Hello!

I'm new to this forum and I've been researching breeders in my area for about the last 6 months. I live in Portland, OR but am willing to look anywhere in Oregon or Washington (and maybe beyond). Does anyone have any good recommendations?

http://www.phichas-siberians.com/ has some litters for spring/summer this year but they are having 4 litters at a time which really worries me. Is anyone familiar with them? They also won't let anyone tour their facilities before committing to a puppy and paying for one which sends up a red flag.

Any help and advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Kelli

I don't know that breeder, nor did I even click on the link, but RUN. I wouldn't even consider a place that had 4 litters at a time and didn't let me visit before paying for a puppy. Sounds like a puppy mill to me.

Check out these threads:
How to Find a Reputable Breeder
Looking at Breeders

Also, I'm not sure what your needs are, but please consider rescues and looking in shelters. There are several breed specific husky rescues and shelters often have young huskies in them. All purebred.

I have no problem with buying a puppy from a responsible breeder, but please rescue before you buy a dog from an unethical or irreputable breeder.

This breeder had no mention of health testing on their website ANYWHERE! I second that..RUN! They have lots of fancy graphics and big talk, but when you read between the lines, they have stuff to hide and they are doing fairly well at it. Kudos to you for seeing the red flags. They say they are "breeding to better the breed", but the only thing they mention about vets and health testing are "we have our dogs vet checked and cleared before breeding". That means NOTHING. Stay away from these people.

I would just run because they have dogs out of K9 pines...but that is just me K9 pines is a mill.

How about Paragon? They are great. Lani will probably be able to provide more information on breeders there, so hopefully she will answer.

RUN, don't walk, away from PhiChas Siberians- tons of red flags there too many to list-

Here's some of the suggestions I'd have for you-

Paragon Siberians in Lake Tapps, WA has top quality health tested dogs http://paragonsiberians.weebly.com/
Artik-Sno Deer Park, WA http://www.artik-sno.com/CONTENTS.html
Maskarade Siberians in Yakima WA has a very 'highlander' look if you like their lines and Adel produces a very nice quality dog with great temperament http://www.maskaradesiberians.com/
Kaniska Siberians Nine Mile Falls WA http://kaniskasiberianhuskies.weebly.com/
Zuska Siberians Joseph, OR http://zuskasiberians.com/
Tobotuk Siberians Ontario, OR http://www.tobotuk.com/ absolutely wonderful people and their dogs are top quality.
Tovik Siberians Ablany OR www.tovik.com/

This is not quite a dinosaur thread and we have similar questions.

We are in MA and we are starting to research breeders. We are more than willing to go with a rescue but our experiences with breed-specific rescues has been less than wonderful. After a brief description of our experiences with rescues I will ask about breeders.

1) animal represented as "mouthy" We discovered it included extreme resource guarding, grabbing your limbs hard enough to bruise, and if it jumped on your lap you better allow it or it would clomp your arm. We gentled the dog considerably before deciding it was simply a risk, and returned it in much better temper and behavior than it arrived.
2) represented as clean, gentle, and seized from a bad situation. Arrived LOADED with fleas and dog aggressive.
3) ... and on and on. You get the idea.

All our current animals are from shelters, and they and we discussed the situation before committing. In contrast, all the breed-specific rescues state unequivocally "you must be within X miles" OK, our town is not within any of those ranges. One rescue wanted us to bring all our dogs 6 hours one way to them for evaluation. That is not good for the animals. One of ours is extremely shy - we rehabilitated him from feral and they are not important enough to stress him.

So we are pretty soured on breed-specific rescues. If there is any Siberian breed rescue that is willing to work with Western MA, they can PM me and we can start a dialog. We are willing to have any representative visit and evaluate our situation.

Currently we are researching and visiting breeders. The target is two young dogs or pups within the next 18 months so we can take care of them all their lives. Our current pack is aging. It is reality and planning. We expect attrition to reduce out pack as we age, ending up with 2 Siberians and we can manage that.

Recently we visited a kennel that produced champion Sibes for the ring. It was clean. The dogs were beautiful in a very particular way. OTOH, there were no toys in the kennels. There was no place to dig. They were never allowed in the house, not even in rotation. The dogs would return to the house if they accidentally got out. How is that a Sibe? Weird. Not going to deal with them.

Came across backyard breeders. Nope. No way.

Any suggestions for breeders are welcome.

Check out the shca breeder list, they list breeders in each state that are reputable and akc recognized, that is how I found mine

Portland area Craigslist always has sibes for free or cheap. Some of them are young, if that's what you're looking for. We got Paw Paw almost 5 years ago from CL when he was 7 months old. He's been amazing ever since. He was in a bad situation, so we rescued him from the neglect he was suffering. He came with papers and everything. He's been a great dog and has had little to no health issues (just a broken tooth that happened a few months ago). CL is just another option.

For the person in Portland looking for breeders, I would also recommend:
Syntari in Maple Valley, WA.
Jamesa is a very knowledgeable breeder.
Bodhi is a rehome from Syntari.
http://www.syntari.com

And Poku Siberian Huskies in Chehalis, WA.
http://pokusiberians.com/401.html
Andrea advised me about available rehomes in the area.
I've been to her kennel and met the dogs.
Her Lucy is adorable!

I'm not sure what breeds in MD you looked in to, but I'll throw out a couple I know of.
http://innisfreekennels.com/
http://www.nandosibes.com/home
http://www.aparytion.com/

Young is good, it does not have to be a pup. We are located in Massachusetts. TQ for the idea about the SHCA list - we found a few local breeders whose dogs both show and work. They can help or can refer us to others.

Portland is a tad far, however the CL idea is good. I find searchtempest.com useful for multiple CL searches.

--------------------------
All of our dogs are rescues or rehomes. Here is the abbreviated version about how we got our first Siberian:

DW was looking for a Labrador and regularly called the local shelters. One said they had a pup. Cool. She drives there and it is a Siberian, not a Lab. WTH? We knew Sibes could be difficult, like, the exact opposite of a Lab. We thought about it. DW decided to bring me and our developmentally delayed son to see if it could work. It was a small town, and the ACO's kids were flying around the backyard playing, screaming, etc. The 6 month old pup was flying back and forth at the end of her 20 ft tether. They said "She never calms down!" Our son sat cross-legged in the grass. The pup shot over to our son, jumped in his lap, and was immediately still for him.

She chose us.

He named the pup "Avalanche, because that is a strong name". We soon learned that "Avalanche" actually meant "Your very own natural disaster". We expected shredding, digging, and shedding, but - but - not at that intensity. The house became carpeted with fur and polyester stuffing. The backyard looked like trench warfare. She never counter-surfed. She jumped ONTO the counters and strolled along, sampling everything. I will keep this short and leave out the stories about fences, chickens, and muddy paw prints on top of police cars.

We were absolutely enchanted. Since then, we have had Siberians in our lives.

Epimetheus wrote:

I will keep this short and leave out the stories about fences, chickens, and muddy paw prints on top of police cars.

I don't think you can leave that out! Haha.

I'm getting a puppy from Nando in Uxbridge, MA. They may seem a little 'short' on the phone, but they are awesome! I went to visit him yesterday and was planning on spending an hour there, so I could miss traffic. Needless to say I ended up spending 3.5 hours there. Who can leave after an hour of playing and cuddling with 3 week old puppies? I drive up from NYC and its about 3.5 hours each way. While I was there I met a couple who was also purchasing a puppy from a different litter. Turns out, the guys sister lives 3 blocks from me and they plan on visiting her! So we are planning puppy play dates already, their boy is about 2 weeks younger then mine. I also contacted Jalerrean. They are in PA and are great as well, but she didn't have a litter due where the timing worked out for me. I think her next litter is due in early to mid April.

Also in terms of letting the kennel dogs into the house, I've noticed that many reputable and show/racing quality kennels don't allow their dogs in the house. Some do, some don't. That doesn't necessarily mean that the dogs are not well socialized or somehow 'not siberians.' And a dog that returned if it got out? Call me crazy, but I'd love to have a sibe that comes home if it gets out! Nando has a setup where the dogs have their own individual runs that open into a large area where the owner frequent allows the dogs out to play and dig and run. I've been there twice and noticed the second time the dogs were in different runs, and different dogs were out in the large run with each other. On my first visit she took me out to the kennel and let me meet every single dog. I only encountered one dog that wasn't well socialized, and it was one she had sold to somebody and they had returned him as an adult, so she was not responsible for his socialization. I'm not trying to sell you a puppy from her or anything, and definitely not affiliated in any way, just sharing my personal experiences.

Of course, your gut instincts will guide you, and if you decide someone is or isn't the 'right' breeder for you. Nando is right for me, but may not be right for you. I don't necessarily think that the toy/house dog issue should necessarily turn you off of a breeder though, especially when there are so many more important considerations. Who knows, that breeder may use toys as a reward in the show ring, and limits their access for a reason. Also, our family husky could have cared less about toys in her dog run. She wanted to play with us with the toys, not just an object, but that's just my opinion of course.

Also did you speak with someone at the rescues directly, or are you going from their website only? It is possible some of them may make an exception after speaking with you, and getting to know you. I would try tales of the tundra and the husky house. The husky house website says they don't adopt outside the NY/NJ area, but it may be possible that after speaking with you, they may make an exception. Or at least be able to recommend a rescue/contact closer to you. Good luck on your puppy/dog search!

Jen, all good points. I never thought of some of them.

I am pleased to hear your description of Nando. It must have been just that day was odd and we did not see all the interactions. They did take the time to show us every dog, even though they were busy. Clean place and well cared for animals. The returned dog was very shy (poor thing) and would show just one ear and one eye from behind a tree, saw you looking, and pop back out of sight, then peek around the other side of the tree.

We are hoping to visit places, then work with their schedule. That's instead of us setting the time, then finding any place that is convenient.

We definitely speak to the people and visit the locations. Oh gee, add in TOT and Husky House in NJ - we have relatives in Jersy and drive by there regularly. It's time to get busy contacting places.

I'm sure you'll find the perfect dog for you, finding the right breeder/rescue is definitely personal. Originally I was going to go with one in Michigan, but was nervous about shipping a puppy, and that I wouldn't get to visit the kennel. I was so happy to find someone I could drive to. I think too, I took an immediate liking to Nancy because she reminded me SO much of the woman that used to run a rescue I volunteered for in college. Good luck! I'm excited to see who you choose.

Epimetheus wrote:

Portland is a tad far, however the CL idea is good. I find searchtempest.com useful for multiple CL searches.

Sorry. I was replying to the person who started this thread, especially after seeing that they are in my area.

And CL is great. Paw Paw and Beowulf came from CL. We got Paw Paw when we lived in Virginia and Beowulf was here in Oregon. Beowulf was 14 weeks old when we rescued him.

Good luck!

How far are you willing to travel? There are many kennels near you...but they may not all be great. Also, remember, just because they are listed on SHCA doesn't mean they are great. I say get to know the breeder you choose to purchase from. Friend their kennels on Facebook, email them, etc. if you are willing to go to Ohio, Michigan, or elsewhere that's great too. There are a few great breeders in your area, but just because they are big names doesn't mean they will be what you want.

Do you plan to sled or sport with your dog? Show? All of these things matter in finding the right breeder.

What do you want from the breeder? Someone who checks up? Someone who will take pictures and send you info? Someone who just cuts to the chase? These are questions that you should rally think about.

Thank you, your suggestions really worked!

We gave it a shot with a rescue out of our area and a little red female 12 weeks old. To our surprise they contacted us, verified the information, and approved us. We visited with our alpha girl Avalanche to see if she would approve of the puppy. If she agreed, the other adult dogs would be fine. The pup was rude, Avi corrected her, the pup took the hint and went back to playing politely.

This thread shows the new addition.

Congrats! She is adorable!