Greetings all. Me and my girlfriend have just bought ourselves a 12 week old Siberian bitch. Although we are both experienced with dogs, she is our first Sibe and we already love her to bits..!

We would like to get involved with all things Sibe related, meet other owners and their dogs etc. I presume this is a good place to start?? 

I do intend on racing her when she is old enough, and was hoping I could get some advice from you good folk.

What events are available for just the one dog? And how old must she be before I can start training her to race?? Any advice at all regarding looking after her, training, or any aspect would be much appreciated. 

Oh, and here she is. We've named her "Myshka" 

And another.....

She looks lovely.....where abouts are you?.......and ??where to start?, theres lots of good advice on this and other forums.

Welcome to the husky clan

Richard and Dawn

Cheers..!! We're very excited, she's a great bitch.....Not had a dull moment since picking her up last weekend. Unfortunately it will be 3 weeks before we can get her outside due to the vaccination course.

I'm in Glossop in the Peak District.....Not far from Manchester. You..?

did you post on another forum re.Myshka?

No, this is the first one. Have you found a Myshka somewhere else?

I am sure that we will all be really happy to help with any questions you have, but in addition your best source of information is Myshka's breeder. Everyone knows their own lines well and so can advise on harnesses, when to start training and so on.

I tend to start mine wearing a tiny harness as soon as they are old enough to go out and work with the older dogs usually begins at around 5 months, depending on the time of year. I have had a couple of girls who didn't want to start work until they were 9 months old, so again it does depend on the bloodlines.

Is your girl's breeder local? I assume that if you were planning on working her you chose a breeder who has a good track record in working dogs and plenty of experience that they can pass on to you?

Thanks for that Volklet. The breeder lives about 80 miles away, but lets face it, we have emails these days so nowhere is too far.

Myshkas mother comes from a long line of workers actually, so we're hoping the genetics will be strong. But racing is not a major priority, I just want to ensure she gets the right level of exercise, and enjoys discovering her instincts. Plus it will be great fun for all of us too. 

One thing just sprung to mind. I've been warned about allowing Sibes off the lead because they bolt. Can anybody advise me here? And will this be an issue with a puppy? 

Again, that does depend on the lines she comes from.... I've had a few babies who were OK to run and play in a safe place until they were 15 or 16 weeks, but the first Zoox/Forstal boy I had was a totally different kettle of fish and having stupidly let him off in the woods at 12 weeks (when we first got him) he just put his feet to the trail, put his head down and ran flat out along the trail as if he had a whole team behind him. All that saved him from going out of the wood onto the road was the fact that one of the others had been sick on the way into the woods and he stopped to eat it. 

That was 18 years ago and it taught me a lesson I will NEVER forget....even as puppies, they still have the urge to run, and it's often not worth the risk to let your baby loose. I find that a lightweight flexilead is ideal for pups and they get just as much exercise as they would careering around off the lead.

I suppose the base rule with pups in all their training is - start as you mean to go on! 

Hi Doppleganger,
Glad your having fun with your pup, they sure do keep you entertained. It's good your interested in working your girl, we started our first one by short runs or walks in harness, then if she is doing OK try a bike or scooter, always making it fun and using a good trail surface (grass or soft dirt).
Go to some rallies if you can, first hand experience beats reading about it any day, there will be many people whom I'm sure will offer you tips and advice on how to start running your girl in harness.
have fun.
 

I think you will find Myshka is a very popular name!
What lines is she from? It may be that sompeople on here have some of her relations. 

Not sure what her bloodlines are just yet as I've yet to get documents for her. There is some problem with paperwork on her mothers side. It's being looked in to though. I'll fill you in as soon as it's sorted out. 

I like this bike training idea, but will the brakes on my mountain bike be enough to make her stop?? I have some funny images going through my head.......They generally involve me being injured..! 

Bike brakes are more than strong enough. Try using a bit of pvc pipe to keep the lines off the front wheel when your beginning, keep an eye on the lines attached to the dog if they slacken at all brake. You can do this on bridlepaths etc giving more locations to exercises your dog.

That would really worry me to be honest. It's very rare for a responsible breeder to send a puppy away to his or her new home without the registration papers, and any difficulties with either of the parents' paperwork should have been sorted out before the mating took place. Even if there was a delay with registration at the KC (rare these days) you should have got a pedigree showing your puppy's family tree, and you should have signed something with the full registered names of the parents on it, I would have thought.

Or maybe it's just me that weighs new owners down with all sorts of bits of paper?