Background: I am definitely considering getting a second husky to join my cani-cross team and to be friends with Bae Dog. Having Pepper around has reduced his anxiety to the point where I can leave him in the house safely without him ripping up a couch or hurting himself. Bae is also on medications to help take the edge of his separation anxiety.

My mom and Pepper are moving out in the middle of November; Pepper can't possibly stay because he is my mom's dog. I'll continue to live with my father and with his permission, I'll be getting a second dog to head off any more destruction of the house. And for me to love on. Obtaining a second dog is not solely for Bae Dog to feel better (I don't believe in adopting a second dog solely for the companionship of a current dog) but also so that we can do more fun activities together. I love cani-cross and want to start skijoring this winter. And hopefully get on the bike in the spring after I work on Bae's reactivity more.

Actual Question: What do I look for when selecting a second Husky? I'm probably going the shelter route but I'm willing to take on a young dog from a breeder too. I'm thinking a dog 2-3 years old who can be left uncrated in the house whilst we are gone. Is a safely uncrated Husky too much to hope for? Is there a personality I should look for? I want a confident dog but its hard to tell in the shelter. Are there any specific rescues in my area that I should specifically work with? Bae has leash reactivity so meeting another dog on leash is just dumb as he won't act as he would off leash meeting a dog. Should I request a dog meet in a neutral area where they can meet off leash?

Any advice is much appreciated!

If you're going to go the breeder route, even an older dog, makes sure its from someone reputable.
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t1042-how-to-find-a-reputable-breeder
With you being in Michigan, I know there are a few good breeders in your area. Only one I can think of off the top of my head is Karnovanda but I know there are others.

Personally, my Yuki is 15 months and since she was a puppy CANNOT be uncrated. She will destroy anything in sight. Since you're getting an older husky, chances are you will be able to leave him/her out, but not in the same space as your current husky.

For the first couple months you will want to keep the two separated since you don't know how they will act around each other unsupervised, one day they can be best friends and the next while you're gone they could have a dominance fight, since it takes a month or two for rescues to really come out of their shell personality wise. I've had Link 6 months, I still crate all three of my pups when I'm gone, even though Cloud and Link won't destroy anything, since Link can get on Cloud's nerves and I'm not there to referee the two.

Hopefully some of that helped, and I'm not familiar with the Michigan rescues but I'm sure someone will chime in.

If you could find a dog that's been in foster care you may have a better chance having some info on it's true personality before you get it since it may have had some time to settle and be observed by it's foster people being its natural self. Try to find a dog that compliments and not clash with your current dogs personality if you can at all. I too am looking to possibly get another dog to go with mine, but my Kenzi is an extremely dominant and territorial dog that not just any dog could safely be with. We could never have another dominant dog. Meeting on neutral ground I would strongly suggest. We made this mistake when we got Kenzi and she claimed the house while our original dog was away and that was the end of us having two dogs for a while and we still can't have her with our old dog even on neutral ground. It's all about how your dog is though.

Thankfully, Bae is more on the neutral side. He plays well with other dogs as long as they don't mind the ruff and tumble. After the initial meeting (I'm always tense), its either yay or nay. The only dog we've met off leash that he didn't like was my friend's lab/newfie mix who is usually kind of a grump. She either likes your dog or its "Get outta my face!" They were separated after that.

The leash reactivity might make the rescue think I've an unfriendly dog! He's a good boy but bark, bark, bark, snarrrrl on leash. We've worked up to about 25ft before reaction so thats good.

I'm currently looking at this boy: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/27630807/

He seems to be a good fit on paper and I met him at an adoption event at a pet store recently. He was crated and very, very calm. It was hard to tell if he was calm or shut down in the crate. His foster mom had dropped him off and the other volunteer wasn't super informative about him. He has been in foster care for ~3 weeks.

Looks like a sweetie. I would call the rescue and see if you could talk to the people currently fostering him. Quiz them a little about the dog and see if they will work with you on meets. With any luck the foster will have knowledge of the breed and understand about the many reactions and quarks so everyone will be safe when you introduce the dogs and they won't think the reactivity is something that it isn't.

I'd absolutely love to meet in a baseball diamond or something where there are nice highhhhh fences and we can approach them. Bae doesn't mind approaching dogs if they are behind a fence or in their yard. Bae also has 0 problem jumping a measly 4ft fence standing still. I've quite the athlete in my house!

I'll definitely give the rescue a call. I already emailed and inquired a bit about him. They said he'd most likely be fine outside a crate because he is older and hasn't shown any destructive tendencies that his foster parent's have mentioned. I'll be sure to contact his foster momma and see what she has to say!