Husky Dog Breed’s General Characteristic

What will across into your mind when you see or found a Siberian Husky dog breed? Don’t you think that they can be similar to the wolf? It is commonly found in other people’s mind as well. The Husky or also called as Siberian Husky is a type of medium-sized dog which comes in a wolfish appearance. They originally come from northeastern Siberia, Russia. The Siberian Husky is recognizable by its erect triangular ears and a thick double coat that comes in a number of colors and distinctive markings as well.

You will find Siberian Husky dog breed in a variety of colors and patterns, such as black and white, gray and white, copper red and white, and even pure white colors which combined with facial markings and tail tip on them. Their thick color consists of two layers: a dense undercoat and a longer topcoat of short, straight guard hairs. It will help them to withstand any temperature whether in winter or summer. But, it is important for you to give lots of attention to their heavy shedding. The Siberian Husky is a type of dog breed which can shed a lot. If you are really not up for this, then you will find a lot of hair and fur all over your furniture, upholstery, carpeting and also your clothing. Another characteristic which can describe how beautiful the Siberian Husky is their eyes.

Husky dog breed looks so adorable in their blue, brown, or multi-colored eyes. The heavily furred tail also becomes great characteristic which can describe Siberian Husky as well. Despite their appearance, most of the people also choose Siberian Husky as their friend since it has the delightful temperament, affectionate, gentle and also friendly. They are also a type of athletic and intelligent dog breed that is alert, agile, adaptable and really loves the great outdoors, especially in cold weather. The Siberian Husky is really appropriate for pulling carts and sleds or carrying a backpack when you are hiking. Thanks for reading! For more information visit this dog blog.

Miniature or Small Husky Dog Breed

If you want to adopt Siberian Husky dog for your apartment and it looks impossible for you to handle the size and energy of it, then Miniature or Small Husky Dog will be a perfect choice. The small or miniature Huskies have the same pedigree as the Siberian Husky that makes them has the similar appearance and temperament. The small Huskies look so adorable with their eyes color, brown, blue or foxy colored eyes. They also have a thick double layered coat which covers all over their body to protect them from hot sunny days and harsh winter as well. This thick coat will shed a lot as similar as Siberian Husky, and especially during the spring. Because of that, they will need regular brushing and grooming as well. Black and white or red and white become the most common coat colors which appear on the small Husky dog. The other colors which are commonly found are copper, gray, agouti and all white which also found in Siberian Husky dog.

The Small Husky dog looks so cute on its tiny and small body size which most of them weigh around 35 pounds or depends on its breeding. Small Huskies are also the type of active and energetic dog breed. Therefore, giving mental and physical training or exercise is really helpful. You can give your small Huskies lots of daily exercises, such as long daily walks and playtime. The small Huskies dog also need a proper and regular training beside of exercising. Properly trained Huskies become a very loyal and affectionate dog for a family. They can be easy to get along well with children, other dogs or even other pets. Just keep consistent with your training. And don’t forget to give your small Huskies with dog food on low in carbohydrates. It is better to give the premium food which contains of high protein and fat diet which can offer the nutritional balance and make sure not to feed your Small Huskies dog any junk food.

My dog has an old gunshot injury

I talk about so much good stuff when it comes to my Wrigley but today I’m going to talk about the bad stuff.  One of my first posts was about discovering that my dog has an old gunshot injury.  Wrigley is full of energy; she loves to walk, run and play like any other dog, but as the cold weather has rolled in we’ve started to see evidence of pain in this old injury.  It started when the temperature on our morning walks dropped to below freezing.  I noticed she limped a little bit when we started out but eventually it would go away as we continued walking.  Then there was yesterday.

The morning walk is always her longest.  I shoot for anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes…sometimes we go for an hour and a half on the weekends.  It wasn’t particularly cold yesterday morning, I think with the windchill it was hovering around 20 degrees.  As our wonderful vet, Dr. Hotaling, told us, dogs are stoic…they’re not always going to show that they’re in pain.  Yesterday, Wrigley told me she was in pain.  We were walking at SUNYA where, like in the State Offices, they use WAY more salt than is necessary.  When we first set out I didn’t think there would be much salt since, ya know, there hasn’t really been any snow or ice, but apparently the dusting of snow we got the other morning was enough to cause them to dump two tons of salt on every surface in the area.  I’ve been wanting to get Wrigley a pair of humiliating boots to wear for protection (sure they’re cute on a Pomeranian, but it seems unfair to subject a German Shepherd to them) but with the lack of old man winter showing up I haven’t exactly raced out to buy them.  I was warned that salt irritates their paws but I didn’t realize how bad it could be.  My best guess is that our problem was her already tender paw plus the irritation of the salt creating a combination for some major pain.

After she had done her business she sat down, lifted her bad paw and wouldn’t move.  I got down and wiped it off as best as I could and we set off again.   After a few feet she stopped again and lifted her paw, this time trying to lick it.  At this point we had been walking exclusively in grass because I knew she had to be hurting.  We struggled to get very far.  We hit Western and started heading home, stopping every few feet for her to rest.  She was barely able to walk by the time we got to University Plaza so we just stopped.  She laid down with her head in my lap and I massaged her paws.  We sat for about fifteen minutes before giving it another shot.  The rest must have helped because we made it the home without too much limping.

I felt so helpless with her lying there, I really struggled not to cry.  If she can’t walk, what am I supposed to do with an 80 pound dog when I’m a fair distance from home?  She’s probably not even 3 years old and if she’s already having these kinds of problems it’s going to go downhill fast.  I’ve had her on joint supplements since we got her but it’s apparently not enough.  Next, we’ll finally get her those Muttlucks, keep the walks a little closer to home and just love the snot out of her.

Sad Face PS, it’s nice if you clear a path for pedestrians in the winter. But if you have to use a de-icer, try something like Safe Paw or other pet safe product since dogs and their owners are probably some of your most frequent winter pedestrians.  Thank you. visit pet dog planet

Good Food, Good Dog

The title of this post sums up my weekend.  There was also some decent wine in there, but it wasn’t anything earth-shattering.  The warmth of the weekend got my butt out of the house both on Saturday and Sunday to take Wrigley to area dog parks.  Our favorite is Westland Hills.  We stopped by on Saturday.  Wrigley was feeling very shy when we arrived but warmed up when a few more pups came in for some rough-housing.  It was muddy muddy muddy. Part of the fun of the dog park is the interesting people you meet.  Dog People are generally very cool.  There is a difference between “dog people” and people who have dogs…most of the people who come to the dog park are Dog People.  They understand that playing can involve nips and be pinning and barking and humping.  They can talk about poop for ten minutes without any shame whatsoever.  They can tell stories about the destruction of precious and expensive items and laugh about it.  Dog People rock.

When we arrived there were only two dogs there.  A beautiful pit bull puppy and a pit-lab mix.  The pitty’s dad was fostering her.  He works at an animal hospital, said she came in with her jaw hanging from her face.  A decision was made to save her.  Vets stepped in to donate their time and money to operate on her and now she’s a very happy girl who plays well with other dogs…her foster dad loves her so much he’s thinking of keeping her.  The pit-lab mix was Marley.  She was rescued by her mom from a neighbor’s house.  She was part of a litter they think was bred for fighting…although Marley’s mom and I joked about how ridiculous was when you see that silly dog running around like an awkward muppet.  As a pup she was starving, she was losing the battle for food with her brothers and sisters.  She also has a limited vision which is likely from head trauma and her tail is funky like it’s been broken…Marley’s mom thinks she was picked up by her tail and thrown.  Ugh.  People suck.  Luckily there are Dog People who realize that these awesome little dogs deserved a second chance.  Not to go all Sarah McLachlan here, but it really blows my mind that anyone could hurt a dog.

It’s not all heartbreak though.  All of these dogs have their origin stories – but after we get those out of the way it’s on to the good stuff.  Everyone has the funny stories involving the silly antics of their dogs.  Between watching the dogs playing and just being dogs and chatting up the moms and dads, I get a week’s worth of laughing into a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday we went down to Normanskill Dog Park for the first time.  It’s a beautiful hike from the parking area back to the dog park.  There are trails and fields, it’s a cool place.  There weren’t many people out (Westland Hills is almost always shakin’), but we did get to play with a little lab puppy, Charlie, who loves to bounce.  Maybe bounce isn’t the right word…I might be looking for boing.  I could be remembering it wrong now, but I swear that dog could jet straight up six feet in the air from the sitting position.  She chased Wrigley and Wrigley chased her.  Charlie was faster, but Wrigley was bigger and pinned her every time.  I think that made Charlie’s mom a little nervous, Wrigley was three times the size of that dog, but Charlie kept coming back for more and her mom could clearly see how much fun they were having.  Charlie was adorable and really wanted to eat my mittens.

I'm tired

The backseat of my car is disgusting, by the way.  It’s a good thing I’m not a clean freak, but I really do need to go to the car wash. Dog food advisor

In between the fun romps at the dog parks, the husband and I ate some seriously delicious meals.  For breakfast on Saturday I made-from-scratch biscuits and gravy…we had leftovers on Sunday, but since there wasn’t as much I fried some eggs over-easy to go with it.  Yum.  I also embarked on my first ever cheesecake.  I tried to replicate my delicious dessert at New World Bistro on New Year’s.  I modified it a bit, it was a chevre, lemon and tequila cheesecake with a citrus graham crust.  I was very impressed with my efforts.  I’m not huge on dessert but this is definitely going to be a new staple in the house.  For dinner on Saturday I made enchiladas verde.  Really, is there anything better than homemade salsa verde?  Sunday for dinner we had seared flank steak with a red wine and thyme reduction with a side of garlic and ranch mashed potatoes. Basic but oh-so-delicious.

Salty Dog

Has your dog ever been in pain and buried their face in your lap while whimpering?  It’s awful.  Kids cry all the time but they’re a bunch of babies.  Dogs, on the other hand, are stoic creatures.  They put your needs before their own and will not tell you something is wrong unless it’s absolutely necessary.  I recently wrote about my walk with Wrigley that ceased a few blocks from our house because she could no longer stand.  I still haven’t bought her any boots…while she’s tolerant of a lot, she’s been less than cooperative about letting me measure her foot properly (I really need to enlist the husband’s help).  So I picked her up some Musher’s Secret to hold us over until we get boots.  It’s a wax you apply to the paws that’s supposed to last a week or so.  I put some on her a few days ago and she didn’t like it one bit – but I at least covered her front paws and we had no problems in occasional areas of salt.  We set off this morning and I considered reapplying some, but figured with only a mere dusting of snow, there wouldn’t be much salt out there.  Boy was I ever wrong.

Before ever having a dog, I was never really aware of exactly how much salt the city puts out there on the roads.  Sure, I paid attention to plowing and observing if the street was icy – for the last several years I’ve spent at least 2 hours a day in my car – I wouldn’t be a very good driver if I didn’t pay attention to that stuff.  But I guess it never occurred to me the vast amounts of salt that get dumped on the road even for a light dusting of snow.

We began in the Eagle Hill area where there are few sidewalks to be found.  We barely made it a block before Wrigley started hobbling on 3 legs before stopping completely and whimpering.  I knelt down and had her “shake” so I could brush off her paws.  This was when she buried her face in my lap.  Poor puppy.  I cleaned off her feet and we tried to stay in yards until we got to Western Ave where we could walk on sidewalks where people thankfully had not put out salt.  Of course, crossing side streets was tough.  Each time we crossed, Wrigs stopped and lifted her paws one by one so I could brush them off while she whined.  Luckily dogs have good hearts and once her paws were cleaned off she trotted away as if nothing was wrong…until we got to the next side street.

In the future I will not underestimate the city’s strong desire to salt the crap out of the roads for no reason (they must be overcompensating for this extraordinarily dry winter) and make sure my gal is protected with boots or Musher’s Secret. easily trainable dogs