Runember Recreational Racing

Some dogs are born leaders

6 years ago we took some pups to hike a short trail and play in a stream. Part of socializing, establishing routines and building positive associations with harnesses. Gale immediately, instinctively went to work, moving out front, leaning into pressure, keeping that line taught and seeking trail. She still holds lead on the bulk of our runs 🩶

Being our neighbor must be awesome because you get to hear fun announcements like “ok whoever is having heinous farts needs to do a p**p now!”

The fluffy blue-eyed dog you found in a Texas shelter is NOT an Alaskan Husky

There is ongoing research to identify genetic markers associated with epilepsy in Siberian Huskies. While this is a complex disease without a single cause, early results are promising. The more we do know, the more we can do to prevent this devastating disease

Since posts with links are throttled, I will put the form in a comment

There is a certain mythos that has evolved around the well bred dog. A line that gets pushed from seeking healthy dogs with predictable traits, into pure fantasy

Instead of a moderate dog with a wild-type look, phenomenal endurance and an independent nature (this is a basic Siberian), the list of requirements grows ever more specific and detailed. Sometimes even contradictory. It must be on the larger end of the breed size. Dark coat. Blue eyes. Independent, but also able to go off leash. Biddable when working. The ears must be small. The tail a perfect half moon curve. Long, thick coat, but also heat tolerant. Minimal feathering. Energy for hiking and biking, but also not too much energy, and not too much drive. But extremely fast when performing. Enjoys cuddling in the evening. No health issues anywhere in its line. Loves children, and will be best friends with your existing 12 yr old rescue mix (this is a Deviantart character)

It’s not just Siberians. Siberians are just what I see the most of. It actually seems the worst in mixed breedings, where people start trying to pick and choose traits like this is Build a Bear. But genetics don’t work that way

There is a great deal that can be controlled by thoughtful breeding. There is also a great deal that can’t. Breeders are only human, and the dogs they produce are, well… they’re dogs. They’re going have flaws and quirks and be generally fallible living, changing beings. And we love them anyway because they’re also pure and good in ways we probably don’t deserve

I worry, because it is ultimately the dog who suffers the fallout of these unrealistic expectations. That is so much pressure. No one can be the perfect fantasy character. In the worst cases, I see people getting dog after dog, moving on to the next or even rehoming because “he didn’t turn out to be the right fit.” Often they were set up failure from the start, the expectation of preloaded perfection prevents the standard acclimation, preparation and training a puppy should have. After all, this is The Perfect Well Bred Dog™️ you’ve been dreaming of, it should simply be perfect

It is good to think about your needs and even dream of your ideals. The best part of being on a puppy list is dreaming about what they might be. Knowing your true deal breakers is important. But if those deal breakers are things that make a dog, a dog… If “what they could be” turns in to “what they must be…” Maybe it’s time to step back and just dream for a bit

Pictured is Rune, who has no idea what I’m on about as he is literally perfect and has absolutely no idea what the precise speed you can run and still mark a pine bough is, why would you even bring that up

The 9-5 work week is a human invention. We’ve made ourselves miserable with our own creation. But that doesn’t apply to animals. They don’t know Teams and payroll. They don’t dread the alarm going off and look forward to retirement

Working animals want to work. They carefully memorize your routine and learn that the school bus stops at the neighbors just before you get up, so they’re ready and waiting to go when they hear the school bus rev up the hill. They know which pants are the “going out pants” and line up by the door. They don’t look forward to retirement and many need watered down work routines to remain mentally healthy, even after their bodies can’t perform like they did in their prime

A job is an innate talent to a working animal. They don’t want to call out and watch Netflix on the couch all day. Let go of your human projections and let them do what we created them to do

“Hello pet me please!”

Bumping Fox’s full background, since I posted her again today

More of dogs past: Foxy Lady was part of this page originally. What most don’t know is that she was supposed to be a behavioral euthanasia, and I think that’s important on several levels

The first is that her previous family was not wrong. Behavioral euthanasia is stigmatized, but some dogs just are not right and it is dangerous. Fox had multiple homes already. She had severe resource guarding issues. I had to utilize barriers at meal times in the beginning. She was severely dog aggressive, taking the other dogs in the home on 2 at a time - and she was winning. By a lot. When we took her in we had to finish treating a scratch on her eye. The other dogs had drains in their wounds. This family was dealing with all of this with young children in the house

To be frank, I wouldn’t have taken her on. But she chose my then boyfriend. New to dogs in general, he did not fully understand the depth of her issues. So we started working on it

And this is the second important part, that I think a lot of people who want to place one of these dogs need to hear:

We could not fix her

There was something wrong in her brain. She was also being mismanaged. She did improve. Once she was in a stable environment and simply left alone, she began to trust. After some months of work I could safely hand her food and trade with her. Eventually she started to just avoid other dogs rather than reacting. We never stopped working on everything. Training, handling, muzzle conditioning… She relaxed into a happy dog and due to her preference of being left alone she was easy to rotate with the others. I’ve always said we weren’t the right home for her, but she thought we were. And there sure wasn’t anyone else. Who is out there with behavioral training experience and only wants one dog who is kinda a liability and doesn’t really want to do anything?

Still, she never gave appropriate communication signals, which made it nearly impossible to socialize her with dogs. She could walk in a group muzzled but if left free something silly would eventually trigger her and she’d launch, which wasn’t healthy for anyone so I gave it up. I had to manage her anxiety. She walked in circles, just compulsive circles to the right, sometimes tight, sometimes large

So it went. She was also a very fun dog in many ways. For the most part she loved people. My only dog to ever care for her toys. She would line them up or sort them by type. I couldn’t get her to do anything else with that behavior, it was her terms only, but it was fascinating. Loved her walks, always. Loved snow. When she was much older she did accept a couple very specific dog friends. Just a couple. She would work cooperatively with Ember even though they were never free together

I do miss her all the time, but I do not miss living with her. It was just luck our paths crossed when they did. Anything can happen raising dogs but I will never knowingly enter this situation again