Huskamute? Why? Controversial

To me a Huskamute is the same as a puggle, sprooker ect a first cross that a few years ago would have commanded little price and were often accidents. Now it seems like a good way to make money off people by trying to claim things they are not.

If you want a cross breed then why not go to a dogs home and get one from there? I don't claim that Cassie is a CollieGrey or a Greycollie . . . .

The parents had their hips checked at the vet. The procedure is relatively simple and one you can ask your vet to perform on any dog. The process of registering this 'score' is then limited to recognised breeds, but non registered puppies can still come with hip and eye checks on their parents and certified by the vet if you want to breed your crossbreed responsibly...

No I did not go out looking for the crossbreed. I did not want a puppy milled or show bred dog. I have had bad experiences with dogs and breeding kennels in the past, when I used to help the local dog warden check into local breeders. I have seen some 'professional' purebred breeding kennels that would make you cry. More than anything, I wanted a puppy that came from a good home, I wanted a dog bred from loved family pets who were unlikely to be over bred or discarded when their breeding days were done. I searched for Huskys and Malamutes that met this description (I had not found this site at that point). I had spent some time researching the breeds and knew enough about both that I was confident to take either as soon as i could find the right breeder. I visited breeders and families in Wales, Manchester and all over Essex, finally just as I had almost given up for the year, one of the people I had contacted, called me back; They knew of a litter of puppies that would be ideal. Though, not a sibe, nor a mal, but a mix of the two. Would I consider a crossbreed? Already having a lurcher and having done so much research on both breeds, I agreed to go look at them. I have no interest in nor intention to show my dogs, so the KC recognised breed part is not important.

They could not have been more perfect. Knowing the breeds I was able to ask about all of the potential problems of both sides. The breeders were very knowledgeable and responsible. Both parent dogs were in the house and were adorable. I had taken my Samoyed along to meet them and the two dogs could not have been more friendly to her. They breeders had done their homework into the breeds and had had the parents checked by their vet before breeding them, as well as tracing their dogs parents lines to ensure no unintentional interbreeding. The price was less than for a pure breed and included a donation to a dogs charity to support puppies less fortunate. But... there was only one puppy left.
I knew I wanted a girl. Preferably with blue eyes, though as I had been looking at Mals that wasnt essential.
I waited and held my breath while he rifled through the ball of sleeping puppies looking for the one that was not yet taken. Finally he lifted this tiny yawning thing out of the pile... she blinked her baby blue eyes, gave me little puppy kisses, then fell asleep again in my arms. It was Kismet. Perfect meeting of chance and fate.

That is what I called her and she is the reason I will defend my little mongrel and my decision to get her. I have adopted the name 'huskamute' not because I desperately want to show her at crufts, but because it's a quick way to describe her heritage. Her insurance document says Husky mix.

I agree with you, I have seen more awful breeding kennels than I ever want to. I have a dim view of what some 'purebreeders' will do to get the perfect dog, or remove imperfections from their line. I for one do not and will not support it. So on that we agree. Should sibe and Mal kennels deliberately breed these together to make a new breed.. Probably not. But then some of them should not be allowed to keep breeding their sibes and mals at all (at least if they are breeding them together they aren't breeding parent to child or sibling to sibling and as there is no breed standard for these crosses, no puppies are being 'lost' in the back).

Hmm... somehow the 'post quick reply' button doesn't seem appropriate any more... Now where is the post lengthy rant button?

Well phrased and logical. I do support what you say about some pedigree breeding practices.

Agreed. Re the last para, tho'...for me ego is about the (negative) extremes of breeding practice whether that be for pedigrees or cross breeds. Coupled with financial gain, these perverse incentives alone are enough to skew many people's thoughts completely....and the dogs lose out big time.

Magpye's later post explains...but if she started with known parentage and 2 northern breeds in mind, a rescue would not satisfy those requirements

Mary

Sadley with the popularity of such films as 8 below and snow dogs more and more northern breeds and x breeds are coming onto rescue . . . .

As far as I am aware (and I stand to be corrected, crossbreeds can be BVA hip scored. Labradoodles certainly appear on the BVAs list (143 scored in 2007). If less than 10 of any breed (or crossbreed, presumably) are scored then they won't be specifically mentioned on the published list but you can enquire direct to the BVA.

I would have thought that, in order for 'eye checks' to have any validity, they would have to be carried out by an opthalmic specialist vet and not just any regular vet. In the same way that my GP would not be qualified to carry out an eye test on me? Again, feel free to correct me, anyone, if I am wrong.

I would agree with you that the majority of those breeding huskies (I don't have direct experience of other breeds but I would be surprised if the situation was any different for them) are neither responsible nor reputable and it is a complete nightmare for the individual trying to find their first pup. That, however, does not excuse or justify the deliberate breeding of crossbreeds with uncertain temperaments and physical attributes. For me, both bad breeders of pure-breeds and deliberate breeders of crossbreeds are equally irresponsible.

Mick

Spot on.....you have summed up my thinking precisely.

It was bad 10 years ago when we got our Husky, we ended going to doncaster to get our Kiska. I dread to think what its like now.

very good post, explained well.....by the way your dogs are lovely

a mine field I assure you. I was beginning to think an impossible task. Beginning to wonder if I was mad or too fussy, turning down breeder after breeder after seeing poor bedraggled huskies and malamutes pacing endlessly up and down their neat and sterilised outdoor runs... Or dirty houses filled with more kids than puppies looking at a tired skinny looking Husky in the corner of the kitchen and being assured that Dad was almost definitely a husky too (They were being sold at pedigree prices too, no papers). I began to wonder if i would ever find a healthy puppy at all of any breed.

I did have my name down at my local rescue homes as well for any 'snow dog type' but they had nothing. I was called in a couple of times to look at aging greyish German Shepard or collie mixes (Still more staffy and border collie crosses in rescue centres round here than anything else)

Finding a good puppy is a nightmare these days. I don't have a problem with good breeders charging a lot of money for their puppies, whatever the breed, I don't think a new life in your home should come cheap. It's a commitment and you need to have a pretty good finances to consider it. You can be sure that if I had puppies they would have a significant price tag and I would probably request a home check for prospective owners too (you need one before a rescue dog, why not before a puppy). I wish there were a way to pay the RSPCA or other organisation to carry one out for you before you sold the puppy. - Like you can call the AA to check a used car... Maybe we should set one up?

Thinking of selling your puppies? Why not get a Dogsey registered home checker to check out the prospective new home for you?

No, vets do not hip score, only the BVA can hip score officially. A vet can only guesstimate and it`s absolutely not something which can be accepted as an official score because they are not allowed to do anything but estimate `off the record`. Not all vets are experienced in taking suitable plates to be sent off for scoring let alone able to say what the hip score panel might say. Only the most experienced one`s can give a good guess but it is still nothing more than a guess and they are the first to say it can`t be taken as anything official.

Obviously yes as that is what a Husky x Mal is ;-)

I`m not sure what you are saying here - do you have the impression that Husky x Mals are an Unrecognised Breed ??? They are not - they are crossbreeds, mongrels, whatever, not a `breed` of any sort recognised or otherwise.

I`m sorry but if they were responsible they would not be turning out crossbreeds.
If their dogs were good enough to breed from,[ and had real BVA hip scores for a start ], they would be using them to further their individual breeds, Husky to Husky, Mal to Mal - the one`s which end up not being good enough quality specimin`s to further a breeders own breeds lines do tend to end up being used to throw out F1 crossbreeds with a fake designer name tag

aka `what`s the in thing in the pet market at the moment`

As said, a vet check is not enough and is frankly meaningless without appropriate and official tests being done, plus when putting dogs together of significantly different builds any skeletal tests become defunkt as resulting pups could be on any scale between the two from pup to pup within a litter, the pups can have conformation points from both breeds which far from complimenting each other cause new health problems.

They are crossbreeds so any interbreeding concerns would be in the individual dogs that they were breeding from, not the resulting crossbreed puppies ;-)
That said, why did they need to trace their dogs lines - were`nt they on each breeding dogs pedigree already ?

I should think so too, they are crossbreeds !

Or as an `investment`, [ in their thinking ], for any crossbreeds of theirs which end up in rescue somewhere along the line ?

Did`nt they have a pre-mating waiting list then ?

which you could`nt as they are crossbreeds ;-)

It`s a way for people to think it`s a breed name, it`s that sort of thing which perpetuates the `designer market` by making crossbreeds sound like a `real breed` :-(

A lot of breeders should`nt be breeding at all, on that I agree - but the `designer` breeders are just swelling the market all the more - Rescue`s across the land are overflowing with crossbreeds already from accidental matings let alone the deliberate matings which often result in adolescent pups being handed in because they did`nt turn out the way the breeders claimed they would or because the buyers have got bored with their cute bundle of very expensive crossbreed fluff :-(

I am sorry but what are the odds of finding ALL the awful breeders in a search, I know of MANY good reputatable breeders of Mals, and Huskies, so they are out there, I just dont buy it that the ONLY breeders you saw had the dogs in sterile kennels, many good mal breeders have their dogs living inside with them, maybe you just were not looking in the right places? fact is although your puppy is beautiful, I dont feel that breeding mals x sibes is a reputatable thing for a breeder to do, and they were bred because it was convenient as the breeders already had those dogs to hand to breed from. that is my opinion and I am sorry if it is in conflict with your own. but being a malamute owner and breeder who goes to extreme lengths to try and eliminate health problems and breed heathly dogs that can live as part of a family, it hurts me that all the hard work that good breeders put in is slowly and surely being ruined by unscrouplous breeders,

Mo

Mo

BOTH excellent posts girls!

I agree with Patch there. A man my OH works with recently had a litter out of one of his dogs (a Lhasa Apso we think). Has no homes lined up as far as we know, 2 of the 7 puppies died. When OH was talking to him about getting homes for them, the guy said 'Oh it's ok, they're a recognised crossbreed.'

Recognised by who? By people who think they will make a quick couple of thousand pounds at the expense of people who don't know any better and the hundreds and hundreds of dogs in rescue centres. £500 for a labralhasadoodleedoo or £75 for a scruffy little tyke from Dog's Trust? I know which one I would go for.

Its as bad as people that breed the runt of the litter with another runt and create Teapot types. Charge an extra few £££ for small pups that are going to have health problems as the dam shouldn't have been bred from.

Some one in the part the other day had a teapot yorkie and it was the smallest thing i have ever seen.

if we look at it this way, what possible use could have come from breeding the malamute to a husky? unlike lets say the argument for laradoodles which possibly has the benifits of a dog for the blind that does not shed its coats as much, in the case of the huskamute, BOTH breeds she their coats profusly, both breeds have their own health problems, BOTH breeds are high energy, BOTH breeds have an independant nature, Both breeds can be difficult off lead where recall is concerned, both breeds are lvong creatures and human friendly, so whats the point in crossing them, I just cant see any benifits from this whatsoever, apart from the "possibility" or having a larger dog with maybe blue eyes, but even that is not a definate result.

Mo

The title of this thread was "Huskamite? Why?" 2 years ago!
Can I just ask why these old threads keep being resurrected, when they have little more to offer than round and round discussions on Mals/Sibes/NI ?

Nippy, I think many new members use the search facility to find threads pertaining to their own dogs or mixes so they feel on common ground from the off, and it`s easy to not notice the age of a thread, I`ve done the same myself and I`ve been here long enough to notice thread dates but it`s easily done moreso for someone new who is finding their way around, I don`t think it was a case of resurrecting an old thread for the sake of it, probably just a case of `I have one of those, that`s a starting point for me to begin posting on`

It was resurrected becaue Magpye posted on it and gave some info which has since been proved wrong! As she owns a cross Husky/Mal, I expect she wanted to say so.

Ok. Fair points!