What you need to know before getting a husky

Owning a husky is a delight and a challenge. If you are looking to buy or adopt a Siberian husky you should read this article first. Let’s see what you need to know before getting a husky.

Husky – The friendliest dog

Siberian Huskies are already known over the world as being friendly dogs and are the most people-oriented dogs. It’s important to know a little bit about their background if you want to understand why they instinctively act sometimes so friendly. Read more about Siberian Husky breed characteristics here.

Siberian Huskies and Chukchi Tribe

The Chukchi are the people who originated the breed. They raised the dogs like they were a part of the family. Women and children of the Chukchi tribe cared for husky by giving them food and attention. Especially, because the dogs were very helpful and necessary for Chukchi Tribe. Huskies assisted them at daily activities such as transportation or caring for children.

With this background, you shouldn’t be surprised if your amazing husky will want to be an integral part of your family. While he will be loyal to the family, he will also have room, and lots of room, for other people or dogs. He will be friendly with everybody, literally with everyone!

Don’t get a husky if you want a guard dog!

Huskies aren’t aggressive and they won’t start barking at the strangers at the gate or at the strangers from your yard. They might even give a friendly greet to an intruder. So, no to guarding.

If you want to be responsible for caring for another soul that will provide you with years of unconditional love (though those treats are a pretty good bribe…) and attention, then you should get a husky.

Your lifestyle has to click with a husky lifestyle

You need to know that huskies love and need to exercise a lot. And it’s not a little bit of fooling around the park. We’re talking about 2 hours of exercise a day. The minimum exercise should be 45 minutes daily. Try to schedule the walk around the same time each day. Dogs like the routine and they will wait as patiently as they can that moment.

You need to be ready to go on a walk or, even better for a run, no matter the weather. Keep in mind their characteristics when you exercise with a husky. Huskies shouldn’t be exercised in warm weather, and they are happier in cold weather.

The warm climate and Siberian Huskies

Huskies will adapt and they can live in warm zones because they are adaptable animals. You will have to be more careful with your furry friend. If you are living in a zone with warmer climate, pick the best hours for exercise. Morning or late evening are the right moments when you can walk your dog in the summer. Place your hand on the asphalt and see how warm it is. This a good method to know if your best friend’s paws will be safe. Don’t forget to take with you a bottle of water. If you can find a place for swimming, it’s even better. Keep in mind the safety precautions!

Winter with Siberian Huskies

During winter you will have to exercise with your dog too. You don’t like to spend a few hours in the cold? Then you should think again if a husky is the best dog for you. If you don’t exercise them, they will have too much energy to burn on your furniture, walls, carpets, and so on. These mischievous quadrupeds are pretty inventive.

If you are an outdoor person even when it’s freezing cold, then you will have lots of fun with your best friend. Sledding it’s the best activity that you can get with your husky. They have a natural ability to pull sleds.

You shouldn’t leave your husk to run free without a leash or a harness if you are in a forest or an open space. He will try to run away to discover more. That is another characteristic inherited from his ancestors. If you have a yard, you must place high fences. By nature, huskies are escape artists. Keep in mind that they don’t try to escape from you, they just want to discover more.

Training Siberian husky

Training a Siberian Husky it’s not an easy job. It takes a lot of patience. Stubborn, strong-willed, independent and incredibly intelligent, training huskies will be a challenge. First of all, you need to earn the husky’s respect and trust. Start training your Siberian husky at an early age – probably the first thing should be potty training – see my guide here. At first, get some tasty treats and start with simple commands such as sit, down, stay or shake. You should take your husky for a walk to burn some energy before starting training. We will talk more about training huskies on this blog on further posts – see here how to train him to play fetch.

Siberian Husky – Washing and brushing

Siberian Husky – Washing

You should give your husky a bathe at least once a year but no more than once a month (check out my Grooming guide). They are able to do a lot of self-cleaning regularly. Huskies have a double coat of hair. The frequent bathing will dry the top of the coat resulting in thinning the hair and eliminating the essential natural oils. If we pointed out the oils, you should know that huskies don’t produce an excess of oil. It’s another reason why they don’t need to be bathed so often.

Still, huskies will get dirty, and I mean really dirty. It’s in their nature to dig and get in the mud. And this is perfectly OK, in my opinion. They should have as much fun as possible. If this happens, use proper shampoo occasionally, or water alone is enough to remove dirt.

Siberian Husky – Brushing

That perfect coat needs a regular and thorough brushing at least once a week. Keep in mind that huskies will shed, and they will shed a lot. You can help this process by brushing your dog more frequently. During shedding, you can brush your husky every day if you can.

Research as much as possible

Before you decide to take home a husky you have to research as much as possible about huskies and see if he, or she, it’s the best fit for you and your family.

I strongly disagree with getting a husky for a small child or another family member that doesn’t know what it takes to take care of a husky. They likely will not be able to care for the husky on their own if you are not able to provide assistance with the pet’s training and care. Huskies will play along with kids, but you will need to train, feed and care for the dog. A husky, or any dog it’s not just a gift or an object. It’s a soul that you are responsible for.

For all the care that you will give to your furry buddy, you will be rewarded with beautiful moments and lots of fun.