I must be nuts!

[JessicaR]

Well at least that is what most of my relatives and neighbors think :lol:

Friday we will be picking up a new puppy, a Siberian husky! Not sure if the timing is exactly the greatest, but we will make it work :lol:
We have been discussing and debating breeds for a while now, flip flopping between the husky and the german shepherd breed, in the end we decided to go for it and get a husky. I have had experience training difficult dogs, I had a low content wolf dog as a kid, plus 11 years of training puppies of various breeds for the guide dog school, so I think I can manage a husky. The head trainer of our 4H club will definitely be a big help, he has had over 30 years experience training sibes and Alaskan huskies for both sled and dryland racing. We are going to be doing some sort of pull training with the dog whether its bikejoring or carting, we are not sure yet, and definitely obedience and agility training. We may also do a little conformation shows also, as long as he/she still continues to develop nicely.

We are not sure which pup we are getting yet but their are 2 for sure that are standing out as possible show quality. 1 is a black and white with 1 blue eye and 1 brown eye and the other is a wolf grey with 2 blue eyes (not that eye color matters). I will post pictures when we get the pup.

The reason I said timing is not the greatest is because unfortunately the pup will be too young by a couple of days for my daughter to show in 4H, plus we have the 5.5 month old black lab foster guide dog puppy. We was originally wanting to wait until this summer to bring in another pup, but we just couldn't pass up this opportunity.

Any suggestions for names?? We think we have a name picked out if its a girl; Luna, but we are drawing blanks for a boys name.

 

[Oscar]

How many dogs do you have? We had three puppies at the same time potty training, with two already potty trained, I don't think your crazy though.

 

[JessicaR]

Technically 5, though the lab goes back to the guide dog school at the beginning of August. So I by the process of dog math (you've heard of chicken math right?) :lol: I have 4 shelties right now. They are getting to the age/health that they are not doing so good anymore for 4H.
The oldest is 12 (retired 4H dog) he is almost completely deaf now so he cant participate.
Then we have the 9 y/o she is my UKC show champion, and even though I wouldn't have considered her old she is starting to have health problems, she has developed arthritis and can only do agility for a short time before she starts limping. We have to stop her because she loves agility so much she will continue on through the pain.
Next is the 7 y/o again he is not really old but has started to limp occasionally when we go for long walks, he is our main obedience dog and she will continue to show him until shows signs of not wanting to do it anymore.
Finally we have the 5 y/o other than the cyst on her leg she is in the best health, but my daughter gets too frustrated trying to train her. We always jokingly say that its a good thing she is pretty because she is dumber than a box of rocks! Or she has the canine version of ADHD. We have tried several different training methods with her and she just doesn't seem to "get it" :roll:
The lab we are raising is almost 6 months old and is potty trained so at least we don't have to worry about trying to train 2 puppies at the same time, she is also doing pretty good on her basic obedience, but of course being a typical lab pup she has energy to spare. I am hoping by bringing in a younger active breed she will have someone she can run and play with to burn off some of that energy. The shelties don't want anything to do with that crazy pup, and will not play with her.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Sounds a lot like rabbit math!

 

[JessicaR]

Loki has been here for 2 days now. He is definitely different from any other breed I have raised! So far he is doing good but he is a talker, and HATES being in his crate. I kind of expected that though since their dogs were kept outside on a farm, what I didn't expect though was the screaming :shock: The first night I think we got about 3 hours of sleep the next was a little better, I am hoping tonight is even better.

 

[macksmom98]

Such a sweetheart!!!!

 

[JessicaR]

Unfortunately owning a husky was just not meant to be for us. At only 3 months old Loki was diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia in his right hip. We was told he would more than likely need surgery in the near future at the cost of $1,700-2,000, so we made the hard decision to return him.

My daughter was really upset, and has decided not to get another husky, she said it would just remind her too much of Loki. She is thinking of getting an aussie instead, which the our vets brother breeds and shows aussies so at least we already have a breeder if she decides to go that route.