The pros and cons of getting a Husky

As experienced Husky owners, as friends to multiple other Huskies and acquaintance to many “normal” dogs as well - we have experienced all of the highs and lows of this specific breed.

Before we got our dog Athena, the only real way to get any good information, was to ask the breeder. She did give us a few tips, but apart from that, the only things we heard and knew about Huskies, were the scary rumours online.

So here we have some pros and cons for you to consider, before getting a Husky.

+ One of the friendliest dogs, ever!

Huskies are known to be super friendly. This comes from, believe it or not - breeding. And there are mainly two reasons for that.

First, as you might know, Huskies were originally bred as working dogs, pulling sleds over long distances and in extremely cold weather conditions. That means not only teamwork with other Huskies in the pack, but also with humans.

And second, when Huskies became more popular as pets, breeders were looking for friendly and sociable traits, which means that only the friendliest dogs were chosen to be “parents”. This has resulted in aggression practically disappearing from their DNA.

- Huskies don’t care about you

Huskies are very friendly and very independent dogs. People often even compare them to cats because of that.

We wouldn’t necessarily say that they are 100% like cats, but if your looking for a “protector” or a dog that likes to go and play ball, you won’t find one here.

Huskies typically just love to be goofy, run around and have fun.

+ Very few breed health problems

Our breeder informed us in the very beginning about this, and after many many years of being with our dog, we can indeed confirm - Huskies have very few breed specific health problems, which is great news for your wallet!

Depending on the breed, many dogs typically start developing hip issues, skin problems or eye related issues after some time.

But the only times we have had to go the doctor with our Husky, has been because of accidental injuries, which don’t have anything to do with the breed.

- Your house will never be clean again

We’ll be super honest here. The only time when our house is actually clean, is when we take our dog to grandma’s place. They say that Huskies only shed twice per year - once in the spring for 6 months and once in autumn for 6 months. 😅 We can laugh about that, but it’s so true.

Honestly, we’re not even kidding, get used to seeing dog hair literally everywhere, nose stains on windows, sand and hundreds of oily or moist paw prints on the floors.

So you better like vacuuming as much as you love your dog. 😆

+ Huskies are pretty clean

Since we do some dog sitting at times, whenever we live with others’ dogs, almost every time, we thank ourselves for getting a Husky.

Huskies don’t drool. Their hair doesn’t keep any mud on it, and if you take care of your dog’s health, such as brush their teeth - they don’t have this typical “dog smell” to them either.

Apart from the hair covered floors, there isn’t much to complain about when it comes to cleanliness.

- You better like running, or else…

There is no kind way of saying this - if you can’t take your Husky for a run, almost every day - think 8439 times before getting one.

Since Huskies are super energetic AND stubborn AND smart - if they are bored, you can kiss your furniture goodbye or find yourself looking for your Husky from god knows where.

BUT, if you do take care of your dog’s needs, not only will your dog be calm and happy, but you yourself will be pretty healthy as well. So don’t you think that it’s a win-win situation?

That is why you have to be ready to change your activity style. You need to start going for runs and bike rides (with your dog).

Can you train a Husky?

Before getting one, the main things we heard was that Huskies are like cats - impossible to train.

And although we did have our ups and downs in the beginning - after focusing more on dog training, we believe that no dog is untrainable - yes, even Huskies.

People are often surprised at how well our dog listens. Some even think that she isn’t a Husky. 😅 Don’t believe us? Well, we created our own dog training app with our Husky, called Pocket Puppy School. It’s full of videos where we train and do tricks together.

But the important thing here is that at the end of the day, what matters most, is the owner. We say dog training, but in reality it’s as much, if not even more, a dog owner training, that it’s dog training.

With a high energy, stubborn dog, you really need to polish your skills as much as you can. For a first dog, Huskies are definitely not an easy choise, but definitely worth it, if you really put the effort in.

Haven’t heard about Pocket Puppy School before?

Pocket Puppy School is a completely free dog training app. Our mission is to make information about raising dogs accessible to everyone in the world.

But in addition to our app, we have a blog (that you are currently reading 🤓) where we talk all things about dogs.

We post some informational and fun content to our Instagram page and believe it or not, we even have a merch store. 🥹 In the store you can get a t-shirt or a hoodie with your own dog picture that we will make into an awesome design.

Feel free to check out all of our channels, and if you have any questions, leave a comment down below.

Thank you!