Winter

We are in Austin, TX.

Yes, and they have given me money each week I have had her. It's just not a long term solution. Eventually, they are going to get tired of that.

I have one husky. I have room for one husky. I have enough money for one husky. But, I've happened upon a situation that has resulted in me having two huskies. Sasha is a little over a year old and was bought as a puppy by a family near me. A couple of weeks ago, Sasha got out of the backyard, and found the neighbor's elderly cat in the front yard. Bad things happened. The neighbor made some pretty nasty threats, so that family asked me if I would keep her for a week, until things settled down. After 5 days, the cat died, and the neighbor filed a complaint with animal control who gave them a citation for not having the dog on-leash or contained, but said there was really nothing they could do about a dog attacking a cat. So, the neighbor suddenly remembered that Sasha also bit him twice while he was trying to get the cat away from her. He said it did break the skin, but had healed. So, animal control insisted that I surrender her for a 10 day quarantine for rabies. After much arguing, they agreed to me having our vet quarantine her for 5 days. Now I have her back, but her owners do not feel that taking her back is a good idea. So, what do I do with her? I can't turn her over to a shelter, but I've already asked every family member, friend, coworker, facebook friend and dog daycare worker if they would take her, with no luck. I emailed the closest husky rescue and asked if I could list her with them and continue to foster her, but was met with some hostility. She lectured me about what a terrible owner I am and said that because of people like me, she has 50 huskies waiting to be adopted. I'm trying to do a good thing, find Sasha a new home, and keep her out of the shelters. I listed her on Petfinder.com but it's in the "Classifieds" since I'm not a rescue organization. Any ideas?

With my boy, it definitely took some time. A couple of things I did/do is have a special toy and special treat he only gets when he is in his crate. Now, when I get the peanut butter out, he zooms into his crate.

Oh yeah, I've given up having any kind of mat, blanket, pillow, etc., in his crate. He's not crated often, but god help anything in nose reach if when he is!

The first of many battles between husky and bumble bee... Let's see your husky playing with an animal other than a dog...

That is definitely play bowing

Let's see your husky play bowing!

As you can probably imagine...this plant didn't have long to live...

He is just beautiful!

Well, we had a terrible incident today, and I'm at a loss as to what to do with my husky. Stark is my only dog right now, and is a typical husky in that he wants to be with other dogs 24/7 if possible. He has doggie daycare twice a week, and we go to the dog park the other three days. We tend to go hiking or such on the weekends. He does very well at the dog park, but I do have to watch him with puppies or other scared dogs. He will chase them and bully them if I don't call him off. But, all it usually takes is a stern calling him to me, and I've gotten pretty good at distracting him before he goes for the scared dogs/puppies. But, we've had a strange thing start happening with two great danes at the park. One of them is there everyday, while the other is there a couple times a week. About two weeks ago, one of them started bullying Stark - he would growl at him and push against him and lay his head on top of Stark, and if not stopped, would mount him. Stark growled back, but then just sort of froze until I, or the owner, got the dane away from him. Last week, the dane had some tree bark, which Stark wanted, and coveted from about 15 feet away, but made no move on. When the dane abandoned the bark, a saint bernard puppy went for it and Stark jumped him. I grabbed Stark by the collar and put myself between him and the puppy, and he bit my hand, but did not break the skin. Then he ran away from me and wouldn't come near me for about 20 minutes. I could not get him to come to me, but eventually someone else grabbed him until I put his lead on him. Yesterday, he was playing with other dogs and twice one of the great danes ran into him pretty hard. Stark just got up and kept running. Today, both danes were there and it was an immediate problem. Domino came after Stark twice, and so his owner put him onleash and kept him beside him, but then I had to keep calling Stark away, because he would go up to Domino and growl and harass him. When they were both distracted with other stuff, they let Domino off leash again. He immediately went after Stark who was in mid chase with another dog. This time, Stark wasn't going to be submissive, and it got very scary very fast. Naturally, I did the stupidest thing ever, and grabbed him by his collar. At the same time, Domino's owner grabbed him by his collar. This would have been the end of it, except that Stark bit my hand really bad, and was just going ballistic. I turned his collar and tried to knock him to the ground under me, and he bit my arm, at which point some other random dog jumped in and attacked Stark. I pulled Stark behind me and put myself between them, and the other dog bit my arm and leg (neither of these broke the skin though) This guy came over and lifted Stark up and then threw him down on the ground and I straddled him and held his head against the ground until he stopped fighting me. It was horrible. It was so embarrassing and so upsetting. I put his lead on him and got up and he turned away from me but just sat there. All these people came over and brought me stuff from the first aid kit onsite and talked about what happened. I just wanted to go home and take care of my wounds. But, to top it all off, an animal control person watched the whole thing from just outside and stopped me on the way out. So, I stood there crying and bleeding while she took down my info and Stark's vet info and every person in the park walked by us on their way home. Stark is now quarantined to my home for 10 days and I don't have a clue what to do with him. Yes, the great dane started it, but when his owner pulled him away, he stopped. When I pulled Stark away, he turned on me! I just don't know how to deal with this behavior. I feel like keeping him away from other dogs and the dog park is cruel, but I can't take the chance that he might bite someone else in a similar situation. Basically, I need him not to fight back, and to trust me to save him in those situations. How do I teach him that it is NEVER okay for him to attack another dog, even when he feels threatened? And that it is NEVER okay to bite a human under any circumstances?

Sorry if I sound too preachy, but as with many posters, I believe coyotes should not be purchased as pets. In Texas, most folks consider them to be pests, as they will certainly go through your trash or make off with your cat. But, that's the price you pay for encroaching on their territory. They are remarkably adaptable, and unlike wolves, have actually thrived as more and more of their natural habitat has been urbanized. But that doesn't mean you can plop them in the middle of a dog park. Domestication doesn't happen by raising one coyote as a pet. It took hundreds of years of breeding for favorable traits to get domesticated dogs and cats. No matter how well you treat and train a coyote, he is going to have instincts that simply cannot be squashed in one generation. Hybrids can be even more dangerous, as you have no way of knowing which traits are going to carry over into the next generation - so you might get mules or you might get killer bees. And, there is just no reason to do it. There are so many beautiful wonderful breeds of dogs. If you want a wolf or coyote, with a little research, you can find an agouti or wolfgray husky that is nearly identical. Sometimes too close to being identical...as my husky will attest when he chases down a coyote and stands on top of it grinning

This ladies and gentlemen is a drought. On the cliff Stark is facing, there are a number of mansions with stairways leading down the cliff to the docks you can see in the photo....the docks that are sitting on dry land...nearly a mile away from what is left of the lake. Pray, dance or sacrifice a goat if you have to, but send us some rain in Austin!