Hello! My name is Ashton (Ash, for short). I currently own a five and a half year old dog named Rudy and he is a Yorkiepoo. My second dog Romeo is a Jack Russel and died in 2003, after sending him to the farm after biting people (the farm we got him from) he then turned on the breeders and was euthanized. The special thing about him was that he was born on valentines day and had a heart shaped spot, thus his name being Romeo. My mother's favorite dog's name is Tiffany and passed in 1999. I will be purchasing two Siberian Huskies soon (once I find a breeder with available pups) and will begin my sled dog team and carting team.

Welcome!  

Welcome! Where are you located? There are folks here from all over that can help you find a good breeder.

Welcome. Any particular reason why you plan on getting two at once? You'll find some info on here, but the general consensus is that it is much harder to raise two littermates at once. Other than the fact that you have twice as much puppy craziness, it is common for them to bond to each other more than the human pack and makes training much more of a challenge.

Welcome, I got my two together and can attest to them being much harder to train. I didnt get them as pups but they are bonded to one another closely even though they sometimes fight and when it comes down to it they will go to one another before they come to me usually. I would recommend getting one pup bonding and training then getting another.

wpskier222 wrote:

Welcome! Where are you located? There are folks here from all over that can help you find a good breeder.

I currently live in Atlanta, GA but will be moving to Broomfield or Boulder CO by the end of this month.

MGoBlue wrote:

Welcome. Any particular reason why you plan on getting two at once? You'll find some info on here, but the general consensus is that it is much harder to raise two littermates at once. Other than the fact that you have twice as much puppy craziness, it is common for them to bond to each other more than the human pack and makes training much more of a challenge.

I thought it would be easier to train them as team dogs for sledding if they can be bonded together, but I will look into getting one maybe a year before I get the second. Thank you!

Bella_Jasper wrote:

Welcome, I got my two together and can attest to them being much harder to train. I didnt get them as pups but they are bonded to one another closely even though they sometimes fight and when it comes down to it they will go to one another before they come to me usually. I would recommend getting one pup bonding and training then getting another.

I will think about this, it actually makes a lot of sense. Sorry I'm still new to this!

I actually imagine that training for sledding would be even more difficult! Two suggestions if you are planning on getting into sledding:

1) Adopt an older dog first, one that may be retired from sledding but still physically capable that already knows the basic commands, then once you get a puppy it will learn from both your direction and the older dog's lead.

2) Get one puppy and get it trained with commands etc...similar result to the first suggestion, just will take longer to get a working team together.

Edited to add: Also keep in mind that a puppy should not do any forced exercise including pulling until around 1 year old to ensure healthy bone and joint development. So if you want to get started sledding right away, another reason to go with an older dog to start.

MGoBlue wrote:

I actually imagine that training for sledding would be even more difficult! Two suggestions if you are planning on getting into sledding:

1) Adopt an older dog first, one that may be retired from sledding but still physically capable that already knows the basic commands, then once you get a puppy it will learn from both your direction and the older dog's lead.

2) Get one puppy and get it trained with commands etc...similar result to the first suggestion, just will take longer to get a working team together.

Where can I get a retired sled dog? I assume there are rescues for that sort of situation. Got any links to breeders with older sled dogs? And how old would you suggest?

I wouldn't have the first clue where to start looking for a retired sled dog, though I am sure there are rescues out there. Google is your friend! And yes, it is possible that working kennel breeders will put older dogs up for adoption.

We have a couple of members here actively involved in sledding. Lani (HuskyMom09) is the first one that is coming to mind right now. Maybe look through some old sledding/pulling threads for where to start.

As for age, see my above edited comment.

MGoBlue wrote:

I wouldn't have the first clue where to start looking for a retired sled dog, though I am sure there are rescues out there. Google is your friend! And yes, it is possible that working kennel breeders will put older dogs up for adoption.

We have a couple of members here actively involved in sledding. Lani (HuskyMom09) is the first one that is coming to mind right now. Maybe look through some old sledding/pulling threads for where to start.

As for age, see my above edited comment.

I'll take a look at the good old Google and maybe even pm Lani. I know not to make a dog younger than one year to pull me, but I thought that dogs retire at ten years old. Is that too old to keep going? I mean, they retired for a reason, no?

Edit: I just typed "Sled dog rescue" on google and found this - http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/northernlights.html
The power of the internet.

AshtonHellwig wrote:

MGoBlue wrote:

I wouldn't have the first clue where to start looking for a retired sled dog, though I am sure there are rescues out there. Google is your friend! And yes, it is possible that working kennel breeders will put older dogs up for adoption.

We have a couple of members here actively involved in sledding. Lani (HuskyMom09) is the first one that is coming to mind right now. Maybe look through some old sledding/pulling threads for where to start.

As for age, see my above edited comment.

I'll take a look at the good old Google and maybe even pm Lani. I know not to make a dog younger than one year to pull me, but I thought that dogs retire at ten years old. Is that too old to keep going? I mean, they retired for a reason, no?

Yeah, they definitely retire for a reason, so you wouldn't want to push an old dog. But I imagine that racers will adopt out dogs that may underperform in a professional/competitive setting, but are still plenty capable of participating in a recreational setting!

MGoBlue wrote:

Yeah, they definitely retire for a reason, so you wouldn't want to push an old dog. But I imagine that racers will adopt out dogs that may underperform in a professional/competitive setting, but are still plenty capable of participating in a recreational setting!

I will take a look at adopting an older dog and a puppy. Do you know what gender or whether I should keep the puppies intact or spay/neuter?

I don't know if there are differing opinions in the working world, but there is little reason not to spay/neuter them. I doubt gender makes much of a difference, but you really should think about talking to someone who is active in sledding to get a better idea of the needs.

Here is a link to the section on the forum about working dogs, lots of racing/pulling threads there! I'm no expert in working dog matters, so everything I suggest may be taken with a grain of salt!

https://www.itsahuskything.com/f20-racing-dogs

http://www.snowcapssleddogs.com/index.htm

This is a musher in Colorado that adopts out their retiring sled dogs. You might want to reach out to them to see if they have any adoptable dogs. I'm sure they would also be a great resource for questions you have on getting a team started.

MGoBlue wrote:

I don't know if there are differing opinions in the working world, but there is little reason not to spay/neuter them. I doubt gender makes much of a difference, but you really should think about talking to someone who is active in sledding to get a better idea of the needs.

Here is a link to the section on the forum about working dogs, lots of racing/pulling threads there! I'm no expert in working dog matters, so everything I suggest may be taken with a grain of salt!

https://www.itsahuskything.com/f20-racing-dogs

Thank you! I started a thread here.

wpskier222 wrote:

http://www.snowcapssleddogs.com/index.htm

This is a musher in Colorado that adopts out their retiring sled dogs. You might want to reach out to them to see if they have any adoptable dogs. I'm sure they would also be a great resource for questions you have on getting a team started.

I will call them if they have a number, maybe they can help me out. Thanks!