We get asked a lot what life is like living with a pack of sled dogs. Some people can’t imagine sharing their space with one dog, let alone twelve, but we can’t imagine having it any other way!

There is a misconception out there among some folks that sled dogs are all kept chained to a barrel and ignored until it’s time to race, but that’s not the case at all. Even most professional mushers take very good care of their dogs and treat them like family.

I say most because there are those rare cases of abusive mushers, but in general sled dogs are very well cared for and live happy lives.

We are not professionals and we don’t race our sled dogs; we just do it for fun (for us and them!). Our pups have never been on a chain and while they do have barrels full of straw to sleep in, they actually prefer to sleep out in the open or, better yet, in our bed.

Huskies are incredibly clean and bathe themselves like cats so we don’t mind them sharing our personal spaces with us. We switch out who gets to sleep in and rotate them in and out so we only have four or five at a time inside at night. During the day we sometimes let all twelve come in but that can get a little crazy so usually we trade them in and out throughout the day, too.

They are a high energy breed, but when given enough exercise and entertainment they stay pretty calm in between the bursts of chaos. They generally spend most of the day napping or playing with each other out in their play yards, and leave us to do other things (like vacuuming lol).

Of course sometimes they do demand attention and love to get in the way, like when you get up to go pee and want your spot on the couch back…

And they do shed. A lot. But that’s generally only during the warmer months which is when they blow their coats out and lose most of their undercoats that keep them warm in winter. Once the cold returns and their undercoats grow back the shedding goes down considerably and we only have to vacuum twice a day instead of three or four times. 😄

I can’t even begin to describe how happy they make us and we try to give them a happy life in return. It isn’t difficult, huskies are pretty easy to please.

All it takes are a few extra pancakes for breakfast…

And letting them watch their favorite shows on TV…

And letting them show you the way to the kitchen (for more pancakes)…

And giving them lots of other husky friends and big play yards filled with snow…

And most of all, letting them do what they do best, which is RUN!!

We try to educate the general public about this breed whenever we can because too many huskies end up unhappy and in the pound because their needs aren’t met. You can’t ignore hundreds of years of evolution and expect them to be content in an apartment, alone, when they are pack animals who have pulling and running in their DNA.

When you meet their needs they are the most awesome breed of dog man has ever known. Which is why we have a dozen of them!! ☺