The one I waited for

Bare with me as I tell Hailey’s tale…. I was five when I fell in love with the breed. I had books upon books about the breed, books that told me how to groom, train, love, show and race them. I fell head over hills with every husky I saw. While I begged for years my mother and father neglected to listen and brought home every breed other than a husky! The more I pushed the more they became blind sided to the breed. So I gave up gathered my losses and planed out a future to come with the hope of one day owning a husky. Unfortunately my best friend died of liver cancer and I became lost and had no desire to shovel throw my stressful days without my doggy therapist to come home to. Lucky a coworker tossed the husky dream back into my thoughts and I set off on a mission. At sixteen I had convinced my mother to allow me to buy my own show dog with an attached promised that said I would pay for everything the dog needed and to this day neither parent has had a reason to spend a single penny on her. So I seek out a sibe breeder at the dog show I was attending and with my surprise he told me he had one girl left! Of course I was over joyed and went home to look up the litter on the internet. The whole time I listened to my family and friends who tried to discourager me from purchasing the puppy, because we had little dogs running around the house. It became insanely easy to block them out when I looked upon Hailey’s picture, as if looking into her eyes caused imaginary ear plugs to found their way into my ears. The breeder was over joyed at the fact that their little girl was going to a show home and I was over joyed that they allowed me to have her. At seven and a half weeks old I drove a six hour round trip to pick my girl up. I was almost in tears when I hugged her and knew she was mine! That weekend I took her to her first puppy match! I also learned of her possessive/aggression problems. She tried to not only bite a passing strangers foot but tried to swallow her toy. Right away I pried the toy away and to this day she has never gotten that toy or one like it back. I also spent the next twenty minutes teaching my seven and a half week old husky puppy to ‘Release’. Even to this day it’s the best command she listens to! Just goes to show you can start training at any age! Not only did I hear a lot of “I told you so’s” that referred to my huskies behaviors, I had gotten a husky that fit all the ‘bad’ traits of the breed. But seeing that I was not only young but basically friendless due to moving place to place, I took the challenge and allowed our stubborn personalizes to clash and created a bond between the two of us. I spent countless hours trying to mellow out Hailey’s prey drive. While I failed to ‘mellow’ out her drive I did happen to teach her pack order. I did this by feeding all the little dogs before while she sat muzzled, (due to her biting) and watched the others dogs eat, after wards she received her food. While we still have many learning lessons to come I hear many ‘I told you so’s’ turning into ‘Wow! What a great job you did with her! I can not believe you got that husky to behave so well!’ While these comments please me it’s a pity the breed has gotten such a bad rap due to people not taking the time to raise their pup properly. While I will admit huskies are not for everyone. I mean in reality how many people have the time to stop a three-four month old puppy from chasing down little dogs and pinning them to the ground in a very aggressive way? Or chase a puppy through a swamp and trip over them in the woods because they hip deep into a rabbit hole? While the breed has many con’s, a huskies loves is all I need to get through the hard times. We spend most of our days together, rather it be playing ball in the park or laying together while I type this story. She truly is the one thing that keeps me going day after day. I love her howls, kisses, hugs and personality. I wouldn’t trade a single inch of our bond and trust for a million dollars. Money can buy you a pet but only love, time, determination and knowledge can give you a perfect pet. Haileys story was told by Shanna

Serina My Siberian Huskey

Hello, Well I bought Serina from a local breeder for my husband for a Christmas present. When I bought her she was about 6 months old. She now is 14 months old. She has one blue eye and one brown eye. Her coat is long but not as thick as her brother’s was. The woman said that she had been bought before but was brought back. When I went to pet her she tucked her tail and ran away. That is what sold me on her. I knew that she needed a loving home so wrote the, went through all of the paper work and got her home as soon as possible. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. She sleeps with us. She loves our cats. She loves going to work with me every day. She gets along with our horses really well also. I have done a lot of reading about these dogs and I have to say she seems a little different than what I expected from all of the reading and research I’ve done. For one thing I can take her out side off of a leash and let her run on 10 achers of land and when I call her she is right by side. She gets a wild hair every now and again, but usually if she won’t come in right away she wants us to play with her and chaise her so she can spin circles around us. Then, to let her know that play time is over, we tell her to lie down and she does it and we open our front door and she goes right on in. Training her has been pretty easy. She loves treats. Getting her to sit, lie down, and speak weren’t very hard to to. Another trait that I have noticed that she has is that she seems to be some what protective. I work in a shop for my Step-dad’s lawn maintenance company and there are guys in and out of there all day long. When I am in the shop alone she barks at some of the guys if they try to come near my section of the office and the bigger they are the louder she barks. I know that she would never go after them, they usually start playing with her after that. It seems like she saying, “My Mommy’s here alone and I’m watching you.” She’s not nearly as hyper as her brother. She gets really excited and gives us lots of kisses, but when she’s done she lays down and takes cat naps until it’s time to entertain her again. I can defiantly tell she gets bored fast. She also gets excited easily. The first chance she gets to play she is on top of it. My husband I train horses in the evening. We have a blast with her and the horses. I guess she doesn’t really understand the whole us on their back thing and she watches us ride. As soon as something happens that she doesn’t like she makes sure to let the horse know that they have her family on their back. A couple of times she’s tried to get on their backs with us. I have been getting lessons and training my horse for jumping. When I’m out jumping a low course at about 2 ft. she sometimes will follow my horse and i over the jumps. When she’s tired of then she’ll run down to our house from the barn and wait by the door for us to come let her in. The lady who owns the property that we live on has 5 dogs that Serina loves to go play with. They get to where they are running around and having such a good time together that they start a little doggy train that goes through the whole house. She has a few bad habits. When we leave her alone when she really wants to come with us she will find something to chew on. Sometimes we are fortunate and it is one of her toys. Sometimes we are not so fortunate and it is 4 whole rolls of toilet paper. She’ll drag it to our bed and when we come home it looks like the toilet paper exploded all over our bed. Potty training was a little harder than anticipated considering that the lady we bought her from said that she was potty trained. Luckily, I found a carpet shampoo that works really well on pet odors. She seems to be over that now though, or at least we haven’t had any accidents in a couple of months. So I can handle a little toilet paper chewing. I just had to learn to keep the bathroom door closed when we weren’t home. Her hair is the biggest thing. The hotter it gets out side, the more she looses. We never leave her out in the heat she’s in and out for potty breaks and loading up into the truck to and from work. In the winter time we let her out a lot more, but it is just too hot here for her to be out for long periods of time right now. I give baths as she needs them and she gets brushed everyday to every other day. My house usually gets vacuumed every other day and my beds sheets get changed more often than they used to. So the hair stays pretty well under control. All in all she’s working out very well. My hubby and I love her very much and she loves showing us that she loves us also. Even our cats seem to like her. When we go scary trips to the vet Shelby curls up with Serina in the back seat. Smokey, our other cat, likes to use her tail as a play toy. That usually starts an episode of running around and batting at each other (My cats are declawed.). They are so much fun to watch. Robert and I laugh for quite some time over it. I often ask my husband, “What did we used to do for entertainment before we brought her home?” Or “Could you imagine our lives without her.” No not really. So that is Serina’s story. I don’t have any pictures on my computer right now but when I get them I will send you some. Serina’s Very Proud Owner, Jamie L

Pound friend

I visited the local pound because i was looking for a new best friend. I fell in love with this Black and White Siberian. I told the lady that was working there to hold her. So she wrote the paperwork to hold her. The very next day, i came back to pay for her and take her home with me, but the dog wasn’t there! I asked the man that was working there that day where Shannon was. He had this weird expression on his face and asked “The Husky?” I said “Yes the husky that is held for me.” Then he quickly looked at the files and ran into a room marked for uthenasia. A vet came out with a shocked expression and so did the man that was working there. I said “Where is she?” And the man explained that they were just going to put her down. And it was a mistake that the lady there yesterday forgot to mention i wanted her. Shannon was allright and i took her home mad. But now she is my best friend ever. And it makes me feel great that i saved her life. If i would have came there a second later, my best friend would not be here no longer. Shannon must know i saved her for she is very greatfull till this day 2 1/2 years later. And i am greatfull that i found her. And that is the story of how i found my husky.

Smokey and Me

Smokey is my 10 month old husky mix. However, he definitley has the temerpment of a full blooded husky, but that also means he also has the most incredible emotional cuddley side to him as well. Smokey was born in a hole his mum dug on a cold October morning. Mum had been brought to the dog catcher’s house the night before, Jo (our dogmother) is the local dog catcher who has 50+ huskies herself! Smokey got off to a slow start and had to be weaned early due to mum’s loss of hair, she had a set of 9 puppies she graced the world with, 4 hungry girls and 5 very hungry boys. Much to our delight we brought Smokey home and fell in love. While Marlie, the princess kitty of all the land, wasn’t impressed with the wiggly furry ball, she’s now tolerable of him. He still is a bit too interested in her than what she’d prefer. Smokey has become my best friend, running partner (lost 15 pounds!) and swimming buddy. We live near a very popular lake that has one dog friendly beach. Smokey and I go swimming each day, he loves the water. He creates a huge spectacle though because no one expects a Husky to go in the water. Smokey is such a good boy and deserves his own swimming hole so he got a ‘puppy pool’ to lounge in this summer. Our guests always remark “He won’t go in there” and to their surprise, and delight, he always does. Many a hot day I’ve spent lounging in the pool beside him. Smokey does everything I do, which can be annoying when I’m trying to shower. Again, his love of the water comes into play. He eats my apple cores, the stems of my mushrooms and loves bacon! I can never repay him for the love and assistance he gives me. Where else could you get an alarm clock, exercise machine and a swimming partner all in one? He’s also inducted me into this wonderful husky family. Where we live everyone takes their dogs for rides so the wimpering you hear in the next car might be ’someone’ singing to Smokey. When one husky owner meets another wonderful stories and comraderie is achieved. I’ve seen an alibino husky, a blind husky, and one who assists a little girl with a seizure disorder. Hope this helps! Jamie

Husky power

I have two siberian huskies a two year old male called stykes and a 8 month old female called codi…… i have had stykes since he was 6 weeks old, when i got him he stuck to me like glue he has now grown into a very strong dominant dog he is my best friend, and very friendly he has trainded well when it comes to sitiing ,giving the paw and lying down but i have found it almost impossible to teach him how to walk on the lead he just pulls and pulls …he was so hiper that i thought i would get him a friend ,when i introduced codi to him she was 7 weeks old stykes was so excited that he grabbed her out of my arms and start running arond the kitchen with codi in his mouth and i started to panic , he would slap her with his paw and send her flying across the kitchen floor i thought he was jealous at first but he just wanted to play and didnt realise his own strenght till she yelped now the are inseperable and still bite and push eachother around but stykes has calmed down alot which is great he has also trained codi not to rob his food he puts a peice of meet in front of her and if she tries to take it he nips her she has now learned not to touch anyones food … he saved me having to do that training job…… here is a picture of my two best friends