We almost got turned by the rescue I volunteer for!

Wow, then I would definitely get turned down! My house isn't huge at all, we rent, the front gate of the yard is 4ft tall and not too sturdy to be honest....BUT...my dogs are so loved and cared for that everything else shouldn't prevent us from rescuing a dog that needs a good home. I never leave them outside unattended and stand by the gate when they're out in the yard (just in case). They get daily walks, weekly toys, and basically are the princess/prince of the house..lol.

That sucks that people out there that actually want to adopt a husky get turned down for minor things sometimes. I know that the rescues do it with dogs best interest in mind, but c'mon. You can feel a person out and know if they're the right match while taking other things into consideration of course.

Good luck Claudia!

It makes me sad to hear all of these issues with rescues. I hope this thread doesn't sour anyone to rescue. Just like everything in life there is good and bad. Most rescues do think dog first and human second, shelters and humane societies are usually less picky. There are pros and cons to each.

I used to foster for a humane society. I say used to because of this story.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t2562-new-pack-member

I would have never placed a husky in this home. No fence, cats (dog was not tested with them), and no breed experience, just always wanted one for her daughter. I happened to be there when she and the daughter took the dog home, no interaction hardly at all. In fact the daughter seemed to care less (to her defense she was disadvantaged). I took it on myself to call the woman as a phone followup several months after (against the societies standard procedure) and got a very terse "he's fine" response.

All things considered I still think shelter and rescue dogs make the best pets, they just seem thankful and loving, at least in my experiences.

I have declined an application before because of the same reasons. AND they were going to leave the husky outside tied up.

Wow... I got my first husky when I was 21 years old and have never had more than one husky at a time. Over the past 24 years, I have learned alot about huskies by reading but mostly by trial and error. I do understand the rescue being "skittish" because the poor dog has probably already had a traumatic experience and they do not want to set the dog up for another failure.

We've had our huskies in an apartment, in a small house with a "mostly" fenced yard, in the country "with room to roam" and in our house now with a fenced yard. More than not having a fence or a large house, I think the idea of giving a husky "room to roam" is the scariest. Most everyone who says they want a husky tells us they will get one when they move to the country to allow the dog room to roam. "Really?", I usually ask them, "Cause if you give a husky room to run, they WILL run.... and end up in Canada."

I think as long as you are dedicated to providing human companionship to your husky, a single husky will have a wonderful life. You, on the other hand, will work yourself to death trying to be his constant companion and exercise partner and human play toy.... !!!

We have no rescues close enough to us to allow us to adopt
They also frown on giving a husky to a home with children under 10 (we finally have a 10 year old and can meet that requirement).
I agree that some of the rules that most rescues make mandatory should really be "guidelines" and the workers should be allowed to make exceptions.

Even my mom who does her own all breed rescue can be stupid about adopting out some dogs. I usually get on her case and have to tell her that not every home is going to be perfect. If you expect that, you're just going to end up keeping every rescue! (which she has 7 dogs of her own, so you can see why I'm so hardheaded that she cannot keep anymore!)

I did a homecheck for a family near me and they didn't have a fence, but sounded like they'd walk their husky all the time and seemed like a really good couple. The sibe rescue did approve them even without the fence! I really should check up on them and see how things are going.

Good luck with the adoption, Claudia! That's good that you're trying to go around the 2 dog "rule", if it makes sense for that dog and for that family. And kudos to you for volunteering!

The husky rescue our kids came from was AWESOME - they are so warm, gracious and welcoming, while being realistic and available for help post-adoption. www.huskycamp.com

We volunteered for another rescue, and even though I thought we showed we were an ideal household, had a high fence and had husky experience, we got turned down for the dogs we were interested in because we have full time jobs and wouldn't take 2 huskies at a time (with the exception of a few selected dogs they would allow us to adopt, one of which they told us not to put our hands in the cage! ) They actually have a ton of the dogs we looked at still there.

I got the adoption application approved AND approved to adopt a 'young' husky to her without another dog!

Nice work, Claudia! How'd you convince them?

Good JOB Claudia! its nice to see your hard work rewarded

Awesome Claudia!

Koda wrote:

Nice work, Claudia! How'd you convince them?

I assumed the reasons why a young husky needed to be placed with a companion dog, and they are as I thought: playmate, so they don't bored because when they get bored, that's when they start to dig and chew and destruct, etc.

So I asked if this was the rule or guideline? And when I got a vague answer, I stated that this applicant would be home all day 4 days out of the week, and on the 3 days she work, she will have help from friend, dog walkers and doggy daycare so that the pup would NOT be left alone for more than 2 hours at a time. I then asked, 'Wouldn't that be a better situation than if 2 dogs were left alone and the companion dog learned from the pup to dig and chew and destruct than the other way around?'

So I basically gave a different view point, and got the approval for the applicant

AND, I got a statement basically saying that the need for a young husky to be placed with or without a companion dog should be situational.

So...they're becoming more open to applications and so far, this is the 3rd exception I've gotten approval for!

Great job, Claudia! Keep up the good work

Yay! Good job and GREAT explanation!!!

ok...I have another adoption application that I need feedback on.

This applicant has had 2 huskies before, both has passed. They had one for 13 years and another that was a rescue, who they had just shy of 2 years.

On their application, they filled out:
-they have 5.5-6 ft fencing
-they are active
-no kids or small animals
-will be left along 6-8 hour/day
-doggy door to access inside/outside

That's all ok, but here is what they included on their application:

I do not believ a husky has to be leashed at all times. I would usually leash a husky for the first 2 years of its life, then allow the dog to hike with me off leash.

I know some can be let off leash in certain situations, but this statement makes me nervous about this applicant.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I'd deny the application. It sucks, but that's ignorance of basic husky instincts.

The truth is that they are likely going to get a husky from somewhere else... but that's definitely a RULE. It'd be one thing if they said "Some huskies can be offleash, we don't believe in a blanket rule" but to completely go in the opposite direction... red flag to me

well that is a tough call, i don't even like the doggie door option since that freaks me out cause you will have no idea what time something happened if the husky did get out of the yard....

ok the hiking off leash thing, if they keep the husky leashed all the times even hiking for the first 2 years it could work. but even when i hike i keep them leashed in the woods, to many animals around and i also keep them leashed if there are other people dogs around for safety. people are gonna do what ever they want so at least they told you....

are they looking to adopt an older husky over 4. i would not trust a younger one. maybe say that the leash deal is more for the safety of the dog regardless of the breed when hiking and that there have been way to many stories of dogs rescued or lost or killed while hiking the CO mountains?

I agree, Jenn. The doggy door thing bothered me too. I suppose it depends on the fencing, but that sent a flag up to me as well.

I guess I could be convinced... I know that people will do what they are going to do... and I suppose I'd need more specific details on what they mean about allowing to hike offleash. Is this like Eddy does on the 14ers? Or is this just in the woods? I don't know...

Their preference is a young husky about a year old.

Their statement does make me nervous, especially if they are wanting a 'young' husky.

If we do deny the application, they would probably go elsewhere, but I'd rather not take a chance of the husky we adopt out to be returned or be lost or be hurt because of the applicant's thought it can be left off leash.

Thanks!

I don't know. The off leash thing bothers me but maybe they could be persuaded not to? Tough call.

I don't think that a huge deal if she recognizes when it's appropriate for the given dog. I have one (1 out of 3) I can let off leash but it took time for me to reach that comfort level by working on his recall at the dog park and in my yard. I still only do so when I feel it's safe, no cars, no distractions and when I'm sure he's attentive to me.

the rest of the setup, dog door, alone 8 hours mimics my house exactly. Except I have 3 huskies not just one.

Lordbroll wrote:

I don't think that a huge deal if she recognizes when it's appropriate for the given dog. I have one (1 out of 3) I can let off leash but it took time for me to reach that comfort level by working on his recall at the dog park and in my yard. I still only do so when I feel it's safe, no cars, no distractions and when I'm sure he's attentive to me.

the rest of the setup, dog door, alone 8 hours mimics my house exactly. Except I have 3 huskies not just one.

Yes, it does take time to get to that point.
I haven't talked to the applicant yet so there would be some questions I'd have to ask to see what kind of response I'd get.

If she will take the time to do recall training and plans on only letting off leash on hikes like Jenn and them do (at the top nothing around), I don't think that is a huge problem.. but if she means the whole hike, not only is that not a good idea in most cases it's illegal as the dog needs to be leashed on most trails. A good majority of you have let your huskies off leash in wide open areas and are fine with it, and I don't think places like summits are that big of a deal offleash though I'm too scared to do it.


As for dog doors, Koda had a dog door for 3 years and will have one again in February.. I never once had an issue with it and as long as they have secure fencing (not chain link) then I don't see the big deal. He had freedom to go inside and outside as he pleased and with no one home a good portion of time. I think a 6ft fence is fine with a dog door, though mine was 7ft.

Part of their fence is 5.5 ft, the rest is 6ft.

Koda doesn't jump fences at all, but 5ft would be complicated for him to even try. That's 3 inches shorter than me and I don't see a happy dog working hard to jump almost over my height. Most instances -I've- seen with escapes are digging under/broken panels/loose gate/etc, or like on base there's chain link fencing that is about 4ft and people with their huskies often have them missing. I wouldn't make any comments til you see the fence.