Huskies are going to be the next Staffs, aren't they?

[MartyrStewart]

I hope I am wrong.

I have noticed a LOT of people recently with young husky dogs. I have got a feeling that this time next year the rescues will be full of them once they reach adolescence and the twunts that bought them as status dogs realise they are actually bloody hard work.

[minipie]

Hi everyone, just found this section. My sister is getting a Northern Inuit in a couple of weeks time. Can anyone tell me if they are as much work as a Husky? She has already got two horses and a fledgling business to look after and I wonder if she's bitten off a bit more than she can chew...

[OrmIrian]

They are beautiful dogs! But considering the life they were bred for it is' obvious they aren't going to fit into the average urban UK lifestyle all that well.

[toboldlygo]

minipie - please do anything you can to discourage her. Depending on the breeding of the dog and the luck of the draw (and this is a designer crossbreed, nothing is guaranteed except that the breeder is an idiot looking to make money) it could take on many husky traits or, hopefully, many GSD traits.

If she wants a dog that will come to the yard with her, hack out with the horses etc. she should get a GSD from a top-notch breeder.

MrsZ - they are supposed to be gregarious dogs and are famed for their total lack of guarding instinct. Mine don't so much as bark at the door and would welcome an intruder with big sloppy kisses. They are generally not 'cuddly' but need constant human companionship.

There is a max weight limit, nothing over 23kg!

[MmeLindor.]

I haven't noticed this here, in Switzerland, but then dog breeding is much more closely controlled here.

There is a guy who walks a husky past our house. My dog is the most dopey soppy dog ever, but there is something about that husky that she does not like. I noticed that the other dogs on the street are the same. They all bark madly when the husky walks past.

Always wondered if it were just the dog, or something to do with the breed-

[JaxTellerIsMyFriend]

maybe its the owner the dogs dont like mmelindor?

A malamute is much bigger and heftier than husky dogs.

minipie I would strongly discourage your sister from getting a N. Innuit.

All dogs are hard work, but large working breeds need more than your average pet dog. And I mean MORE as in training, things to do, mental stimulation, grooming, food, physical exercise.

[Debs75]

"We met a guy on holiday the other year with the biggest and most beautiful dog we'd ever seen. She was a huskie. He said he walked her for SIX hours a day. And she would still want more exercise."

i have a bassett hound who was like that when we first got her as a 4 year old. Thankfully we have weaned her down 2 a couple of 30min walks and lots of play time. She is 9 and showing no signs of slowing down

[Debs75]

Toboldygo I would love a team of huskies to race but I don't have the time to race and train them and one on it's own seems a bit cruel and boring for the dog.

Unfortunately there is a trend for mean looking dogs, big dogs, ugly dogs, tiny dogs and wolf-like dogs and these trends will cycle around until some politician clamps down on dog owning and the normal sensible owners will be hit hard

[minipie]

toboldly and Jax

I have tried several times . I don't think she really gets how much she is taking on. And the puppy arrives in 2 weeks so she'll say it's too late anyway.

If she changed her mind at this stage, what would the breeder say do you think?

[toboldlygo]

Debs - it is a full time occupation and it's true, one on its own will be terribly prone to separation anxiety and destructive behaviour no matter how much you exercise it. Husky people generally have several, misery loves company.

Agree that this is just part of the cycle, obviously staffies were the most recennt but I also remember the trend for dobermans and rotties and, slightly before my time, GSDs were everywhere.

mini - Has she had a dog before, never mind a big dog that's a cross between some pretty serious working breeds? She really has no idea what she's getting into. :( I could pitch a fit about the complete idiocy of breeding these dogs in the first place (taking bets on the likelihood of health tests, here...) but that's a rant for another time. If she hasn't paid a deposit there's nothing to stop her backing out now. It pains me that people like that breeder are making money (I bet it's a ridiculous price, too).

[Booboostoo]

Hi toboldlygo! Didn't know you were a Star Trek fan!

minipie maybe print off this thread and show it to your sister? Toboldlygo once posted her daily routine and what she has to do to keep her dog happy and I was seriously [shocked]! You have to be very very dedicated for these dogs.

[minipie]

no she hasn't ever had a dog before

I will definitely quote the thread to her.

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

minipie

Any breeder worth their salt will not mind in the least someone backing out for really thinking about what it means to own such a dog.

[GetOrfMo1Land]

I saw a load of husky type dogs when I visited my aunt in late summer, loads of pups in parks.

I really hope that the breed doesn't explode - I read her on MN someone saying that the UK climate is too warm for the breed anyway really.

On the husky thread I read here recently it linked to this page showing husky damage

You can imagine what would happen if a hapless owner gets a puppy, it does this, and the next thing it is dumped in rescue, or worse.

[RedwingWinter]

I have a husky/mal cross and honestly, he isn't difficult at all. He's a rescue dog, and after we'd met him but before we were approved to take him, we almost changed our minds because of everything we read about huskies. We weren't sure we could handle such a difficult breed. But we noticed that many of those people who said 'don't get a husky' had multiple huskies, and so we figured there had to be something wonderful about them too.

He is the perfect dog for us. I don't think he would be right for everyone, and I think it's only right that people know what they are getting into, but every breed has it's quirks.

Having said he isn't difficult, he is of course 'special'. If you want to let your dog off-lead, or play fetch with it, or not exercise it that much - or if you weren't consistent with training - then it wouldn't work at all. He is very independent and stubborn, always hunting mice and birds, and loves to be outside as much possible - but he also loves every person he meets, is great with other dogs, and has the most wonderful 'woo' when he's happy. And he's beautiful - people have even stopped their cars to come and meet him.

I do feel like life is now an endless dog-walk.

[minipie]

I would have hoped so Itsonly. Especially since her circumstances have changed since she first committed (she has recently decided to buy a house that requires complete renovation - that's in addition to the startup business and the 2 horses so she really really does not have the time for this.)

I think that her view is that the hard work is at the puppy/training stage, so she can get that done in the next few months and then focus on the business and house. Is that true? Are they easier once trained or do they still require hours and hours every day?

[RedwingWinter]

The thing is that it takes a long time to train them, because they like to decide for themselves whether to obey or not. You have to use positive training methods (I know these are best anyway, but negative ones really will not work). I don't think she can expect to get it done in a few months and thereafter the dog will just do as it's told. Mine has excellent manners but he won't do something just because I tell him to. Huskies are very clever but although they love people they don't have the wish to please that some other breeds have.

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

NO NO NO NO !

All 'sled' type dogs are very hard work, all the time.

I have/had 2 huskies, (I lost my girl in September) and right from puppyhood the commitment MUST be total. Regular exercise, food etc, as others have said, it is a complete change of lifestyle.

They are not the sort of dog that can just be 'left to it'. Singular dogs can suffer terrible seperation anxiety, and can be very destructive.

The rewards of them are indefinable, but please implore your sister to really think hard before she commits. If she is going to be as busy as it would appear, she really doesn't want to be chasing round after a pup !

As for the breeder, if they kick up a fuss about her backing out, maybe not the right breeder to be buying from to begin with ? Has she gone to meet the breeder and see the Mum and Dad ? Has she asked all the right questions about the breed and specific requirements ? It sounds like a daft thing to say, but 'sled' dogs are NOT 'just a dog'. They really aren't. There are plenty of other people with sibes/mals/inuits here I am sure who can explain it better than I can, but it's really not that easy.

HTH

[GetOrfMo1Land]

The problem is that the dogs are too beautiful for their own good - they are the most gorgeous looking animals.

Can you really never let them off the lead? Do they just scarper then?

[RedwingWinter]

Yes, he would scarper.

He will come back if he feels like it, but he loves to run so he could get a long way away pretty fast. And if there is something interesting, like a squirrel, he will be off chasing it.

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

My girl was the bestest, most gorgeous girl EVER, GetOrf.

She was a grey and white, and I miss her desperately.

I have a black and white boy, but she was my 1st and I will never love another like her, she was special.

Nope, you cannot EVER let them off the lead. EVER.

I cannot stress it enough. You get the odd person saying "well, I managed to train mine not to run off" but it's not about that.

The Siberian Husky is a running, hunting dog, which is their instinct. Once free, they WILL run and run and run. It's just in them.

An example : my girl escaped out of my neighbours broken fencing, and then went through his open gate. Across a field, 2 roads and down an alleyway we went, with me chasing after her, screaming at passers-by to please catch her if they could. It was only that she went down the alleyway where a lovely man managed to get hold of her, that we kept her. The end result would of course, been death for her. They have no concept of roads, or danger, they just have it in them to run !

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

I believe a lot of the explosion has come from the popularity of "Game of Thrones" series, which uses Northern Inuit breed of dogs as "pretend wolves". They are stunningly beautiful dogs, but i'm sure the reality of caring for them is very hard work.

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

And I would beg anyone thinking of getting a Sibe as a 'status' dog to please think before you do.

Or the only 'status' you will have is that you are a complete dick for buying a breed you know nothing of how to care for.

[silentcatastrophe]

Our dogs bear no resemblance to the wolf from which they are decended, any more than we resemble cave dwellers. We want to create 'dream dogs'. So far we have. They are unlikely to be like anything that came before though

[toboldlygo]

Yep, they just disappear. There's a link back there somewhere I put up which explains about the independent intelligence and the high prey drive, if you have five minutes. :)

I will relate to you now the tale of the one and only time I managed to (briefly) lose one of mine. This is my 'good' dog, trained to the extent that she tested out of the obedience classes and moved on to agility because I couldn't think of anything else to teach her. I'd like to think that she will eventually compete at agility, such is her obedience there. Her recall in the training classes (in a fenced field or 8ft fenced compound) is 100%.

This was back when I had only one dog and often walked her on a 50ft long line. Such was my complacence back then, and my trust in her training, that I sometimes dropped the line and just let it drag alongside me in the knowledge that if she spotted something I could grab or stamp on the line and stop her. She always, always stopped or came when called.

One day I stopped to tie my shoelace. In the, ooh, couple of seconds that I was concentrating on knotting the shoelace she was gone, so fast that I only saw the trailing edge of the 50ft lead as she disappeared down the side of a wooded ravine after some small furry creature.

I called, I whistled, I shouted. Nothing. 10 minutes passed. In a panic I slithered down the side of this bloody ravine, on my arse in the mud, brambles shredding my arms and face to pieces. I ran back and forth in a panic, having visions of her being squashed on the road or shot by a farmer. Another 10 minutes passed.

After what felt like a lifetime I finally caught a glimpse of her in the woods, some half a mile from where I'd lost her, and started shouting and calling with utter relief. She turned, looked at me, considered me briefly and then pissed off further down the ravine. It took me another ten minutes of flinging myself from tree to tree to catch her, and only then because she stopped to roll in some crap and was too engrossed to notice that I'd snuck up and grabbed the long line.

All the training, the trust... it means nothing. Not one bit. If they know they are free, they will go.

Being on the lead isn't a sentence to a life of misery and boredom, I did another huge post on that subject on one of the recent AIBU dog threads. :)

[MangoMonster]

Do you not need a licence for a husky, they need specialist husbandry...I really hope you're wrong OP. I hate the way animals are treated like toys and commodities :(

There's a road advert near us, rabbits for a fiver, pisses me off.