Hi, I am fairly new to the board, I read but never post but after getting addicted this week and reading through all the posts I have noticed that siberian huskies seem to be getting more popular. I have 5 sibes and just out of interest every so often I will look through classified ads in the papers and on the internet and they seem to be for sale everywere at the moment! One thing that strikes me though is that people seem only bothered about they eye colour, and one ad I saw was selling blue eye dogs for more than ones with brown eyes, I don't think that this warrents higher prices. I don't think that eye colour can be quarenteed when buying a pup unless they have already opened their eyes of cause, please give your opinions
thanks Mandy

hi mandy,
could not agree more! i think there is even a post on here wanting a black and white with blue eyes, when will people realise that sibes are not a fashion accessory and that there are far more important aspects to owning a sibes that what colour they are??!!! i am sure you know that good breeders will not breed purely for coat and eye colour and that they dont charge more either, it goes against the breed clubs ethics. it is those darn back yard breeders yet again!! do you show/work your sibes, perhaps i will see you at a show this summer or rally this winter?
kelly

Hi Kelly,
thanks for replying, I totally agree with the fashion accessory thing, when will people realise? Thats probably why theres so many adult dogs for sale as well as puppies because some people don't researce the breed! Its seems that sibes can get in the wrong hands at times and I know that there are alot of reputable breeders out there and I think that they are wonderful, but I think that the bad breeders get thereselves known advertising everywere, so if people don't researce the breed then obviously they will not researce the breeder - what do you think?
I have only just started out with the working side, I would love to show my dogs but I am not sure how to go about that yet, I will try to get to some shows this year and meet people and see how it works, but I will definately be at the rallies.
Mandy

I`m pretty sure that at the very top of the SHCGB website is a banner that clearly states that no colour or special markings warrant higher payment for a pup. We choose our pups based on the fact that out of the litter they played really nicely together and have very loving temperaments.... not that most sibes don`t anyway.

I think that people have a romantic notion of a stereotypical husky with blue eyes and that is what they tend to seek out. I`ve noticed this when "trying" to walk my pups in that this is the first thing people comment upon. Its not until I inform them that they also have brown eyes and odd eyes and this is not considered a fault in any shape or form. I personally think that bi-eyed pups are quite attractive!

We will be showing off our pups at the main SHCGB show in September although this will be their first show trip so look for the unruly pups! We`ve also pre-ordered our rig so we are fully prepared to lightly train them at the end of the year. We have taken them out to visit other SHCGB members when they are training and the pups look like they can`t wait to start. The term "when you are a little bit older" comes to mind!

Take care

Liz Fry
Weston Super Mare

liz, you are quite right, there is a banner stating that coat/eye colour does not warrant higher prices. when i have been offered my pups, both times it was the only pup left out the litter and i picked that particualer breeding/litter based on the parents breeding, working ability, temprement, hip scores/eye test and of course the breeder's expereince and the envirmonment the pup were raised in. coat and eye colour did not even figure in my choice, in fact my youngest pup is red with one blue eye and one yellow eye, a colour that i would not immedialty be drawn to, but as i say he he had the right breeding and lines that i wanted so his colouring was not an issue.
also people dont realise that colour and markings can change so much with age. my middle pup was jet black when he was born, which went through several different shades of black and grey, even looked quite red/brown at one point and has ended up greyish/black. his face mask has also changed, his "googles" were very dark are now fading and he suddenly sprouted freckles down his nose!
i also get the "aw pretty blue eyes" when i am out walking and always point out my eldest sibe dark brown eyes and youngest pup yellow eye as hardey everyone realises they can come in these colours.
i am not sure if i will make it to the sept club show as it is a long long drive for me, will have to see!
how old are your pups? my youngest is 8 months and he too cant wait to go training with the older ones. i am waiting till it is much colder and he is a little older before starting him off, as he is so keen and still such a baby he could easily over do it. will have to let me now which rallies you are going to and i will come and say hello to you and your pups!
kelly

Hi Kelly,
My dogs colour has completely changed with age, I have a jet black dog also who is now showing silver and brown patches through his coat. Do you find that their colour changes alot through moulting as well? I also found that the face markings fade or disapear after time. When one of my dogs was a pup and he had his eyes closed I remember faintly seeing a dark blue colour and when opened they did have a hint of dark blue but know they are completely brown!
When I got my dogs, colour does not come into it I love them all the same. I think every colour, size and shape are all beautiful.
I do agree that some people do not realise that sibes also have brown eyes because I remember while in the vets a man asked if my boy was a malamute and I told him he was a sibe, btu he disagreed with me because he had brown eyes, I think I know what breed my own dog is!
I surpose with any breed of dog some people have a colour preference its as though they are chosing wallpaper!
Mandy

mine dont seem to change colour that much, although the "appear" whiter, i just think this is cos of their undercoat getting ready to drop out though. indi is just starting to blow his coat, i keep pulling little tufts out of him when he walks past, he is not amused!
kelly

hi mandy,
there are bad breeders advetisng everywhere, just look in any free ads papers and no doubt there will be a litter advertised. no doubt these breeders will not inform people of the breeds bad points as they will sell to the highest bidder. a freind of mine rang one such ad posing as a potential buyer. she asked things like can you let them off lead, will it get one with my cat and she was told all sorts of rubbish, the biggest that wound me up was "they are just like furry labs" normally people who buy from these aren't people who have researched the breed as any one who new anything would run a mile from someone who is spouting this rubbish!
i started working and showing my sibes 18 months or so ago and although i am still learning myself i would be happy to help with any questions to help you start showing. there are a few coming up in a few weeks, there is south wales on the 13th july in usk, east of england in peterborough on the 17th july and one in malvern on the 19th july. i went to loads of champ shows for about a year before i started showing "seriously". you should come along to some as there are plenty more over the summer, if you cant make it hopefully i will see you at rallies, i am very nosey and love meeting new sibes :)!
kelly

Hi again Kelly,
I can sit there for hours and pull the tufts out but they seem to never disapear! I am keeping all the fur I don't know what I will do with it yet probably make a duvet or something. I also love meeting new sibes, I would love some help from somebody who has sibes thankyou, I will see you at the rallies I will look for your dogs, oh by the way your website is great.

no probs! feel free to come and say hello. i know of someone who spins dog fur and makes it into things, imagine a sibe fur jumper, gloves or hat :)! how warm would that be!
glad you like the website :)
kelly

Hi Guys
I was goint to reply to the original post, but reading through, realised that I was just going to repeat what everyone else had said! So for one, I'll keep quiet!

Lynn & the boys (who are blowing their coats BIG time!!)

charging extra for the colour of a puppy's eyes is ridiculous! i personally think bi-eyed dogs are quite beautiful, but i most certainly wouldn't buy a puppy (and pay extra) just because of its eye colouring! temperament and health are the most important things when buying a puppy!

Elise & Moogi.

Elise & Moogi, I could not agree more

My pups are only five months atm but they are huge. We weighed them at the vets during their last training class and Logan is a whopping 19kg, with his sister 14.5kg. They are about to take their Bronze KC test next week. Its 50/50 whether we will pass or not. It all depends on whether they can be bothered to do their sit/stay for 1 min. Thats the problem with that sort of test, Sibes are soooo intelligent they can`t see the point of it and get quickly bored. I`m sure if I put a TV in front of them they`d sit stay all day! Logan got a little confused last week because the Cheetah on the TV walked off to the right and Logan couldn`t for the life of him work out where it had gone because it definitely wasn`t round the side of the TV cos he checked!

In terms of the training thing. We are not going to run them properly until they are 1 year old. But we like to take them out with other people so they get used to all the action even if they do have to sit put throughout it. I think they also appreciate the barbeque afterwards! The people we go out with take their dogs for a quick run at 6 in the morning so avoid the hot weather. It was great last weekend to wake the pups up at 4.30 in the morning to go out. That`ll teach them for waking us up normally at 5.30! They just sat there watching everyone howling with excitment. It was also great to see them play with other sibes and malamutes!

Pics of Logan and Arwen can be found on the breeders website when they were 12 weeks at http://www.shadowolfsiberians.co.uk/. They are under shadowolf puppies in the grey/white section nr the bottom on the left hand site. Obviously they have grown quite a bit since then. We are in the process of putting a website together for them but its still under progress! Arwen is at the front and has since replaced the tan on her head with grey. Its amazing when we first saw them they had the colouring of jack russells!

Have to go and finish studying (I`m an accountant and have to pass them to keep my job..... ) however they`ll be over in a couple of weeks which will give me the chance to sort hte website and attend some shows to work out what we have to do

Take care

Liz

We are hoping to take them to ringcraft classes once they have finished their bronze award. We just need to convince Logan that strutting his stuff is a good idea!

Good luck with the bronze award :) My eldest Mal has failed twice now. The first time he decided that staying wasn't an option when there was a rather good looking Golden Retriever on the other side of the room that he hadn't been introduced to and the second time he crawled the whole length of the hall on his belly to reach a Bernese Mountain Dog and looked at me as if to say "but I'm still down Mum!" :rolleyes:

Love the bit about crawling on his belly!
When Tal was a youngster, I took him to training classes, nothing fancy, just sit & stay and all the usual stuff. He was always the class clown, but one day had us all in hysterics when told to "down" he did, vert nicely too. We (people that is ) then walked to the other end of the room. When I turned around, there he was, right behind me! The trainer couldn't keep a straight face! Tal had "pushed off" the back wall like a swimmer in a pool, then "tiptoed" after me down the hall! I never did manage to get him to stay put!

Lynn & Tal

Hi,
As what I know about Sibes would fit comfortably on the back of a postage stamp with room to spare, I was wondering if there was any correlation between blue eyes in a sibe and deafness, as there is with dalmatians?
Just curious.
:)

Nope, none at all. Anyhow, all sibes are born with selective deafness anyhow!!!!
Lynn

I agree with you there my sibe has great selective hearing.
He cant seem to hear the words no, get down etc.. But can hear very well when it comes to biscuit, food and walks!!!
Very strange!!!
My sibe is 5 months old now so i know i ve got the worst to come yet so to speak, however bandit has been clean for about a month now apart from a few accidents over night. I dont tell him off at all because the back door is shut so its not his fault. I decided that i would start leaving my back door open over night so that he could go out and do his doo when he needs to. However this hasn't worked and now he thinks that he can go on the kitchen floor. Is he scared of going outside on his own - he quite shy and with held is this normal. also does any one have any advice on this for me?
Thanx Xanthe & Bandit

Oh, all dogs have selective deafness! That doesn't count! It's the real, congenital problem that concerns me!
:)

There is no known connection between white sibes/blue eyes and deafness................not sure I know of a deaf sibe at all :-)

However there was theory coming from Holland and Europe at one point that continued breeding of pie to pie (recessive to recessive) was causing deafness

It's interesting, though (at least to me! ;) ) that a something like a blue eye can be significant health-wise in some breeds, but not in others. Curious. I wonder why....
:)

Does it ever signify deafness in Collies? Or just dalmations?

I gather a blue eye with blue merle collies in particular... English setters, of course, have a fairly high level of deafness, as do bull terriers....it's a problem in about 60 breeds, I gather. Of course, you can also get total deafness in a dog with good, dark eyes, too.