Hello!!
Due to some allergies .. we are sending away our beloved cats.
My boyfriend - soon to be fiance- just loves huskies and has had a few in the past - but is highly allergic to my cats. We had talked about getting a dog sometime, and I've done a bit of research on them and they seem like they would be a perfect fit for us!
So I started looking for new homes for my little fur sons (my Actual sons are upset).
I've grown up having Great Danes so the idea of a dog around isn't so new. We had one awhile ago but he sadly died of bloat - he was young but huge!
And here I am - looking for a good community to give us some pointers and advice! I've read some about them - and they do differ from a Great Dane lol
I look forward to whatever you all can give us!!
Thanks!!

Welcome

Sorry you are having to send your cats away I hope you find them a good home.

There is a lot of information on getting husky either from a breeder or a rescue (which there seems to be alot of those). Spend sometime reading up on these forums to get well informed.

I'm sorry to hear about your cats and I hope that your family isn't taking it lightly. I'm actually highly allergic to cats and can live with them with allergy meds like Claritin. I'm also allergic to dogs and keep the dogs washed every month, plus a number of other methods recommended by my allergist. Has you fiance gone to see a professional to see his level of allergies, any meds available and if he's allergic to dogs? Huskies are a lot of work and unless your fiance was their primary caretaker in the past, he may not know what he's getting into. If I'm not being super encouraging, it's because I want to make sure that everyone getting a husky makes the decision with as much information and gravity as possible. I work with rescue huskies and I hope you consider a rescue if you decide that huskies are for you.

Thanks!! And yes, he was the primary.
He has taken meds for the allergies before - but hates being on it all the time.
I read up on them a bit - and will probably get books as well. I understand that they need an "alpha" .. a 100% head of the household type. He's good at that, very firm. I can be too. They need to be socialized - which is not a problem, my sister and her hubs have 2 dogs as well as smaller children. (Which could come in handy as we thought about having more ourselves after we are married ). And we would look into puppy training lessons - not so much for the lessons, but more for the socialization, as we've both dealt with training dogs.
I'm glad I found a site that's welcoming and ready to let know all about them!

Hi there!

I'm really really allergic to cats as well so I can totally sympathize. One thing I would say is to get him tested again for dogs. I've known people who used to have dogs and then when they're adults, all of a sudden, they can't be around them anymore. Thankfully it was always somebody else's dog so no rehoming was required.j Has he ever looked into getting the shots for his cat allergy? I was thinking about it before and it was about $120 CDN once every four (?) months - it really did beat taking meds every single day. I'm a kook though - even though I have allergies I have two cats (well, one of them is a dog-cat hybrid of some sort) and I wouldn't trade them for the world!

adriane1978 wrote:

Thanks!! And yes, he was the primary.
He has taken meds for the allergies before - but hates being on it all the time.
I read up on them a bit - and will probably get books as well. I understand that they need an "alpha" .. a 100% head of the household type. He's good at that, very firm. I can be too. They need to be socialized - which is not a problem, my sister and her hubs have 2 dogs as well as smaller children. (Which could come in handy as we thought about having more ourselves after we are married ). And we would look into puppy training lessons - not so much for the lessons, but more for the socialization, as we've both dealt with training dogs.
I'm glad I found a site that's welcoming and ready to let know all about them!

Honestly, I would tell my fiance to suck it up and take the meds or find a homeopathic route. I would make him sleep in the care before I would give up any of my animals - I made a commitment to them when I got them. My bond with my animals is very strong, I love my fiance, but I would exhaust EVERY resource before I would send them to a shelter, even if it were a no kill shelter.

Typically, huskies don't do that well with an "alpha" role. They don't do well with being scared into doing things and negative reinforcement can end up having negative consequences for you in the long run. We learned this the hard way with our female who used to struggle with resource guarding. I would do a little more reading if I were you - Siberian Huskies for Dummies is a good resource to start with, but you are going to need to do reading on specific types of training. In this case, with a husky, many of us find that Nothing In Life Is Free Training works. My female, Delilah is a perfect representation of it.

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

http://www.nextdaypets.com/directory/dogs/articles/nilif-nothing-in-life-is-free-training~148.aspx

http://www.apsofdurham.org/dogs/Nothing%20In%20Life%20Is%20Free.pdf

This is just from my own experience with our 3 Huskies. Make sure they get plenty of Exercise, they are a high energy breed, and there is nothing worse then coming home after being out and finding out what a bored full of energy Husky is capable of destroying, we learnt that the hard way with Brooklyn, and i know it is something basic and most

As Megan has said, you will need to do research on specific types of training, i have found they are a very strong minded/somewhat dominant breed and if they set their mind on something, they are very determined to do it (well ours were/are anyway), so we needed to make sure we were just as strong willed/minded with our training and discipline. Make sure it works for you and your dog though, as not all training methods work for everyone, trial and error.

I don't know what other peoples experience with their Huskies or the breed is, but that is my 2c from my experience. They are fantastic breed and if you look after them, love them and do right by them they will return the favour. My apologies for the blabbering.

mheath0429 wrote:

adriane1978 wrote:

Thanks!! And yes, he was the primary.
He has taken meds for the allergies before - but hates being on it all the time.
I read up on them a bit - and will probably get books as well. I understand that they need an "alpha" .. a 100% head of the household type. He's good at that, very firm. I can be too. They need to be socialized - which is not a problem, my sister and her hubs have 2 dogs as well as smaller children. (Which could come in handy as we thought about having more ourselves after we are married ). And we would look into puppy training lessons - not so much for the lessons, but more for the socialization, as we've both dealt with training dogs.
I'm glad I found a site that's welcoming and ready to let know all about them!

Honestly, I would tell my fiance to suck it up and take the meds or find a homeopathic route. I would make him sleep in the care before I would give up any of my animals - I made a commitment to them when I got them. My bond with my animals is very strong, I love my fiance, but I would exhaust EVERY resource before I would send them to a shelter, even if it were a no kill shelter.

Typically, huskies don't do that well with an "alpha" role. They don't do well with being scared into doing things and negative reinforcement can end up having negative consequences for you in the long run. We learned this the hard way with our female who used to struggle with resource guarding. I would do a little more reading if I were you - Siberian Huskies for Dummies is a good resource to start with, but you are going to need to do reading on specific types of training. In this case, with a husky, many of us find that Nothing In Life Is Free Training works. My female, Delilah is a perfect representation of it.

http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

http://www.nextdaypets.com/directory/dogs/articles/nilif-nothing-in-life-is-free-training~148.aspx

http://www.apsofdurham.org/dogs/Nothing%20In%20Life%20Is%20Free.pdf

I agree with the bolded part especially, alot of people "train" their dogs with spanking and such but its really not the way to go, I cant say for all breeds, but my Axel knows right from wrong and all I have to do is talk to him and tell him whatever he did was bad etc etc, Ive lost my cool in the begining and trust me, he gets rebellious LOL he literally went and took a dump ON my bed. Negative punishment does NOT work well.

Also I dont know if its been addressed yet but alot of people here in my city that have huskies do not realize the importance of brushing them out real good. I see so many huskies around here with their undercoat matted with their top coat so badly it looks like pancakes.

mheath0429 wrote:

...but I would exhaust EVERY resource before I would send them to a shelter, even if it were a no kill shelter.

The OP didn't say she was bringing them to a shelter. She said she was looking for homes for them. Please remember we are not here to judge.

I read it wrong, sorry!

Oh and invest in plenty of Lint rollers and a good vacuum, although i have gotten used to the fact that no matter how hard i try i will always wear a little bit of my huskies with me (clothes mainly but i do find a strand or two in hair every now and again) where ever i go, it is better then looking like i have been rolling around in their fur before leaving the house.

That is all from me.

Kale and I welcome you from California

Kudos to you both for doing the necessary research and reaching out to those who are well versed in living with a Sibe! They are sometimes not an easy dog to live with, but with gentle love and proper care, are fantastic companions.

The whole "alpha" and "dominance" theories have been debunked, and I personally don't like the terms as it puts a negative outlook on training techniques and approaches. Positive reinforcement training, training your dog to respect you, and some aspects of NILIF are what I would personally recommend for training a Siberian (or any breed for that matter).

Again, welcome! You are both in for quite a lifestyle change if a Husky is in your future