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.

[DogsBestFriend]

Superb! WHY has no-one told me of this before?!

Thank you. :) Will order one now.

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

Also, have you heard of a Snugglesafe Wag Bag ?

So you can carry all your doggy necessaries (poop bags, water bowl, water bottle etc) and leave you hands free !

Also has place for your phone and some pennies !

Just google.

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

You're welcome !

[toboldlygo]

Also see Culpeppers, Snowpaw store and Kisi for belts. :) Culpeppers do a good padded one and custom bungee leads.

[toboldlygo]

www.kisi.co.uk/walkingbelts.php

[Scuttlebutter]

For you husky peeps, it might be worth having a chat to your local greyhound rescue. We have many of the same issues about not letting dogs off lead - two of ours have a very high prey drive so we are incredibly cautious with them. As a consequence we regularly use a very securely fenced greyhound paddock provided by a greyhound charity for off lead running and playing - it's a godsend. The other option is to use a local riding school or livery yard with an indoor menage and ask if you can hire it for an hour at a time.

[DogsBestFriend]

I have a bag! I'm halfway there! :o Thank you, much appreciated. :)

[Scuttlebutter]

Ah, but will it stop you looking like the village idiot?

[DogsBestFriend]

PMSL! No chance of that whatsoever, ScuttleButter!

[ItsonlymeMrsDB]

You are once again, MORE than welcome, DBF.

I don't believe for a minute you look like the village idiot.

Maybe the mad dog lady, but not village idiot.

[GetOrfMo1Land]

I am so glad you got your dog back toboldly - and they are so beautiful.

When I was young my gran has border collies (she got working farm dogs from a farmer friend, god knows why, but they were so clever) and we used to walk them for miles every day on the coastline. One of them was so clever, used to let her off, I would call her, she would sit there and wait, I would get within 6 feet of her and she would look at me as if you say 'sucker' and then run off another half mile. i used to swear and curse and get hot in the face trying to get the smartarse.

I would love to get a dog - I keep torturing myself looking at all the grey whiskered SBTs on the Oldies site.

[Scuttlebutter]

No problem, DBF!!! Anyway, when it comes to idiot status, you'd have to work hard to beat me on the comedy greyhound knitting stakes this morning. Walking all three, one decided to go one way for a poo, the other two simultaneously decided that a really interesting smell was worth investigating in the opposite direction. Immovable object, irrestistible force and Scuttle in the middle with three leads. I looked as though I was having a solo game of Twister. Not easy when you're middle-aged and rotund.

[RedwingWinter]

Toboldlygo, your dogs are stunning!

GetOrfMo1Land, that's funny. Personally I think a border collie is more work than a husky, but maybe I'm just lucky with my dog!

[GetOrfMo1Land]

They were hard work, it was stupid of my gran to get them as they were farming dogs, and used to work, so silly to have in a house. If they didn't get walked and entertained every day they used to get very upset, bless them. They were very entertaining when they saw groups of children, they would assume they were sheep to herd, so if we saw a group of kids on the beach we would have to run like mad to catch hold of them before they made a dash for the children. It was like a mumsnet AIBU thread in waiting

[MrsZoidberg]

DBF I've uploaded piccies - I don't know if they show yet.

[MrsZoidberg]

toboldlygo Your dogs are stunning. I like the look of the slip collar. It may give me the peace of mind I'm after.

dbf Do you mean link the collar and harness so if she slips one the other is still doing its job?

I can't remember who posted it but I'm now in a cold sweat about the idea of a harness breaking.

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

WRT the OP- yes, I too am willing to bet that the rescue centres will be full to bursting with huskies/ malamutes and, the new trend here, huskitas, before the year.

I'm a vet, and have recently seen loads of these puppies. I ask the proud new owners what they know of the breed, which is usually nothing. I explain to them about not being able to let them off the lead-ever. I advise them about the amount of exercise they will need, and the commitment involved and I try to steer them towards breed clubs/ sledding clubs etc, but I know most of these people live in a small family home and won't be able to make the commitment required. Sigh. It is going to be a real problem.

as for the Northern Inuit- I have one on my books. He is a lovely but extremely highly strung dog, with deformities of his carpal (wrist) joints and a (possible) auto-immune problem with his feet/ nails. "Breeders" will churn out any dog that becomes popular- sad fact. And we're now seeing both behavioural and medical problems with lots of these guys.

If you go to buy a car, you research it. If you go to buy a house, you have a survey done. Why oh why, then, do people go out and buy a breed of dog (a lifetime commitment, or should be) based on ONLY the dog's looks??

I have people in moaning that their collie chases cars/ it's tail- because it is crazy bored and needs to have mental stimulation, ie work. I have people moaning that their shih-tzu barks- it was bred as a warning dog, that is what it does.

Sorry, but I have a right bee in my bonnet about people not taking into account the nature of the breed they "want", only its looks, and then wanting to change its behaviour to that of a completely different breed- DO YOUR RESEARCH before parting with £100s!!!!

On the husky question, I had a client remark to me that they "fancied" one. Apparently there is one in the local rescue, 6 mths old with only 3 legs Guess the whole "keep it on a lead" didn't get through to its owner, then. I've known a fair few get "lost" and seen plenty of these guys hit by cars. Aaaargh!

I really worry about this breed where I am at the moment. I have also been hearing of Huskita (husky x akita) pups that are being rehomed at 12 weeks for aggression. I want to find the people responsible (or irresponsible!) for breeding them and knock some sense into them.

Meanwhile the SBTs sit in the rescue centres like yesterday's papers.....

[DogsBestFriend]

Oh my oh my, they're GORGEOUS MrsZ! That last pic looks like a young version of my first long haired white boy, whom I lost to DM 5 years ago.

Re the leads, I have the lead across the body, the dog's own lead slip knotted through that and for my long haired white I clip his own lead to a Halti. The Halti has a link which clips in turn to his normal collar (and of course my dogs all have normal collars and tags on).

For my other two boys I normally just slip their own leads through the across the body one and then attach their own leads to their collars IYSWIM.

I use the Halti plus across the body silly look for long haired white GSD as he is protective of me when on a lead and nervous of smaller dogs and tends to freak if they get too close - not helped by a recent experience of a terrier slipping his own lead, running across the road and "having a pop at him". My boy kept backing away and tried to turn in circles to rid himself of the snappy little sod - being, as you know, a hefty lump, he could have had me (at 5 foot 3) over and got himself lost or hurt had that lead arrangement not given me my bodyweight to keep him from legging it away from silly snappy mutt.

Because of his size, his nervousness and that he is epileptic for him to run off in fear, risking a fit (although he is very much a mummy's boy and unlikely to leave me but you can never guarantee that when they're scared, can you), the chances of him coming to harm are higher than the average dog, hence my belt and braces approach.

Or should I say my lead and braces approach with belt to come in the post!

[MrsZoidberg]

DBF I love the expression on your last pic, such a sweety. And Fish looks well at home on that bed.

We had a similar problem with my old boy Barney, rarely had him on a lead as he was a mummy's boy too. One day something scared him and he ran for home, but luckily he ran for the back gate and didn't have to cross any roads. I of course ran to the front of the house expecting him to have gone that way and couldn't find him. Thank god for mobiles, I rang DH as I was running, he shot out the back way and fell straight over a patient Barney sat waiting by the gate.