I don't doubt that he's been raised to be an excellent dog owner. The point here is that Siberians are very very very very very much different than Goldens.
They are a hell of a lot more dog and I've seen even so called experienced Sibe owners not be able to handle them. Experience with goldens and small breeds can in no way shape or form prepare you for a Siberian (or many other working breeds for that matter...).
Maybe he'll get lucky and it'll be fine. Don't think its typical of the breed. Like at all.
I tried a baby gate for cat introductions/rotating the day I brought Lily home. She jumped over it in less than 5 seconds. Literally. Needless to say its still sitting unused in a closet.
You absolutely will need crates for raising these dogs. Siberian huskies are NOT golden retrievers. They absolutely will shred your house and possibly even rip their way out the doors or windows. And yes I had a close friend whose uncrated Siberian did exactly that! We went on so gd many Francis hunts. I loved that dog, she was so awesome.
There isn't a time when you suddenly don't need the crate either. They need to be properly contained when unsupervised for life. Period. At least 95% of them anyway. They were bred to run pulling a load all day, not to be house pets and sleep on the couch all day. I think its pretty ridiculous to expect them to be happy with it honestly.
And any outside kennel needs to be floored in cement or pavers and very securely roofed. Even then they could probably rip a hole in the seams if they wanted to. Every single Sibe I ran while volunteering at the shelter immediately surveyed the possibilities of weak spots in the fence in the dog yard. And that was on leash.
They are exceedingly intelligent and very much houdini dogs. They can climb very very tall fences and love to dig. Scout was left unsupervised for periods of time with her previous owner and dug out to go chase the neighbors horses. She's lucky she isn't dead. She knows how to open the latch on her kennel and its not the simplest crate latch ever. I've got that sucker reinforced everywhere and double lock it with climbing caribiners. I know for a fact Lily knows how to work hers, but she generally doesn't unless there's a real good reason to. I've had Scout open her kennel and open the door to my apt and bounce into the yard after us when we go out to potty in th yard when she's feeling spicy.
I would not consider ANY fence husky proof. Though apparently a lot of northern breed rescues think this esoteric thing exists. I frankly would not trust my dogs loose unsupervised in even a fenced yard unless they are tied to something they cannot move with a secure tie-out set up. Which they have at my mom's house where its safe to do so. And Lily chirps and makes other horrible husky noises when she's done with her bone or food or whatever and ready to come in. We call her Chirpy McChirp.
They don't obey mindlessly like Goldens and other retrievers do. The wheels upstairs are always churning and they are always asking whats in it for me. If they can work someone, they will. Oh will they ever.
They are pretty much the complete polar opposite of Goldens and frankly IMO take a lot more work and those of us who love the Northern breeds are considered pretty frickin' insane by fanciers of other breeds.
I know I sound pretty stringent, but I am so sick of seeing these dogs running loose about to get hit by cars, or dumped in shelters again and again and again because the shelters don't bother to properly screen homes and 98% of people aren't equipped to properly handle a sled dog's needs. I'm tired of seeing ill-equipped owners ruin good dogs with unrealistic expectations and subsequent overly harsh corrections, etc. I'm tired of seeing morons let their siberian roam because oh thats just the way they are. I'm tired of people laughing about the destruction of their house and yard because they won't give their dogs an outlet or properly contain them when unsuperivised. And it was a real **** joy seeing the damage it did to Lily to have her previous owner that didn't properly excercise, train, or contain her and then beat her and then dumped her when beating her didn't do any good. Gawd the look on her face when she figured out I wasn't going to dump her and that I gave her a "house" (her crate) instead of getting mad when she ate a bunch of stuff in the house.
Just please do the research and please raise them as Siberians demand to be raised. They are not Goldens or small breeds and are very much more demanding of their owners. In all honesty, they are working dogs and do not make good pets for most people. I will never be without a sled dog, but boy I sure wish they were less popular with pet owners because it sure hurts to see what happens to the dogs in the average pet home. They are many times more demanding than the dogs you are used to.
