Achu

High-maintenance dogs like the husky should not be bred or kept by anyone as they require a huge amount of time, space, work and company to keep them happy and non-destructive (cancellation of morning runs will reflect on the state of the furniture).

Since I have a husky, I just wanted to put down a few thoughts on him......

See I never wanted a husky in the first-place, because apart from my pregnancy I knew its a very bad idea to keep a working-dog (with that much amount of pent-up energy) as a pet/house dog. Now having a working-dog, only reaffirms my belief that housing a Siberian husky is like housing a racehorse or keeping the proverbial "White Elephant" - as normal middle-class people do not live in Ooty or Darjeeling or have large tracts of land for the husky to run his many miles a day.

I will not breed the husky because

a) Huskies love to run, run and run. Balto and Toga - the most famous of their breed averaged nearly 92 kms a day on the Nome-serum run. Even a 2-5 km walk (which is beyond most normal couch-potato humans) is a tame affair by their standards 

b) Huskies have no road sense. Once off their leash they can be miles away before they realise their owner is missing. An under-exercised husky off the leash could actually mean a dead husky on the highway. 

 c) Huskies can rip the house apart when bored. The furniture, cushions, gadgets - everything can be used to play tag - with an under-exercised husky. Their destructive behaviour can get them dumped at shelters when handled by inexperienced owners. 

d) Huskies are houdini artists. They can scale 6-7 foot high fences and if fail they can always dig under the fence 

e) Apparently huskies in Siberia shed only twice a year. In India, they shed all-year round. And if a cocker spaniel's fur shedding can be likened to a snowball, huskies' shed like an avalanche. I have seen some people banning huskies to kennels only because of the fur-problem 

f) Huskies are not people-pleasers like cocker-spaniels, labs, goldies and GSDs. They are highly-intelligent dogs that are not inclined to obey commands just because they understand them. My husky will obey only if he feels like it or there's a treat in sight. 

 g) Huskies need large spaces. They are unhappy when kept cooped-up. They are also gregarious souls and working dogs. They (being bred as working team dogs) are friendly to all, including burglars. They have no territorial/gaurding instinct and I have seen some huskies getting dumped only because people deem them "useless."