Natural Athlete

If you didn’t know, huskies are probably the most natural athletes on earth: (http://outsideonline.com/bodywork/201003/sled-dogs-human-athletic-performance-research-1.html)


Cane hasn’t been training for the Iditarod, but his feats of strength are amazing. He can clear a 4-foot fence without a running start. He can jump a 6-foot fence by hooking his front paws on the top and launching over. This seems to only happen with chain-link fences where he can see something that catches his interest on the other side.

He has been known to jump one fence, explore the neighborhood, and jump a second fence when he finds another dog to play with. He escaped once and found another dog a couple blocks away behind a fence. Before he could jump it, the owner let him in and began checking his collar for info. Meanwhile I was driving down the road in the truck calling for him. Before the Good Samaritan could see the number on Cane’s ID collar, he was amazed that Cane turned and jumped the fence to see who was calling him. Cane got away with that one since you can’t really punish a dog from coming when called.

Cane has managed to do this a few other times while visiting family but Daddy’s cell number is on his collar and he’s micro-chipped so he’s always found his way back. At home we have a 6-foot privacy fence and he can’t see what awesome things await him on the other side.

Recently, it seems there is a sad increase in escapes in the husky community. It’s hard to tell the circumstances, but a lot of huskies are showing up in shelters as well. I think sometimes the true owners just don’t want them back which is an injustice to the dog. But the rest may be due to the fact that a husky can travel a long distance in a short amount of time and end up far away from where the owners are looking. It’s important to ensure that your pet (especially a husky) has every possible means of identification on them at all times.