My SO and I are picking up our new puppy today - he’s a Siberian Husky Border Collie mix, [pics to come after we get him home] and we are unsure what to expect. I know Border’s very well, they are smart and love to herd everything. But I have little to no experience with the husky side. I’m pretty sure looking at his paws that he’s going to be a good sized pup, but I’m not sure what else to expect.
We have a large, 2.5 acre yard that is totally fenced in - I’m hoping he won’t scale the fence, but he’s still a puppy so we have time to train him. He’s going to have a lot of room to run and play, and with our other dog he’s not going to be lonely.
I’m wondering if he will train quickly, he’s got the border in him, but I don’t know what the Husky side will do. Additionally, our other dog is a Beagle\Lab mix, not very smart, doesn’t listen all that well…but can melt the heart of Cthulhu himself.
One concern is that the training we do with [as yet to be named puppy] will get hemmed up by the other dog who is still training at 2 years old. Should we train the new pup separately? I’m sure I’ll have more questions as we get to know the little guy.
A husky has even more endurance than a border collie. Both are bred to run and work all day; the border collie side has more explosive energy than the husky side, but the husky side never lets up.
Huskies are bright. They’re not quite border collie bright, but they are bright.
At a guess, I’d say you will have a large, strong border collie, slightly less explosive and neurotic, but will keep going for longer.
My brother had a border collie and a husky (two different dogs). The former got out of the yard all the time and the latter was a hopeless follower. Both were very sweet.
We already have an invisible fence that goes around the entire 2.5 acres - we never turn it on because the little one can’t get over the fence and hasn’t the smarts to dig under it. We may have to use it for the new dog, but I’d rather a well trained pup than electro-shock therapy.
We had a Husky (we had to put her down this past spring ) and also have a Husky/Shepard cross.
Very high energy and sometimes too smart for their own good. Our purebred Husky scaled our 5.5 foot fence a few times - we built a 6.5 foot fence and she couldn’t get out of that one!
She was hard to train - it took about two years to get her to heel properly - but once she was trained, she was a VERY obedient dog. She rarely took off, though I’ve been told Huskies are notorious runners.
We had to exercise her (them) daily with a minimum of 1 hour off leash at least 6 days a week.
Oh, to comment on this, I’d train separately. We foster rescue’s, and notice that they quickly mimic what our dog does. You can obviously see their brain working on the concepts, it’s really amazing. Anyhow, if your current dog is misbehaving still, I’d worry that the new pup might pick up the bad habits.
It’s not “electro shock therapy”. It’s training. The way an invisible fence is supposed to work is that the dog gets a shock once, goes “HOLY CRAP! THAT WAS NO FUN!” and learns to stay on its property. The collar also gives an audible warning if the dog is getting close to the barrier, so there’s really no reason for the animal to get shocked.
An invisible fence RELIES on you having a well trained dog. Otherwise, any reasonably quick animal with the proverbial bit in its teeth can just bolt across the “restricted” area and be gone in an eyeblink. The two methods are by no means mutually exclusive.
Seriously: Both breeds have a double coat and are generally adapted to be able to use their coat to keep warm. If you don’t brush the dog often, and even if you do, you’d better be willing to deal with a lot of hair everywhere the dog lives.
Never actually lived with a Husky. but my experience observing Huskies and talking to sled-breed-lovers leads me to understand most of the sled breeds, Huskies included, thrive with a little more…direction from their humans than some dogs. Not to say you should “dominate” them, but they do well when given a job or role and they can clearly know what is expected of them.
The ones that I’ve seen get into trouble usually do so when they’ve been ignored for long periods of time or when raised by people who seem to be expecting a lapdog and never train or communicate clear expectations to the dogs.
It’s not abusive to ask a sled breed to perform some kind of task; they have a strong work ethic and IMHO feel more secure when they know they are contributing to their pack’s success and pleasing pack leadership. Given the border collie mix, I suggest some kind of dog sport would be a great way to grow together.
I love collies as they are even tempered. With a couple of acres and another dog to play with they can pretty much entertain themselves, but it’s always nice to give them things to do.
One thing to be very aware of is that a border collie that “herds everything” is just as ill-mannered as a any dog that chases things it shouldn’t. Herding instinct doesn’t excuse bad behavior and what can be adorable as a pup for a few minutes can easily turn into a very problematic, neurotic behavior in a young adult. I have folks come out quite a bit that are convinced that their dog is the next world-class sheepdog champion based entirely on it’s raging desire to chase kids on bikes.
Both are nice breeds but you could have a troublemaker in training. All will be fine if you remember that all dogs, but especially border collies IMHO, are better behaved, happier and more secure if they have structure and basic obedience training in their daily lives. I currently live with five of them - all house dogs when not working - and they are very easy to live with once we got past puppyhood.
I would say expect strong, stubborn and driven. He’ll know what he wants and he’ll work until it happens. It’s best to make him want to please you and work for you, because it’ll give him something to work at. He’ll want to be working and he won’t be writing the Great American Novel with his time.
Very nice-looking dog. I don’t think he’s cute, he’s handsome.
) and also have a Husky/Shepard cross.
