Aww, thank you Amy we had a storm moving in (actually raining right now) so it made for some very cool skies. With Kohdi, it was still sunny but getting cloudy, by the time I got him home and took Mishka, the storm was closer...and windy! Perfect day for a hike we met like 4 other huskies too!

LOL Dave, in reality, she's a little bit of a PITA every single Boulder she sees, she has to climb up on it and people watch. There are a lot of boulders on a mountain! LOLOL, so we did a lot of people watching! But, I guess that's what happens when one accompanies the Queen on a hike she was a good girl, just not as enthusiastic as Kohdi to be there, LOLOL . She's sleeping now yay!

Jimmy, good thing you took the queen out second when it was overcast, haha. I love the second pic, with her tongue just barely sticking out, lol. Too cute. Great pics.

Thank you Renee! I didn't know it at that moment but she was sticking her tongue out at another husky that was behind me, hahaha. The owners wanted to meet Mishka. Their husky was only 6 months old (yeah, I know, shouldn't have been on the hike) super adorable!

very cool picture of Mishka on the hill.

Great headshot in the first pic, Mishka looks content up there lol

Thanks J! I love that pic! I kept hoping it would turn out, I wasn't sure cuz the sun was in front of me instead of behind me, but it made for a cool effect!

Of course she's happy up there, she's not walking up a steep hill, LOLOL ...if I had known how different my two would be, I probly woulda named them "Night" and "Day" haha. Kohdi was a trip! If there were people walking too slow in front of us, he'd take me up short cuts of HUGE boulders! I actually had to laugh to myself at one point cuz there was one little group of people that were even irritating me and Kohdi just took it upon himself to bypass them, lol. Mishka is perfectly content to just watch people, she loves it! (And the attention she gets, haha)

@Ronin...thank you Ronin!!!! You are a great photographer so I take that as a really cool compliment

Artic_Wind wrote:

LOL Dave, in reality, she's a little bit of a PITA every single Boulder she sees, she has to climb up on it and people watch. There are a lot of boulders on a mountain! LOLOL, so we did a lot of people watching! But, I guess that's what happens when one accompanies the Queen on a hike she was a good girl, just not as enthusiastic as Kohdi to be there, LOLOL . She's sleeping now yay!

Little Mishhy queen is a PITA!? I can't believe that hahaha
Maybe she wants to take one of those boulders home

That first picture reminds me so much of the one you have of Kohdi! Awesome background! She is just so cute. I'm sure they both get a lot of attention from people huh?

@Dave, I'm at work and read your post and actually laughed out loud ,ok ok , maybe PITA is a little harsh. Or. Maybe not. LOLOL she is just...determined to do things HER way, haha. I can't get a good pace going with her, it's like "gasp, I heard something in that bush, I must hunt it down" or "gasp, a boulder! It was put there for ME, I must use it" etc. she is in her own little world, lol, and to be very honest, as annoying as it can be, I absolutely love her for it to, she's happy, so I'm happy.

@casey...I'm going to put both pics in one of those double frames, I noticed that about them too!

And yeah, don't everyone one of us experience that kind of attention with our huskies! It's definitely a husky thing. With my two, there are distinctly different reactions when we are approached though, it's pretty interesting. With Kohdi it's always a audible "<gasp> followed by "OMG, your dog is gorgeous! or "I want your husky!!!" lol, everyone comments on his eyes, his coat, and his coloring. With Mishka, instead of the gasp, it's "awwwwwww" OMG is your puppy cute, how old?" LOLOL , always followed by either her just being the cutest little husky ever, or her being so beautiful. There was a moment where one lady stopped to meet her, and then others behind her wanted to meet her, and then still others, haha, First Lady says to me "I don't think you're gonna make it up the hill, hahaha" I really love it though, not so much the attention but more that my two get to meet and socialize like that. It's pretty cool.

Sounds like Mylo...hears something on the tree **looks up***whaaat is it I must know!?!?** A sound coming from a bush **whaaat is it I must know***..
Of course in these moments he will pull, I can handle it but my gf not so much and hates it lol
And I know what you're saying about the attention, especially kids. I'm walking Mylo in the park and I hear "oooooo looook it's a husky woahhh a husky" good thing is non of those kids have ever just ran up to Mylo and just look from far. Whenever kids do come up to Mylo I tell the parent to do it slowly and then I get so proud of Mylo when he is gentle and nice with them. One time a kid was having so much fun that they were throwing the ball for me haha.
I'm always a little nervous but I don't act like it haha

Exactly Dave! Mishka is just like that. I'll post a really short video of her on a walk later this afternoon, she's hunting, lol.

Haha, the kids are entirely another story! Mishka gets "wolf puppy" a lot, lol, and the little girls will see us coming from a distance and they're already asking their parents if they can pet her, with Kohdi he gets "wolf" a lot but what I like, and am impressed by in a way, is "dad, did u see that husky, he looks like a wolf" so they do distinguish the two and I like that

Artic_Wind wrote:

@ I can't get a good pace going with her, it's like "gasp, I heard something in that bush, I must hunt it down" or "gasp, a boulder! It was put there for ME, I must use it" etc. she is in her own little world, lol, and to be very honest, as annoying as it can be, I absolutely love her for it to, she's happy, so I'm happy.

Jimmy - I used to have that problem ALLLLLLLL the time with Ami - then I taught him the "on by" command. Like this - carefully watching dog...as soon as even the slightest interest in something comes up "on by" simultaneous with a slight flick of the wrist (like the reins of a horse...oh, byw, I use a prong collar, much more control, less face plant ) and speed up, all at the same time. Sometimes even when I see something and he hasn't yet. So far, is working quite well.

Amy, I have thought about the prong, and it's still not completely out of the picture. Mishka has gotten better...MUCH better, like you with the "on by", I use "ah ah" and I give the leash a tug and we keep going. But she still always has to try, LOLOL. With the mountain, she sees a boulder and makes a bee line for it, sometimes I let her, sometimes I didn't, it really depended on if I thought now should be a rest time for her (pics are deceiving, she's pretty tiny...we met a 6 month old boy husky up there and except for their weight, Mishka was the same size pretty much, the husky owners were visibly shocked when I told them she was a year and a half) in some parts of the trail are rock "steps" that Mishka has to jump on each one so I'm sure it'll tire her out a bit. So with that being said, she sometimes gets her way, but she is also learning she won't always get her way. On daily walks its a bit different. She hunts (either small animals like lizards or bunnies, or for sticks and branches to carry around) I'd say 99.9% of the time, and while I realize her focus *should* be on me, I also want her walk to be something she "gets something out of" besides just exercise, hunting is in her nature and I don't want to take that away from her. You will most likely disagree with that philosophy, most people I think would, but I love watching her in that mode, I'm trying more to just find a balance, where she can enjoy her walk at a more leisurely pace and be behaved, but also do the things she likes to do, I don't want her walk to be exercise only. It's a slow process, and part of it will be due to repetition and just getting older, but little by little I'm achieving that balance. If I say "ah ah" she listens and keeps moving, so we are good there, but her "moving" still involves some pulling and that I want completely stopped, and probably where a prong would be useful, but I don't know, I'm still trying to do things without the aid of *tools* and more by just respect/trust/and just good ol' listening, haha. I will keep on working on it but who knows, a prong or something similar, might be part of her future. If I didn't already see improvement, I'd probably have already gotten one.

I'm home now so in a bit ill post a short video of her on a walk...yes I find it cute, most people will probably do the palm on the forehead thing, lol, but I'm ok with it.

Thank you Amy

She looks so beautiful! Cora likes to lay on the floor the suddenly get up and run to the other dog approaching her, sometimes I wish she was off leash so I dont have to be dragged to meet the other dog but in the city wooded area you could get to a main road within 30 mins of walking so I can only imagine her running and getting hurt. Sigh the off leash training continues. Mishka looks like such a cozy girl I would have a cuteness overload if I saw her on a hike!

Thank you Zoe! Training is a pain isn't it!!! Haha, I know you enjoy it though I think that's awesome. My father trained dogs for US Customs for a while, he loved it.

Ok, so here is a Mishka walking video. It's short don't worry, lol. I started the video with her pulling towards a spot she heard a noise so yeah, she actually does walk good, just not at this particular moment, hahaha

Lol..I'm gonna say it..fluffy butt!! Lol she has the cutest walk, love the pounce

Artic_Wind wrote:

On daily walks its a bit different. She hunts (either small animals like lizards or bunnies, or for sticks and branches to carry around) I'd say 99.9% of the time, and while I realize her focus *should* be on me, I also want her walk to be something she "gets something out of" besides just exercise, hunting is in her nature and I don't want to take that away from her. You will most likely disagree with that philosophy, most people I think would, but I love watching her in that mode,

Actually, Jimmy - our philosophy is pretty much the same. For me, I call it letting a dog be a dog. It is one of my great joys to just meander behind Ami, see what interests him, watch his ears go up, his body tense...its why I have this concoction of a leash - the prong is for if he ever bolts after stuff (early on, he was forever "going pogo stick" which left me usually face down in the ditch. One time I tried to jump over the ditch 'cause I knew, no matter what, Ami was going acrooss...I did a very forceful face plant in the grass on the other side - he was temporarily more interested in the rabbit he saw before he sort of wandered over with this quizzical look on his face as in "what are you doing down there..." Then, the brat proceeded to lift his leg and pee about a foot from my face )

Now, I've mitigated the "face plants" with the prong collar combined with a rok bungee leash connected to a 9 ft nylon webbing leash I made from leftovers from a tent repair. The rok leash absorbs some of the shock on my shoulder, the prong with the rok gives Ami warning that he is at the end of his rope, so to speak and the extra 9' I am constantly coiling and uncoiling depending on how much he is walking or "reading the pee mail". That extra 9 ft allows me to have a bit more consistant exercise as well as, when it's coiled and he "pogos" I can let it out and not land on my face.

I also have a large carabiner and when we are walking in urban environments with heavy traffic, I double up the 9 footer and wrap it around my hips and clip it to the brass D ring by the handle and use as a hands free leash. It also functions, when my gait is stiff or uneven and Im having difficulty walking to pull me along and normalizes my gait (but I really should get him a harness for this function - bad mummy )

As for our walks around here - Ami has on more than 1 occasion pounced on and eaten 2 and once 3 voles. One winter there was a lot of detritus left from field dressing deer and every walk, Ami carried home some prize. A few times the bones were a bit big and it was warm...he couldn't pant and carry the bones at the same time so he buried his finds in the snow and leaves - I loved watching that - he scratches a shallow depression, deposits his find, than uses his nose to push the loose stuff on top of it all, then he tamps it down firmly, again using his nose but this time instead of pushing he really is using his nose as a tamper. Then he stands back, studies his work and makes any corrections he needs until he is comfortable it is secure.


And that boy must have GPS because he can go right to his cache weeks later and move it closer to home

So - long story short: I don't disagree with you at all. I do, however, believe a dog needs the more disciplined skills for city environments and to bring then out of danger should the need arise which is why we practise "heel" "whoa" "easy" (that one is for me, going down stairs or rocky inclines...I'm not a spring chicken any more and I do have some mobility issues.

Just watched the video wow she actually bounces in to bushes! that's hilarious lol
Mylo isn't that advanced haha he just stares...unless he sees a squirrel, bunny, or cat those are the things that I've witnessed so far that he absolutely loses his mind for.

@J...LOL, my mom calls that walk a "wobble", LOLOL, (that's her in the background of the video exclaiming how adorable Mishka is btw, great influence huh ) Thanks J

@Amy...that is the perfect expression for it! "Letting a dog be a dog". Gonna get all sentimental on you again but, my greatest memories of Malukhai most often are of him on his walks, he was a character like no other. I learned SO MUCH from his short life about "letting a dog be a dog", my two now are benefactors of that learning. Obviously, like you said, they must also be kept safe...and I'm doing everything I can to ensure that and will continue to do so. Like I said, a prong or something like Amanda mentions in her scrapbook of martingales, are not out of the realm of possibilities for Mishka, she's still very young though and has made tremendous progress so I want to see how it goes for a bit longer. I just now got back from their walk and tonite I paid extra attention to her progress, I must say she's doing very well. I'm not as excluded from her little world anymore, haha, as she really does pay attention not only to my voice but to slight little tugs on the leash and stuff, she's not perfect yet though also, the leash I bought her (not the one in the video) has some kind of "stretch" to it, it really does help! Thank you so much Amy for your thoughts and stories, I can not only visualize them but some I have firsthand experience with as well

@Dave, LOL, the pounce, I'm told, is Mishka trying to flush out the critter she hears in there. They do the pounce and whatever is in there will run, thus flushing it out. Like Mylo, cats and bunnies are on Mishka's hit list, lol, she has yet to see a squirrel.

lol, she is so bouncy, like how her ears perk up and then is finds the noise and pounces to funny.

LOL Ronin, she is my little cutie. In a minute I'll upload another video...it's pretty cute but <sighs> yes she's on another walk but you'd never know it, haha

So I showed you all a video of Mishka on a walk demonstrating how she hunts now I show you a video of Mishka on a walk demonstrating what she would do to the poor critter once she catches it ...I pity the animal Mishka eventually catches

The ending of this video is what my poor Kohdi deals with, with Mishka. My mom who is walking Kohdi with me while I work with Mishka, tries to give Kohdi a branch piece of his own, watch what happens...LOLOL

Oh my gosh lol little terror I laughed at the end..what a little jerk not sharing hahaha
Loving the videos!!

Hahaha J, she IS a little terror. And yeah, what's Mishka's is Mishka's, and what's Kohdi's is Mishka's, hahaha. As you can see, sometimes it doesn't even make it to Kohdi!