Siberian Husky

The most familiar coloring of the Siberian Husky, black and white, with ice blue eyes.

 Siberian huskies loves people! They are extremely people-oriented and love to cuddle. They are useless guard dogs, they will greet the burglar just as happily as your invited friends, but they will definitely let you know when someone is coming. They are very talkative dogs, and when a person is coming, it's feeding time or they are in harness in front of a sled, ready to start running, they will let you know by happily howling, barking and whining. Their passion in life is running, and when you see a team of Siberians in front of the sled, you can clearly see that they love to work.  

4 happy Siberians doing what they do best! Photo: Monica A. Sundset

 The Siberian Husky that we know today comes from the United States. The origin of the dogs, however, can be traced to Siberia where the Chukchi people used the dogs for pulling sleds. The dogs that would later be the origin of the Siberian husky came to Alaska in the early 1900s and where used for transport during the gold rush and to bring mail to distant parts of the state. The dogs became famous after the "serum race" to Nome, where the inhabitats lives where saved by the serum the dogs transported to them.

Tessa, a typical Siberian Husky of show type. She is heavily built with very thick undercoat.

Noor, a much lighter built working dog type.

Appearance

The Siberian husky is a medium sized dog, weighing 16-27 kg (35-60 lbs). The length of the body from the point of the shoulder to the base of the tail is slightly longer than the height of the body from the ground to the top of the withers. All colors of the coat from black to pure white are allowed. The eyes can be either brown, blue, one of each color or "parti-colored" (meaning both blue and brown in the same eye). For more details about the appearance, see the breed standard here: Breed standard Siberian Husky
 The modern Siberian Husky comes in two types: the show type, that most closely resembles the original dogs in appearance, and the working sled dog type, that has maintained the working capacity of the original dogs. The show type often lacks the discipline to work hard, and indeed often has a too thick and warm coat even to be able to. The working huskies are much more slender and often more thinly coated than the original dogs and while they might be faster than the original dogs, aren't as well equipped when it comes to sleeping out in the snow at extremely low temperatures. Most Siberians however, fall somewhere between these two extremes and can both work hard in front of the sled and keep warm during cold arctic nights, provided they are trained and used to sleeping outdoors. 

Beautiful Ylva with her dark brown eyes.

Siberian Huskies come in many different colors. These three are siblings, but could not look more different from each other.

Health

As in most other medium- to large sized dogs hip dysplasia does occur in the breed, but is rare. Only about 2% of all tested Siberians in the US showed signs of hip dysplasia. More common health issues are different defects of the eyes (juvenile cataracts, corneal dystrophy, canine glaucoma and progressive retinal atrophy). Other medical problems include seizures and congenital laryngeal paralysis. In general the Siberian husky is a healthy breed however, and non of the medical conditions mentioned are common. To avoid the genes for these conditions being spread in the population, all breeding animals should be checked for HD and preferably have their eyes examined by an veterinarian who is an expert in eye disorders.

Me with Birk and Tessa on a walk in the mountains.

Training

The Siberian Husky is a relatively small working type dog. They can be used for pulling sleds (or bikes or carts etc) from approximately 1 year of age. These are dogs that need to get plenty of physical exercise to be happy. They will not be content with a walk around the block.
Siberians  will respond to obedience training, provided you find a reward they are willing to work for. If your goal is top scores at obedience competitions however, you should probably chose another breed.
Huskies have a very strong prey drive and will kill other small animals, especially if they are two or more dogs running lose.If your husky is socialized with cats and other small pets from puppyhood, your other pets are safe, but your neighbor's cat will most likely still be regarded as fair game by your husky. So always keep your Siberian on leash when outdoors.  The strong prey drive can however also be used to our advantage as a reward in training.
Siberian huskies can be great with children, but remember, never let a child and a dog play unsupervised, no matter how friendly the dog is.

My boyfriend Mads on the cart, Noor and Vida in the back and Birk in front, during summer training. Always be careful when exercising Siberians in the summer, they can get heat exhaustion quickly, beacuse of their thick fur. Here in northern Norway however, that is rarely a problem... 

 If you like running or long walks, if you are willing to put in the time needed when it comes to socialization, training and exercise, then the Siberian husky might be what you are looking for. If properly trained and exercised, a Siberian will be your best friend!

Me and Tessa, a very loving Siberian that loves being close to people (preferably on their lap) more than anything else! Photo: Monica A. Sundset