How to Choose a Retired Sled Dog to Make into a Housepet:
* Bring your present family (humans and dogs), tell the musher what kind of personality you are looking for and your activity level, and let them make a recommendation.
* Do NOT request a particular color, eye color, or other non-health-related appearance characteristic.
* Sometimes they say that a particular dog is already semi-retired and has been living and/or sleeping inside. This is your best bet!
Awesome Things About Retired Sled Dogs:
* Are cuddly and not-oily and not-smelly.
* LOVE to eat!
* But do not steal from the trash, and do not steal food in general.
* Do not beg when you are eating.
* Do not destroy furniture.
* Housebreak themselves, without you ever having to say anything.
* Have dew claws removed so you never have to trim them.
* Have overall good health, tend to live a long time, and be in pretty good shape until the end.
* Although they have horrendous leash-pulling habits (see below), if you want to stop while you are walking and take a rest, they will sit beside you calmly and wait as long as you'd like.
* Have generally healthy constitutions, and you can share all of your snackies without making them sick.
* Are not food-aggressive.
* Tend to get along well with other dogs.
Things About Retired Sled Dogs that are Maybe Not That Great:
* Do not reliably come when they are called.
* Tug really hard on their leashes, to the point that they are choking themselves. It's best to walk them in a harness. They drag you around either way, but at least they don't choke themselves that way.
* You may not be able to "walk" them at all, in fact (I only ever run or ski with them).
* They tend to eat a lot of random Mysterious Objects and Dead Things they find while they are out on the trail. ("dietary indiscretion")
* They are often predatory and may kill and eat small rodents and the occasional bird. I just look the other way, but if you are a sensitive soul this maybe upsetting to witness.
* When you are walking them on a leash, when you stop for any reason, either at their instigation (to sniff or pee on something) or yours (to adjust your scarf or zip or unzip your coat, etc), when you restart you can't just... start walking again. They have to walk in a circle behind you, so you have to spin in a circle to keep their leash from tripping you. This is not ideal if you are carrying bags or stuff, and/or a coffee mug, etc.
She's cute, huh?
Look! They match in chirality!
Do you think they are comfy? I sure hope they are comfy...
Look! They supervise me preparing their supper!
4 comments:
oh, boy, they look like twins, especially in the last picture.
I was going to make the twin comment also. I had to laugh at some of your "Do Not"s for getting getting a retired sled dog. They certainly sound like the voice of experience. I'm glad everything's working out well.
Wow, they really do resemble one another- size, stature; ears:) Do they have a common lineage? Happy that it's going well too!
Haha they match in coloring, size, and ears, but not HONKERS! :D
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