Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone.

I have lots of questions. Here goes!

1. Does anyone have a cat and an aggressive siberian husky? I'm told that there are a fair amount of people who manage to keep them separate.

1a. How do you do the sleeping schedule when, well, all your pets want to sleep with you? And for bonus points, they all hate each other! LOL.

1b. What do you do to keep them separate? Give the dog the rooms you are in, and the cats the rest of the house?

1c. Have you felt it might be more effort than it's worth?

I love cats but want to expand my options on adopting a Siberian. I'm faced with the choice of waiting until my 15 year old cat who is facing a kidney failure dies (I know I sound morbid, I've been fighting her kidney failure for 2 years now and I love her and am having a hard time dealing with the fact she will be gone soon.)

I wanted to give her a companion for a while by adopting another cat. But if I go that route, I will have to continue to look for the rare good-with-cats mention in adoptions. Or I can keep them separate. If it's feasible to keep them separate I will be in pet heaven except for not being able to sleep with both of them LOL I'll live though. I love cats and Siberians are my true love too. I've been looking for other breeds and only the German Shepherds caught my eye but still does not compare to the Siberians.

Now for more questions!

2. Do you have to train a Siberian to have them pull a bike type of thing? Like to turn, stop, go, etc? I don't know what it's called it's like dogsledding on the road/dirt/etc. It sounds like so much fun LOL. But it also sounds like suicide LOL.

2a. Have you ever encountered people thinking it's cruel or something? Or just generally something wrong with making them doing that? How do you handle that? I might be overthinking it but I live in a prim and proper area where everyone puts T-shirts and bow ties on their dogs, carry them around, have dog carriers for when they go on walks (instead of actually, you know, walking them) and such. I'd probably be something of a demon here LOL.

3. How do you leash train a dog? Like to make them walk with a little slack in the leash.

Now for a little bit more sensitive questions:

4. Do you think it's inappropiate to want a certain look in the dogs you are adopting? I hope nobody gets upset, I know it is shallow. I'm not too picky, I just really prefer the open face look and soft coats. I'd still prefer to pick up a really good dog than a good looking one. I feel kind of like I'm being mean if I were to say that. I feel like I am shrugging off dogs that need homes just because of the way they look. I'm not taking it that lightly I just kinda feel bad about that. Am I wrong for wanting a dog like that? Do you know if rescue people get offended by that in general?

Thanks everyone.

" Does anyone have a cat and an aggressive siberian husky? I'm told that there are a fair amount of people who manage to keep them separate."
Nope, my sibes loves cats, he was raised from birth around them, and so a few generations before him. My sibe/shepard mix was introduced to our cat at 7 weeks old and has lived with him since. I was determined to trained them to accept that the cat outranks them, therefore they are very gentle and respectful of him no matter how rough he is with them.
" How do you do the sleeping schedule when, well, all your pets want to sleep with you? And for bonus points, they all hate each other! LOL."
Simple to assist in teaching manners to both dogs they were trained that their place is where they belong at sleeping time, in their crates, although now my young adult husky is offered to lay down on the bed as a reward with us, he only sticks around a few minutes at most and gets down, he knows that it is not his place. The cat was raised to allow him access to the bed anytime he wants, but if he is misbehaving, he is not permitted to be there with us. If you allow a husky or any dog access to your bed to sleep with you other than as a reward on occasion for a short time you are fighting your own efforts to have a well behaved dog.
" What do you do to keep them separate? Give the dog the rooms you are in, and the cats the rest of the house? "
My sibe and my cat have all day together, all year around, except when the sibe is outdoors with us, or otherwise. The cat has his own room that only he can enter (or us) to protect his food and litterbox.

" Have you felt it might be more effort than it's worth?"
If they are to live together you need to start with a puppy or a cat friendly sibe, do NOT try to train a non cat-friendly adult husky to live with your cat, the cat will be killed and/or eaten.

" Do you have to train a Siberian to have them pull a bike type of thing? Like to turn, stop, go, etc? I don't know what it's called it's like dogsledding on the road/dirt/etc. It sounds like so much fun LOL. But it also sounds like suicide LOL."
I have had my sibe pull a partially assembled cart a few times for very short distances. I never bothered with pushing the subject with a young sibe, not until their bones and joints are fully developed at 1.5 years old. But you need to start young having them drag something such as a2x4 to get them used to the idea and sounds of something dragging behind them (scares them for a while).

" Have you ever encountered people thinking it's cruel or something? Or just generally something wrong with making them doing that? How do you handle that? I might be overthinking it but I live in a prim and proper area where everyone puts T-shirts and bow ties on their dogs, carry them around, have dog carriers for when they go on walks (instead of actually, you know, walking them) and such. I'd probably be something of a demon here LOL. "
This attitude you mention goes with designer toy breeds, and those who now think that all dogs should be spoiled rotten lazy fat, unhealthy, couch potatos. These are dogs, working dogs that need to have a purpose in life or they are not fully happy.

" How do you leash train a dog? Like to make them walk with a little slack in the leash."
Efoort, time, consistency, and patience, LOTS OF THESE.

"Do you think it's inappropiate to want a certain look in the dogs you are adopting? I hope nobody gets upset, I know it is shallow. I'm not too picky, I just really prefer the open face look and soft coats. I'd still prefer to pick up a really good dog than a good looking one. I feel kind of like I'm being mean if I were to say that. I feel like I am shrugging off dogs that need homes just because of the way they look. I'm not taking it that lightly I just kinda feel bad about that. Am I wrong for wanting a dog like that? Do you know if rescue people get offended by that in general? "
NO, thats fine, when I got my sibe I had people saying "why dont you get a mutt from the pound", "why dont you get a rescue dog". Simple, I wanted to get a sibe, that I knew was cat friendly, and work with him from being a puppy. The big problem I had at first was finding cat friendly sibes, then a rescue that would come to do a home check where I live, then, one that the local "home checker" would come to a house that has monitor lizards (yes they are sometimes that rediculous, one was terrified to come over, and said that my dog is not safe living here with them in the house, but she did not know what a monitor lizard was, she assumed a komodo dragon (again her assuming made an a%% out of her and me).
The second dog was a rescue, I tried again through other rescues, some are actually run by stuck up people (Im so tempted to name organizations but I wont). Yet I was offered by a few to foter and adopt any of their dogs with no reservations, they laughed at the others. I found my second (the mix) at a local rescue when we introduced Duke (my sibe) to a female sibe/samoyed mix they had, we brought the puppy home instead.

If you want to take the time to get a rescue dog, they are rewarding, and you are saving a life, but with cats be careful, get a puppy to be safe. And still be careful with the sibes extreme prey drive, I dont care what anyone says, I dont think any breed has a prey drive near as strong, nor the wolfish instincts natural to them.

You are lucky to have Siberians that get along with cats. I'm having the same problem finding Siberians that get along with cats. I found a few but I didn't feel a connection to them.

The issue with puppies is the initial cost. I already paid a lot to get the house ready for a Siberian (I had to build a fence on two terraces, run hot wire everywhere and then some, and so on.) It was very worth it, though. Vet bills are one thing, I have a saving set aside for vet bills (I recently paid $4200 vet bill for my cat) but just to buy a dog is hard for me to justify when I could do what I feel is the right thing by rescuing.

I also don't think I could raise one properly, with being gone 8 hours a day and working in a physical labor job, so a dog with it's personality already set is ideal for me.

I'm very excited though, I got out of school 8 years ago and worked 80-100 hours a week 7 days a week all this time. I swore to myself as a kid I WILL GET A SIBERIAN HUSKY WHEN I MOVE OUT! So I moved out, and realized I could not possibly afford a dog, let alone have time to exercise him/play/spend time with him, or even keep him content in my little apartment. Reality check!

Now I own a house, work 40 hours a week and free on weekends, so I'm stoked. I finally can get the dog I've always wanted. But it was not without any pressure from family and friends. My mother has three rescue mutts and is ashamed that I am adopting a purebred not getting one out of the pound "because they need it more!"

She's been trying to convince me and dragging me from pound to pound and is horrified when I'm telling her those are not the dogs I want. They don't have the traits I am looking for in a dog. I'm not looking for a dog that wants to sit with me on the couch and watch TV. I'm not looking for a dog that is completely devoted to me just because I have a heartbeat.

I want a dog that I can earn their love, that is independent and intelligent. One that will be happiest going out on hikes with me, and will keep my life constantly interesting with their fun antics. Not one where I take to a dog park and sit on my butt watch my dog exercise. (don't get me started on dog park people, this is not everyone and it's not the most horrible place, but the people who dress up in their exercise outfit to walk 2 blocks to the dog park and sit down and watch them play make me wonder what exactly they were trying to accomplish. Or the people who get all huffy and puffy when dogs are being dogs... to THEIR dog.) Now see, your comment on people with their "toy designer dogs" made me go off on a rant. Can you tell I am not happy with the people in this neighborhood? That's trends for you. Wonder how many will get discarded when the dog trend going around is over.

I see what you mean on the sleeping part. I still have much to learn about teaching a Siberian to behave.

Thanks for your advice.

Hi,
When you get a dog it is a big commitment like getting married, having a child, etc. You have to get one that YOU want, you are the one that will be living with this dog and looking at it everyday. Don't feel guilty for not adopting from a rescue or a shelter if that is not what you want. There is nothing wrong with buying a purebred puppy and raising it the way you want it raised. Only you know what will make you happy. Don't settle for a dog you don't really want. Just my opinion.
staffordmom

Thanks for the reassurance. It makes sense. I can't afford the puppy price tag. But I'm meeting a dog this weekend. Hope he works out. Beautiful 2 year old dog.