[bravoss]

well i know that husky is not an aggresive dog and its not suitable for guarding but i dont need it for guarding,i just a need a dog that will,eventually help me or himself,effectively,if under attack.is husky capable of it and to what extent.thanks

[Curbside Prophet]

Since temperment is a function of the the dog's growing and living environment, one can not predict how a dog will react under any circumstance with accuracy. A dog will only protect itself or others as a last resort when threatened. For some dogs the bridge between flee and fight is very small, for others it is very large, but neither is predictable, unless the dog is trained to protect.

[Alpha]

Sibes are high energy dogs. I believe in a previous post you mentioned you lived in a "flat"/apartment.

Sibes are not apartment dogs. They were bred to be outside, harsh weather, pulling sleds.

They are also very "gamey" dogs in my opinion. Known for killing smaller animals, such as rabbits, squirrels etc.

[alundy]

As mentioned before, a Husky is probably not the right dog for living in a flat. They love to be outdoors, some don't even like living indoors at all and prefer an outdoor kennel.

[eley]

Originally Posted by bravoss

i just a need a dog that will,eventually help me or himself,effectively,if under attack.is husky capable of it and to what extent.thanks

I'm not exactly sure where you're going with this, but at the end it all depends on each individual dog. German Shepherds are used a lot as protection dogs, but that doesn't mean that EVERY GS will be suitable as a guard dog. Are you asking for reason in particular or is it just a hypothetical question?. Either way, it all boils down to the temperament of YOUR dog.

[bravoss]

the questions is hypothetical.well im not the type of person that will buy a pet and wont care about it.i'll put a lot of time in taking the dog out,training etc.in general,is it hard for huskies to adapt to apartment living if they are taken outside very often ?

[Dulce]

Originally Posted by bravoss

the questions is hypothetical.well im not the type of person that will buy a pet and wont care about it.i'll put a lot of time in taking the dog out,training etc.in general,is it hard for huskies to adapt to apartment living if they are taken outside very often ?

Yes, Huskies need a lot of space. Not many large dogs are apartment suitable. Just about every small dog is, and so are Bull Dogs.

It's all in how you train YOUR dog. Training a Husky to be "agressive" is a bad idea. Frequently, Huskies are dog agressive, so watch out for that.

[Cbaker]

Huskys are bred from wolves which love to roam and travel far.

A good idea of what huskys are used for and how much energy they have would be to watch the Disney movie 8 below.

Your talking about a dog that was bred to pull sleds 10,20,50 miles at a time. And also what climate do you live in ? Not really the best idea to have the Husky out in the heat all the time either.

Why are you so afraid of the dogs being under attack ? What is your exact goal for having the working dog ?

[blackgavotte]

See my latest rant in the dog training forum under " howling " , its not quite the same discussion as your thread, but may give you a few more thoughts.

[Whitney]

Originally Posted by Cbaker

Huskys are bred from wolves which love to roam and travel far.

A good idea of what huskys are used for and how much energy they have would be to watch the Disney movie 8 below.

Your talking about a dog that was bred to pull sleds 10,20,50 miles at a time. And also what climate do you live in ? Not really the best idea to have the Husky out in the heat all the time either.

Why are you so afraid of the dogs being under attack ? What is your exact goal for having the working dog ?

Huskies are NOT bred from wolves -- all dogs, no matter the breed are descendants from wolves. Selective breeding has given us countless amounts of breeds and characteristics. However, Huskies simply look like wolves because of a similarity in environments, which has been bred from generation to generation. Personally, I don't think that Huskies look like wolves at all. Melody is possibly a hybrid, and so many people have mistaken her for a wolf (funny enough, someone did at the doggie park today)... but when you see a pure bred wolf, and a high percentage hybrid (75%+) you can easily see the differences. For one, wolves are much, much larger.

As for Huskies living in an apartment... you could do it, but in my opinion that would be cruel. Huskies need room to run. Also, a definite no as a guard dog. They aren't 'barky' dogs, and despite their high prey instinct, they are not aggressive. My husky loves everyone... especially if they bare treats!

Lhasa Apso's are small dogs, and they were used as watch dogs in Tibet. They would probably be more suitable in an apartment, but they tend to bark a lot, and it's a loud bark. It's not a squeaky yap like a miniture or toy breed. At least from my experiences, they are good dogs if you have the time to groom them as their fur does grow long. Although, if you wanted a husky... at least Lhasa's don't shed, or blow their coats twice a year (which is absolutely the most horrible time of the year. My vacuum gets tired!)

[mydogiszoe]

would you consider a small breed dog? from experience, i think small dogs are more protective then large ones. i had two dogs, a rat terrier, small, and a german shepard, large, and it was my rat that is the protector. my shepard, this is what he does, when stragers come up the drive, he would hide under the house untill i came out, barking, then would follow behind me. i would have to lock the little one in the house because she would do like you see in the movies where the little dog who thinks he's big and tough, is jumping and tearing at the cloths of someone. my grandparents raise dashounds and one one time ripped into someone pretty good, he had to get stiches in his hand.

[Cbaker]

Originally Posted by Whitney

Huskies are NOT bred from wolves

Wolf
1. any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, of the dog family Canidae, esp. C. lupus, usually hunting in packs, formerly common throughout the Northern Hemisphere but now chiefly restricted to the more unpopulated parts of its range.

Right..1000 years ago the chukchi tribe didn't have "Huskys" they had Wolves that were domesticated and trained ? They started from wild animals, and still retain most of the same characteristics

So how can you not say they were bred from northern wolves ?

[Whitney]

Originally Posted by Cbaker

Wolf
1. any of several large carnivorous mammals of the genus Canis, of the dog family Canidae, esp. C. lupus, usually hunting in packs, formerly common throughout the Northern Hemisphere but now chiefly restricted to the more unpopulated parts of its range.

Right..1000 years ago the chukchi tribe didn't have "Huskys" they had Wolves that were domesticated and trained ? They started from wild animals, and still retain most of the same characteristics

So how can you not say they were bred from northern wolves ?

Huskies are still not bred from wolves, they evolved from them... I hate to nit pick, but I love discussing this sort of thing... if you are to say that they started from wild animals, then you are only partly correct; they are descendants of wolves, meaning that there is a separate branch in the evolutionary tree. There is a difference, otherwise wolves and dogs would be the same animals. It was around 12 000 BC that the modern dog (all of those different breeds), Canis Familiaris evolved from its ancient ancestor, Canis Lupus... or what we know them as, the wolf. Note that taxonomy is the categorization of organisms based of shared characteristics. These characteristics should be based on shared phylogeny. Phylogeny is the evolutionary history of an organism or a group of organisms. Wolves and dogs followed completely different evolutionary paths, but because dogs did evolve from the same ancestor, those primitive characteristics that you mentioned are still with modern dogs today... characteristics such as pack bonding, hunting, howling, body language, etc. When the wolf left it's pack and integrated itself into human society, it became Canis Familiaris. All dogs, no matter the breed can be traced to the very first and most primitive domesticated dogs... Huskies and wolves look similiar because they share a common ancestor -- like all of the other dog breeds as well, but huskies and wolves physically appear similar because they have structures that are based upon common solutions. Fur, tail and ears for example.

[bravoss]

well first of all sorry for not answering immediatly.well someone mentioned climates,..well i think that where i live it pretty good for huskies,warm summers but very cold winters too.yeah i heard its cruel to keep husky in a flat,but what if i take him out very often,is it ok then ? and what about dogs like german shepherd,can they live in a flat comfortly? thanks

[eley]

When you say "taking them out often" exactly how often is that? It sounds to me like you would be MUCH better off with a smaller breed. YES there are cases in which a large dog can adapt to a small living space, but it depends on each individual animal, as a rule of thumb, large dog + small space = bad idea. Is there any particular reason you are looking at huskies/GSDs ?

[bravoss]

3 to 5 times a day,depends how long we'll stay outside.well i like huskies and GSDs because of the intelligence,look,strength...