Advice on buying an NI Puppy Questions

Kiesha can be left alone and is not destructive, she is not a fan of the dark and often chooses to stay behind on the dogs 'night' run. Kai cannot be left alone and if i have to go out without him i get a babysitter in. Ava has never been left on her own and she's now over a year old, i have no idea if she'd be ok or not as i had Kai before her so she's always had me or a babysitter.

Well i am glad both the breeders of my girls didnt have such a narrow view or i would have missed out getting my two wonderful dogs. They would also have missed out on a very loving home.

Dogs can be kept busy when you are not there, in fact there is a whole range of toys to help with this! There is also a lot you can do yourself with a bit of imagination. For example Ela has a frozen stuffed kong, very hardy rubber toys with holes i can stuff food into, a bottle thing with a rope to stop the treats falling out, a treat ball with a hole so she has to roll it around to get the treats, big rawhide bones, cardboard box filled with treats toys, paper and other boxes to destory . . The list goes on.
I think its a sign of a very insercure dog (no matter what the breed) that can not be left alone for even a few mins without getting upset.

Have to agree with the bold bit Rachel.

Haha I was just going to say was anyone else tempted to just say don't and I see there have also been posts removed already and so it goes on before the poor OP even has one!

....but it does make you look a bit more carefully at the 'breed' if you see things like this going on....and if it makes people go away - think about and ask some more in depth questions surely that is a good thing?

RE - the seperation issues....I do not think it is always a training issue....some dogs do have seperation issues despite being secure in other ways...its just that they get thier security from having company or a person rather than a place.

Mine has no bother being left, he was used to being alone from a very young age, as I said before minutes at a time and building up from there, when they were 7 weeks I'd lie beside them in they're kennel till they nodded off, leave the kennel doors open and try to get back just as they woke, then built up to leave them to wake alone and come out the kennel, it took a long time but I did these excersises with them everyday, everytime they fell asleep, I know 11 N.I's, non have ever had seperation issues, my boy has never been destructive either, maybe I'm just really lucky (( shrugs ))

You don't know the circumstances behind Tai's intense sep anxiety. I will PM you.

My view is not narrow, just very experienced of certain breeds of dogs.

Fair do's Inkliveeva. Woody, son of Hal, only has separation anxiety now if parted from his 4-legged pack. His owner can now leave him Home Alone with his doggie friends. But if separated from them, he howls the place down and becomes destructive once again. Woody's mother is a N.I.

My experience is that northern breeds are best not left home alone. All the ones I know to some degree suffer from S.A. Not all are destructive, some like Hal just howl and are miserable. I personally choose not to stress out my dog, and were I to breed a litter, I would not sell to a home where the dog would be left Home Alone all day. If there were other dogs present, that would be different, but completely Home Alone ... no way.

This had nothing to do with Northern breeds as NI's are not them.

They suffer from random things like this as they are made up of random dogs!

I use the term "northern breed" loosely, gemma. To cover all the wolfey-type breeds - sibes, mals, ni's, utes, saarloos, czechies, etc. etc. ... and mixes.

Good point, Tassle. Tai's reasons for his S.A. are more than understandable and are definitely incurable. He is totally secure within his own skin, with humans, with other dogs, he just cannot stand being left on his own, separated from his pack.

Sibes and Mals arent a Wofley type breed either!! they are the true northern breeds!

hi,
i have an N.I,sibes and a czech! none have separation issues although all had to learn in different ways and in different time spans,in fact my 'rescue' N.I has caused me no more concern,actually probably less than my other dogs owned from young pups!.
imo it is not a breed specific problem,it is a 'dog' problem and has to be dealt with on an individual basis.
ps... i would only say i have one 'wolfie type breed' can you guess which one?;-)

Husky.......

csv ....

I'd say that too

By wofley I assume you mean wolfey !!

Sibes and Mals are fairly recent wolf crosses. I agree with you that they are the true northern breeds, but because peeps tend to get very upset on this site when you mention the W word, for the sake of argument I use the generic expression "northern breed". I am more than happy to say wolfey guys if you prefer, but you'll need an umbrella to protect you from the flak !!

all of 'em

norty! ;-)

lol.

Totally agree !