Damage and Destruction caused by Huskies

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.

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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.

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.

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!

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.

It seems some people never learn to put remote controls away after use, and our home is sadly no different despite my constant reminders to the others in the house.

Our TV remote once disappeared for 3 days, until we eventually found it buried in a hole in the garden. Fortunately it still worked, although it now has teeth marks included into its body work.

Mobile phones have been another favourite and have often been stolen by the dogs.

Probably one of the most frustrating items to have been eaten is our xbox controller.

I think in the last year we have managed to go through 7 or more controllers, each one being ripped to shreds and rendered unusable by the huskies. For some reason if they see us playing with something, they think they can play with it too.

Now, you may be sitting there laughing at our misfortunes, or you may be thinking that so far it is not ‘too bad’, but let me assure you that I have not even scratched the surface yet with what our Huskies have managed to do.

A number of times we have come home to finding a cushion completely ripped up and scattered all over the house. These days we simply laugh and say, ‘I guess the pups had fun while we were out’

Our living room sofas managed to survive almost a year without a mark, however one day the dogs decided it was time to give them some attention. Soon bits of sofa had been torn away, leaving exposed sponge beneath. Our first two sofas were eventually so ripped up we had to replace them.

The sad thing is, the new sofas soon became targets as you can see from the pictures

I have already mentioned the dog room carpet which was ripped up.

Unfortunately that is not the only floor they put their attention to. The first two stairs on our staircase managed to be ripped to shreds. Also the corridor leading to our front door, which has linoleum flooring is now covered in holes, as the dogs one day decided to rip it and pull it all the way back down the corridor.

One day I was out, and received a frantic text from my girlfriend that the dogs were missing.

Now we have always been very careful to not let them get out the front without a lead and our back garden (we thought) was Husky proof as it is surrounded by a 7-8 foot solid wood fence. At one time there was a small shed in the back corner, and the pups soon discovered they could squeeze behind this.

This is where the problem developed, as unknown to us, they were plotting their escape, ripping a hole in the wooden fence behind the shed.

When they disappeared, my girlfriend looked around the house, and then ran out the front. To call them. They were no where.

We were texting back and forth, and I was coming home as fast as I could. It was then that my girlfriend discovered that the pups had managed to get into one of our neighbours gardens. Fortunately it was also an enclosed garden, but unfortunately the neighbours were out and had a nicely landscaped garden.

We managed to get the pups back home, and our neighbours seemed amused at the events, but we were not amused at having to pay £400 to rebuild our fence, this time with a double layer to ensure nothing like this happened again.

We always walk our Huskies on leads, and have always bought strong leads recommended for Huskies.

However a few times we have been completely shocked to see one of them turn around and in a single bite, manage to snap clean through the lead.

One of ours also seemed to take a disliking to his harness, and stole it multiple times at home, tearing it to shreds in seconds before we managed to get to him to retrieve it. In a month or two, he managed to go through about five harnesses.

Do not forget to make your garden Husky Proof. These dogs are escape artists and are incredibly good at finding ways out of the garden.

Consider the following for your garden:

• Your dog will explore your garden. Be aware of what plants are there, as some of them may be poisonous to dogs. Sadly some have found their dogs dead after eating a plant in the garden!
• Ensure poisonous garden chemicals are properly secured and well out of their reach
• Be ready to have holes dug in the garden
• Have appropriate fencing which they cannot get through. A Husky can squeeze through a very small gap in the fence if it wants to get out.
• Huskies love to dig. Make sure your fence goes deep into the ground, or has concrete or a similar barrier on the ground on the inside of your fence, so they cannot dig underneath the fence.
• Huskies can jump high and climb. Your fence needs to be at least six foot tall, and preferably eight foot. A mesh or wire fence may actually provide them with footing to climb, or they may simply eat through the wire.
• It is pointless having a high fence if there are things near the fence the dog can climb on to get over the fence. Make sure there is nothing they can do this on (sheds, rubbish bins). Huskies are intelligent and will plan an escape route!
• Your Husky can learn to open doors, gates and windows. Ensure they are locked.
• Your Husky can learn to move things around the garden to use to climb over the fence with. If it is light enough for them to move it, it can be used.
• There’s more than one way to get out of a fence. They can go over it, around it, under it or through it.

Huskies are high value items for thieves. Do not leave them unattended in your garden. Be aware.

As you can see, Huskies enjoy destruction. They seem to thrive on ripping holes in things. If you plan on getting a Husky, be ready for it. If you cannot handle this type of destruction of your furniture, then please consider getting a different breed of dog.

Make sure you give your Husky toys, take them for walks, exercise them properly and spend time with them. You do not want a bored Husky who has excess energy to use up left alone in your house!

As for me, my Huskies mean more to me then my carpets, sofas, fences, xbox remotes and other items. They are a joy to have in my life, and if it means seeing ripped up cushion remains lying around when I get home, then so be it.

They are worth it to me!

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