The awesomeness that is the Siberian Husky really hit me when I read To Build A Fire by Jack London.

I couldn't have said it any better than the three of you! I know that I for one want thinking dogs on my team- and that 'thinking' trails, lots of blind curves, hill climbs, etc, are where the dogs excel- monotonous straightaways I feel the shift in team dynamics. It is hard for the general pet owner that doesn't experience the dynamics of the breed in their design to understand. But the trait that is seen as stubbornness is an integral part of the breed and their intelligence. The best thing anyone who is an advocate for the breed could do is inform and educate people about this unique quirk that makes our dogs who they are.

I know this is long - but its very important to how I understand husky behaviors.

"At the man's heels trotted a dog, a big native husky, the proper wolf-dog, gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother, the wild wolf. The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold. It knew that it was no time for travelling. Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment. In reality, it was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was seventy-five below zero. Since the freezing-point is thirty-two above zero, it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained. The dog did not know anything about thermometers. Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man's brain. But the brute had its instinct. It experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it and made it slink along at the man's heels, and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire. The dog had learned fire, and it wanted fire, or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air...."

"....The dog was disappointed and yearned back toward the fire. This man did not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. But the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge. And it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold. It was the time to lie snug in a hole in the snow and wait for a curtain of cloud to be drawn across the face of outer space whence this cold came. On the other hand, there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man. The one was the toil-slave of the other, and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whip-lash. So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man. It was not concerned in the welfare of the man; it was for its own sake that it yearned back toward the fire. But the man whistled, and spoke to it with the sound of whip-lashes, and the dog swung in at the man's heels and followed after."

"...And all the time the dog ran with him, at his heels. When he fell down a second time, it curled its tail over its forefeet and sat in front of him, facing him, curiously eager and intent. The warmth and security of the animal angered him, and he cursed it till it flattened down its ears appeasingly..."

"...The dog sat facing him and waiting. The brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight. There were no signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire. As the twilight drew on, its eager yearning for the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet, it whined softly, then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man. But the man remained silent. Later, the dog whined loudly. And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death. This made the animal bristle and back away. A little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky. Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food-providers and fire-providers..."

- From Jack London's To Build A Fire accessed at: http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html

Hi All. Just want to clarify a bit because I don't want to give anyone a bad name. All pet puppies my breeder sells are sold with limited registration, including mine, until I broached the topic of showing and co-ownership, at that point was when she said I could show him if I wanted and she didn't like co-ownership. We do have an agreement that if I do not get serious about showing, he will be fixed.

Also, we have gotten to know each other quite well over the past couple months. After putting a deposit down on my pup, I have made the 3.5 hour drive up there almost weekly, and spend a few hours there each time I go. So we have established a relationship and plan to keep in touch. For showing, I see her as a mentor and she has been forth coming with advice and help. Just wanted to let you all know that.

Also, I haven't read that Jack London book! Now it's on my must read list!