Maine Now Has An Official State Dog, And No, It’s Not A Lab

While the breed of dog most Mainers love over all others (according to the experts) are labs, followed closely by Gold Retrievers, neither of those two fared high enough on the list of who's who to land the coveted role of Maine's "State Dog".

Although it was attempted, back in 2015, to get the Labrador retriever to become the Maine State dog, that bill ultimately failed.

Instead, recently installed as the official state dog of Vacationland, that title landed on an overachieving workhorse of an animal: the Seppala  Siberian Sleddog.

According to the official site of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog, these dogs are hard-working, practical yet extraordinary dogs...not unlike Mainers, I would say.

"He is a working dog of moderate size specifically adapted in temperament and physical construction to the needs of rapid long distance dog sled transport with a light load in a cold arctic climate. This includes sled dog racing."

There are entire online communities, such as Mush Maine: Home of the Seppala Siberian Sleddog on Facebook, that are hoping to help people better understand why this exceptional breed was unanimously voted in as Maine's state dog.

"We are on a mission to preserve the Seppala Siberian Sleddog as a historic working breed, to educate the public on their rich heritage, and connect people to nature with them. Legacy bloodlines. Maine roots. Arctic soul."

You may be wondering why our legislature went with this particular canine to represent our state. Well, some of that has to do with a very famous, and first of his kind, dog named Togo, who was instrumental in helping save lives in Alaska, but ended up spending his twilight years here in Maine. Togo was thought to be a bit of a troublemaker before Leonhard Seppala recognized the animal's natural tenacity and grit.

As the story goes: "Togo had already shown extreme feats of dedication and endurance as a puppy, and as an adult continued to show unusual feats of intelligence, saving the lives of his team and musher on more than one occasion. Sled dogs bred from his line have contributed to the 'Seppala Siberian' sleddog line, as well as the mainstream Siberian Husky gene pool."

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The Seppala Sleddog joins the ranks of other "State Animals" such as the Chickadee, the Maine Coon Cat, the moose, the honeybee and the lobster.