Trust - A Deadly Disease Discussions

oh for goodness sake! I give up, I have tried to stay calm but if people want to go around letting their huskies off do it!

BUT I will be there saying I told you so! when your sibe gets shot/run over/goes missing

I never comment on other breeds as I have no experience in that breed. I think some people should think about the dangerous and irresponsible advice they are advocating!

Most people that have Huskies/Mals should not have them anyway, they have no idea how to look after them and expect them to be like the dogs from Snowdogs, THESE are the people that let them off the lead! Its stupid and dangerous, and they WILL find out why one day!

Rant over, end of my involvement in this silly thread!

Thats not what I have said....anywhere!

I am saying it is not specific to northern breeds!!

I have never owned - again - nor have I said that....met and trained yes - but owned no.

I am curious with the people who own Sibes/Mals etc.... as they are insiting that even with the best training accidents can happen (fair enough - NOT disputing)....are they comfortable allowing other breeds off the lead in places......

I am a firm believer that you are never going to have a dog that is 100% reliable 100% of the time...and I accept that with mine - and still allow them off the lead in certain places and take the risk....

Most Mals/Sibes are offlead as pups..until they learn they don't need you LOL

thing is Tassle,most experienced Sibe owners have learnt the hard way,myself included :-( no-one listens blindly to people,i have my own mind..just because someone tells me that something is so,i dont take it as gospel..it would just be nice if the experiences i and other sibe owners have can be learned from and passed on..
i will stick to my guns and say that they are more 'cat like' than any breed...cats are highly intelligent and can be trained to do amazing things...but they always have that independent wilder streak,they listen most of the time and do come home....eventually ;-)
eventually is too late when something has been killed,be it dog,livestock or person in car etc.
and i repeat... i let my sibes off lead in safe enclosed/fenced areas no prob!! whats wrong with that?

Haha! Thats why im always so bloody twitchy with him! I want to avoid the moment where i see his little white bottom bobbing off into the distance!!

Nothing at all - I'm sure yours and all the other Sibe owners (on here at least) give thier dogs a fantastic life

I am not disputing what people are saying....what I find interesting is the fact that some people are saying that you could trust a Well trained Sibe 99% of the time....

That is my belief of all dogs!! You can trust them 99% of the time...but there could always be that 1% of the time when the accident occurs....(the [replace with small furry] runs through - they break their neck chasing a rabbit - a firework goes off in front of them....) the list is endless ....

I take that risk with my dogs.....

i do get what you are saying
i also take that risk ;-) my beloved lurcher had a spinal embolism through a freak accident :-(
as i stated in an earlier post,imo it is the hard wired..independent wilder streak ,sibes like us,but dont need us....like .....oh im not gonna say it!! lol ;-) ;-) ;-)

Ohh..like what ?

I understand about dogs not needing people....trust me! (We have a feral dog - who, 8 years ago at least, certainly didn't need people - well - he didn't think he did!)

Without offending anyone intentionally , my question is, is it fair to keep a dog on lead the majority of the time? Dogs that are not used as working dogs.

How are these dogs treated back where they originate, ref freedom of lead?

But that could, can and does apply to any breed of dog, not just huskies. And most other breeds are let off the lead!

I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but our dogs spend the vast majority of their lives off-lead - running freely around the garden playing and free-running in enclosed areas. The amount of time they spend actually walking outside the house represents a fairly small proportion of the exercise they get. The impression some people seem to have is that these dogs spend 24/7 on a lead, which is obviously not the case.

In their country of origin (North-East Siberia) as has been explained before, during the winter the dogs were used to transport the Chukchi families while they hunted/fished over a wide area - sometimes travelling up to 100 miles in a day. During the summer months, the Chukchi returned to their summer coastal villages and set the dogs free to roam the area hunting and scavenging for themselves. As winter came and food became scarce the dogs once more became sled dogs (of course not all the dogs returned - accidents and natural predators accounted for some, but at least there were no roads for them to be killed on). This pattern of behaviour was built up over a period of time which has been estimated as long as 10,000 years. It is no wonder that the prey/ drive and hunting abilities of these dogs was hardwired into them.
For a brief early history of the Chukchi dogs, go to http://www.dreamcatcher.org.uk/breed_history.htm

Mick

But why ?? I just don't understand what is so special about Mals and Huskies. That sounds odd, because especially Mals, they ARE my favourite breed ... what I mean is why is just Mal and Husky owners that take this extraordinary stand? I just do not understand. Every time any one of the billion dog owners in the world unclip that lead they are taking a risk ... I just am completely bewildered as to why Mals and Huskies have to be restricted so ... just in case. It is beyond my ability of understanding I'm afraid.

Unfortunately, my parents staffie killed and ate the next door cat. They live in a place with a massive garden, and their dogs have always had the roam of 6 acres every night. One night, next door's moggy met an unfortunate end. All that was left was some fur and a couple of paws. Horrible and tragic, but does this mean that my parents should have then confined their staffie to the yard, instead of allowing him to roam their land and help to keep down the rabbit population, which he did quite effectively? It was very sad and very unfortunate that the poor cat met such an untimely end, but every day people's cats killed thousands of song birds, and no-one turns a hair.

Me neither

If you, like me, had seen 15-20 cases of an allegedly highly trained, highly obedient dog of one particular breed killed because on just one occasion it chose to ignore the recall command, you might begin to understand. It's easy really :?

Mick

But these dogs could just as well have been 2 GSD's, or 2 collies, or 2 labs. I am not being obtuse here, I am really struggling to understand WHY it is only Sibes and Mals that according to the breeders must never be let off the lead.

I just don't buy it ... because I know it to be a gross exaggeration. My friends with Sibes have had to work very, very hard with their dogs to achieve what they have achieved in terms of recall. The dogs are not young, neither are they old, the eldest is 6. Maybe one day he will do a silly thing ... just like thousands of other dogs of all breeds do silly things and end up under a car. It is tragic and very sad, but I just will not accept that ANY dog should be condemned to a life on the lead unless it is a danger to the public or other dogs in that it is untrainable and vicious (if such a dog existed, which I don't believe in any case).

No need to start pinging your knicker elastic Gemma just because you don't like what people are saying !!

And I take extreme issue with your rant!! I totally agree that SOME people have no idea what is involved with looking after a Husky or a Mal. They have watched White Fang or Snow Dogs and want one. Quite agree ... but you just cannot generalise and say MOST, that is blatantly untrue.

You are stamping your foot and throwing a tantrum like a spoiled child. For goodness sake calm down and debate like an adult, and stop throwing girly hissy fits !!

From a personal point of view, if I had a pure sibe or mal, I don't have a 100% safe area to let my dog run in. The fields around here are probably about 90% safe ... that would be good enough for me, were I to have a pure sibe or mal

Ha ha, sorry OT but guess where Diesel's name came from, and he's nothing like a Husky