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My
husband Josh and I have been involved with the Siberian breed for over
10 years. I got my first Siberian when I was in junior high, and
have been hooked ever since! I was blessed to find a man that loves
the dogs as much as I do! We've been married for 9 years now, and
can't wait to start a family of our own. Besides the dogs, of course!
We
live on a farm in Nebraska, USA. We have an underground fence for
our dogs that give them approximately 3 acres to run. We have built
a "puppy highrise", which is basically a kennel sitting atop
a wooden deck for cleanliness. We are in the process of converting
a small building on our property to have 3 indoor/outdoor runs.
In the future, we will build a bigger building to help house our dogs
as well as foster and rescue dogs. We are pretty much in the planning
stages, but we have BIG dreams!
We
had been thinking about getting more involved with the breed early on,
but knew that it was worth doing well or not at all. I have spent
countless hours researching pedigrees, and studying ethical breeding practices.
Not to mention in depth study of animal/dog psychology and behavior.
Only after years spent researching and studying do I finally feel worthy
of furthering the Siberian Husky breed.
Getting
involved with rescue gave me pause, though. How can it not?
How could I hear Yukon's disjointed story without thinking I would be
adding to the problem? I did much soul-searching, and realized that
the problem was with unethical breeders and puppymills. You don't
see a well-bred show or working dog in the shelter. You see poorly
bred dogs that came from Backyard breeders and puppymills. They
may have been the product of an irresponsible owner, who may or
may not have known that their dog was in heat. They may have been
produced by a 'breeder' that just didn't take the time to learn about
the health and genetic problems within their breed. And then there
are the puppymillers... People who have no thought or care for their dogs.
They live in small cages, often 2-3 dogs together laying in their own
filth. Some of the dogs have completely lost the use of their legs
due to their muscles being atrophied. The sad truth is as long as
people refuse to educate themselves, there will be an overpopulation problem
in the shelters.
Our
goal is to contribute to the health and soundness of Siberian Huskies,
and to educate people about unethical breeding practices. Don't
get me wrong, we are not against ethical breeding done by educated and
learned people. These people are the ones that keep many breeds
from being ruined entirely by Backyard Breeders and puppymillers.
We strive to be one of those ethical breeders. |
