Siberian Huskies are NOT human! 

As I was out watching the dogs the other day, I noticed (as I have many times before) that they all seem to want to eat anything.  So today I thought I’d touch on something that basically is to remind us that Siberian Huskies (and dogs in general) are not human.  Sounds pretty straight forward I know, but when you think about it, we all need to be reminded once in a while.

By nature, dogs are almost scavengers.  If you’ve ever sat and watched a dog behave as I do many times, you’ll notice that they tend to always be looking for anything to eat.  And I do mean anything!  We think of scavengers as bottom dwellers.  The nasty animals that come and eat the rotting remains of road kill.  By definition, a scavenger feeds on dead organic matter.  I wouldn’t say they are scavengers by definition, but they come close.  In the human world it is nothing short of repulsive, but in the dog world it’s perfectly natural.  While they may prefer to eat the same juicy porterhouse we are eating, the fat trimmings that we discard are perfectly fine for them. 

If your husky eats strange things while out, or would gladly eat a piece of meat that’s been dropped in the dirt, they are likely fine.  They can handle it.  It’s what they do.

I’ve seen our dogs eat some weird things over the years.  Here are some of the more memorable:

  • Horse Poo – They seem to love the taste of horse poo!  After witnessing this a while back, we asked our vet about the repercussions.  His reply:  “It won’t hurt them, but it isn’t necessarily good for them.  Much like a Twinkie to a human.  Great tasting snack that is okay once in a while, but you certainly shouldn’t live off of them.”
  • Horse hoof clippings – For those not familiar, horses need their hooves trimmed regularly, like a human would trim their fingernails.  A “farrier” comes out to our house and does this trimming for us.  He told us early on to give the horseshoe shaped clippings to the dogs.  It’s basically rawhide.  The dogs go CRAZY for it!!
  • Dirt – If they catch the scent of something good in the dirt, they will dig and eat the dirt in hopes of finding what they smell.  I’ve seen holes go over a foot deep!
  • Toys - Our dogs have eaten legos, chewed up and eaten squeaky toys, balls, (basketballs and footballs included!) and other miscellaneous toys.
  • Socks – I’ve seen entire socks be passed by our inside dogs.  Maybe that’s a good way to do a colon cleanse!

Bottom line – It’s easy to panic in the early stages of Husky ownership when you see them eat the things they do.  Chances are, they will be fine.  When in doubt, of course, contact your vet.  But most of the time it’s normal!