Saberdog My Dog And Best Friend

A Bit Of History German Shepherd Siberian Husky

(Saberdog My Dog And Best Friend)

After losing my partner of 30 years, I was at a loss and suffered some problems with depression (although I never had any clinical diagnosis)

Well I suppose I needed something to take my mind off things, start over if you will. Things in my mind were not good and the problems built up on themselves. Questions like where do I go from here and how do I fill the empty void were permanently floating round my head.

Therefore for some reason I decided to get a pet dog, Not a shelter dog with too many issues to address, but a puppy to bond with. After searching for a while I found Saber. It was a dull day with rain intermittently showering down when I went to collect him.

The Siberian Husky, his mother had come down with an infection and she was unable to feed them anymore. Saber was only 7 weeks old when I collected him from the farm. I knew that this could cause problems for him, But I was willing to help him through these things. He is a German Shepherd Siberian Husky cross.

Selecting A Puppy.

I selected him because he wasn’t part of the pack of puppies he remained aloof and completely ignored everything going on around him.

This was probably not the best reason for picking him, but it seemed Ok at the time.

His mother was a large very tall Siberian Husky. The stud was a confident and well trained German Shepherd with a very good temperament. Seems non of this was passed on to Saber.

The mixing of these two breeds apparently among other titles leads to the dogs being called Gerberian Shepsky.

A Very Rambunctious and Independant Puppy Dog.

From the very first 5 minutes of getting him in the car and setting off back home, I felt a strange air of foreboding, even more so as I saw him unload the contents of his stomach (which was larger than he was) onto the rear leather seats of my car. After vomiting he decided to jump around. The whining and carrying on, was as if he had been abducted causing him a need to escape.

Oh great I thought what a start to my new experience as a dog parent.

Arriving Home

On his arrival home after not wanting to come in at all, he proceeded to walk into the living room, pee, crap and puke on the floor, thank god for hard floors I thought..

Vets and Vaccinations.

Saber was registered at a local vets and an appointment made for vaccinations and a check up. Although he had been chipped for some reason vaccinations were not included. Allegedly he had been wormed. The vet’s I registered him with did a puppy pack, this included the vaccinations, worming and flea treatment. Boy oh boy was he full of worms, it was like a spaghetti explosion on the floor. Apparently this is not as unusual as I first thought.

House Training

Dogs can be strange animals, Saber loved to be outside but for some reason he wouldn’t toilet on the paving flags in my court yard. My house on the other hand was like a doggy potty place for him.

Potty training took about 3 weeks following these steps with just an occasional accident, which i thought was extremely quick after reading what I thought were statements of doom, things such as it can take some puppies from 3 months to year to get the message.

His potty training went like this.

• I kept him on a regular feeding schedule and take away his food between meals. 
• Took him out to eliminate first thing in the morning and then once every 30 minutes to an hour. I also, always took him outside after meals or when he woke from a nap. Made sure he went out last thing at night and before he’s left alone. 
• Took him to the same spot each time to do his business.
• Stayed with him outside,  
• When he eliminated outside, I praised him and gave him a treat.

Obedience Training.

My intentions were stalwart on this subject, Saber was going to be well trained. Well behaved and able to go anywhere without causing problems. The intention was he slept downstairs, didn’t get on the sofa and slept on his own bed at all times.

His first night at home he stayed downstairs and slept on his bed and of course left me a nice bit of cleaning up to do. At least he was quiet I thought to myself. On the second night the howling had to be heard to be believed. A sound I would have though impossible coming from such small animal. The third night I couldn’t stand it anymore and moved his bed into my bedroom and got him a new one for downstairs. (Strike One To Saber). AlthoughI have to say he will never get on my bed and never has.

I trained him to wait at doors, sit stay, down, heel, recall, leave it, drop it, and the place command.

All of these are deeply embedded in his muscle memory until he decides otherwise.

Going Off Lead

First time I let him off lead he found a dead rat and wasn’t giving it up under any circumstances. When I eventually got the corpse away from his locked lips, he bounded off up the park. He plonked himself down next to couple with kids having a picnic, and wouldn’t move.

When his German Shepherd side shows he is easy to train, although when the Siberian Husky takes over he can be a very ignorant boy indeed.

No amount of calling him back plus walking away running away and generally making a fool of myself got the desired response. Instead he just stared blankly with his tongue hanging out giving me a great feeling of being a very low achiever.

All this after using a long line for untold hours training recall.

Nearly three Years Later

As I said earlier the German Shepherd part of Saber responds well, but the Siberian Husky side can still rear its stubborn head at times.

Nearly three years on I can take him any where and he behaves well, he responds well to his training and has become my best friend and saviour. I would never be without him, he goes everywhere with me. I can only hope that this will last for many years to come.

What was your experience of getting a new puppy? Tell us using the comments section.