Siberian Huskies. Discussions

I noticed on my travels today that there are more and more Siberian Huskies and the like around these days (sorry I will probably be in trouble for being unable to differentiate between breeds )
From reading posts on here I have come to the conclusion that they are not the easiest of breeds to train and own. Am I right and are these breeds becoming another fashion item that people will get fed up with in time?

YES!
Rescue is swamped

There are of course a fair few husky type mixes - we have two alleged Utonagan near us (not sure they are as the owners seem to have made strange claims about them to other dog walkers who then ask us LOL ) one of which looks exactly like a husky which add to the fact we seem to see so many

Yes they can be difficult to train due to the fact that they get bored very easy, when you are training them you have to make it fun and keep it light, training sessions shouldn't be too long. Huskies are not for everyone and people Must read up about them before getting one as more and more sibe's are ending up in welfare due to mis informed people. I own 2 siberian huskies and i love em to bits, they are loving dogs but they need loads of excersize and loads of play and most important they love to be around their humans!!

Yes you are absolutely right!
The puppy farmers and backyard breeders have discovered the breed and are churning puppies out like there's no tomorrow. Guess where a high proportion of them end up? - Rescue!
As I wrote in a thread on the rescue section recently:

"In our first 12 months of operation, we [The Siberian Husky Welfare Association (UK)]took in and rehomed 169 unwanted Siberian Huskies. Of these, 92% were from England & Wales, 4% from Scotland and 4% from elsewhere (Ireland, France and Crete).

Of these dogs, only 11 (6.5% of total) were KC registered and 8 were immediately taken back by the breeders.

The youngest dog we took in was 12 weeks old (in fact we took in three 12 week olds over the year) and the oldest was 15 years of age. The majority, however, were between 10 months and 2 years (the "terrible teens" stage).

Most of the dogs we took in were well treated and in good condition, although we did have some appalling cruelty cases. The most common scenarios leading to relinquishing dogs were:

Relationship Break-up
Moving to new home with "no dogs" rule
Unable to handle "out of control" dog

These are some of the dogs we have taken in in recent weeks:
Sasha

Banjo

Cassie



Siberian Huskies, in the right hands, are one of the most wonderful, people-friendly dogs in existence, but they do need to be owned by people who take the trouble to understand the breed and who are willing to listen to those more experienced.

Mick

I totally agree, there are far too many people going out and getting these gorgeous dogs because they've seen em in a film or something thinking that whats portrayed on the movie is what they are like when in reality they are way different. You need to do research before getting any dog but when you go for a breed like the siberian husky you need to do way more research and talk to people who have owned them, talk to rescue centres that deal with this specific breed, most importantly sit down and think realisticly weather yo can give a breed such as thisthe time and attention that they deserve.

Thanks for the replies folks, unfortunately you have only confirmed what I was afraid was happening :-(
People seem to latch onto breeds that then become fashionable, without any knowledge or research.

Ohhhh puppies!!!!!

I think its the wolfy thing!

I was TOLD today my dogs are part wolf and the breeder "saw me coming"..

I think its the same old same old.. seen it with Rotts and then Staffs...

And lets not forget the morons crossing Sibes and Mals and giving them a fancy Designer name and fooling people into thinking they are actually a BREED !!!!

Rescues of Sibes and Mals are swamped because people don't know what to expect as they havn't done their research and don't think their lovely fluffly little snow dog will grow into a large, strong, willful, challenging addition !

Exactly what I was thinking Malady :?

LOL.. grow up?? Cruiser was large strong and willful at 13wks..

Mind you all these new fabulous puppy farmers give their pups away at 6wks and the new owners think thats great..thats cos they start being little b*ggers at 8wks LOL

Yes its a sad fact ,people buy this breed without any research and their little ball of fur turns out to be a handful and they cant cope and end up in welfare,Anne

we have a certain cross bred in our village & the lady actually said to me that if she knew it couldn't be left alone & knew they were destructive she wouldn't of bought this certain type of dog, so did no research at all on it before buying it, It is a handful for her now too at 11 months , it will have a home here with us if the inevitable happens & she can't cope anymore, but will help as much as possible with training & advice. But just so many sibes , crosses being bred & not really enough knowledgeable homes for them.

We've had instances of pups being taken away from their mother and sold at 4 and 5 weeks, which is a disaster waiting to happen as they have missed the crucial 5-7 week period when mum teaches pups how to behave with other dogs. As a result, pups taken from the mum earlier than 6 weeks often have serious aggression issues which can be dealt with by experienced owners, but which are often beyond the capacity of the average puppy farm customer.

This little bitch had her puppies sold at between 3 and 4 weeks. Then, having done her job she was dumped in rescue.


Don't get me started on the cross-breeding thing. Totally irresponsible and even more so when it is done deliberately in the pretence of being a "purebred" wolfdog, NI. Ute etc etc. when they are really just very badly bred mongrels.

Poor baby girl!! It makes me so sad that some people can just treat animals like objects that can be just tossed out with the rubbish!

I dont know much about this breed at all but in reading your post I have to agree.

I think it's happening with all breeds today

From experience of my own breed I have to say even when told how difficult they can be and all the down side of owning one they, the prospective puppy owners, do not believe you. Think the problem is that the puppies of Artic dogs are just too attractive, like animated teddy bears and people viewing them shut their ears to the truth.

Cross breeding is another problem that I will not go into except to say there is enough trouble trying to re-home puppy farm pure bred dogs without people breeding crosses who have their own, if unknown, health and behaviour problems.

Poor baby.. she doesn't look that old herself!..

ANother excellent post

That is horrible Mick she is a lovely wee dog her face tells a sad story ,she looks very young herself,Anne

We think she was about a year old and this was her second litter. She also developed mastitis as a result of the pups being taken away so young.

Mick

Thats disgusting!!!

Wonder how many of her pups will follow in her sad footsteps