German Shepherds, Huskies, Greyhounds, Pugs.

[isby]

We have three German Shepherds and are considering getting a husky. Do they get along well? Has anybody got a husky? What about greyhounds, does anybody have one of these? I like that breed too. Oldest daughter is desperate for a pug and I do think they are lovely little dogs but am worried about whether it would get along with the German Shepherds. Our dogs are Cayden, Tiernan and Peyton. All boys and brothers.

Sibes are very different to GSDs and are really quite specialist dogs. They need a lot of exercise but are generally not to be trusted off lead unless in a secure area. They're not particularly biddable (don't mistake that for a lack of intelligence though) and often have extremely high prey drives.

Have a read of theese lists of good points and bad points on the breed club site, it gives you a pretty concise breakdown of the breed.

Greyhounds are lovely dogs. Very gentle and generally lazy. They don't need huge amounts of exercise, though it's good to give them the opportunity to properly stretch their legs on a regular basis. They're can be unreliable when it comes to recall (it's a very individual thing) so letting them off lead may require a secure area.

I wouldn't necessarily worry about pug-sized dogs with GSDs, plenty of people keep toy breeds and larger dogs together with no issue at all.

I wouldn't recommend pugs though, as lovely as they tend to be character-wise, because of the physical state of the breed. The extremely flat face is pretty much incompatible with genuinely good health. They can struggle with their breathing (the vast majority of, if not all, pugs will have some degree of breathing difficulty), their eyes (due to how prominent they are), spinal issues (relating to the tightly curled tail) and skin problems because of the wrinkling on the face. There are a number of other conditions they can suffer from which can be avoided by the breeder doing appropriate health testing prior to breeding but the problems relating to the structure of the breed are almost impossible to avoid in pedigree pugs. Some pug crosses are much better physically however it can be extremely difficult to find a reputable breeder of them.

You should look at Northern Inuits

JRTs are a good fit with GSDs, the little one will boss the three big ones no end!

I like the Northern Inuits a lot but would it be difficult to find one? Do you have one Only?

Thanks for the information Trionic, what do you think about Northern Inuits? I know some lovely pugs that have no health problems, would you say it's very likely to have health problems in pugs?

Ooh Boo JRT's are not a fan of my dogs. Was one next door to us in our last house. Awful scrappy thing.

Have a read of the UFAW pages for pugs. Health problems are extremely prevalent within the breed, healthy examples really are anomalies. There's a lot of denial amongst breed enthusiasts about the extent of the problem. It's quite common to see the snoring/shorting/noisy breathing/excessive panting/etc. described as normal for the breed but even if the problem is mild enough that it's not life limiting it's still indicative of the flat face and elongated soft palate affecting the breathing which is clearly not a good thing.

I don't know a huge amount about Northern Inuits to be honest, other than the "wolf look-alike" community seem to keep falling out with each other, giving their crosses a new name and setting up new registries for them. The ones I know of currently are Northern Inuits, Utonagans, Tamaskans, British Timber Dogs, British Lupine Dogs and Anglo Wulfdogs. They're all pretty much the same, an attempt to make a sort of but not really wolfish looking dog that isn't a complete horror to live with using GSDs, Sibes, Mals and sometimes a tiny dash of Saarloos or Czech Wolfdog.

There seems to be the odd breeder actually undertaking a proper breeding programme with clear aims and paying proper attention to health, temperament and conformation. Unfortunately these dogs are really sought after for all the wrong reasons so there are also lot of shitty breeders out there churning out pups to meet the demand.

I do have a NI and absolutely adore her, they're a very special breed but do need a huge amount of training and walks. Very intelligent and much more willfull/determined than a GSD but an amazing family dog if you like large breeds and have the time to dedicate to them. NIs are essentially husky x gsd x malamute. There's some truth in what Lettuce says above but not much - as she admits herself she doesn't know much about them, but it is a typical opinion for someone who doesn't know the breed (can you tell I'm protective about my NI?!)

Would agree that you'd have to ensure you found a reputable breeder - but that's the case with any dog surely? And mine has no health issues. Certainly none that I'm in denial about

And mine has no health issues. Certainly none that I'm in denial about

The first paragraph of my post was about pugs not NIs, hence the link to the UFAW page about pugs