Pure or Mix??

[Paranormal Wolf]

Not that it really matters but I’m wondering if Bear is a full blooded Siberian Husky. From what we were told his is 10 months old, pure bred CKC registered Siberian Husky, and came from a breeder in Tennessee. There are 3 reasons why I wonder if he is a pure Sib or not.

1. The tip of one ear does not stand fully erect. He is still young but from what I’ve read most Sib’s ears should be fully up by now.

2. I know that Sibs have hair between their toes; Bear has some between his toes but its not a lot. Is the hair present from puppyhood or does it develop between the toes as the pup develops its coat?

3. I also know that Sibs have hair lining the inside of their ears for insulation, Bear does have some hair but it's not thick, does that also develops more as his full coat comes in?

Again it’s not really important since he is a great dog and we all ready love him to bits but I’m just a bit curious.

[HuskyCouture]

he looks full sibe to me. his ears look a little too big for his head, so i think if anything, he was probably just poorly bred from a back yard breeder.

[snssewell]

I remember seeing the pic with his ear sooooo cute. My first thought was that maybe he is younger then 10 mth? Cause his ears are still huge and he still has to grow into them. But I guess its hard to tell from the pic. He still looks a lot like a puppy. I know that Zihna's ears were up when we got her at 9 weeks. There were times occasionally that one folded over and got stuck but usually not by itself. Zihna is 10 month tomorrow and has grown into her ears a while ago as you can see on her pic. No more huge dumbo ears there.

Not so sure about the hair between the toes but they do have some skin between their toes....kinda like duck feet :lol:. Helps them to run through the snow. You should be able to feel it if you stick a finger between his toes.

[sutsibe]

It's hard to say. His ears (while adorable!) are really large, compared to most Siberian ears. The lack of fur between the toes could well be because he's got a very short coat. There are some Siberians that do have pretty short coats, but that could also be coming from another breed if he is a mix... As you've said, it really doesn't matter to you - you love him, and you aren't likely to show him. So - for what it's worth, call him a Siberian!

[Paranormal Wolf]

I'm not 100% on his age as they guy we got him from didn't seem to sure himself but the add said he was a bit over 9 months. He is approx 20-21 inches tall and weighs 40 pounds. I just looked at his toes again (a bit hard to do because he doesn't like his feet being touched much) and he has some skin between them and some hair that's a bit longer that the hair between my pit's toes. while I know Malamutes are not the same breed as Siberians my friend's Malamute has quite long hair between his toes. I've read that some Sibs ears take longer to stand, maybe my boy is just a late bloomer lol.

[Shadowpup]

He looks full sibe to me, as you said it doesn't matter but his ears do look a lot like my Yuri's although Yuris' are smaller. Yuri is 1/4 German Sheperd and has German Sheperd ears. But if people see me out with him and Aya they think he's the same breed as her (siberian husky). His ears are thinner than Aya and Flynn's.

[snssewell]

I am not 100% sure but I think Zihna was about that height when she was about 7 - 8 month old and she was about 35lbs then. I have not measured her lately so I am not sure how tall she is now. But she was 40 lbs last time we were at the vet which was not too long ago. Most females are smaller than males, and Zihna is a bit on the smaller side.

It could very well be that he is a bit younger and he will be doing some growing and grow into them ears. I've looked at your pics again in the gallery and from his markings he does look like a sibe. If you really wanted to know though you could do a DNA test. Found a website in KY says $40 for horses, but they also do dogs, so I am thinking it would be the same or less for a dog.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/gluck/AGTRL.asp#tests

If you google Dog DNA testing KY there are more and I also saw something about a home testing kit.

[Paranormal Wolf]

Yeah weather he's a mix or pure he will be loved Another thing, i know Sibs have hair in their ears to insulate them, Bear does have hair inside his ears but it's not thick. Would this be because he still hasn't developed his full coat?

[Paranormal Wolf]

I’m beginning to think he’s younger than 9-10 months. The ad stated that he was a bit over 9 months but when I asked his former owner when Bear was born he said most likely the end of September-beginning of October. That would put him between 6-7 months. I wish the guy was more helpful, he doesn’t respond to my text or e-mail any more so asking him is useless. Bear also acts quite young still.

[snssewell]

That is what I am thinking too. From the pics if I had to guess I would say somewhere between 6-7 month old sounds about right. Would fit with the height and weight too. I am not sure about the ears now....never really paid attention. Would have to check but she is sleep now .

[snssewell]

I managed to get a close up of Zihna's ear. But I don't think it has always been like that. So if he has some baby fur around the edges of his ears inside then it will probably get thicker as he gets older.

I also measured her height and she is 22 inches now. Males are usually larger than females so he is definitely younger than 9-10 month.

[Staceybob]

Looks pure to me, though if Kuma is supposed to be pure and KC registered, why dont you ask the breeder for their KC Registered name and check that it matches with the kennel club records?

Stacey xxx

[Paranormal Wolf]

This is Bear's ear lol

[Kirbysowner]

def. not over 9 months, height and weight sound more like 7-8 months, but then again huskies develop all diff. you can't really ponder about pedigree until they are like 18 months and have done most of the growing up. Some parts grow faster than others, and like urs mine is still growing his coat and slowly getting fur in his ears. Dont worry about it and ask again in a year

one question. why kuma bear? kuma = bear in japanese

[Paranormal Wolf]

Looks pure to me, though if Kuma is supposed to be pure and KC registered, why dont you ask the breeder for their KC Registered name and check that it matches with the kennel club records?

Stacey xxx

We didn't actually get Bear directly from a breeder; we got him for someone who could no longer keep him. While the guy seemed nice it also seemed like he didn't know a lot about Bear. He told me that Bear has papers and that if we wanted them he would give them to us. Well I e-mailed him about the papers and gave him my address so he could mail them and he never replied. I also text him and again and nothing :/ His ad stated that Bear was just over 9 months but in person when i asked when Bear was born he said most likely the end of September or the beginning of October. which would put him in the 6-7 month range. The more i look at Bear and watch him he acts and looks more like 6-7 months.

[SarahNukka&Shadow]

Just had a look in your gallery and Im agree with Silke, I think hes younger than you were led to beleive... I also think if his ears and paws are anything to go by he is gunna be a BIG lad when hes fully grown! Certainly looks pure sibe tho. The ear flop could be just an old play-fighting injury.. if the cartalidge gets damaged when they are young it stays floped. As for the coat I would THINK it would be a combination of the fact that he was born down south where its warmer so his parents if they had been born their would also be naturally shorter coated to cope with the heat... this plus the fact that hes still young and untill they have grown in a full adult coat and blown it then they arnt completely furry everywhere.

Either way hes a gorgous boy!!

[Paranormal Wolf]

one question. why kuma bear? kuma = bear in japanese

Yeah I know his name is double Bear lol. He was named Bear when we got him and we like names that are a bit more unusual so we wanted to call him Kuma and to get him use to Kuma we call him Kuma Bear and will eventually trim it to just Kuma lol

[davidjk]

1. The tip of one ear does not stand fully erect. He is still young but from what I’ve read most Sib’s ears should be fully up by now.

some sibes do have floppy ears its called having tipped ears

2. I know that Sibs have hair between their toes; Bear has some between his toes but its not a lot. Is the hair present from puppyhood or does it develop between the toes as the pup develops its coat?

micha didnt have a great deal of fur for the first year or so, and to much fur is a bad thing as it gets wet and freezes causing injury so racers prefer shorter hair

3. I also know that Sibs have hair lining the inside of their ears for insulation, Bear does have some hair but it's not thick, does that also develops more as his full coat comes in?

they seem to grow thicker hair in their ears and all over their body as needed, if you look at sibes in extreme cold countries their ears are practically full of fur

Again it’s not really important since he is a great dog and we all ready love him to bits but I’m just a bit curious.

No at the end if the day it isnt, i was worried about micha not being a pedigree even though i have her papers as the breeder also kept GSD, and everyone thought she looked like a white GSD. suki is a Sibe x Malamute and i dont care they are both my girls and thats all that matters

we call our suki bear, because when we got her she had had a litter at 10 months and was so skinny, but she grew so much and she has a nice deep chest so she is a bear compared to what she was.

[Karren]

Lexy took ages to grow into her ears! They looked a bit like radar dishes at first then she got bigger and her ears seem to fit now. The hair between her toes gets thicker in winter and more so now she is older.

[Paranormal Wolf]

Bear is going to be a handsome boy when he’s full grown, not that he isn’t already I have come to the conclusion that he probably was quite a few months younger than I initially thought. I believe he is just now a bit over 7 months. His coat is beginning to develop, isn’t too noticeable in pics but I can definitely tell while brushing him. Also he’s beginning to grow into his ears, they are still a bit big but not as big as when we first got him lol Also the floppy tip seems like it’s trying to stand, doesn't flop over as much unless he looks down

[Sarah]

awww he's growing up to be really handsome!

[Calin]

Davidjk made a good point about the ears, but there is another answer for it.

When you pet him, do you play with/stroke his ears a lot? The cartilage in them softens up if its constantly being massaged and if it gets soft enough it can cause the ear to tip over like that. There's nothing wrong with this happening though so don't panic

Aries gets his ears played with a lot and though they stand up straight they're very soft and flexible, all the way down to the hilt. If you want, you can flip them inside out and they'll stay like that until you flick them up again

As for how long ears take to stand up, it should usually be done by the time they're about 3 months old. I'm guessing yours either has the tipped ears or you play with them a lot!

Here's a pic of Aries at 4 months old, his bat ears stayed for another 2 months or so. Huskies grow up at different rates depending on their lines as well, racing lines tend to grow up faster than dogs that come from a history of show breeding, so don't worry if he's older and he hasn't grown into them yet.

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[Paranormal Wolf]

Davidjk made a good point about the ears, but there is another answer for it.

When you pet him, do you play with/stroke his ears a lot? The cartilage in them softens up if its constantly being massaged and if it gets soft enough it can cause the ear to tip over like that. There's nothing wrong with this happening though so don't panic

Aries gets his ears played with a lot and though they stand up straight they're very soft and flexible, all the way down to the hilt. If you want, you can flip them inside out and they'll stay like that until you flick them up again

As for how long ears take to stand up, it should usually be done by the time they're about 3 months old. I'm guessing yours either has the tipped ears or you play with them a lot!

Here's a pic of Aries at 4 months old, his bat ears stayed for another 2 months or so. Huskies grow up at different rates depending on their lines as well, racing lines tend to grow up faster than dogs that come from a history of show breeding, so don't worry if he's older and he hasn't grown into them yet.

We don't play with his ears as I have read that can keep the cartilage soft. However we got him when he was approx. 6 months from someone who could no longer keep him so I have no clue if they played with his ears or not. The tip does seem like it's trying to stand though, now it only flops over when he looks down. I'm hoping it will eventually stand on up but it if doesn't oh well he'll still be our Kuma Bear

P.S. It's only one ear that does it too, the other stands up perfectly nice lol

[Calin]

I donno, either way, he's a cutie, floppy ear or not

[Paranormal Wolf]

I donno, either way, he's a cutie, floppy ear or not

Thank You

He seems to grow more handsome each day lol. I think he's going to be very pretty when he fully develops. In the short time we've had him he has opened up a lot, he was very shy when we first got him, still is around new people.

By the way I've seen pics of your Sibe around the forum and he is also very handsome