The joy of warm weather

We learn't something new about Lupus this week, which is that Siberian Huskies have the ability to 'blow' their coats in warm weather. Now, this isn't like the ordinary malting you'd see with other dog breeds... well, it is in a way (i.e. the dog loses his coat), but in the case of the Siberian (like most other things related to this breed) it happens on a much larger scale.

Siberian's have 2 coats, a soft undercoat for warmth and a tougher outer coat for protection. 'Blowing' coat is when a Siberian loses it's soft undercoat, and it comes off in such a dramatic fashion that when you first experience a handful of hair, and see the big hole in your dogs coat, you may think that it's suffering from some terrible hair loss illness.

Here's a picure of a Husky in full 'blow'...



You can see the clumpy appearance of the coat, where large chunks of soft white fur are falling out. You may find this when grooming, noticing far more hair than usual on the brush or comb you're using. I've found that 'back combing' it an effective way to get more fur out per grooming session, although it also pulls out very easily with the hand.

An amazing amount of fur can be shed, and this can be used for many things, including being spun in to yarn and used to make clothes. The average Siberian will shed enough for a whole winter wardrobe, so regular grooming is an absolute must...


Picture courtest of www.adoptahusky.com

We've already found one use for this fur, which is re-stuffing the quilt that Lupus made a hole in when 'digging' for his bone. We're thinking of putting the rest on eBay to see if there's any interest, as it's extremely soft... like cotton wool but softer. I'll try and get some pictures of Lupus himself blowing his coat, although the 'blowing my coat' picture above is almost identical to him and gives the perfect idea of what he's like.

If you've read this and you're still interested in getting a husky, check out these sites...

• www.adoptahusky.com
• www.siberescue.com
• www.shca.org

I almost forgot to mention that more picture of Lupus are available on our latest website:

• www.puparazzi.co.uk

We've also got a blog for this new venture to talk about the goings on behind the scenes...

• puparazzi.blogspot.com
  

So, if you need photos of your pet you know who to call!

The unpleasant side of dog ownership...

We all know how nice and friendly dogs can be, but we sometimes forget that they're another species that we've adapted to fit in with our lifestyle. We often forget the primal instincts that dogs have, especially when it comes to survival.

We play with Lupus every day, with a combination of soft fluffy toys that he enjoys chasing, tossing around and chewing. Unfortuately, when he meets a small, fluffy animal that makes similar squeeking noises he doesn't realise that it's a real animal.

A birds nest fell in to the garden at the weekend, leaving three Starling chicks in the garden. The first I realised was when the noise caught my ear, and I looked out and saw the parent birds frantically trying to protect their young from a maniac Husky in full-on 'play mode'. I eventually managed to get the chick out of his mouth, but it was beyond recovery and had to be 'put down' in as humane a manner possible. I found another chick in the same condition, which also had to be put out of its misery, but I managed to rescue a third chick and put it out of harms way.

I won't make any jokes about 'killing two birds with...' as it's not something I enjoyed doing. It certainly livened up what would otherwise have been a rather dull afternoon looking at website code, and made me learn something new about life with a Husky.

So, beneath that lovely cuddly 'wouldn't hurt a fly' exterior there's a wild animal with hunting instincts that date back thousands of years... so it's hardly a surprise that the few years (in comparison) that dogs have been living side by side with Man haven't removed this essential element of their character. This is perhaps something that more people should remember more often, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

Lupus wants to help his friends...

Lupus and I have found a few good sites that we'd like to share with everyone.

Lost Pooches

If your dog is lost or stolen it's definitely worth registering on www.doglost.co.uk as they have a network of 'helpers' across the UK who will put up posters and keep an eye out for your pet. They're also keen to recruit new helpers, so if you're a dog lover and want to help just go to the site and register. It only takes a minute.

Animal Cruelty

Nobody likes cruelty to animals, so I was horrified to read that a large pet food supplier was at the centre of a controversial investigation in to their practices by PETA, which is 'People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals'. The pet food supplier in question was IAMS, and full details can be found on this website - www.iamscruelty.com.

Now that should be the end of it, but I then found another blog which is written by Rocca, who seems a likeable enough pooch. However, Rocca has pointed out that PETA aren't as sqeaky clean as they make out, causing quite a backlash within certain circles. I haven't had chance to read it all yet, but why don't you check them out and make up your own mind.

It's a real shame that organisations like PETA can't simply help animals, without resorting to Guerilla tactics and causing controversy in the process, as that completely undermines any good work they may be doing in the process. According to this website though, they're not doing too much good work at the moment!

Another Cool Dog

I forgot to mention how much Lupus loved watching Live8, especially his (and my) favourite act of the day Snoop Dogg.

Lupus also wanted to remind all the other dogs out there to help the Make Poverty History campaign, and put an end to suffering in all the affected countries.

Bloody Tongues...

Lupus cut his tongue today, which was quite worrying. He was playing tug of war with another dog, over a piece of wood. They were both jockeying for position, trying to get the best grip to win, when the Spaniel against which the Pup was competing got a bit careless and caught Lupus' tongue.

There was a yelp, but they carried on playing. I got a bit worried when I saw the Spaniel get increasingly stained with blood, and saw blood on the end of Lupus' tongue, but on closer examination he was fine and the bleeding stopped within about a minute.

Huskies have very long tongues, although I'm not sure if they're significantly longer than the tongues of any other dog. I used to have a Border Collie and I don't remember it being quite to 'tonguey', but maybe it's just my memory.

Anyway, that was a bit of drama from todays early morning walk. Hopefully he'll stay more or less inpact tomorrow!

My favourite picture so far...

This is my favourite picture of the Pupster, taken on a beach on the South Coast when he was about 4 months old. As you can see, his ears are set to 'air brake' mode, but fotunately his head has now grown in to them!

I love the way that it shows his running style, which sounds more like a horse than a dog when he's in full flight. Those webbed feet really helped on the beach, so he's going back there soon for more fun in the sun.

By the way, this photo was taken by my Wife, Claudine, so if you like this you might like some other pictures she has on her website.

Trail of Destruction

It's true that Huskies can be very destructive, but it's not because they're stupid. The Pupster knows exactly what he's doing, and the fact that it's wrong. I think 'naughty' or 'cheeky' are probably the best ways to describe this behaviour, and it seems to be completely unaffected by any amount of exercise, 'playtime' or just general attention... although if you can get a Siberian to near exhaustion you're pretty safe.

Of course, he won't steal anything when you're watching him, or if he's not able to take it anywhere out of the way. However, if your attention is elsewhere and he has access to the garden you'd better be careful what you leave lying around, as anything is a potential toy.

Here's a list of things that he's destroyed to date...

• CD's
• A spectacle case (fortunately not the specs inside!)
  
• A Canon camera lens
• Camera film, and several plastic film cases
• Several keyrings
• Lots of plastic bottles
• Tennis balls
• Paperwork... in fact anything made of paper (so money stays out of reach)
• Garden tools
• A bicycle pedal
  
• All of his toys... even dog proof ones
  

I'm surprised they don't use Huskies for testing military security, or the resilience of protective materials, as I'm not sure anything can stand up to the shear persistance of these animals. Watching a husky destroy a tennis ball is amazing... seeing something that's designed to withstand 120mph serves first 'skinned' and then reduced to 500 individual pieces in a matter of minutes.

Digging

Huskies will also dig through most things, not just soil. A favourite trick is hiding valuable possessions, such as favourite toys, but more commonly every dogs favourite... juicy bones!

They can be hidden under sofas, under quilts, or under anything for that matter, taking great care and attention to make sure they're well out of sight. However, when it comes to finding things again a Siberian Husky throws all care and attention out of the window and takes the 'route one' approach, so anything between them and their target had better watch out.

We now have a very nice quilt with a very neat hole through the centre of it.

I think the reason for their spectacular digging ability is their partly webbed feet, which when combined with powerful legs make a JCB look sluggish. This feature really helps when it comes to the natural snowy territory though, preventing feet from sinking and creating excellent traction for pulling those sleds.

I'll upload some photos when I get the time!