Huskies Love to Destroy Things
I remember when we were first considering getting a Husky, looking at some pictures and videos online of the destruction Huskies are capable of causing.
I laughed, and thought to myself, ‘I guess we had better prepare to have a few things destroyed’ however little prepared me for the destruction which was going to be unleashed upon our home.
I found it very amusing seeing pictures of a Husky sitting amidst the ripped up remains of what used to be a sofa. I no longer need to look for these destructive pictures online, as we have a huge collection of our own, showing what our little pack has managed to do in our house, along with plenty of amusing stories to tell our friends when they come to visit.
These days, when I see someone share a picture online (somewhere like Facebook) of what their Husky has ripped up, I still find myself laughing because sometimes that is all you can do, especially when an adorable Husky looks up at you with a huge grin on their face as they sit on top of a pile of chewed up remains.
These adorable little furballs have an incessant desire to rip, tear, chew and destroy. If you are going to own a Husky, you had better be ready for it. Be aware of what motivates them to destroy, as well as preventative measures you need to take in your home and garden.
Powerful Jaws
Huskies have incredibly powerful teeth and jaws, and I have not yet found a dog toy they are unable to rip apart in minutes. Even supposedly ‘indestructible’ dog toys do not last long around them.
Fortunately, we are not the type of people who get distraught when our furniture gets damaged, or to have everything perfect in the home. If we were, we would never have survived the Huskies.
We started with two twin Huskies, and they soon proved they were the terrible twins. Our garden rapidly became littered with items they had found and carried outside. From shoes and socks to plastic cups and plates, nothing seemed to be beyond their desire to chew.
This may not yet sound much different from other dog breeds, especially puppies, but as you read further and get an idea of the type of damage a Husky is capable of doing, you will soon begin to understand why the breed is known for doing damage.
Our recycle bag soon became their toy box, which they would dig in and find a cardboard box they wanted to shred. I’m sure they thought they were doing their part for the environment by helping the recyclers, however they seemed to forget to clear it up afterwards, leaving a scattered mess around the house.
Night Time Destruction
We never locked our Huskies in a crate at night like some do. They have crates, but we chose to let them use these like a bedroom which they could enter and leave at will. However in the early days, our office was the puppy room. A pet gate locked across the door at night, confining them to the one room in which to sleep.
This room once had a carpet, but this did not last. A desperate desire to dig holes at night found our little twins tearing into the carpet, then once they had managed to rip a part of it up, their teeth took over as they tugged and pulled at it. We eventually decided to rip up the entire carpet in that room as it was torn to shreds.
The room also had two desks and chairs, which soon became targets for their teeth, leaving shredded desk corners and torn chair fabric.
Deciding that this was not enough, the puppies once managed to get onto the desks, throwing everything on them onto the floor including a computer hard drive, screen and printer. Fortunately nothing was not broken, but the puppies had made their point clear: nothing is safe in this house!
Electric cables
I have always been very careful about leaving live electric wires near the dogs. I realised early on that they loved to chew, so always made a point of turning plugs off if I was not in the room. Cables are laid in such a way that they are out of their reach.
Unfortunately they once managed to catch me off guard. I had just pulled out an extension lead, and plugged it into the wall. I turned around to place the other end where I wanted it and within seconds heard a loud shriek. I spun around to see one of our little puppies thrown across the room after he had managed to come out of nowhere and bite into the live lead. In a single bite, his teeth had penetrated the live cable, shocking him.
Apart from being shaken, he survived, but since then I have been even more careful with our dogs and power cables.