Husky !! wrong dog for me ?

meesha said:
Reciting in my sleep, please let it find its owner, please let it find its owner !

I am sure they have some good points... I am already used to challenging dog behaviour ! My BC was a rescue at 7 months, hyper, destructive, chased horses, won't let anyone touch him... Growls if they do.. Even growls at us on regular basis.. But is a little star and wouldn't change him for the world !
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Good for you!! To have the intelligence and the guts to be able to say no - believe me, you are absolutely making the right decision, judging on what you have told us. If only more people were as courageous and sensible. All too often northern breeds go from home to home, and end up traumatised.
 
Have no more to add to this thread other than what has been said but I owned two husky boys for 7 years withy ex when we split they stayed with him I would point blank never have another give me a malamute every time lol lol
 
Yippeee no decision to make, it has been reunited with its owner (apparently owner turned back for second and it was gone !)
 
Well done for what you did, meesha.

I hope if (god forbid) Salem went missing that he would be rescued by someone as kind :)
 
I haven't read any replies but here's my thoughts. No, they can't be let off the lead. Their prey drive is too strong and their recall is totally unreliable. I have a lot of huskies, and 2 collies. We have the collies so we can do normal dog type things, like throwing a ball etc. Ours are all worked in harness (the collies are as well) and that is what they live for. Fencing needs to be at least 8 feet high, preferably with an overhang, and has to be bolted to concrete ground. They are excellent escape artists.

Don't get me wrong, I have heard of the very very rare exception to the rule. However, I would still never trust one. One of these exceptions I heard about after 5 years of supposedly perfect recall legged it and killed 2 sheep. The dog was destroyed. They are frighteningly efficient killers and I have heard of 2 cases of husky puppies being killed by adults when they were not introduced properly. They have become very fashionable which has resulted in a lot of extremely questionable breeding, a lot of utter drivel being posted on husky forums (which I never go on) and a lot of dogs being dumped in welfare. Any good 'breeder' will have a long waiting list and expect you to jump through hoops before selling one to someone they don't already know.

They will without question re-carpet your house twice a year. Your clothes will permanently have hairs on them and they will trash your garden. They are not fun to walk on the lead at all and need to be fed very good quality food. Despite the negativities they are a very rewarding breed to own but become a way of life rather than a pet. Good on you for rescuing the poor dog and I hope there is a happy ending for all involved. I wonder if said dog is owned by someone who thought it was fine off the lead??!!

Edited to add : Glad to read it's a happy ending :-)
 
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Glad he found his owners. There have been several people in our local park who had huskys only to have to re home them, one young lad who should never have got a dog and a lady had one which was lovely so she decided to get another from someone who couldn't cope and it was aggressive to her female husky and the cat so she also had to re home it.
 
So glad the dog and owner were reunited! A family friend in Maine ran sled dogs, so she had many Huskies. Visiting her, I was just in love with them, and I always wanted to take them home. Then we moved in two houses down from her, which was still a good distance away in that area, and changed my mind! The noise that came from her property at times was shocking. One would start howling, and then the others would join in until it sounded like the entire pack was on our lawn, not hers! It didn't stop me from admiring from afar, though. They really were something when they got running! Definitely not for me. There was no way our friend would ever have let hers off their chains. Each dog had its doghouse, and unless they were being trained or run, that was where they stayed. They fought more than her strictly pet dogs, and she said she knew for certain that if some of them got loose, she'd be lucky to ever catch them again.
 
Glad his owners came to claim him, I had a feeling it might have been a case of Houdini! All these breeds are stunning to look at but not good pets I don't think (yes yes there are exceptions) I live on a council estate and always see people with gorgeous puppies but never full grown dogs. Sigh.... Your place sounds great for any dog but I think you've had a lucky escape from obsessively keeping it on lockdown!
 
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I have a gorgeous husky x spaniel x whatever else poor girl BUT is soo like a husky (her dad was a stunning red/white husky) and she has strong traits of one she goes 'deaf' when we call her back runs blind once she sees a bird/bike/person anything she wants to run at it even with us saying no she blatantly doesn't listen she hasn't been off the lead no way shed run and run and run and only notice we weren't there once she's stopped chasing that scent etc although we've tried letting her off (she's had lunge line attached to harness) and me or OH would run ahead and stop then call her and by god she can run her head goes down ears back and blasts off but if another animal was around she'd have run off for sure.
Love her to bits and wouldn't swap her for anything she digs n digs we've had to proof the garden up as she got into neighbours a few times lil monkey (that's where her 'boys' live) she's brilliant at being at home alone though good as gold in her mahoosive crate as she's not huge and has an abundance of her teddies/toys in with her she's very clever too
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Her favourite past time
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Her coat is like a husky one so soft and thick she happily sits out in rain and snow
 
My BIL also had two Siberian ones both beautiful but they always used to jump high 6ft fence they ended up killing a local farms chickens :( and dog warden got hold of them they were notorious for running around minus owner they were really naughty!
They split up and so did the dogs sadly
 
Chestnutmare said:
My BIL also had two Siberian ones both beautiful but they always used to jump high 6ft fence they ended up killing a local farms chickens :( and dog warden got hold of them they were notorious for running around minus owner they were really naughty!
They split up and so did the dogs sadly
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Classical Sibe story, sadly. People don't realise that no only can they jump, they can climb. Our Husky/Mal/wolf mix, Woodie, scaled a kennel fencing that was enclosed with tennis court-type wire but open at the top. We warned his new owner that he would get out of that area, and sure enough, he did! He climbed up 12 feet of chain link fencing and over the top. You have to have a bit coming in on itself at the top, like in prison yards, to stop a Sibe!! They can dig too - even if a fence is concreted in, they will dig under the concrete, so you need to build the enclosure on top of a concrete base so that there is no chance of excavation! They are true escape artists and their prey drive is very high. A neighbour has chickens in his garden which were for ever getting out on the set aside. the stupid birds would hide under the hedge on the field side, we had no idea they were there, and when we walked past with Hal they would suddenly fly up into the air squawking and screeching: "It's the wuluf, it's the wuluf!" and before we had time to do anything, Hal would have killed at least one - even when he was on the lead if they were reachable, they were dead, his reactions were so quick. They are not a breed for anyone who goes out to work, or who cannot give them the time and dedication to walk them for miles every day, either in harness, on a long line, or if you can train them not to disappear into the sunset, free range. They shed for the olympics, even on their proper diet of raw meat, they will destroy your garden and your house if you leave them alone, but if you can cope with all this and chill and roll with the punches, they are a delightful breed. I would never have anything other than a northern breed, but I sometimes doubt my sanity!!
 
meesha said:
Still think they are gorgeous...... gorgeous but totally the wrong dog for me......
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I'll say it again, but well done you for recognising that you would love to have something, but cannot because of your circumstances and your coping abilities!

You need to be truly mad to cope with a northern breed - mad and the ability to be able to live with the fact that your best Mansfield black coat which cost a fortune will never look immaculate whilst you own 2 wolfie boys!!
 
I had a Northern Inuit in daycare a few years back and looked after her for 2 years. She could be let off the lead but I walked them on a very long, wide and quiet beach. Anywhere else would have been a definite no! She was difficult to walk on the lead at first and pulled like a train but after 2 years of looking after her, I did have her walking nicely by the end. The fences in my garden were also very low and so she was never let out in the garden unattended. She was a fantastic dog and became very attached to me and my three labs. She used to sing with happiness when her owner dropped her off at my house every morning which was just adorable and she taught me a hell of a lot during the time I looked after her and made me realise how easy Labs are in comparison!
 
FestiveBoomBoom said:
I had a Northern Inuit in daycare a few years back and looked after her for 2 years. She could be let off the lead but I walked them on a very long, wide and quiet beach. Anywhere else would have been a definite no! She was difficult to walk on the lead at first and pulled like a train but after 2 years of looking after her, I did have her walking nicely by the end. The fences in my garden were also very low and so she was never let out in the garden unattended. She was a fantastic dog and became very attached to me and my three labs. She used to sing with happiness when her owner dropped her off at my house every morning which was just adorable and she taught me a hell of a lot during the time I looked after her and made me realise how easy Labs are in comparison!
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They are fabulous dogs, as are utonagans and all the northern breeds - both mixes and pedigrees. But they are as a different species from an "ordinary" dog like a lab, spaniel or collie. So many people fall into the trap of refusing to believe that they are very different indeed, and it is virtually always the poor dog who ends up the loser, who ends up in a rescue centre or worse.
 
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