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hey ladies! I need some advice!!!!
Hi,
This weekend one of our local rescues had a bunch of dogs in the business area of our neighborhood. There was a siberian husky, 2 years old, there that need a home. I called up DH, and told him (since he was out walking sasha) to take sasha by to meet her.
She likes meeting other huskies, and so they met.
Then the lady at the rescue was really hard pressing me to take the dog. We never considered EVER having 2 dogs. We went home, and for some reason..... I called her back. I'm not sure if it was just impulse or if its because of all the stuff that's been happening lately with us saving that other doggie we found and then the oprah puppy mill episode last week..
Anyway, they brought Roxy by last night and her and sasha had a blast together. They were romping all over the yard, Sasha brought her tug rope over to roxy and gave it to roxy. Then the 2 of them started playing with it together. It was so cute!!
The question of the 2 of them getting a long is a no brainer. They acted like sisters, and bonded immediately.
Here's my hesitation, and where I need the advice. The dog is 2, same age as sasha, BUT has lived outdoors her whole life. Her previous owner neglected her. The dog has completely NO manners, and has ZERO training. We took her inside the house and it was a disaster. She jumped on the furniture (sasha looked at me like oh crap she's in BIG trouble!).
But the biggest concern I have aside from all of that, is as soon as Roxy saw nala, her personality changed. She went from sweet, to agressive. She had that look in her eye that sasha gets with squirrels that says... I'm going to kill you!!!
Nala has been through so much with her cancer, and leg amputation. I want to consider her first as I've had her for 8 years.
Can Roxy be trained taught to let the cat be? I know when we were looking at shelters to adopt, they would not let us bring a husky home if we had a cat. We were told by the humane society, that they are only cat friendly if they grow up with them from puppyhood. What do you guys think about this??
I was thinking of calling the trainer that we used for sasha, and having her come by if we decide to do the 2 week trial and have her work with the dog and see if she thinks that we can solve the cat killing instinct issue.
Another thing to note. The owner that neglected her just up and abandon her. Roxy has bounced through 5 potential homes now.
I can see why, she is completely untrained. Huskies are a lot of work, as we know with sasha. She took over a year to train and is still learning.
Opinions?????
Can we over come the cat thing? Can a 2 year old neglected dog really be trained to have manners and become part of the family. We'd like to give her a home, sasha already approves.
Oh, here's a picture of her...
The 2 of them together look amazing.
I also posted this on the pet board, but I want your opinions, since I know you guys so well. 
Re: hey ladies! I need some advice!!!!
I love huskies, my dad had one when I was about 10, but he got rid of him because he nipped my lil brother after my lil brother pulled on his tail.
I really wish I could help you, but personally if the dog is 2 and has a killer cat instinct I probably would pass. Or if Nala could be kept somewhere away and safe you could probably do it.
I have a 12 year old cat, that doesn't have all of Nala's difficulties and I was hesitant to take in my neighbor's cat.
I will pray for you to have help in your decision.?
There are a lot of big red flags here for me and I would pass on this dog given the siituation.
1. You weren't even looking for another dog right now. Taking this dog in on a whim would be a big mistake. A good rescue would never be pushing you like it sounds like tthis woman has. A good rescue would be looking for the right owner for this dog, not just any owner. This dog has been through 5 homes and I'm sure that the pushiness of the rescue is a big part of this.
2. Huskies are known to be stubborn and hard to train. This dog will be A LOT of work, even more work than a puppy. Even with a lot of time and money put into trianing this dog (It WILL need professional training) there is still a huge risk that it just won't work out.
3. Nala has had a rough year and she doesn't need any more stress. This dog would stress Nala out and put her in danger!
I know it's hard to resist the cute little faces of animals, especially those in need, but I just don't think this pup is a good fit for your home at this time.
I don't have any advice as I'm not familiar with Husky's. But I believe that with time and patience she could probably be trained. I think most dogs can be.
I bet they look so cute together!
Thanks for your opinions! If anyone else has any, feel free to post.
I called sasha's trainer this morning. I'm going to see if she'll meet the dog and give us her opinion. If she thinks that its goign to be too stressful for nala, then we're going to pass.
I told DH nala comes first.
I just can't describe though, the interaction between sasha and roxy last night. It was magical. They seriously seemed like sisters and they belonged together. They were drinkiing and eating out of the same bowl last night. Happy, truly happy, both of them.
Yes, this rescue lady is completely clueless about huskies. You can't just let anyone take a husky home. People need to be really educated on the breed before taking one home. Roxy apparently escaped from 3 homes. The people left her all day in a new backyard, unattended.
That's unexcusable to me for any breed. An untrained rescue dog should not be given full unattended access to the back yard. Especially on its first days at a new home.
Jenn, I totally hear your opinion, and agree with it. I woke up this morning thinking, I like my family the way it is. But then I looked at sasha, and she's been lonely lately because of us working so late. I think i might be willing to do the 2 week trial period, but only if i can get a trainer to come to the house this weekend to assess the situation. if the trainer believes the dog is not a fit for our home (cat situation), then the dog goes back to the rescue.
I want to see how willing the dog is to learn. How easy she picks up commands. If she is not responsive to the training, then I dont think she'll be a fit for us. If we didn't have nala, i'd take her and work with her. But again, nala... deserves a happy home, and I want to consider her first.
I took pictures of them last night.
I'll see if i can post them.
yea me too.
she's a sweet dog.