How hardy do you think huskies are?

[Smokey]

Physically?

They have sensitive stomachs. Is that a product of us feeding kibble?

Weather wise? Can they handle extremes? I've noticed that smokey would be shedding his coat by now but since he is inside I don't think his body fully understands that it's getting cold...

Do they recover from owies pretty quickly? Even major ones?

Emotionally?

We have all seen that picture of a pup mourning the loss of his master laying beside his casket (if you havent seen it i will post it). And heard stories of dogs finding their masters grave.

One of my moms friend passed away and when they were bringing her body down their dog lost it. He jumped in the pool supposedly in an attempt to commit suicide. Do you think dogs have the capacity to mourn this way?

Mentally?

Does a dogs mind degenerate the way a humans does with age?

Just a few questions I've pondered...

What other things make a dog hardy or sensitive?

[Juno]

I think they're pretty hardy. I live in south carolina, and even though it's hot outside, she pants. my chow mix puppy couldn't stand the heat. Even though he was a mutt, he had a lot of issues like stomach issues (couldn't have anything with grain, otherwise he would explode from both ends) and he got car sick. He also had skin issues and multiple allergies. He had an undeveloped dew claw that he started chewing and one of the worst cases of food aggression I had ever seen. So far with Juno, I've seen none of that. Her stomach isn't nearly as sensitive, and she can spend 4 hours in the heat with no issues.

We also have hardwood floors in our house, and she slides all over them on a daily basis. It looks like it hurts, but she doesn't act as though she's in pain. As for emotional.. i think every time i leave for work, a small part inside of her breaks. But that's just about it.

[davidjk]

DISCLAIMER IN MY OPINION

huskies don't have sensitive stomachs.

what happens is they are fed one or two foods in their lives and as a result when they are fed anything different they get upset stomachs, but if fed it for a while will get used to it.

much like when we eat Indian or Mexican or Chinese food, Or we go abroad and our stomach are not used to the local bacteria and we get an upset stomach

all 3 of mine can eat anything and everything including wild animals they have caught

commercial dogs foods are bad because they contain processed rubbish.

if you want health dogs feed them raw food and vegetables

Siberian huskies can cope with extreme cold temperatures down to -65c.

mine go out in the summer, but we take them to the river so they can go for a dip to cool off and run about like mental when the temps are above 30c

young dogs recover faster from injuries faster than older dogs, but it depends on what the damage is.

micha was speyed at 6 months and the next day she thought she was fine.

suki tore a muscle at 2 years and it took 14 months to fully recover

a dog will miss people and can mourn them.

i have a friend who has a northern Inuit who i don't see very often and when i do see him micha goes mental, he only gives her strokes so it isn't because of treats.

dogs can get degenerative brain diseases like people. i know someone whose dog turned vicious because it suddenly scared of people one the vets put it down to old age.

repeated training can make a dog hardy. people can make dogs over sensitive.

apparently the worse thing a person can do when a dog gets scared is to reassure them. as they see it as praise for being scared.

Edited October 8, 2012 by davidjk

[Removed #5]

While it may be just your opinion, [MENTION=475]davidjk[/MENTION] I think I'd agree with most of it, if not all.

[Juno]

I believe some dry foods are better than others. I can't stand people who feed their huskies nasty purina or iams food, then complain about how they shed a ton. I also can't stand it when people have huskies that are hyper, and they complain about it, but don't even bother to exercise them. Just a pet peeve.

Back to the food thing--I prefer to feed kibble because I'm not comfortable doing raw or home cooked foods. Even after I get my Animal Nutrition degree, I don't think I'll do home-cooked or raw because I'm quite pleased with Dr. Tim's, Earthborn Holistic and Evo.

All in all, the health of your husky really depends on the quality. If I were you, I would look into a really high-quality breeder because if you end up falling into the cheap puppy-mill rut, you would make up the difference in money with the amount you spend on vet bills. Plus, make sure your puppy or dog you get has had its parents hip and eye certified, because it would suck to have to put your dog down before it's even passed its adult life

[LuvMyKai]

Physically?

They have sensitive stomachs. Is that a product of us feeding kibble?

Kia doesnt really have a sensitive stomach and is able to stomach just about anything, beingh picky however, is a whole different topic

Weather wise? Can they handle extremes? I've noticed that smokey would be shedding his coat by now but since he is inside I don't think his body fully understands that it's getting cold...

He can easily live in whatever weather, snowing: heshappy, sunny: hes tired but still happy. However, his shedding is verty weather orientated. We started to have a very cold few weeks and he started shedding however, once it got warm, shedding stopped, now its cold again hes started shedding again, its as if his shedding was 'put on hold' whilst it was warm.

Do they recover from owies pretty quickly? Even major ones?

Yup, most definetly i rememeber when kai got back form being neutered and even though they had to cut into his abdomen, he was running aroiund and it was so hard to keep him still!

Emotionally?

Kai's not a very emotional dog, he isnt really one to show too much affection however, he has his moments

We have all seen that picture of a pup mourning the loss of his master laying beside his casket (if you havent seen it i will post it). And heard stories of dogs finding their masters grave.

One of my moms friend passed away and when they were bringing her body down their dog lost it. He jumped in the pool supposedly in an attempt to commit suicide. Do you think dogs have the capacity to mourn this way? I think its possible, i feel humans do not fully understand or even respect the ability and emotions of our canine counterparts

Mentally?

Does a dogs mind degenerate the way a humans does with age?

i think they do, i remember when i worked in the dog daycare, there was an old dog who would be found occasionally just staring around the room and whining, turns out after a trip to the vets that he kept forgetting where he was and got scared, Bless Him x

Just a few questions I've pondered...

What other things make a dog hardy or sensitive?

Agree with the other views, i feel people can make dogs over sensitive

[Sid_Wolf]

Agree with David, mine dont have sensitive stomachs, and i believe this is because i dont pussyfoot around food with them, if the shop doesnt have the right food i dont freak out, just get them something else, though one of mine does have alergies so we always use hypoallergenic food,but we happily switch foods, usually with no mixing of the foods

Physically they are more hardy, thicker coat protects them from cuts and scratches aswell as weather, and paw pads seem to be tougher than other breeds. But given the area they're designed to live they have to be hardier than other breeds who work shorter distances and warmer temps.

Emotionally I find them lot hardier, both my girls have bad backgrounds, and they are extremely loving and trustworthy, whereas my staffy who has had a little bit off a hard life before us is awful, cowers if you raise your hands, and is dog agressive. Kira has been attacked a few times by dogs, and she gets up, has a shake then greets the next one as normal. A lot of that depends on upbringing as David said, you freak out when a dog runs up to yours and you dog will figure out that there is a reason to worry, you brush off a scuffle with another and your dog will too

[Alee C.]

I think Huskies are pretty hardy. This made me laugh cause it reminded me of when I took Rex and Dakota to get microchipped a couple months ago. Rex is 7, and Dakota's age is unknown as he was a stray cat I rescued his age is estimated at 3 years, but I only got them microchipped now because I am finished my nursing course and started working. Anyway the vet vaccinated Rex then got out the syringe with the microchip. I figured Rex would be fine as the vaccinations didn't bother him one bit. But when she put the needle in him he let out such a painful cry I felt so guilty and felt like crying myself I couldn't believe I put my baby through this pain. Then Dakota was next, and I thought OH NO dakota is gonna flip out when she puts the needle in him and scratch her, also when I had rescued dakota he had so many open wounds and had went through so much pain in his life, and I thought now I'm gonna make him go through more pain. Then she put the needle in him and was done, and he didn't bat an eye.

I was shocked and almost burst out laughing. Aww my poor sheltered little husky, Mama's 60pound baby, cried, and here the little kitty didn't mind it one bit!

[BlueWolf]

Injury wise, Glala is incredible hard for herself. For months she wasn't showing anything, no slight change in behaviour and playful as ever. We did not suspect anything out of the ordinary except that one of her teeth looked a bit odd. She was brought to the vet to do a dental checkup and expected to maybe have that teeth pulled in the worst case scenario. ...She came back with 12 less teeth....

All of them had teeth cavity nearly to the bone. She must been having incredible pain in these but she did not showed ANY of that in the slightest before that made us suspect something was wrong for her.* Nowadays when she's being a bit out of the ordinary we immediately are on full alert because we now know she only does that when she's truly not feeling well Even right after the operation she did not show any signs of pain of the missing teeth. She's so hard to read.

* She does not like her mouth the be opened so we could only to a quick check ourselves. She needs to go under anaesthesia to do that which is why she went to the vet but did not actually saw any of this beforehand.

[Kieferwolf]

Hardy yes I don't know any other breed of dog that can be walked ten miles then get fed then be ready to go in two hours again.we walked our three at the weekend and got home they were fed at three ish by 6pm my boy came in the lounge with his lead in his mouth. Lol

re the stomach side of things I think it varies depending on the sibe, our youngest girl is a picky bugger and certain dog foods more expensive ones included have given her problems. On the other hand our other two will eat anything and never have had any problems with any kibble.

I don't raw feed i don't agree with it, our sibes get as treats a good mixture of bits too keep them healthy ie raw sardines/ox heart/bones/and they are on a decent quality kibble.

[HuskyMom09]

Hardy? Of course! I know a number of purebred Siberian sled teams that run the Iditarod, often completing with 15 of the 16 starters and using 1/10th the number of boots as the teams that run 'other' breeds. I'd call that pretty hardy.

Sensitive stomachs can be an issue but in my 11 I only have one (a mix) who has any issues with foods which resolved after coming here and being put on a grain-free food.

Weather wise? I've lived in Phoenix Arizona (120F high) and Montana (-50F cold) with my Siberians and they adapted to both situations with out issue. Provide their needs in either climate and have little worry. I've noticed though just because we think it's getting cold outside doesn't mean we're going to have an extreme winter but they seem to know what they need to grow for the winter. Whereas other years I thought they were growing coat too thick and heavy too early to find we had the worst winter I have seen in years. It's funny how they know.

Recovery? When we started in rescue we took in a 9 month old Siberian female that had been hit by a car, her front legs shattered, fractured rear leg, fractured spine, major skin and coat issues, the list could go on and on what she was dealing with. Today (4yrs later) you'd never even know she was ever broken. It took 3 months to heal from the major fractures and breaks, a year to sort out the coat/skin conditions.

Emotionally? Of course dogs grieve. My friend Susan recently lost her boy at 16yrs old, she said when he took his last breath the entire kennel let out a mournful howl like she has never heard before. They still search for him around the kennel, it's been 3 months since his passing.

Geriatrics effects both mind and body. I'm starting to see it in my oldest boy, I believe he's developing a form of dementia. He wanders the yard he's lived in for years looking lost all of a sudden...then other days he's totally fine.

I too believe that your dog is only as hardy as their human allows them to be. Too many people baby their dogs and seem to forget to let their dog be a dog.

[davidjk]

I too believe that your dog is only as hardy as their human allows them to be. Too many people baby their dogs and seem to forget to let their dog be a dog.

this is the point i was trying to make. well put

[Kieferwolf]

Very true

testiment of how hardy sibes can be read a book called "the cruelest miles"

and look at distance seppala's pack ran in a day 70-80 miles from memory

[davidjk]

i dont know how true this is, but this is refering to the nome serum run that is the reason for the iditarod

Leonhard Seppala's team traveled 340 miles (550 km) out from Nome and back through the most treacherous sections of Alaska's wilderness, including across the perilous ice of Norton Sound, and carried the serum over 91 miles (146 km) of the relay route. (Seppala's lead dog was the famous racing champion Togo.) In comparison, most other drivers in the Serum Run covered approximately 50 miles (80 km)

(from wikipedia)

and i do believe (from something i read cant remember where) none of his dogs died. where as the other teams of malamutes and other northern breeds suffered terrible losses.

[mydiamond]

I'd say they are VERY hardy. Not many breeds can run the Iditarod race they may have a sensitive digestive system but not every dog has it. Diamond pretty much has a tummy made of steel. And I admire his ability to adapt to either colder or warmer temperature

[loops]

dogs have feelings. we had not had boy dog long and had to take him and the bird to the vets for some jabs, normally the bird is fine with injections but this time she squeaked and boydog went mad!, howling and wooing he was soooo upset that the bird had cried, him indoors had to take him outside where the receptionist was wondering what the hell was going on lol

[Kieferwolf]

Have a look at this davidjk

QUOTE=davidjk;725744]i dont know how true this is, but this is refering to the nome serum run that is the

reason for the iditarod

Leonhard Seppala's team traveled 340 miles (550 km) out from Nome and back through the most treacherous sections of Alaska's wilderness, including across the perilous ice of Norton Sound, and carried the serum over 91 miles (146 km) of the relay route. (Seppala's lead dog was the famous racing champion Togo.) In comparison, most other drivers in the Serum Run covered approximately 50 miles (80 km)

(from wikipedia)

and i do believe (from something i read cant remember where) none of his dogs died. where as the other teams of malamutes and other northern breeds suffered terrible losses.

Edited October 15, 2012 by Kieferwolf

[Kieferwolf]

So yeah hardy yes some of stretches the dogs ran through were minus 15 minus 20 degree temps

[HuskyMom09]

So yeah hardy yes some of stretches the dogs ran through were minus 15 minus 20 degree temps

I know of a musher that runs the Iditarod (and others) and she prays for -20 or colder for her purebred Siberian team. From her presentation she finishes with 15 of her 16 starters consistently, sometimes not requiring a drop and that her team will go through about 400 boots in the race vs. the Alaskan teams that chew through 40,000 in a race. Hardy bunch! Functionality in the breeding. But isn't it funny how Seppala and his team lead by Togo run the furthest, most demanding stretch of the relay and almost all of history only remembers Balto.

[Kieferwolf]

Very true yeah, I read somewhere balto wasn't even kaasen's lead dog, he only got credit because he did the last stretch. And kaasen became the new celebrity of the day whereas seppala stayed out of the limelight.

QUOTE=HuskyMom09;727572]I know of a musher that runs the Iditarod (and others) and she prays for -20 or colder for her purebred Siberian team. From her presentation she finishes with 15 of her 16 starters consistently, sometimes not requiring a drop and that her team will go through about 400 boots in the race vs. the Alaskan teams that chew through 40,000 in a race. Hardy bunch! Functionality in the breeding. But isn't it funny how Seppala and his team lead by Togo run the furthest, most demanding stretch of the relay and almost all of history only remembers Balto.

[HuskyMom09]

Very true yeah, I read somewhere balto wasn't even kaasen's lead dog, he only got credit because he did the last stretch. And kaasen became the new celebrity of the day whereas seppala stayed out of the limelight.

Balto was a dog that Seppala had bred, but later neutered feeling he didn't have much to offer his breeding program and used primarily as a freighting sled dog, never a lead dog. Balto wasn't even supposed to be in the serum run ironically enough. Seppala had his team, lead by , then 12 years old, Togo who in Seppala's own word was the best sled dog he had ever had. It wasn't until the Governor wanting to speed up the relay authorized additional teams to the final leg of the trip. Kassen, then an assistant to Seppala, formed his own team of Seppala's dogs choosing the big black Balto whom he had always favored to lead his team. History was made....sadly after that Balto and the rest of the team were a traveling circus, going from city to city on display for the world to see. There were many claims of mistreatment and the team was ultimately saved by George Kimball and the city of Cleavland, which is why today Balto's stuffed remains are still at the Clevland Museum of Natural History.

Togo and his half brother Fritz continued to race on Seppala's teams and ultimately became some of the main founding dogs of our breed. Many lineages, my own included, can be traced back to Togo and Fritz. Though reportedly it broke Seppala's heart that Togo, the dog that covered the most ground, in the most horrendous conditions on the trail, was largely ignored by the media. Seppala was quoted that "it was almost more than I could bear when the newspaper dog Balto received a statue for his 'glorious achievements'". Bitter-sweet I suppose given the state Balto ended up in. Today, the bodies Togo and Fritz have been returned to Alaska where they belong at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters. Togo even has his own statue, also in New York, in Seward Park- though not nearly as popular or known as the famous Central Park Statue of Balto.