Your dog isn’t just fur deep

Someone once told me that the 8 week mark is pivotal for puppy development; that at two months the personality of a dog will be more or less ingrained. I don’t know how accurate this is, but a veterinarian later told me he believed a dog’s personality is about 75% nature 25% nurture, and this I can attest to more easily. There is a reason dogs are bred for temperament. Having a dog born with an incredible personality from level headed, intelligent adults is more than half the battle, and the rest can be achieved with kindness, good training, consistency and commitment.

With huskies it is easy to get wrapped up in their looks – the eye color, coat color, facial markings, and getting just the right combination. This is something which other breeders, those of say black labs, don’t need to worry about. Black coat, brown eyes, that’s it. But in the world of huskies it can be incredibly frustrating to have the most wonderful puppy overlooked because it has too much white on its face, or it has brown eyes instead of blue, or whatever attribute people find less appealing.

As a breeder you spend so much time with the puppies, and want the best homes and the most love they all deserve – hoping above all else someone can love a brown-eyed husky. When that one last puppy sees all her siblings go and has no idea she wasn’t chosen because she doesn’t have a dark mask on her face, it feels a little like having a rejected child.

What is most important in a husky, beyond eye and coat color, is having someone you can live with for its entire life. A good natured dog who is willing to learn, eager to integrate into the family, and doesn’t become the sort of problem you want to give up on.

Huskies are a handful no doubt, but the good puppies become great adults, and when a breeder ‘breeds for temperament’, it means something special went into that litter. And there is something special inside those puppies.

Cheers!