Tell me about your Pomsky....

[stumblymonkey]

I was on the tube this morning and saw two beautiful dogs who seemed really friendly....one looked like a white fox and the other was like a small husky.

Obviously after gazing at them adoringly for a while I enquired as to their breed - Pomskies!

I've read up about them (both the Pom and Sky parts)....but I'm now a little obsessed....

Could you tell me about your Pomsky with photos?

There is one not that near us that needs a new home according to the internets

[dotdotdotmustdash]

It's not a breed, it's a mix of two incompatible breeds, both in size and function.

Please don't get sucked into the fashion for designer dog breeding, it's never good for the dogs. A better question for you to ask would be about living with a Husky, as any Husky mix has the potential to be awash with Husky traits, and these are a specialist breed that can be very difficult for the average pet-owner to live with.

Much, much more research is required if your current plan is to buy a dog based on how it looks.

[EssentialHummus]

The danger with this mix is that it isn't a breed, and you don't know what characteristics the dog will have, or even what size it'll grow to.

Given that the were historically working dogs, huskies are high-energy, intelligent dogs, so they need a lot of training and exercise. You may get 100% husky and no Pom.

There are also ethical issues here - this is one of those "adorable" mixes that tends to be propounded mainly by puppy farmers.

I'd avoid, in short.

[deepdarkwood]

We had huskies when we were growing up. Very, very challenging breed - I wouldn't take on any form of husky/husky cross lightly, however gorgeous they look (& I agree they are stunning)

[stumblymonkey]

I'm not getting a dog based only on how it looks.
I'm fully aware that it's not a real breed and is a cross breed.
I said in my OP that I have researched both Poms and Huskies.
I have always loved Huskies so am fully aware of their traits, both good and bad.

I asked for people to share their experiences of having a Pomsky....

Please don't assume that every poster is some shallow person out to buy a handbag dog for Christmas and then send it to a rehoming centre!

[BagelGoesWalking]

Yappy, shedding nightmare with a high prey drive and endless energy - oh yeah, that'll be lovely.

Just take a deep breath and read up on the two breeds and you'll see that they shouldn't be mated together. Look at temperament, not looks. You could potentially have a dog for the next 15 years.

[stumblymonkey]

I also noted that I am rehoming not purchasing so no chance of giving trade to a puppy farm.

[stumblymonkey]

Well....this is going well.

I didn't ask for opinions from people who don't have one!

[SinclairSpectrum]

Hasn't there just been a thread about these?
Complete with photos and a list of why they are a really bad idea?

[Noofly]

I wouldn't touch any sort of husky cross with barge pole. I have a friend who fosters huskies (in Florida!) and from her descriptions, they are not a dog I would enjoy - very very difficult for inexperienced owners.

If you are going by the look of a dog and like the fox look, have a look at the Shiba Inu. I would love one. I know a few and while reliable recall can take ages to set in, they are gorgeous, lovely dogs and I want to squeal when I see them on our walks.

[stumblymonkey]

I will see if I can find the thread via Google as I don't think you can search on the app?

I love Shibus too but haven't ever researched them so I don't know what their characteristics are like?

[LotsoNumbers]

I haven't got any experience of them either but I love poms, proper chunky workmanlike little poms. As long as it's that kind of pomsky I can see why you'd be drawn to it!

You'll always get this reaction on the doghouse though op

[stumblymonkey]

It's funny....while I agree a husky isn't for an inexperienced owner, the ones I know are very good.

You can't walk them off lead as a rule but they're very friendly and great with their cats and children.

[LotsoNumbers]

If you like chunky spitz dogs I used to know a gorgeous samoyed, totally full of energy, clued into her owner, good at agility. Beautiful dog inside and out!

[MinceForBrains]

They are v cute (thanks google images) but I wonder how on earth that works with huskies being jeffing massive and Pomeranians being wee.

How does it work breeding wise?

Does it have to be husky mum because presumably husky x pups would be way too big for pomerarian pelvises?

If it is a husky mum, how does the little Pomeranian dad reach to inseminate her?

So many questions

[TrionicLettuce]

If you're looking at a rescue (a proper one, not a private rehome) then you can at least meet the dog and see if it's compatible with you and your lifestyle.

I would avoid anyone breeding them like the plague though. There's no logical (or ethical) reason anyone would cross two such disparate breeds.

Sibes are a pretty specialised breed, there's a reason why vast numbers get dumped in rescues. People love the look of them without appreciating just how challenging they are to keep. You've only got to look at the list of bad points on the breed club's website to see why they aren't for the average owner. Adding in a breed such as the Pomeranian (which should actually be pretty active little things anyway) is not guaranteed to temper the husky side of the pairing.

The golden rule with crosses (at least if you're looking at buying a puppy) is that if you wouldn't want a dog of either parent breed then it's probably not wise to take a gamble on a cross of them. Genetic isn't like mixing paint, you're not guaranteed a nice halfway point between the two breeds involved and when you're talking about a cross of such vastly different breeds puppies from the same litter can vary immensely.

If you want the husky type look but without the challenge of keeping a Sibe then either look for adult crosses in reputable rescues or have a look at some of the existing breeds which are less intense but share similar appearances.

[stumblymonkey]

We don't have a problem with the Sibe side. Both experienced with dogs.

I'm interested though (and not goading, genuinely interested) in what the issue is that people have with cross breeds?

I've seen a lot of threads that pour a fair amount of scorn on cross breeds....but I'm not sure why?

Obviously putting puppy farming aside (which isn't specific to cross breeds) what is the problem?

Other animals (including humans) have been cross breeding for centuries....it's actually less natural to have 'breeds'...

[stumblymonkey]

Mince....the husky is always the female when they're crossbred because a female pom would have issues carrying larger pups.

I did wonder about the insemination though....

[georgedawes]

The issue I have with cross breeds is that nearly all the breeders seem to just mate any bitch with any dog, they're purely in it for the money. No thought is given to temperament, conformation, health testing etc. It's still a big problem with pure breed dogs, but in mixed breeds it's endemic.

In terms of a pomsky, just the fact that a breeder would put 2 such different breeds together shows they're unethical.

[Molecule]

I know nothing about huskies except that they are designed to run for miles and not be lap dogs, but we do have a super cute pomeranian, all fluffy and tiny. He is as sharp as anything and after five years has finally realised it is generally polite to growl a warning before biting, and when he does bite his little mouth is so tiny he struggles to draw blood. He was rehomed to us and obviously his previous owners were a little less than honest regarding the reasons for getting rid. The thought of his nature turning up in something like a husky fills me with dread, and from what I can ascertain he is by no means unique in terms of pomeranian temperament. It is doable in a tiny dog but certainly not in anything bigger.

I can see the attraction of the various poodle crosses but a pomsky fills me with dread.

[stumblymonkey]

Here are the two that set my heart aflutter this morning....

[lljkk]

Pomskies are beyond cuteness.
I'm sure not all specimens are nightmares.
I wouldn't get anything but a rescue dog, either, but if you have a choice of rescue dogs, I'd be quite motivated to be introduced to one, too.
Good luck OP.

[TrionicLettuce]

the husky is always the female when they're crossbred because a female pom would have issues carrying larger pups.

Not true actually, I've seen plenty of litters over the last couple of years where the dam was the Pomeranian. I would imagine in most litters of this cross it's unlikely the breeder would fork out for AI (given they rarely, if ever, bother with the most basic health testing) so I would imagine manual assistance is the order of the day.

I personally have nothing against cross breeds at all. In fact I would love to see the KC introduce sensible outcrossing programmes for pedigrees to help improve genetic diversity, remove certain heritable conditions from the gene pools of some breeds and improve extremes of exaggeration in others.

The problem I see with cross breeds as the situation currently stands is that they're bred almost overwhelmingly by less than ideal breeders, whether that's just naive pet owners wanting Fluffy to have a litter because she's so lovely or full scale industrial puppy farm churning out hundreds of puppies a year. Of course shitty breeders aren't remotely exclusive to crosses but the advantage with pedigrees is that you've got a much better starting point for finding a decent breeder: the breed clubs. They generally have fairly stringent codes of ethics which they hold their members too and can help put prospective puppy owners in touch with good breeders when their litters are still at the planning stage. It's not a completely foolproof system but it's far better than having no option but to sift through endless online adverts and trying to work out which (if any) are half decent.

I also have an issue with breeders of crosses being disingenuous about the dogs they're producing. Things like guaranteeing a poodle cross will be "hypoallergenic" or reassuring potential buyers that full health testing of the parents isn't necessary because of hybrid vigour. Again, this isn't entirely limited to crosses and you do get breeders of pedigrees making ridiculous claims about them as well. Again, this isn't entirely exclusive to breeders of crosses and you do get people making outlandish claims about pedigrees. With pedigrees though you have a lot of readily available information about what the breed should be like and it's easier to spot the dubious claims as a result.

Finally, I have a huge issue with the currently increasing trend for crosses between extremely disparate (whether in size or temperament/breed traits) breeds. People presume they're going to get the perfect mix of the two breeds (an idea often encouraged by the breeders) but in reality the resulting puppies could be anywhere on a spectrum between the two breeds and it's not necessarily clear at the point of purchase what they're going to turn out like. I can't imagine there's many people clamouring for "pomskies" who would be just as happy to end up with what essentially amounts to a Sibe and it's inevitably the dogs that suffer when it does happen.

All breeding, whether cross or purebred, should be done with a clear goal in mind and using appropriately health tested dogs carefully selected to increase the odds as much as possible of achieving that goal. Very careful consideration should be given to health, temperament, conformation and, where relevant, inbreeding coefficients.

Some crosses, because of the huge physical and temperamental disparities, are just completely counter to what good breeding should be.

As an aside, the desire for a small-ish companion breed that looks like a Siberian husky is nothing new. It's taken decades of careful breeding to get the Alaskan Klee Kai breeding relatively true. You can't just skip over all that work to reliably get mini-huskies by chucking a Pom and Sibe together.

[TrionicLettuce]

I realise I've repeated myself a bit in that essay, clearly my proof reading isn't up to much

[JaimeLannister]

It is an odd mix in my mind. I have never met one but am imagining a very hyper, yappy dog.

Labradoodle, Goldendoodle and cockapoo at least have the water dog connection with the poodle.

[stumblymonkey]

The ones this morning were very calm...