Bred to pull sleds
The Chukchi people of Siberia bred it to pull light loads over great distances in bitter cold.
Big dogs · A lot of time and space
Siberian husky
Sled dog · from north-east Siberia
A wolf-like dog with a thick grey and white coat, a white mask, upright ears, a bushy tail and often bright blue eyes.
- Size
- 51 to 60cm at the shoulder; 16 to 27kg
- Lives for
- 12 to 14 years
- Suits
- Runners and hikers with a very secure garden
Trots after you tirelessly. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the husky
The serum run
In 1925 teams of huskies carried medicine nearly 700 miles across Alaska to a town struck by diphtheria. A statue of one, Balto, stands in New York.
Blue, brown or one of each
Blue eyes are common, and so is having one blue eye and one brown.
Warm to minus fifty
Its double coat keeps it warm far below freezing. It curls up with its tail over its nose.
It howls and talks
Huskies rarely bark. They howl, and make a range of sounds that owners call talking.
An escape artist
It can jump, dig under or squeeze through almost any fence, and will run for miles if it gets out.
The real thing
Photos of the husky
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
Looking after one
A husky needs two hours of hard exercise a day and should be kept on a lead near roads and livestock. The coat sheds in great clumps twice a year. It copes badly with hot weather.
Before you get one
Huskies are friendly, stubborn and strong. They have a powerful urge to chase, and many end up in rescue because owners did not expect how much they need.
Keep going