Siberian Husky

Well I'm 210% addicted to huskies.  I will probably never own something other than a northern breed.  They are just the dog for me.  That said, I hardly ever recommend them to anyone else.  Call me stingy, but I cringe when I see people with husky puppies and find myself wondering if they really know what they have gotten into.  How long will it be before those pups start going from home to home looking for someone that can handle them.

I spend literally hours and hours a day checking out confinement areas like the outdoor kennel, inside the fenced yard, the indoor kennels for when I can't watch them, and any leashes and collars I have.  The rest of my day is spent exercising them and vacuuming.  Well at least that is what it feels like.  

To a husky, a fence is not a barrier, its a puzzle.  Kind of like a kong to another dog.  I'll think I have them confined finally, and they will be inside the fence for a week without so much as a tiny escape attempt and then the next day, bam, 10 seconds and they're gone.

We can train indoors and have each command at 100% and then move it outdoors and they forget everything.  Now that happens with every breed, I know, but I think its different with a husky.  That open field is too much of a distraction for most huskies to overcome.

We worked on a long line with Crusher for months and months.  He had a perfect recall on it.  I couldn't ask for a faster recall, but take that line off, and he was gone.  And he's not even the typical husky that will just take off in a straight line and not turn back.  He's trained on an E-collar now, but only because I knew he knew the command.  The only way I could get him back before was to either wait him out, or get his harness.  He loves to work just a little more than free running.

As for pack living, a husky is a pack animal.  But that pack has to be very structured.  Often females don't like other females, males are usually more tolerant of each other.  When run on a team, female huskies are usually split up.  Often mushers only run one female and the rest males.  Mushing huskies are usually staked down so that they can't reach each other.  This prevents fights, not their tolerance of others in the pack.  They love people indescriminatly, and don't make good guard dogs.  They can be raised to love the family cats, but change the cat or the circumstances, and that love can change in the blink of an eye.   So your indoor cat may be safe until it gets outside one day.

There are of course exceptions to every rule.  But unless you get an adult, you just don't know what you are going to get.  If you do get a husky and don't plan on showing for confirmation, please rescue.  There are so many huskies in shelters.

 My experience is that an adult who has been in foster (for at least a month) is generally the most predictable bet as far as temperament goes- WYSIWYG.  

I think that the temperament of huskies is predictable. They are going to perhaps have variations d/t however they are treated and taught.   

He had a perfect recall on it.  I couldn't ask for a faster recall, but take that line off, and he was gone. 

 I have read in different info on Siberians, to never let them off leash.  Funny thing, my dogs don't run off now that they are mature (nearly 2 y.o.).  I tell them to stay, and they do.   A couple times on vacation a dog got loose (the latch on the lead wasn't working properly), hadn't even noticed but when I came outside with breakfast I just yelled. "want to eat?" the boy came back all muddy pawed (don't know where he went), like we do this all the time.  Another time we thought it was the girl who got loose, and called her name and he was back like a shot- must have thought she was going to get something without him!   When the female gets loose she doesnt go off anymore.  She simply saunters around...  Trouble happens if the two of them were loose, but that hasn't happened since puppyhood.  I know they love a good run, but they do want to come home.  Still the scary thing about getting loose is cars.  So, we keep them on leads and walk them and they run in the yard free.

None of my dogs are ever off leash unless I know for a fact I can catch them or recall them. I am leaning towards rescuing a husky if I can find the one for me.