I love Siberians. I think they are absolutely gorgeous, but I also love their personalities and their energy. We also wanted a dog that would be able to live in the climate we live in which is much colder than a lot of places, and we will probably never live anywhere that is terribly warm due to Peter's career choice. So I began looking for a dog, and one day I happened to stumble upon an ad on KSL's website for a young Siberian that needed a new home. Her family was giving her up because their lives had changed and they could no longer give her what she needed. The dog in the photo they put up was beautiful, so I began communication with the owners. After some e-mail communication and phone calls, we decided to make the trip out to Utah to see the dog and the family. Father's Day was quickly approaching so we decided to drive out that weekend so we could kill two birds with one stone.
When we first met our dog we were struck with her beauty, but she barked at us until she calmed down. Her bark was never aggressive, nor was her behavior. She seemed more like a dog that didn't have a healthy outlet for her energy, in fact, within minutes of us meeting her she went into the "play bow" position. The barking was our only concern, and it's something we can train her not to do, especially once we get her properly socialized with other people and dogs. We spent a couple of hours interacting with the family and the dog, and eventually made the decision to adopt her. It was hard for the owners because they loved their dog, but they were happy that she was going home with us.
We have decided to rename her since she is starting a new life and we have settled on the name Natasha. Her previous owners said she was more wary of men than women, but she has actually taken quite rapidly to Peter. I think it is his calm and confident demeanor. The first night with her was difficult because we were staying at my in-laws and there were a lot of new people and things to explore. They also have two cats and Natasha LOVES to chase cats, so we had to be careful about that. Her previous owners said she slept in her crate and thought of it as her "comfort zone", but she would whine and moan whenever we put her in it at night. She had a very difficult time calming down. She didn't want to be in her crate. She wanted to be in the bed with us, but I think letting dogs sleep in your bed is a very bad idea. She did better once we just let her roam around the room, but she paced back and forth for most of the night.
The eight-hour drive home went better than expected. She stayed calm in the car, but she didn't like the twisty turns of the canyons we drove through, but who could blame her. When we drove on straight stretches of road, Natasha would lay her head down on the armrest between me and Peter and sleep. Once we got her home, she adjusted better than we thought. We let her explore her new home and let her settle down a little and then we took her for a nice long walk to help her burn any excess energy. She did better that night than the night before. We made a bed for her down on the floor next to our bed and then went to sleep. She paced a little bit, but quickly settled down on her bed. Every now and then if she heard something outside she would get up and look out the window, but then she'd settle back down again. The next night she paced a little more and kept wanting to jump up into bed with us, but last night was better. She settled right down and only woke us up once at 4:00 in the morning. She loves to pull on her leash, but that is because of her breed. We ordered a dog backpack that we can put weights in to help get her more exercise and a job to do, plus she'll be able to carry her own food and water when we go hiking. We also want to get what is called a Pawtrekker. It's kind of like a cross between a scooter and a mountain bike but they're designed to be safely pulled by a dog. That would really help Natasha get some exercise.
Natasha needs some good consistent discipline and socializing, but she is sweet tempered, loving, and not the least bit aggressive. She'll bark at people but it's never the "I'm gonna bite your face off" kind of bark. She also always wants to go bounding after other dogs, but I'm not sure if it's because she wants to check them out and play with them or get into a tussle, but her body language makes me think the former. She does need to lose some weight, but that will come off with exercise. Once we get her the proper exercise and training she needs, she will make a wonderful pet.
Here are a few things we love about Natasha:
* Her ears. They're so big and expressive.
* She's very curious, but not destructive.
* She always has to circle a spot three or four times before she will lie down.
*When she hears something at the front door she'll put her head down near it and cock her head back and forth so that each ear gets a chance to listen.
