# Husky Owners: Help! Looking for tips and advice



## Mischevous Maeve (May 2, 2020)

I now live with a roommate who semi-recently adopted a 4 year old Husky. I knew nothing about Huskies and want to be able to take care of her just as well as we take care of our golden. So I'm looking for answers to the following questions:

How do you keep your husky from getting bored/into trouble? We've had a lot of issues with her tearing stuff up around the house and eating non-edible things.

How much exercise should Huskies get daily or weekly?

How long can Huskies be outside if it's below freezing? I live in a colder climate and obviously their coats are made for this weather, but is any length of time considered 'too long'?

Thanks for your help, and any other tips and tricks are much appreciated!


----------



## Ffcmm (May 4, 2016)

bumping up


----------



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I don't know anyone that has a Husky, I am not too familiar with the breed. 

Have you done a search to see if there is a Husky Forum that may be able to help you?


----------



## Ontariodogsitter (Feb 23, 2020)

I have fostered couple of huskies, not a breed I would be willing to live with, so definitely breed specific forum might be helpful.


----------



## JulesAK (Jun 6, 2010)

My sister has a husky and I have a lot of friends up here with huskies as you can imagine they are a popular dog up here in Alaska. For the most part, they are a breed I would never have either. They are destructive until a much older age than most dogs if not crated. If crated, a lot of them will choose to howl and cannot be deterred from stopping. If left outside, they are escape artists and are runners though I know they do enjoy being outside, even in the cold. They are prone to chasing smaller animals and I have not seen much luck with changing that. 
That being said, my sister got incredibly lucky with her dog. She is calmer in the house, never howls and tolerates her cats. I think there are some good ones out there. The breed is lovely and I appreciate looking at them but will admire from a distance 
Jules


----------



## Ruthalaska (Sep 15, 2020)

Hi, I also live in Alaska and my last dog was a lab/husky mix. He had more of a Lab personality so I don't have too much on the behavioral questions, but I can tell you that Huskies are bred to be endurance athletes and have very high exercise needs. They need off-leash hard runs; leash walks only will not be enough. And they are smart and get bored easily. As with any dog, if you can tire out the dog, that should help somewhat with destructive behavior like chewing. I'd also mention that Huskies are frequently escape artists and eager to roam long distances, so definitely make sure you have good fencing if the dog will ever be outside in your yard.

You'll want to look to the specific dog's cues, of course, but as a general matter Huskies have a phenomenal tolerance for the cold, prefer cold climates, and do much better in cold than in heat. Ace was perfectly happy outside lying on ice and snow at -20. He would nap all stretched out at those temps and not even bother to curl up in a ball, let alone seek warm shelter (which was always available to him). I never left him outside for days at a time or anything, of course, but he lived in Alaska his entire life until the age of 15.5, loved to spend extended time outside, and never once seemed to get cold. And he was only a mix! Pretty amazing, actually.


----------



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

There has to be a facebook group for husky lovers who could give good ideas and of course there's always the husky breed club in your area - The Siberian Husky
What is an Area Club?
Since they are smart working dogs, your friend's dog will need games, obedience training and hard aerobic exercise on a daily basis to keep her healthy and happy. If the dog is destroying the house, crating or using baby gates to keep her safe and protect your property is the best thing to do in the short term. Encourage them to check into agility or some kind of dog sport that is available within a reasonable distance, best way to bond with the dog also.


----------



## GrandmaToGoldens (Jul 2, 2019)

I owned a husky and trained her to CD. Ironically for a dog who was the opposite of Velcro, out-of-sight stays stopped us going further. I didn’t find her particularly destructive, but I spent a lot of time training her in a variety of activities - including Agility. I think opportunities to run in a safe enclosed area were very important to her wellbeing.
She was difficult to read. I found her expressions to be very different from other dogs - more like a cat. Like a cat, squinted eyes were her appeasement signal.


----------

