Hi guys,

Just been told that my friend has bought a husky puppy!!!!!!!!!! (well actually its a Husky x GSD) dont know where shes getting it from, or if shes seen the parents etc.. I know shes wanted one for a while but had agreed with her dh that they would wait till the kids were older (they are only 6 months & 2 years old) they pick it up on the 10th apparently!

Now i know a little bit about huskies, to the point where im a bit worried they dont know what they are getting themselves into ?? were not good friends to the point where i could tell her i think shes nuts , but i thought i could give her some tips (got from you guys of course ;)) They have a reasonably sized house, and an average garden, but i have heard that huskies aren't just "pets" they HAVE to be worked? they need an incredible amount of exercise or they escape? is that true?

I would doubt i could change her mind, but im hoping i can at least prepare her :) :)

I know from getting Leo, (GSD x Collie) that doing the research is essential, however it does nothing to prepare you for actually getting a puppy!!! :D

I had a similar situation when I started this thread. http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/101247.html

It is the experience of most people involved with huskies that when crossed with other breeds the primitive nature of the Husky will predominate, and the fact they have a GSD parent will not make them Velcro dogs, or anything near.

Escapology will be a likely scenario regardless of the exercise it gets, and also they have a very high prey drive, and small furries will have little chance.

I also would not leave any dog, but especially one made up of a breed with strong prey drive and one with guarding herding drives with small children.

Anyone who is irresponsible enough to crossbreed these dogs will not ahcve selected for the best traits of both breeds, adn certainly won't have done any health testing, hips and eyes, and haemophilia in the GSD male.

I forsee this puppy ending up in rescue if it doesn't escape or inadvertently hurt the kids.

Thanks Brainless, i dont think she would take it on and then abandon it, as thats not in her nature, im just worried that she will really struggle to find the time that they appear they need :)

That said, im not sure anyone with kids or without 100% of time to devote to training would have the time and energy for what these dogs appear to need :)

am looking up some links for her (scary reading :() and will pass them on, its not my place to get her to change her mind - and i could be totally wrong about it, she doesn't work so does have time to train etc, but im just not sure a dog that "howls to the moon ;)" is suitable when you have 2 children asleep in bed :)

Then again, lots of people told me that i shouldn't get Leo, but i still did :rolleyes: then again i did do my research and knew pretty much exactly what i was getting (as much as you can know with a cross breed anyway!)

At least with Leo the cross is of two shepherding breeds, both breeds that respond well to training, on more guardy the other more herdy, but not a totally incompatible mix.  Husky and GSD are just poles apart in every way and how the traits will mix is anyones guess, but some of them could be awful.

Imagine a dog with high prey drive that will run and run, and also has a suspicious and guarding nature? 

Many badly bred GSD's are fear aggressive, add that to the Husky and it's prey drive and I would not be happy with that dog near such young children.

Sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wrong breed :rolleyes: its a german shepherd x alaska malumute ???!!!

In some ways better and other ways worse! 

Some Mals are very same sex intollerant, but they are genrally calmer than a Siberian. 

The dog is likely to become much bigger then a GSD Husky cross, so harder to walk. 

Possibley less likely to escape than a Husky.

oh dear :rolleyes:

okay, dh on the phone. father is only 16 months old??!! mother is the shepherd.

Just told them about them digging there way out, i think they think we are joking!!!!

Have they a computer.  Post them the links.  Ask them about Hip Scoring ad Malamutes do not have hips as universally good as Husky's and we all know that GSD's have a high incidence of HD (especially among badly bred ones).  Pretty sure Mals are supposed to be eye tested?

Why are they going for a cross?  Surely they could get one from the Dogs home, but then few of those would allow a large crossbreed into a home with such young children.

>>Pretty sure Mals are supposed to be eye tested?

Yes, Mals have to be eye tested annually for HC. BMS for hips is 13 (though I doubt from the sounds of things they will have been hip scored or eye tested). There are also more cases of epilepsy being seen in the breed and temperament also needs to be considered.

HTH

theres a bit more to the story :rolleyes: apparently its part wolf???!! something about the grandparents having part wolf in them.

To be honest, ive no idea about it anymore, have tried to give them the information - they are obviously mad about the puppy :) and i jsut hope it all works out for the best :) they are kind people, so i dont worry that the dog will be mistreated, i just hope they realise just how mad this could get!

If you point out to them that if their dog is known to have wolf ancestry they'll need to get a Dangerous Wild Animals licence and build a secure compound for it, they might play down that (most probably untrue) aspect and concentrate on its dogness! ;)

Wolf/dog hybrid law.

I give up, dh just texted them the link and they replied that they saw both the parents and they are happy with there choice.

So its up to them :) i wish them well!

This rings horrible bells ..Malamute/GSD/Wolf ...hmm ...

I don;t care whether you are good friends or not ..I would really suggest that you tell them to walk away from this dog. They can get a well bred Sibe or Mal or GSD for probably the same amount they are about to spend on this mongrel :(

Malamute/GSD/Wolf

:-D Well, I love Malamutes and GSD's, I would be very surprised at the wolf really being involved unless the Mals ancestary has come via somewhere like the USA and even then, probably a long yarn.

You've done your best Mobby, I expect they have fallen for the fluffy Mal. Possibly you could be really friendly and perhaps e-mail them facts about the dogs, copied and pasted from websites about them, do it in a friendly way as saying aren't they lovely dogs, look I found this on them, as though it is exciting.  Make sure you copy all the health and behavioural probs. ;-)

If that doesn't work............. what else can you do, you tried.  It's a shame as it may end up in rescue.

well ive texted them about training classes :)

I cant tell them not to get it, but i can help out when they do have it :D

>I would be very surprised at the wolf really being involved.

I wouldn't be surprised at all.  There is evidence available on the internet to suggest that someone in the UK has introduced Czechozlovakian (sp?) Wolf Dog into a 'breed' which has been developed using Mals, GSDs & Huskies. 

You cant really tell them tbh, we have tried and all we have managed to convince them of is the need to research for the dogs best interests!

They are getting a bit shirty about it now, i think they think that we think they are actually irresponsibly, so im backing off :(

That said, hopefully they will at least do there research - they have already paid a deposist so the pup is coming regardless of anything else!

You've tried hun, what else can you do??

Hopefully Wile-E-Coyote will turn into the family dog they dream of......

Yep, i really hope so for all of them :)

And stranger things have happened after all, they are lovely people and hopefully the dog will reflect on that :)

Thing is it is buyers like that who will just encourage the irresponsible puppy producer to continue irresponsible breeding. 

Truth hurts.

Teh cxech wolfdog is a recognised breed of dog that was originally developed from wolf crosses but the number of generations removed from any wolf ancestry means they are classified as dogs adn ae a recognised purebreed.

But, as I understand it, not permitted to be kept in the UK without a DWA licence.  Presumably a cross of this breed also fall under the same DWA legislation although I admit that I haven't looked up the legislation myself to check. 

Regardless of actual wolf content , which I agree is negligible in the case of the CWD, puppy buyers should be fully aware of the possible implications of owning a dog which may be subject to certain restrictions under law.

Quite agree.

Unless they get it trained and into training classes which from your posts i don't think they will, you need to train these dogs as they are very demanding, i have a rottie that is trained to a t and these breeds need to be not just bring in to house and left, unfortunately i can see another story hitting the headlines sooner or later.

Nugga, i dont think my posts said that at all actually!!!

and i think insinuating that there children will be attacked through there negligance is very harsh :rolleyes:

I dont think they have fully considered all aspects of owning this pet, but that doesn't mean they will be bad pet owners!

Have to agree, I feel they may well be over dogged, and I would Hope they have enough sense to know not to leave small children alone with animals. 

My frustration is that they are also lining a dog exploiters pockets and will have no support fro the breeder bringing this pup up.

They are a bit nieve perhaps, however they are VERY responsible parents so i have no doubts that the puppy will never be left alone with the children!! :)

Just found out as well, that the mum had a litter of 10 pups, but 5 died :( :(

I dont know anything about breeding, so im a bit ?? about it all...... is this typical?

With regards to the bit about the lack of support from the breeder, I have had lots of support from Leo's "breeder" (though she would rip my head off if i called her a breeder lol) Leo was an accident puppy, his dad is a showdog (entire obviously) (also saw his pedigree) and they rescued a collie after she was abandoned at a horse show......... she came in heat later, so they put her in a stable,(converted kennel, bloody huge!!) cue the dad jumping the stable door to have his end away........ Mum is at the vets being done now :) but i digress, Sue the "breeder" has texted me at LEAST twice a week, asking how Leo is doing, she admits she was stupid for not getting the bitch done as soon as they got her, but they had all her checks done to make sure she was going to be fine for the puppies sakes and obviously the dad is also in good health, i met them both when we picked Leo up and they were both adorable and wonderful with the children........ i wouldn't have gotten a x if i hadn't met both the parents and been convinced that they were NOT breeding her for money but out of a genuine accident :) breeder freely admits she made a cock up not getting the mum done sooner, but she has tried really hard to get good homes for the puppies to make sure the buck stops with her.

I know that that is a very very rare case, but i do think that sometimes people make mistakes, but i hate to think that everyone gets tarred with the same brush! :)

good for her! we all know that accidents happen, no matter how vigilant you are a moments lapse of concentration can be enough. when my aunties bullie and frenchie had an accidental mating the resulting pups were all rehomed carefully with the requirement of the pups being spayed asap to prevent them producing further crossed litters. i think your right mobby sometimes there is a certain amount f tarring with the same brush that goes on

It is a a shame though that some people who aren't involved with breeding don't realise that the bitch can have an injection right up to day 45 after mating to stop the pregnancy.  So they don't consult their vet.

Obviously if given early the bitch can be checked for pregnancy, and in the rare instance it hasn't worked it can be repeated before it is too late. 

So something can be done about mistakes, as long as you know they have happened.

Of course even if a litter is an accident the breeder is still the breeder and ought as in your case to be responsible for the them for the lifetime of the litter. 

to be honest brainless, i think thats one of them things that people think is an urban myth??!!

I knew that a dog could be "spayed" after getting pregnant but it seems so distasteful (though granted not as distasteful as god knows how many dogs in shelters) wheras an injection seems more "morning after pill like" :)

and in my case im very lucky she didn't, as Leo is a wonderful puppy :)

Either way, i know ive been very lucky with my breeder :) She sent me a text on Christmas day wishing Leo a merry christmas and asks for updates regually :) she even gave me a photo of his mum and dad for him HAHA :)

your right, its not very well known but i suppose a few people wouldn't feel confortable doing thateven if they knew they could? if so many people are "pro life" (i hate that phrase! i am not pro death because i'm pro choice, grr) for themselves would they do it to their dogs?

People put their dogs to sleep yet are against human Euthanasia.  Dogs are animals.  the morning after pill is pretty accepted, so a bit silly to have qualms about it for the dog.  After all nobody chooses to be castrated or have a hysterectomy except for health reasons, yet a lot of people would be happy to see this compulsory for dogs.  Few people even turn a hair at human abortion, so why the be squeamish about it for an animal.

i agree with you brainless, just a thought that was all.

but the thing is thats there choice...... it seems cruel somehow to force a dog to have a termination, you dont know what they would liek to do, and i daresay its very painful :(

No more painful than whelping, and it's the owners who choose to breed from the bitches.

Not if we are talking about true accidental litters it isn't :)

Maybe im too sentimental over it

There is no such thing as an accidental litter, if you have a bitch & don't want puppies you ensure that she is not mated. If you don't prevent this they you are negligent & any resulting litter is not accidental.

I dont think they were expecting there german shepherd to jump a stable door to get to the bitch :rolleyes:

I sure would not be surprised for any dog to jump a stable door to get to an in season bitch, certainly woudl be no obstacle for most dogs I know except maybe the giant breeds.

but then you are a breeder brainless :)

Its like i said earlier, they didn't have a bitch and a dog and thought oh right this is a good idea, they rescued the bitch and didn't spay her straight away........

To be honest im not sure why im defending it, i think we are all in agreeance that "farming" puppies is bad, but accidents happen IMO, and if the person who owns the dogs takes responsibility for that, and the health of all concerned then i think there are far wost people out there to judge.

You cant just take every person and stick them in a little box marked "good" and "not good" life doesn't work that way, they are and always will be exceptions to the rule

very true

If the top half was open I wouldn't be surprised at all! If both halves were shut and securely bolted then I'd be surprised. Dogs can jump surprisingly high - after all, the scale jump (height) in CD and UD stakes is 3 ft for dogs not exceeding 10 inches at the shoulder! For dogs over 15" the height is 6 ft. So a GSD could jump a stable door with ease.

Correct me if i am wrong, but it sounds like what your friend is getting is one of these deliberately bred (poss designer dog like a labradoodle?) innuit snowdogs - often bred specifically to look a bit like a wolf?

Lucy, i have no idea if its a "designer dog" the comments ive made since then are with regards to my own puppy Leo (GSD x Collie) i have no doubts at all that the breeder of my friends god is acting irresponsibily, as he appears to be selling puppies with part wolf, apparently KC registered parents and god knows what else.

The pups are adorable, but i have (and i doubt the breeder has) no idea what the dogs will turn out like.

well the sledding breeds are not something I know too much about BUT i do work with most breeds of dogs and especially working dogs, and having just spent the weekend as the OP at a sled dog racing weekend I can say that they are are not for the feint hearted and i would certainly try to talk Mr & Mrs average out of owning one, as beautiful as they are!!!!

Been googling it and the northern innuit seems to be very husky/gsd type and they say they look like wolves but aren't, so it sounds very much like that is what it might be. I didn't realised they were now recognised as a breed now, although it seems not by the KC. DOesn't sound like a breed for the faint hearted.
My comments weren't directed at your dog mobby - more at the dog you said your friend was getting.

I don't believe they are recognised as a breed

They are not first crosses either but being bred to each other if they are Utonogans or Northern Inuits (believe they were the same thing but people fell out and one lot renamed themselves).

You can't have a breed until they breed true, first crosses can never be a breed.