Dog dairies

The one that got away

I know nothing about looking after dogs - i put my hands up to that. Which is why when the boys told me they wanted to get two husky puppies, i said, ok, but as long as you do your research first. They then promised me they had done their research which told them they could easily raise these puppies and so, last Saturday, we set off to a town in the North West to have a look at some six week old pups which were for sale.

The pups were gorgeous. Small and cute and adorable and everything puppies should be. I was sold. We will get husky puppies!!! The breeder kept his dogs in a small backyard - five adult dogs and they lived in really terrible conditions. I was actually quite shocked when i saw this. They were in concrete kennels made of breeze blocks which had one window and let in very little light. The kennels were surrounded by a cage and there were three females and one male. We were told well, they get one hour of a walk a day and that should be fine. I said, we are out of the house from 8 am to 4 pm - can puppies stay alone for that long? Oh yes, no problem!!! I asked, we will walk them first thing and then in the evening. Oh yes, fine. And then i said, they will probably be in the garden while we are out when they are older. Oh yes, that is ok. I also said, two from the same litter, that's ok? Oh yes, no problem, you will be fine. Do they shed? Yes, but just give them a comb through everyday, that should be alright.

So we were very happy. The boys took photographs with the dogs and we began to think of names for them. I was thinking, i could go running with them everyday, it will be so nice. After holding out for the best part of twenty years i was finally relenting, we were getting a dog!! Hooray!! And i had been reassured that having two husky puppies would be ok. Comapny for each other. And i did feel very unhappy that we were buying from breeders. My preference would have been rescuing some dogs, but the boys wanted the huskies and i thought, well, just this once.

The next day i posted on Facebook i was going to get two huskies, is that a good idea. I will ALWAYS be grateful for the wisdom of Facebook. The answer was a resounding, ARE YOU CRIMINALLY INSANE?!?!?!?! Which, to be honest., was not what i was expecting. I also went down to ASSISI animal shelter and they said well, really if you got these dogs it would be going against our advice.

So here is why it is NOT a good idea to get a puppy if you are a family that spends all its time outside the house and only come back in the evening.

1. Puppies need socialisation. If they do not see human beings from one end of the day to the next they will become very lonely and very unused to human company. In fact they need more than socialisation - they need someone to feed them and let them out every two hours, or they will end up wrecking the place.

2. It will then make it impossible to train them and you will end up with a crazy dog. Which will end up in a shelter because you won't be able to manage it.

I think this is about the sum of it.

If you are getting pups from the same litter you MUST be in the house to separate them if they turn on each other, which they will. The breeder told us that getting a male and female from the same litter was ok - it is NOT ok.

HUSKIES ARE NOT DOG WHICH SHOULD BE PETS UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO PUT IN THE TIME. And this entails LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of time. In fact close to the whole day time. So here is why a working family cannot get a husky. This information has been gleaned from many people, including responsible husky owners.

1. They need walking at least THREE HOURS a day. And they will come home and expect you to still play with them.

2. They are very very strong and they never tire, so unless you are going to sign them up with the Post Office for parcel delivery services, you will not be doing them a favour.

3. They need LOTS of human company because they are very sociable.

4. Finally they SHED. Carpets loads of hair.

In addition, they need plenty of space and CANNOT be kept in suburbia. They will dig, they will howl, they will destroy furniture if they are left alone and if they miss one day's of walking. They will go insane. They will kill things, including sheep and then they will have to be put down.

In fact, the more i heard about their needs, the more i was astonished that it was legally allowed to keep the dog in non-working conditions. They have been bred very very specifically for a certain task and they are very good at that task. They are not very good at sitting at home all day and waiting for you to get home to take them for a walk. They are NOT TOYS.

The research the boys did was looking on the internet. That is NOT RESEARCH. If you are planning to get a dog, you must TALK to people who look after dogs and you must talk to people who run dog shelters. Reading things on the internet does not convey the immediacy, urgency and seriousness of the responsibilities you undertake when getting a dog.

My friend said, you want a dog, make it a small adult dog. Something that will be happy with a small amount of exercise and which will be ok on its own. BUT EVERYONE has also said it is CRUEL to keep a dog on its own for any more than three hours. So we are still thinking about it because no one will come back to look at the dog from between 8 am to 4 pm.

I have no doubt that huskies are ok if you are living somewhere with lots of space and you have lots of time. But a friend pointed out if you are living somewhere with lots of space, it probably means you will be near farmland and farmers will not thank you for keeping a husky which they will regard as a lethal hunter - they have killed sheep before and well, if a farmer sees the dog out, there is a good chance they may shoot it.

Well if it looks like a wolf, and it howls like a wolf, then it must be a ...

I really want to thank everyone who offered advice. I am really grateful because it has saved us from making a huge mistake. I dread to think what would have happened if we did bring those poor puppies home and were unable to give them the care and attention which they deserved and required. Perhaps they would have been the first ever husky puppies in the history of the world to be have been ignored the whole day and given one hour of exercise and grown up to be completely well adjusted, law abiding dogs. But maybe not. And really, could you take that kind of a risk with a life that relies entirely on you - which is completely at your mercy? No, i really don't think so.

So the search for a dog continues and i am sure that a right one will come along...; but for now... we remain, dogless... And the boys are already talking about a ferret...

Meanwhile, on a beach in Benone,