We brought Barkley home right before Christmas. Then, she was 8 weeks. Now she's 13 weeks and already doubled in weight! Barkley is a Siberian Husky. What a beauty! Before we decided to get a husky we did a lot of reading on their habits, traits, etc. In some cases what we found out was astounding! Huskies can run up to 30 mph. (I knew they were fast, Idiatrod and all but WOW!) They can run fast and run long. I came across an interesting blog on an ultrarunner who actually runs her ultras WITH her huskies! WOW! You can find her blog here: http://www.sandrabowers.blogspot.com/
I have to say, huskies seem to be the perfect ultra running partner. But you MUST MUST MUST know what you're getting into. They're a huge ball of energy, and get destructive if not excersized. Two, three times a day even depending on how long you run. Barkley has been on introductory "feeler" runs with us so far, and she has yet to get tired on any of the runs. We are letting her go at her pace, so the runs turn into more of a fartlek running session. She sprints unbelievably fast, then stops for a sec to chew on some leaves. Such as been our runs thus far :-)
I have to say, huskies seem to be the perfect ultra running partner. But you MUST MUST MUST know what you're getting into. They're a huge ball of energy, and get destructive if not excersized. Two, three times a day even depending on how long you run. Barkley has been on introductory "feeler" runs with us so far, and she has yet to get tired on any of the runs. We are letting her go at her pace, so the runs turn into more of a fartlek running session. She sprints unbelievably fast, then stops for a sec to chew on some leaves. Such as been our runs thus far :-)
Thursday was the first quality workout she joined us for. She actually did hill repeats with my husband, our friend Crystal and myself. Needless to say, she beat us all and it was her first time! So incredible!! We definitely can tell when we are not quick to excersize her during the day, when we want to get some work done before we take her out she gets antsy. And, as I said - a tad destructive. Her form of destruction so far is chewing. She has chewed my garmin charger to bits, our bedpost, and some socks to name a few things. She's even taken a nice healthy dump right on my treadmill! So while huskies are beautiful dogs - do be careful if you're thinking you want one. For us, with three runners in the house she's the perfect fit for our family. Many of these dogs do wind up being rescued though, and in speaking with Barkley's vet during today's visit he did say that so many of these dogs just go crazy - stir crazy because they go into homes where they aren't taken outside, aren't run, etc. and that he was very glad when he saw her because he could tell by looking at her nails she was definitely getting excersize.
Despite what the vet said I was still worried we were running her too much, too soon. I explained to the vet - "Hey we're marathoners and ultramarathoners, even my son ran a marathon - so we can run for long chunks of time and I'm a bit worried that we're doing too much with her right now." The vet just looked at me and laughed and said not to worry, that Barkley will definitely let us know when she's tired, and that honestly we really shouldn't worry about it, because if she isn't already - then soon she'll be running so much that we'll be the ones tired when it's all said and done, not her. I can't imagine!! She really is an incredible dog and I'm glad we have her - and looking forward to many running and backpacking adventures with her in the near future!
Oh to have a puppy! They're the best! Our breeder warned us that we shouldn't run our dog too hard during the first two years because his breed (bernese mountain dog) is at risk for hip displaysia that isn't identifiable on x-rays until they're 2. We still get Wally LOTS of exercise, but we've held off on taking him on runs so far. Instead we opt for hikes, off leash playing, swimming, and climbing. I know huskies are balls of energy so hopefully he'll get lots of opportunities to burn it off in your family!
ReplyDeletePS- Wally famously ate his own registration and pedigree.
That they are! I was actually surprised at the vets response - I too was concerned about hip issues, but he really stressed how important it was to Huskies as well as malamultes. We can definitely tell it makes her crazy not to run - and now we're looking at very least get her outside 2 x's a day, once for running - the other maybe hiking as I still am nervous about pushing it too much. She is just loaded with energy! It's unreal!
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