Courtesy Posts

Jess – Siberian Husky / German Shepherd Mix
Age: about 3 years old
Sex: female, spayed
Vaccines: up to date
Crate Trained: yes
Good with other dogs: yes!
Good with cats: no, tries to chase them
Kids: she is timid with all new people, she is the same with kids as with adults. It takes her some time to warm up to new people.
Time frame: Jess’s foster family is from England, the husband is with the British Army and they are stationed at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD. They are expecting a baby, so they will be returning to England at the end of April. So Jess needs a new foster home, or a forever home, by the middle of April.

When Jess came to us she was very scared of people, sadly with good reason (she had been through a couple of homes and was not always treated well). We were therefore amazed at how quickly she bonded with us – despite not being an ‘easy’ dog, she is a dog with a lot of love to give and she deserves exactly the right people or person.

Jess is described as a husky mix, which in strictly pedigree terms is undoubtedly true. However she would like me to state for the record that she considers herself a 100% pure Alaskan Husky, that is a finely tuned athlete bred for the ability to pull a sled as opposed to appearance.

Jess can certainly pull (more on that later!) but she is also bewitchingly beautiful. Sometimes she gazes at the horizon with a dreamy, faraway expression in her eyes. I like to think she's looking straight past the Lower 48, through Canada and into the wilds of Alaska, visions of never-ending forests, streams and tundra running through her head. I try and give Jess two hours of solid exercise a day, plus shorter potty walks. She's a great hiking companion and on one of our hikes she even warned us of a black bear that we hadn't spotted!

Jess is also a great running buddy when it's cool enough. In fact she's a great motivator as you'll feel so good running along with her. She loves the snow as we discovered on a recent weekend in West Virginia and would be great to mushing, snow shoeing or skijoring. We've also taken her camping and she slept in our small tent with us. She was fantastic and settled down straightaway once she realized that yes, I was going to insist she slept on her bed and not my camping mattress!

Jess is a dream house dog - she is so well behaved. She is so calm inside and is content to just snuggle up on her bed or on the sofa with me. She'll also follow me upstairs and lie down patiently waiting for me. And judging by the paw indentations and hair (seriously a lot of hair!) on the sofa when we come home, that's where she spends her time when I'm not there. We have never seen Jess chew anything, attempt to get into cupboards or do anything we would consider undesirable. We have, however, gotten a metal crate and put it up for her. She loves sleeping in it and goes in the crate on her own.

Jess is housetrained although she did have a couple of accidents (pee only) in the house during the first week we got her and then in the first few days that we fostered a litter of puppies.

Jess is the most affectionate dog I've ever known (once she has gotten to know you). She LOVES cuddles and greets us with such joy every morning. She loves nuzzling her head into you and we love it too; our morning cuddle therefore takes a few minutes! However she enjoys a cuddle at all times of the day and especially likes having her nose stroked.

Jess was not leash trained, so we use a Triple Crown collar and a metal leash (she is a leash chewer and can chew through a leash very quickly – we even tried Bitter Apple and other nasty tasting products, but she doesn’t mind them!) Jess has made HUGE progress in learning not to pull on the leash but there are always periods on every walk when she does. She has a strong prey drive so if a rabbit, squirrel or bird runs across your path then brace for impact!

She understands "Wait" and "Easy" - eventually! Her 'sit' is now pretty good, especially if you have a treat in your hand.

She is still uneasy around strangers and gets upset when people come to the house. We spent some time getting her to associate visitors with treats (steak worked well!) and she has improved a lot. She used to bark at new people, but now she just goes into her crate and settles down fairly quickly. She did well with new people who came to our house recently and even approached one of our friends for a treat so she is improving all the time.

Jess is very calm around other dogs; she mainly ignores them, even when smaller dogs bark and even growl at her. She is friendly towards dogs she knows and has met before. Jess was initially slightly shocked by the litter of 7 puppies we fostered but then was very good with them on a one-to-one basis! She played with them very well and gently taught one or two of them a few doggy manners! We have since had another 4 foster puppies and her patience with them is amazing. She's a wonderful surrogate mom and is affectionate, playful and extremely tolerant. On a couple of occasions when puppies have managed to get to her food bowl she's shown no aggression at all but has stood aside and 'smiled' indulgently at them!

So Jess is a truly special dog who deserves the right home. You will need energy, love, patience, time and a good vacuum cleaner. In return, you’ll get great exercise, regular cuddles and the devotion of a beautiful husky who simply wants the exact same things plus the occasional bit of steak!