The Seppala Kennels partnership of Leonhard Seppala and Elizabeth M. Ricker began shortly after the Poland Spring dogsled race of 1927 and lasted approximately until Ricker married Kaare Nansen in 1931 and left for Norway. This partnership, short-lived though it was, was crucial to the history of the Seppala lineage and the Seppala Siberian Sleddog. Most of the dogs kept and bred at the Poland Spring operation never achieved registration. Although the kennel population was at times as high as 160 dogs, only eight animals in total were ever A.K.C. registered.