Huskies

Husky /ˈhʌski/ is a general name for a sled-type of dog used in northern regions, differentiated from other sled-dog types by their fast pulling style. They are an ever-changing cross-breed of the fastest dogs. The Alaskan Malamute, by contrast, is "the largest and most powerful" sled dog, and was used for heavier loads. Huskies are used in sled dog racing. In recent years, companies have been marketing tourist treks with dog sledges for adventure travelers in snow regions as well. Huskies are also today kept as pets, and groups work to find new pet homes for retired racing and adventure trekking dogs.

The word husky originated from the word referring to Arctic people in general, Eskimos (a.k.a. Inuit), "...known as 'huskies', a contraction of 'Huskimos', the pronunciation given to the word 'Eskimos' by the English sailors of trading vessels." The use of husky is recorded from 1852 for dogs kept by Inuit people.

Nearly all dogs' genetic closeness to the gray wolf is due to admixture. However, several Arctic breeds also show a genetic closeness with the now-extinct Taimyr wolf of North Asia due to admixture: the Siberian Husky and Greenland dog (which are also historically associated with Arctic human populations) and to a lesser extent, the Shar Pei and Finnish spitz. An admixture graph of the Greenland dog indicates a best-fit of 3.5% shared material; however, an ancestry proportion ranging between 1.4% and 27.3% is consistent with the data and indicates admixture between the Taimyr wolf and the ancestors these four high-latitude breeds.

...
Wikipedia