At the end of the 20th century, huskies began to appear on the streets of Russian cities. Funny black and white dogs with blue eyes attracted attention, forcing the owners to constantly explain that this is not a husky, but a separate breed.
The rapid growth in popularity of the husky was not prevented even by the difficult nature of the dogs of this breed. Huskies behave more like cats than dogs - they also live not with the owner, but next to the owner. They are smart and willful. Even well-mannered dogs follow commands only by assessing the degree of necessity of the required action. Huskies are very inventive, and for their owners it is rather a minus - the dogs may well open a simple bolt or turn the doorknob to get for a treat. And after the crackdown on food and the detection of the crime, the husky will look at the owner with a touchingly touching expression.
For all the waywardness, huskies do not like children and are happy to play with babies and take care of them. However, they obey only one person, other family members or acquaintances are not authority for them. Here are some more facts and stories that will help you get to know huskies better and understand their character.
1. Actually, the name "husky" appeared much earlier than the standardization of the breed itself. The first employees of the Hudson's Bay Company (founded in 1670) called all Eskimo sled dogs by this word. They called the Eskimos themselves "Eski". When in 1908 the Russian merchant and gold miner Ilya Gusak brought the first Siberian huskies to Alaska, the locals at first called them “rats” - the husky's legs were shorter than those of the then popular sled dogs. The huskies did not gain much fame in dog sled races, only once in the first three races they managed to climb to third place. But the combination of good speed, endurance, frost resistance and a developed mind made the gold miners admit that the breed is ideal as a dog for transporting goods. The gander, who became William in Alaska, went broke and sold his huskies. Those who got his dogs, managed to develop the breed and build the tactics of dog sledding so that for a long time the huskies dominated these competitions. Gradually, the word "husky" with various adjectives began to call most breeds of sled dogs. But the most authentic, reference of these breeds is the Siberian Husky.
2. In 1925, Leonard Seppala, a well-known Alaskan musher (dog driver), a Norwegian by nationality, and his team, led by a husky named Togo, became the protagonists of the operation to deliver the diphtheria vaccine to the city of Nome. The serum was delivered to Anchorage, more than 1,000 kilometers from Nome. A terrible blizzard was raging, radio communication was very poor. Nevertheless, they managed to agree that the relay would deliver the vaccine to the village of Nulato, where Seppala and her dogs would meet her. The Norwegian and his dogs were ahead of the approximate schedule, and only miraculously met a team with a vaccine 300 kilometers from Nome. Seppala immediately rushed back, and part of it, in order to shorten the time, traveled along the frozen Norton Bay. Several tens of kilometers people and dogs have traveled at night, across the crumbling ice, choosing a path among the hummocks. With the last of his strength - Togo, the strongest dog in the team, was already losing his legs - they reached the city of Golovin. Here it was the turn to become famous for another husky - Balto. The dog, leading the team of another Norwegian Gunnar Kaasen, led the team through 125 kilometers of continuous blizzard that remained to Nome. It took only 5 days to eliminate the diphtheria epidemic. Togo, Balto and their drivers became heroes, their epic was widely covered in the press. People, as usual, quarreled over whose contribution to the salvation of Nome was greater (Togo and Seppala covered 418 kilometers, Balto and Kaasen “only” 125), and the dogs first got into a mobile menagerie, where they eked out a miserable existence, and then into zoo. Togo was put to sleep in 1929 at the age of 16, Balto died four years later, he was 14. After the “Great Race of Mercy”, as the delivery of the vaccine to Nome was called, neither Togo nor Balto participated in the races.
3. According to the International Cynological Association standard, the Husky is a breed with American citizenship. The paradoxical fact can be easily explained. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet government tried to introduce special standards for northern sled dogs. The peoples of the North were expressly forbidden to breed familiar dog breeds of relatively small size, which included huskies. Olaf Swenson, an American merchant, got in the way in time. He got along well with all the regimes in Russia, from the tsar to the Bolsheviks. Svensson was actively involved in the fur trade according to, at least, "gray" schemes - the proceeds did not go to the budget of Soviet Russia. In parallel, Svensson played other gesheft. One of them was the export of several huskies in a roundabout way. It was for these dogs that the Americans registered the breed as their own. In 1932, huskies took part in the Lake Placid Olympics - the Americans demonstrated various breeds of sled dogs in dog sled races. And only after half a century, huskies through Europe again appeared in Russia.
4. Huskies are well trained in obedience and can be very friendly, but don't be fooled by their cute appearance. The most recent ancestors of these dogs were semi-wild, and outside of the driving season they were completely wild - the Eskimos fed them only in a team. The hunting instincts in them are still very strong. Therefore, all cats and small dogs in the vicinity of the husky are in potential danger. Huskies are also excellent at digging in the ground, so not everyone, even a solid-looking fence, can become an obstacle for them.
5. Huskies get along well in a pack and are slightly similar to wolves (they howl more often than bark, for example), but they are not wolves in their habits and ability to act intelligently. This, however, did not prevent the husky from playing the role of wolves in films such as "Beyond the Wolves" or "Taiga Romance".
6. The Husky's ability to withstand extreme weather is not limited to low temperatures, blizzards and snowstorms. Huskies can also tolerate heat. In this case, wool plays the role of a dressing gown and a headdress among the eastern peoples - it regulates the temperature balance. The only problem in the heat can be the lack of water for drinking. In principle, from the fact that the breed was bred in the north, it does not follow at all that the comfortable conditions for it are severe frost and snow and ice. Huskies feel best at a temperature of +15 - + 20 ° С. An illustrative example: the third country in the world in terms of the number of huskies is Italy, whose climate is very far from the Siberian one.
7. You can keep a husky anywhere: in a private house with a spacious plot, in a house with a small yard, in an aviary, in an apartment. There are two exceptions: in no case put the dog on a chain and in any, even the smallest room, allocate a sleeping place for the husky - a personal space. However, in a small room, a person will have to look for personal space.
8. Huskies shed gently, 2 times a year, and not too intensely. During the shedding period, in order to remove all the wool, 10 minutes of combing is enough. This applies to adult dogs, but puppies will have to tinker with. Babies shed often and unevenly, so the hassle of combing them and collecting wool is more. Another plus of the husky is that they never smell like a dog.
9. Contrary to popular belief, huskies are excellent hunting dogs, adjusted for their region of origin. They are able to chase their favorite game for kilometers, like wolves, without falling through the snow. Huskies are also hunted for marsh and upland game, and even furs. At the same time, while hunting, huskies demonstrate that they can bark. True, signaling to the owner about the presence of game, they still howl a little. This, of course, only applies to huskies specially bred for hunting. An ordinary dog of this breed, if you take it on a hunt, will devour everything that it can reach.
10. Huskies are absolutely useless as guard dogs. As a maximum, the husky can engage in a fight with another dog that rushes at the owner. The husky will not protect the owner from the man (another question is, are there many daredevils who are ready to attack a man with a husky running on a leash). Generations of upbringing by northern peoples have an effect here. In the Far North, every human life is truly priceless, so dogs of the breeds bred in the north never attack people without a very good reason.
11. According to the standards of the American Kennel Club, the height of a husky dog at the withers should not be less than 52.2 centimeters and more than 59 centimeters. The bitch should be between 50 and 55 centimeters tall. The weight of the dog should be proportional to the height: from 20.4 to 29 kg for males and from 16 to 22.7 kg for bitches. Males and females overweight or overweight are disqualified.
12. Husky personality is not very suitable for presentations at dog shows. Therefore, the victories of huskies and their owners at major international dog shows can be counted on one hand. So, in 1980, the victory of Innisfree's Sierra Cinnar, which is still the only one in the more than a century history of the largest US exhibition “Westminster Kennel Club”, became a sensation. Husky's single victories were also noted at Asian dog shows and World Championships. At the most popular exhibition "Crafts" in Great Britain, huskies have never won.
13. Huskies love to chew their paws. This is not a disease or developmental disorder, but a hereditary habit. These dogs are generally sensitive to their paws, practically not allowing them to touch. The habit of chewing paws was first explained by a false pregnancy, but then they noticed that males also do it. It was also noticed that all puppies of the same litter gnaw their paws if one of them started to gnaw them.
14. In the European part of Russia, huskies appeared only in 1987. A new breed for Russian dog breeders has been spreading for a long time. In 1993, only 4 huskies took part in the Arta exhibition. But gradually the breed began to gain popularity. Already in 2000, 139 husky puppies were born in Russia, and now there are thousands of dogs of this breed.
15. Husky metabolism is unique and has not yet been fully investigated. During periods of intense exertion, dogs run up to 250 kilometers with a load. At the same time, their body spends as many calories as a professional cyclist spends driving a 200-kilometer stage of a bicycle race. At the same time, huskies are able to do their work for many days in a row, being content with scarce food (the Eskimos fed the huskies with a small amount of dried fish), and resting only at night. Huskies themselves dose their diet - the dog eats too much only if it has its favorite delicacy in front of it - and there are practically no fat reserves in their body.
