Guest Book

It is with great sadness that we're letting you know of the passing of our old Siberian Husky, Zac. I've posted a few photos and videos of him that we took over the years at http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyfan/sets/72157625678750882/.

We got Zac when he was 5-years old from the Victorian Siberian Husky Rescue Foundation in October 2002. Wayne drove to pick him up at Yass (about an hour drive outside of Canberra on the way to Melbourne; Melbourne was also where his previous owners lived) while I was back in Canada. At that first encounter, Zac was so shy that it took about an hour before he would let Wayne get close to him. By the time I returned to Canberra, he was a bit better as it only took me a few minutes before he came up to sniff my hand.

From the beginning, Zac was always much shyer than Dusty, our Husky-Kelpie cross, but once he got to know someone, he was very affectionate, as the photos attest. Sadly, over the last year or so his hind quarters started giving out on him with arthritis and muscle wasting. We had him on anti-inflammatory medicines for a while but eventually stopped them as they made no difference. But he could still walk slowly at his own pace down to the park and around.

He got progressively worse in the past few months. Definite signs of dementia (not knowing where he was, wandering and forgetting his food), deafness, difficulty getting up from a lying position and considerable slowing were all symptoms. Still, he immensely enjoyed having his snout rubbed and would lie down and thrust his nose forward when I did it.

He gave us a big scare a few weeks ago when we came home from work and he wasn't at all interested in his supper - very unusual for a dog! Over the next few hours, he went downhill - laboured breathing, unresponsive to touch, eyes rolled back. We thought he was going to die that night and Wayne even dug a hole in the front garden, next to the oak seedling. I spent an hour rubbing his snout and patting him so that he would at least die happy. But to our complete amazement, he was up and walking later that evening!! Guess he just needed a good rest. We called him Lazarus or Jesus from then on (having risen from the dead).

On xmas day, he was quite active (relatively speaking given his condition), interacting with our lunch guests (albeit shyly). He seemed happy and engaged. I'd even taken him for a nice walk around the park the previous day. That evening, he had quite an appetite, finishing off some of the leftovers (along with Dusty).

On Boxing Day, Wayne left home for an early game of golf, so I got up at a leisurely hour and puttered around the house, cleaning up after the xmas day festivities. After about 45 minutes I realised I had seen Dusty in the courtyard, but not Zac, so I went looking for him as I thought he may have fallen and wasn't able to get up (it happened once before). I walked all around the side, back and then to the front of the house, and was surprised to find him curled up in the hole that Wayne had dug several weeks previously. At first I thought he was just asleep, or had fallen in and couldn't get out. But when I got closer, I saw he wasn't breathing. And when I stepped down into the hole with him, there was no reaction. I was quite shocked to find him dead.

After a few moments at a loss for what to do, I gently lifted his head and saw that his front paws were comfortably curled beneath him in his usual sleeping position, so I presume he died in his sleep. It's a mystery though, whether he stumbled by accident into the hole, couldn't get out and just went to sleep, or whether he knew it was his time and deliberately did that. Either way, we're very comforted to know he was at peace when he passed on.

Zac, born May 1997, died 26 December 2010. RIP

Gary and Wayne

im really interested in buying a siberian husky puppy anyone know of a good breeder i should go through

We adopted 2 Girls from the Australian Animal Protection Society in Keysborough in March 2009 and love them both to bits! We think that Misha may have been adopted previously and her paperwork from the National Pet Register gives her age as 8 years 2 months but we do not believe this is correct (neither does our vet). We noticed a picture on your website of Misha dated Oct 2006 giving her age then as 9 months. We are convinced this is the same dog and would like to know whether we can find out more information. Any help greatly appreciated.

I have owned my beautiful Husky, Sam, for only 11 months, yet I love him the best of all the Dogs I have owned. He is so intelligent and lively, energetic and handsome:) that I doubt whether I will ever own a different breed. I feel compelled to share my joy in the Siberian Husky with fellow owners, and so applaud this Victorian Husky Club!

Couper our Siberian Husky was adopted from the RSPCA when he was 3 years old-he is now 15 and starting to slow down, we also adopted Keeta when she was 7 years old-she passed in Nov 08 at the age of 13. When I adopted Couper he came with no history and we would like to find out if there was a way of finding out what linage he might have come from.

My husband and I recently married and were given cash as gifts. As we were already set up and established in our home, we decided after much discussion, to buy a husky puppy. Our beautiful baby girl Charli is the love of our lives and the reason we are so happy! She is the centre of our world and we love her more than I could have ever imagined. This site has been fantastic for information and I really wanted to add my piece on here just because I want EVERYONE to know how much Charli means to us!

Zach was my Siberian Husky for 16 years and 1 week. It is with great sadness i had to put him down today. He was a beautiful magnifcent pet. We did lots together,camping,snow walking beach walking. We took him on our holidays. We would walk the whole day. I thank him so much. We have been through a lot. I have so many happy thoughts together. Happiness is walking with your dog while seeing a sunset. May you see tonights my dear dear friend and may we meet again somewhere else. Thank-you.
Ian Burns Mentone

Wish I could continue to enjoy the sledding, married Rob and moved away having a little boy. Lost Inga, Robs dog last year due to unfortunate circumstances, but what I would like to ask about is my husky Kaisha. She is only 6y and yet has disk damaged to her spine - currently at vet as she can't use her back legs - we can only assume she jumped at the back fence and landed wrong. Vet has hopes of full recovery, but while xraying her found that her bone density is very poor. Her calcium is very low which is something he hasn't seen in a dog for ten years. A rare condition they know very little about. He said it wasn't related to diet or breeding, but I was wondering if anyone had heard of it happening before. she will have to be on calcium suppliments for 12 months. Are huskies supposed to have lower bone desity to other dogs?

can you please advise of further dates for pet walks in 2009 - unfortunately I can't make it (for our first one) on 21/6/09. look forward to hearing back from you soon, thanks Jackie

I have a Siberian husky 1 year old he is so beautiful I did try training him but we never got through basic 1 I think I was robbed the first time they wanted him to stay for 1 minute and he made it to 40 seconds he would do his recal and heal We had to join another group then with a lot of crazy dogs much younger and he did not need any help there We go for lots of walk some days he is great then he decides to pull me around . My problem at the moment is we have been walking through our local village the last year now he seem almost scared he is diging his heals in and wont move and jumping up to get me to go the other way I have no idea if it is the lights on cars or Air conditioner of shops or smell . Just wondering if anyone has ever had a simalar problem I have made him do it but he is not happy .Thank Breda .