I thought it would be fun to have one place to share all our stories on how we found our precious sibes I'll sticky this so that hopefully new members over the years will be encouraged to add their stories to ours

Koda- By the time we started looking for a pet, I had wanted a dog for about two years already. However, John wanted a cats. He wanted a dog eventually, but he's younger than I am, so he still had the desire to have more independence. I am not really a cat person (although recently I've met a lot more kitties that I like, go figure). John finally said to me, "Fine, we can get a dog, but we're only getting a husky." I guess his dog growing up was a husky and he had a very unique bond with him (his name was Yukon). John's mom likes to tell me how the first time John cried in the middle of the night after they brought him home from the hospital, she walked into the nursery and Yukon stood guard by John's crate and growled at her (in protection of John). She said she yelled to high heaven at the dog and he never did it again, but Yukon had bonded with John in a way I've never seen a husky bond before. He even used to bring John his dog treats to share with him when he was younger (I have pictures to prove it!).

Anyway, a husky had always been a dream of mine, but I started to research... I realized how much work they were going to be and thought that I had it covered (HA). Well, after 6 months of research, searching and contacts with a rescue, we finally found Koda through a referral in July 2008. The family had adopted him from a shelter (he had been a stray) but it just wasn't working out with Demon (Koda's old name) and their other dogs. They were absolutely heartbroken to give him away. They cried when they brought him to us and they said they cried all the way home too. We still send them pictures and keep in touch. They're wonderful people and Demon was just what we were looking for! We changed his name to Koda, and everything was great! He seemed so mellow and wonderful! Bwahaha! He was 7 months then and promptly launched into his teenage years about two months after we got him. The forums have helped so much and we've been learning from Koda ever since. No parent has favorites, but he has a very very special place in my heart for all he's done for us.



Hailey- when we moved to Saratoga we knew we'd want a second dog. We wanted a second husky about 6-8 months after we got Koda. I won't go through the long and painful stories, but we went through two other dogs before Hailey. Lily was with us for a week before her previous owners called us in tears saying they made a terrible mistake and came that night to take her back (drove a 14 hr roundtrip in one night!). Talia was at a shelter and we had signed the papers when her previous owners came back after a month long vacation to find that their dog-sitters hadn't told them that their dog had run away!! The same day the shelter called us to inform us about Talia, they had received a called from a family in the area with a female husky they wanted to give up. Haidy (Hailey), had escaped over a dozen times. So much so that the town had taken the family to court over the custody of their dogs, but the courts kept giving the dogs back. Well, the family finally decided that they didn't have the time for their dogs. We were so bummed about Talia and having a dog fall through for the second time, but we went to look anyway. We walked in the door and Haidy ran right up to us with her ears back, licked our faces and rolled on her back for a belly rub. Done! We introduced her to Koda and she certainly held her own against him. She was in TERRIBLE shape though. Her coat was dirty, oily, and neglected. We gave her TWO baths that first night and another a week later. She ate like she'd never been fed and when we got her home, she wouldn't let Koda or us near her. Took us a lot of time and patience, but now she's inseparable from him. We changed her name to Hailey and the rest I think is history

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Nanuk (approx 4 years old)-In March of 2008, Tommy lost his great friend, Leo. (Leo, a husky, had come up to Tommy approximately 10 years previous, and had been his friend ever since!) Tho we still had Tia, his female red Husky, and Kessie, his German ShepX, they were older; 16 & 12, respectively. It was quiet after Leo was gone, so in June 2008, we saw Nanuk at the local Humane Society. He was supposed to be Tommy's dog, but he & I have a thing...he gives me the eyes, and I give him the peanut butter! I thought at this point I was a true experienced husky owner. NOT! He was joy and frustration all in one crazy dog! He has mellowed somewhat, and remains MY little boy.

Isis a.k.a. "Sisi"(approx 3 years old)- We had to put 16 year-old Tia down on Christmas Eve, 2008. More sadness..she had been a good girl, and Mama to Kessie . In January, we were just looking at huskies on the petsconnect website. Not looking for another, just looking. There was the poorest picture I'd ever seen of a husky. Isis, looking mean, or just a blur across the camera....not the typical-looking husky, obviously a mix. Cow-patched, smooth, short fur, just "odd" looking, somehow. We were intrigued by her. We called a phone # and found out she was miles away, approximately a 4 hour drive, was at a private rescue, run by a woman named Ronda. She had been pregnant when found, then it was discovered she was heartworm-positive. And only about 9 months old! Poor little girl. So Ronda was having her treated, and could we come see her the 1st weekend of February. This was 2009. We found a sitter for Kessie, who couldn't handle such a long trip, took Nanuk, and went for a day trip to meet Isis. We all got along well, so we made arrangements to come back 3 weeks later to get her. And found out Ronda thought she'd never place her, as she was just "odd" looking! We were enamored of this bossy, bullyish little stinker who gave Nanuk what-for. She was to be my Birthday present, but bonded stronger with Tommy, who, along with Nanuk, adores her! She's cost us a fortune, (read previous posts about her surgeries, the little rock eater!) but we love our little Sisi-puss!

Mika (approx 4 years old)-We lost our Kessie in April, 2009. After this last loss in a little over a year, having to say good-bye so often to three of our aged, dear friends, we settled in to love and learn our Nanuk & Isis. Everything was going along fine, then time came to renew the dog passes for the dog park, which happens to sit next to the Humane Society. This was last November. They were busy, so Tommy suggested we "Just take a look around". Got almost all the way through, with a few stops here & there to admire the doggies there, then WHAM! Last cage, there was Mika. Red, beautiful, and totally too skinny! Looked so much like our Tia, I stood outside her crate & cried. And cried.....She followed our every move and seemed to know what we didn't: She was to be ours! We eventually tore ourselves away, took care of the dog passes, and just happened to grab an application for adoption. We were maybe 5 blocks away when we decided we would go back and get her! Filled out the app, got her appt set for getting spayed, and brought her home the following Friday. Mika, previously being named Mona, became the first dog whose name we changed. (MONA?? really?) She weighed 40 lbs when she went in for surgery. And was very pregnant! No one knew, least of all us! Too late when discovered. She came home with us, discovered she'd be fed on a regular basis, and decided she'd like to stay! She has been a great dog, and has learned that Nanuk is fun, even when a pain in the rear. She has made our family complete once again! She is beautiful, independant, and rouses nicely for a game of "it". Three just seems to be a nice, round number for us!

All three were rescues, all three are very different, with their own personalities and quirks. Each has captured our hearts and their place in our home. The Three Huskyteers!

Amy- Do you still think Isis is a mix? She looks purebred husky to me from the pictures... just a piebald

Thanks for sharing you two! Those are both great stories

Yes, Tori, we think she is mixed. Her profile is way different than Nanuk or Mika's. Tommy thinks some kind of terrier. It could just be she is a different breed of Husky, maybe Seppela mixed in? Don't know. She is also so much more "barky" than the other two. They howl, she barks. (She does howl too, but not so much) Smaller in the hind-end, too. Definitely got the Husky stubbornness, and the blue eyes. But, unless you'd meet her in person, I can't describe it. Just different! Love the little stinker, regardless.

amykmac wrote:

Yes, Tori, we think she is mixed. Her profile is way different than Nanuk or Mika's. Tommy thinks some kind of terrier. It could just be she is a different breed of Husky, maybe Seppela mixed in? Don't know. She is also so much more "barky" than the other two. They howl, she barks. (She does howl too, but not so much) Smaller in the hind-end, too. Definitely got the Husky stubbornness, and the blue eyes. But, unless you'd meet her in person, I can't describe it. Just different! Love the little stinker, regardless.

I believe it! Pictures are deceiving Koda and Hailey both bark too I hate it... they definitely howl a lot as well, but the barks in there make me want to pull my hair out sometimes! Stupid family dogs teaching them bad tricks! And I concur.... it doesn't matter She's adorable!

i googled huskies for sale in the west midlands and i found Blazes breeder we went to veiw the pups (and the parents + his other dogs) they were 4 days old then but we fell in love with the pups n the parents n we got good vibes off the breeder and left a deposit down on blaze that day

i joined another husky forum and made some great friends - 1 of these friends bred their sibes - 2 weeks after selling a white female they found out her owners were trying to sell her - which means they breached their contract which stated a few times that for whatever reason they could no longer look after their pup they needed to be returned to the breeder - so her breeder went and got her back and sent me a message asking me if i could take in a white female sibe - free of charge as she would now be classed as a re-home - thats when roxy came to us - we changed her name to skyla before we even got her

Oh Sora! Where do I begin! Sora was a gift from my now Fiance for our 5 year anniversary in 2009. My fiance currently works 2 hours from where I live, and we are in a long distance relationship, so I only see him on weekends, and I had just started my teaching career, and moved out on my own with a big house by myself, so it was his way of getting me a companion while he was away. I began researching the type of dog I wanted. I am not a huge fan of smaller dogs, so I wanted something bigger. I had huskies when I was growing up and I always loved them. But living in the South, I hadn't seen a husky since I had moved here, so didn't automatically think of that as a possibility. I checked shelters and humane societies around the area as well as various websites. Most of the shelters had a lot of German Shepard mixes, but I was weary of a German Shepard just for the fact they are very protective and with seeing my fiance only once a week, I was leery for the dog getting too protective over me, when my fiance came home, since he would not be a normal every day person to the dog. I toyed with the idea of huskies once more, and was set on a female, since I had always grown up around female dogs. Female huskies were very expensive, and my fiance was willing to pay, if that's what I wanted, but I couldn't justify spending $1000's of dollars when there were so many dogs in shelters. One day I stumbled upon a website with a breeder in NC, she had a husky set to deliver in litter in March. I kept checking back on the website for the due date, and finally the puppies had arrived, there were 5 males and 3 females, and she posted pictures of them being 8 days old. Females were only $150 and as soon as I saw Sora's little face, I knew I had found my puppy. I contacted the owner, and put down a deposit to secure my puppy. We kept in contact with emails containing new pictures of her playing with her litter mates, and seeing her eyes change into blue and brown and her little ears pop up. 9 weeks later, and a 4 hour car ride later, Sora was in my arms, and the rest is history

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. When I was finally ready to get my first husky I had searched out a great breeder, talked extensively with the breeder and even picked out a puppy from the breeders most recently litter (I had 2nd choice and picked a gorgeous black/white blue eyed boy). I was beyond excited about my pick but after about a week of thinking about it something just didn't feel right to me so I reluctantly told the breeder I would not be taking the puppy and would instead be looking for a husky from a shelter or rescue.

I scoured all the shelters and rescues within the 3 closest states to me which included Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Being so far north there was no shortage of huskies in shelters and rescues that needed homes. I looked at dozens and dozens of huskies for a couple months but never felt any "click" or connection until I found my Dakota.

I was checking the local shelters webpage for the millionth time one day and saw a profile for a gorgeous black/white husky who was brought in as a stray, the shelter staff called him "Bandit". The instant I saw his picture on the page I just knew he was the one. I called my hubby over and he took one look at "Bandit" and said that if I wanted him then we would go to the shelter the very next day to see if he was still available. I didn't sleep a wink all night! The next day we went to the shelter to meet "Bandit" and the rest is history. "Bandit" was renamed Dakota that day and he's been the best blessing ever since. I truly believe we were meant to be together and all the events leading up to his adoption were pointing to him.

Sierra's story,
When my Husband and I bought our first home just over 2 years ago Ken started asking when are we getting a dog? I kept telling him we were not ready yet, the back yard is nothing but dirt and weeds, then I said we would get a dog after our wedding in May, we ended up with one sooner. we decided on a husky since his childhood dog was a husky German shepherd mix and my dad's mom used to raise huskies, oh and we live in Colorado and love the winter and outdoors so we felt it was a good match so we started looking into them. I contacted Polaris Siberian Husky rescue and filled out an adoption form and never heard back so I started looking on craigs list for huskies that people were trying to find new homes, there were just so many! We never made it to a shelter. I would take pictures of the huskies with my phone and send them to ken to look at but i never sent any emails to the people. then I saw a post for Sierra and I just knew she was the one, it was truly love at first picture. We did not have much money for a dog and wanted to spend what we did have on all the stuff the dog would need so the adoption "fee" was a concern. I found out they were not asking any money for her just a good home. I called and found out someone called b4 me . My heart was broken and i stopped looking at huskies. Well like 2 weeks later I get a call from the lady that had Sierra and told me the home was not a good fit and they were going to pick her up and wanted to know if we were still looking for a dog, I said YES! The lady was a breeder and rescued Sierra from another breeder and had been to a few homes before ours. The problem with Sierra was she was used for breeding and the breeder was a man and would abuse her verbally and not sure what else so she has/had a problem with men and trusting them. We went to meet her and low and behold she was not that afraid of my husband Ken, the lady said it was a good sign and we took her home on Feb 22 2009. She has gotten so much better with Ken and "trusting" him, but if i am around she is still a mommas girl. Sierra is AKC and turned 7 on March 1. Sierra was named Cinnamon stick by the first breeder and was later named Sierra after her mom by the 2nd breeder, we did not see a need to change her name.

Jack's story,
Well after adopting Sierra and having her for a month we realized she needed a friend and since we would be leaving for 10 days for our wedding and honeymoon we thought it would be a good idea to find her someone before then so she did not think she was being “dumped” again, when they went to the dog sitter. We are big fans of adopting and went straight to the Polaris Siberian husky rescue in Fort Collins to find her a friend (we tried adopting from them the first time and never heard back) we meet a ton of great huskies that liked us but Sierra seemed to only care for one of them, this super skinny shedding like crazy dark brown and white husky Nanook (later named Jack). We were hoping to find someone closer to her age as we were guessing Jack was just about a year old and very playful but would also just lay down and chill with his font legs crossed (so cute). We picked him up on March 21 2009, my husband and Jack bonded instantly which was good since Sierra was my girl. The 2 of them get along great and Jack has brought out the playfulness in Sierra since day 1. We have a saying when ever Jack is bad or annoying we just say, But Sierra picked him out, its not our fought! We love both our dogs and our family is complete now.

My boyfriend asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Came up with endless lists of crap I didn't need. We were finally moved out on our own and I said hey, I want a husky! We spent the next week researching the breed and after finally deciding that Huskies were the breed for us we found a breeder 15 minutes from our house. We called them the next morning, picked out boy 2, put down a $100 deposit and a week later we brought home little 11 week old Embry