Hello all,

I apologize for not posting here first to introduce myself. When I found this forum I was in a desperate search for a rescue to take a husky from our shelter.

My name's Autumn, I've recently started working for the humane society in my area and i absolutely love it! I am owned by 4 dogs, 2 cats and a 125 gallon aquarium full of fish!

Feather is our 13 year old Husky/Golden Retriever mix. We picked her out of the back of a car of 4 puppies when we responded to a classified ad. Feather really prepared us for the northern breed. She was an absolute terror pup, she ate anything and everything, cellphones, shoes, carpet, tile, pooped on walls, she ate an entire ham, a pan of brownies, neither time did she even hiccup over it. She turned into a wonderful dog and we love her to death.


Ranger is a 14 month old husky. I aquired him at 11 months from a soldier supposedly deploying to afghanistan. When I had to call the guy because I had not received his vetting paperwork in the mail after a week he told me he got him from Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge. When I called to have them fax paperwork to my vet I found out alot about the poor little guy! He had been in 4 homes before mine! Basically because he chewed too much stuff up or he was just too much dog.....He weighed 37 pounds when I brought him home and after some good food and satin balls he's now a very fit 54 pounds.


Khuma is a 17 month old alaskan malamute. I got him from a breeder in Illinois when he was 8 weeks. I decided I wanted a malamute after my dog Diesel passed away last year. After having been through Feather's puppyhood I felt well prepared for a mal and I was right, he wasn't nearly as bad as Feather was, though he has a fetish for white things, tissues, paper, and the most terrifying one, SOCKS, have spent many a day worried about him passing or puking something! Aside from some worry Khuma has brought a ton of joy and laughter into my life, what a goofy breed,


Nova is a 2 year old r&w wooly alaskan malamute. She is Khuma's half sister, same mom, different sire. We got her when we decided we wanted a second mal. Khuma's breeder decided she didn't want to breed Nova after all and asked if we would consider adopting her. No regrets here, she is the most loving dog I have ever seen.


We started skijoring with the mals the end of this past winter and are looking forward to taking it up again this winter with Ranger in the mix. We've rollerbladed with them several times this summer but has tapered off due to the temperatures.

I guess i've rambled on long enough! Thanks for readin'!

WOW!! Haha- thanks so much for sharing... your pack is seriously gorgeous!! Haven't seen one that large and beautiful since Eddy's dynamic grouping

I'm so glad you're here and you can share your stories. Welcome, welcome to the forum and I can't wait to hear and see more from your beautiful babies

PS- How did you socialize Ranger with the cats? Did you just get lucky and he was already good with them? We tried to find previously socialized huskies and failed miserably so now we have our feline-terrors: Koda and Hailey

We spent the first several weeks with cats on one side of the gate and him only allowed to look, then very supervised interaction. When we decided all he really wanted to do was play with them we relaxed a little, unfortunately for him though he wants to play too rough and doesn't get too have as much fun as he'd like to. He doesn't really mess with my Himalayan much, I think because Bonzai's pretty laid back and has never shown any fear of him. But he's still very curious about out black one who hates him, she starts growling at him when he gets within a few feet of her. I've seen her charge him several times here lately. Not sure what she's doing when she does that. For the most part he just leaves them alone, it's when he gets bored I have to watch him like a hawk. I've seen his prey drive when we go for walks and one day when he and Khuma together killed a possum while I was behind them on roller blades! It's not prey drive I see when he's messing with the cats, just flat out mischief LOL. I don't know if I will ever 100% trust him around my cats. My mom told me that her husky and cat used to play and one day she had to put her husky out in the garage while company was over and while he was out there he killed their cat!

Autumn wrote:

I don't know if I will ever 100% trust him around my cats. My mom told me that her husky and cat used to play and one day she had to put her husky out in the garage while company was over and while he was out there he killed their cat!

That's unfortunately stories I have heard as well Looks like you are taking proper precautions and I'm sure you'll handle it just fine. I was just curious if you'd been able to socialize them well at all. I wouldn't ever trust them together either Always a secure door or a crate separating them when they can't be watched.

Both animals are so worth it though... so we humans just have to make do!

Hello and Welcome!!

Your dogs are beautiful! I am curious how did you introduce all your dogs to one another? We are in the process of moving and will acquire 4 yr. old brother beagles with my 1 1/2 year old female husky. She plays rough, but loves to be chased, and beagles love to chase, so I think once they get together and get along, I think they will do great, but its just those first initial meetings... any suggestions?

Welcome!!! love your pack and the R&W's Eddy (harrise) has been talking about wanting a R&W mal. im sure the 2 of you will have a ton to talk about with the mals! and your pack is still so young im sure you will have many stories to share and we are all here to help with advice, feel free to ask or share

Well my initial introductions are always done outside, usually in the front yard, which is neutral ground because that's not an area my dogs are allowed in, always leashed, allowed to sniff each other and then we go for a walk.

The most important things to be diligent about are treats, toys, and food. Keep them seperated when you feed them, be careful when you give them treats, I've had one get attacked by the other because they thought someone was getting something they weren't, and don't leave toys laying around until you feel comfortable allowing them to have toys laying around, but at least for the first few weeks, no toys, I still haven't gotten comfortable leaving stuff like nylabones laying around. The last time I did it, they took turns chewing on it and then Khuma and Ranger were playing tuggy with one for about 10 minutes and then Khuma attacked Ranger over it. When we do RMB's they're all forced to lay in certain spots and not move from that area. I still stand in the kitchen and watch them eat. The mals eat their food as fast as they possibly can and then try to wander to someone elses bowl, so I always watch them and pick up the bowls when they're done.

Welcome, Autumn! Gorgeuos group, and glad to have you all here! You seem to know your stuff. Although, with these breeds (husky & mal), there is always more to learn!

amykmac wrote:

Welcome, Autumn! Gorgeuos group, and glad to have you all here! You seem to know your stuff. Although, with these breeds (husky & mal), there is always more to learn!

I couldn't agree more!

HA! Nice to see another sled based pack of dogs. A belated welcome to the forum!

Nova is one stunning sled head. Of course, I'm a bit biased on my choice in northerns. Great advice there too. What is it about Malamutes and food?

We were SO lucky to have aquired Nova. She is Khuma's half sister. When we decided we wanted another mal I had the image of a red and white wooly stuck in my head and looked through all the rescues trying to find that image in my head. I called Khuma's breeder because I knew she had intentions of breeding her red & white that fall, that's when she introduced the idea of us taking Nova, I was in love the first picture she sent me!

Hey! I just realized that you are from NW Indiana. I missed that earlier! I grew up in South Bend, how far are you from there?