be old enough  

Patrick says our two dog rig with Link and Korra will be called Team Shitshow because of all the wrestling and mouthing between them.

We'll have to use PVC piping for their splitter.

Hahaha. Truth.

I think he might be a little chunky, but he's also still puppy and hasn't really filled out with muscle yet. I feel the same way about Ares, he weighs about 57# and I can definitely pinch a bit of flab on him lol
he has a harness so it's kinda hard to judge but this was him last weekend

and this was a few months ago


I think he might be more on the bigger build though, because he's only been eating 1 cup of totw a day lately

Yeah it looks like Ares slimmed up a bit as he grew. Link's got some filling out to do

Without having hands on him I'd say from the pictures Link is fine.  MAYBE a few pounds?  I dunno.  Hard to judge (for me at least).

Most Siberians that are in the show ring are shown heavier than what they should be (as opposed to if they were working on a team).  There are also many more show bred Siberians that have a lot of coat and are fast maturing so they look much bigger at a young age.

Something I have noticed is that dogs with more working lines behind them tend to be much more lean compared to their show ring brethren.  Couple that with the fact that working bred dogs have less coat than their show ring counterparts will really show off their more lean builds - especially when next to heavier coated dogs.

I only have pictures of Mechta from a few months ago at the dog park to share of her moving and a few pictures we took grooming her recently.


This was taken a couple weeks ago, maybe?  She was just bathed.  She's kind of getting in some coat.  Not very impressive lol.  She's probably only about 40 pounds give or take at 10ish months old.


a few months ago at the park in all her wet, gross glory.




Mechta and Dizzy running.

Dizzy is younger but I think that you can tell how much coat he has over Mechta and just their overall differences in structure/build from the vastly different breedings.  I will get better pictures tomorrow since Jen is coming down and compare the two of them.  Dizzy is obv. more show lines while Mechta is a working/show cross who is also 1/4 Seppala line.

Ceara thank you so much that was really helpful. I really appreciate the side by side comparison of Mechta and Dizzy; it illustrates your points perfectly. The coat difference is obvious, as is the overall stature and structure. Link is obviously in the boat with Dizzy in terms of lineage.

Their skin also just looks thicker. Not fat, just thicker. And I can't stop thinking of Cartman from SouthPark saying "I'm not fat I'm big boned!"

I've always had the impression that show dogs were on the smaller side of things, granted that doesn't take into consideration the comparison of traditional working lines like Mechta's and modern show lines like Dizzy/Link's. I guess in the dogs from the latter boat, I have the impression from heresay that successful show dogs are on the smaller end, less leggy and compact.

I am extremely interested in the issue of breed function/purpose as it relates to body structure and stature and your post brings up great food for thought. I always enjoy Lani's pics of her team and seeing Denali, for example, hooked up to a rig with his mates and seeing the varying body types and structures in her dogs. Sometimes it is very obvious which boat, as it were, they come from.

Thanks again for the post.

I remembered this side by side comparison. I don't know for sure from Zack's mouth, but I'm assuming Arya comes from a lineage more closely related to Mechta's than Dizzy/Link's

You are very welcomek!!! I was hoping my post wasn't too jumbled or messy/all over the place. I'm feeling like crap today and have slept literally all day. My brain is fried. So I apologize for the quality of this post because now I'm on my phone.

The majority of show Siberians are shorter on leg, shorter in neck, shorter in muzzle etc. It is a fad in the ring. Shorter legs create a flashy (but incorrect) gait and incorrect croup. Its appealing to the judges so that is what they award. I feel there are many show bred Siberians that are "short" in body length (not all or even the majority, but many) but on the opposite I have seen many too long dogs as well. I prefer a longer (not too long) dog over a shorter backed one. I also prefer leg under my dog. I don't want flashy, I want correct. Length of leg was extremely important to me.

On mechta I would lie to see more substance/bone but as she is from a slow maturing line we will have to see how things look in a few years.

As for the side by side picture regarding color. The colors are in the breed but because of selective breeding you probably won't find a heavily masked dog like Arya from a typical show breeder.

I would say that you're assumption about lineage would be pretty accurate.

Some food for thought too - Mechta is only 5 days older than Link.

Hmm, ok. Mechta's got some height on him for sure.

She just has more length of leg .