Life with Siberian Huskies

There are a few things in life that cannot be duplicated by computers or anything else. One of those is to have a relationship with one or more of the Siberian People.

Yes, they are dogs, but they are also like no other dog you have ever seen. I could type all day the words that come to mind, but not even that would not do justice to them.

Furry and full of old world knowledge, they are ambassadors of a better life for you and them. They do not speak our language, but they speak volumes of information if you learn how to see it. It is subtle and requires work on your part. It takes time to understand what they are trying to tell you. But believe me, they have much to show you if you study them.

You have to know them as you would your spouse. You have to live with them to have this intimate knowledge of how they run, and how they act in any given situation. I watch the gait and I can tell if it is normal, or if pain is involved. I know my dogs so well that I can tell if they are having a bad day or if it is something physical.

They may not speak words, but they speak in body language and attitude. They give signs of their current status and health. They talk with facial expressions and their eyes. But you cannot know this unless you study them. You have to immerse yourself into the husky. That’s when you begin to understand them, as more than a dog.

For all this trouble what do you get? You get a partnership that equals no other. You get undying trust and affection if you bother to do your part. You see they are not objects that you own, they are huskies and that encompasses so much more than a paper that shows you own them.

They are family, workers, lovers of life, and lovers of their masters or should I say partners. They are unique in the dog world. A long history of surviving what should not have been survived. They did it because they had to, and found ways to overcome hardships. That is the “indomitable Spirit” of the husky.

This is the essence of a husky, this is what they are, but few ever spend the time to find that out.

That beautiful exterior hides many secrets to be unlocked. And you must find the key however you can.

A true team or partnership between man and dog is the run. To run with the huskies is something that cannot be put into words. It is the culmination of work, struggle, and determination. When it all comes together it is beautiful. It is the payoff for keeping the faith. It is another world that few ever get to experience.

There is freedom from life’s pressures, there is nature, there is power and poetry in motion. Silence except for the occasional clink from harness and sledge or bike.

It’s real, not some virtual reality. They let us into their world if we are worthy. Once you find that you will forever be changed. And then you will never want to be without it again.

TJ

From day one with both of my pups I began walking them. Immediately they wanted to pull as I was just too slow for them. It’s surprising how hard an 8-week-old puppy can pull when they want to. It was built into their DNA and I didn’t have to “teach them” how to pull.

I’ve seen a lot of post on the urban mushing site asking, “How do I teach my dog to pull?” I’m sure there is a way but I don’t know what that is. Its something I’ve never had to deal with because its built-in with a husky or so I thought.

This led me to think a lot about this problem. And there is only one conclusion I can come up with why a husky doesn’t want to pull. And that is, it has been bred out of them. Maybe not intentionally but as huskies have been overbred the outcome seems pretty predictable.

No longer do these dogs live in the great white north only. They have spread far and wide to all corners of the earth. If they have been conditioned to live in a closed environment with nothing more than a walk around the block once a day. They will in time become accustomed to it. Then this dog is bred and the pulling genes are once again diluted.

So, after several generations the desire is in fact gone. This working breed has lost the desire to work due to generations of city dwelling life style. The single most important trait of a husky is to pull. To work because that is what he was in fact bred for. He was not bred to look good. This they do naturally without any help.

You might want to keep this in mind if you are looking to purchase a husky. Take the pup for a walk and see what he does. Does he pull…or not? If you don’t want a working dog find one that just looks good because they are quickly becoming the norm. If you want a working husky make sure you get one from the start.

It’s much easier to train a husky to behave when not pulling…than trying to teach him to pull when the desire has been bred out of him. You won’t ever have the unbridled enthusiasm of a dog like in the picture. This makes a huge difference if you want a dog pulling you up a hill on a sled or bike.

The true workers are becoming more and more rare. Look carefully before you snatch up the first pup that strikes your fancy. Pick one that fits your life-style and needs. A Volkswagen bug and a 4WD truck are both vehicles, but they are made for two completely different jobs. Keep that in mind when looking for a dog as well.

I’m not happy the working ethic is being lost, but there is not much I can do about it.

TJ

Yes, even my hobies involve huskies. I need to start painting again, it’s been a few weeks now.

Seppala Siberian Sled Dog (SSSD). If you’ve never feasted your eyes on a SSSD before here are some pictures of a great looking girl. She turned one year old in December. If that isn’t an athletic body for a dog I don’t know what is. All she wants to do is run, if she happens to be hooked to something to pull along behind her, she digs in because it’s just a minor inconvenience.

Pedigree:

https://pawvillage.com/pedigree/pedigree.asp?ID=I8O4DMAMCF

http://www.polandspringseppalas.com/

Today’s topic is about love. Not such a macho thing for most guys but I guess I’m not like most men. I took a silly test a while back that said that this is my first life as a human. In my previous lives I was always an animal.

The more I’ve thought about this the more it makes some kind of sense. I’ve never been good at being social with people. I have a lot of problems dealing with a room full of strangers, and it makes me feel closed in.  I’ve always wanted to live up on a mountain far from the madding crowd. A cabin on the side of a mountain would be heaven to me.

Video from my partner in Maine. http://www.polandspringseppalas.com/

It seems there are two types of huskies when it comes to eating. Finicky and Food hogs. I happen to have 3 dogs that are finicky. This is not an isolated example at all. I’ve read many accounts of people like me wondering why their dogs won’t eat like… well dogs.

Eating like a dog is not necessarily required for a husky. Selective breeding for thousands of years produced dogs that could work hard with very little food. They also have an ability to switch their metabolism that to this day researches still cannot understand.

What happens when they are worked very hard, is their bodies switch to burning fat instead of glucose. This keeps muscles from becoming worn out and sore after a strenuous work out. The muscle cells start extracting fat directly from the blood and somehow transport this fat across the cell membranes and into the cells, where it can be burned as fuel. This is why they can run 100 miles in a day, and get up and do it again and again. (More can be read here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sled-dog-science/)

I fought the finicky eater battle for a few years before I found a solution that works for me.

First of all, you need to understand that if your husky eats very little, it isn’t necessarily bad for them. I think its difficult for most people including me, to get used to that idea. We are conditioned to believe that a dog will eat everything put in front of it. Mine seemed quite healthy eating next to nothing, and still working (pulling) for two years before I found a way to increase their appetites.

My dogs have turned up their noses at almost every good brand of dry dog food I have tried. I’ve also tried many brands of canned food to no avail. Having heard much about raw diets I decided to try it. I began slow with raw chicken and fish (Boneless.) I still do not feed bones on the off-chance that they may choke or get a blockage from them. It is said that dogs can eat bones if they are not cooked. When cooked… bones become brittle and can splinter. Even with that being said, I find it not worth the risks to my beloved huskies. They do not get bones to “Eat” they do get marrow bones to lick the marrow from the inside as a treat.

One husky will only eat chicken (cooked) and does not like fish. The other two love fish, but will eat the chicken raw as well.

Many people worry about the mess of raw food. I’ve found it is not a problem because of the way I feed it. The fish stay in the freezer. At feeding time, I yank out a couple of frozen fish and give it to them. Off they go to enjoy.

This sounds unappetizing to humans but not to my huskies. For thousands of years this is how and what they were fed. My dogs lay out in 10-degree cold weather, enjoying their frozen fish. It’s quite natural to them, and they don’t seem the least bit put out by it.

So now, after approximately 3 months of this, I can tell you that the once finicky eaters have found real appetites. Each morning they want their breakfast fish or two. Then in the evening around sun down they want dinner. They also have times when they want some canned food. Before this was never heard of in my house. They still hate dry food, but with all the pet food recalls that is okay by me.

My dogs fur looks the best it ever has. They have lots of energy to burn. But just to make sure, I give a supplemental vitamin in case I’m missing something important. True raw diets need organs as well as other parts to achieve balance. I do it with vitamins and fish/chicken.

Should you do this? I would recommend that you study up on raw diets before you decide. It seems to work for me even though my vet doesn’t approve. But then I don’t always agree with him on every topic. They remain healthy so far, and I only see improvement not degradation of any kind.

In my opinion dogs have eaten raw meat since day one. Dry food was invented to please humans not dogs. Like all things related to your pets, you are the leader and you must decide what is best for your own dogs.

I just wanted to share my experience with my huskies. You should do some research and see what works best for yours.

TJ

As another year comes to a close its time to do a bit of looking back over the past year with my huskies. Nikki turned 2 and Cooper turned 3 a few months ago.

We had a few adventures this past year. One was the transition from walks to bikes. I built the modified recumbent bike which allowed both dogs to pull me around our asphalt jungle. We traveled over 200 miles together on my contraption in just a few months.

It was another milestone in bonding for all of us. We worked together, well they did most of the work but I was the guiding hand. I did my part keeping us as safe as possible in traffic, and all things that dogs don’t understand. They need me as much as I need them.

Nikki displayed more and more of her funny character. She’s grown into a fine funny girl who doesn’t take any crap from the other animals. She’s attaching herself to me more each day. She’s still stubborn at times like when its time to come in. But she also wants to be with me more and more. Sleeping on the bed, laying next to me and just being close.

I’ve noticed the aloof Cooper is also starting to come around. He’s always been a bit of a loner but these days he seems to crave affection more than he ever has before. Today when I took Sammie for a walk I could hear him howling from a block away. This is coming from a husky who acts like he doesn’t want to walk when I show him a leash. But as soon as I left he was upset about being left behind.

I’m not sure what drives him when he acts like he does. I think maybe he is torn between his wild spirits talking in one ear, and me in the other. He also wants to come in at night and get on the bed. Normally both of them are outside about 16 hours a day. Free to run the fenced in property and do husky stuff. But after dark they want to come in and sleep with me. I’m not complaining about that at all. Having a furry husky next to you is very soothing.

Huskies are very complex personalities. At least mine seem to be complex, compared to other dogs I’ve owned. It’s taken 3 years to get to this point with mine. They didn’t just attach themselves to me almost instantly like other dogs. They seem to have a higher intelligence than other breeds. Not in solving problems (which they also do) but in social behaviors as well. It’s almost like they weigh each new thing as we would contemplate social interactions with others of our own kind.

Socially they can differentiate between work/play, animals/people, and show so many emotions on their faces like happy and sad. But it’s not a blind distinction. It’s not a simple reaction to any stimulus. You can see that they have something higher than other dogs. Some higher intellect that allows them to have higher thought processes. Not just simple absolutes like fetching a stick. They consider and think about things at whatever level of brain power it is they have.

Surely not as high as ours, but higher than other dogs I have known. This is why they are considered hard to train. You have to do more than bait them with treats. You have to gain their trust and this takes a long time. They remember any breach you make, and it takes a long time for them to forgive and forget.

Each of my huskies has a distinct and different personality. That is why it is so hard to give advice to someone about their husky. You have to have intimate knowledge of that particular dog. Very few husky issues are fixed with one solution. You have to take into account how that dog was raised, his current environment, his personality/quirks, and what he craves to be able to begin to solve a particular problem. Couple that with their inbred husky qualities and there usually is not a simple solution. In many cases time fixes a lot of problems. Just like our own kids as they mature they get smarter and wiser.

I think what appeals to me the most about them is their unique qualities. They are not slaves to man, they actually think past instinct’s born into them. They are pure athletes, and of course they are the most majestic and beautiful dogs on the planet.

They are as unique and complex as we are, but unencumbered by too much intelligence that fouls up things with over thinking, ego, greed, and the host of other things that make up humans.

So, as I look forward to another year I feel blessed for this past one. I’ve made many friends through our mutual love of these dogs. It takes one to know one (husky lovers) for if you fall in love with this breed like I have…there is no substitute.

I often worry about my husky friends. They are being over-bred, discarded, and running out of wilderness. But in my heart, I know they will survive it all…because that is something they have done for thousands of years.

I look forward to many more years in their company if they will have me.

TJ

When someone ask about a problem they are having with a dog invariably there will be two types of answers. Several people will say you need to be the pack leader or “Alpha.” Immediately this will be countered by several who proclaim, “The dominance theory of dog packs has been debunked!”

The “debunked” people think that anytime someone mentions “Alpha” they are talking about alpha rolling a dog for every little infraction. In fact, the alpha-roll is hardly ever used by a real trainer.

Alpha is another term…ready for this…” Leader.”

So, when someone says you need to be the Alpha…they are saying you need to be the leader of the pack.

They are not saying, “Beat your dog into submission, and alpha roll that sucker every time it looks crosswise.”

Your remarks to a question for help stating: “The dominance theory has been debunked. Use positive teamwork and partnership instead.” Does nothing to help that person with their problem!

What exactly do you mean? How are they supposed to do that?

If you don’t have the answer why did you even respond?

This shouldn’t even be a debate. You should actually do some research instead of surfing headlines or hitching your wagon to someone else’s ideals pulled out of context.

This is not a subject that can be understood by reading one sentence. Dog behavior is complicated, and there are no one-line answers. If you really want to understand things start with this article from Ralf Weber.

Ralf Weber is a certified dog trainer (IACP CDT) and behaviorist. A professional member of the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP) and an AKC evaluator for Puppy S.T.A.R., Canine Good Citizen, and Community Canine certifications.

https://www.happydogtraining.info/behavior/dog-pack-hierarchy-dominance-and-submission-explained/