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Lots of great questions in the comments over the last week, and Natasha was yelling at the hu-dad that he has not responded to questions in forever. So, we thought we would take a post and answer some:
Stop being so lazy, hu-dad, and answer some questions.
White Dog asked, “Does hu-dad have an emergency supply of foodstuffs and kibble?”
Oh, yes, we have plenty of kibble. We get our kibble at a great store about an hour from the house. They always have our order stacked at the front door and we load up the Jeep every few weeks with it. For some reason, the store manager is always very excited to see us come in. Oh, and the hu-dad probably has some soup or something always stored in the pantry, but that is not really that important.
Got food for us, right?
HoundDogMom asked, “How many days have you guys actually ever been snowed in?”
Never, for several reasons. First, the one other year round neighbor that lives here is one of the owners of the 1000 acre horse ranch next door to us. He and his wife help with the feeding and care of the horses at the ranch, so they have to be able to get out no matter what the weather, so he uses his John Deere tractor and cleans the road to the main road anytime it snows (and comes down our driveway, too). He is an absolutely awesome neighbor.
Our other big neighbor is Cataloochee Ski and they maintain the main road off of the mountain to the valley – meaning they have their own private fleet of snow plows and salt trucks. We probably have the best maintained high elevation road in the county.
This is all a good thing because if we relied on the hu-dad to keep our roads cleared, we might be stuck at the house from the first snow in October or November until the last one in April.
The main road off the mountain stays in good shape even during the middle of the storm.
FiveSibes asked, “Now that looks like Husky Heaven – just how deep is it?”
Let’s see. 16 inches on Saturday. 12 inches on Monday. Another 4 on Tuesday. So we were at 32 inches (81 cm) through Tuesday. And it snowed Wednesday, but we haven’t measured yet.
Hey - we can still find the road signs, so it is not too deep.
Ok, this has nothing to do with snow, but is about our beach week . . .
Sam asked, “Do Sibes swim? …Or like water?”
Ok, that is a complicated question. In general, the breed is not known for loving water (and sort of makes sense because in the harsh cold of Siberia, water would be deadly to any creature). But, Siberians are known for breaking any rule. Cheoah, for example, absolutely loves being soaking wet and swims at any chance. Natasha loves wading in the waves, but doesn’t like getting her head or body wet. Qannik and Kiska tolerate the water and Rusty and Kodiak prefer dry feet, thank you.
So why complicated? Amazing how many Siberians seem to love sitting in a drenching cold rain. Our first Siberian, Nikita, would sit for hours in the driving rain and the hu-dad was always worried that people would think she didn’t have shelter. She just loved the feel of rain, but she never had the first interest in swimming.
Wow, this really feels like a distant memory.
Thanks for all of the questions and comments. Keep them coming and we will try to answer some more.
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Love the Q&A! Really interesting about huskies and water. I also loved hearing about your neighbor… I need a neighbor like that! 🙂
I love your Q & A sessions! While I am not planning to do this, I wonder how the herd would react if I were to come and visit your home. Would they maybe pick a fight with me or what? That would be different than meeting a strange dog on the street.
Stella
Great Q & A!!! Have to say, I think we would LOVE to be a neighbor there 🙂 Ski area, lots of land, beautiful spots for walkies! I’m ready to come help blaze the driveway 🙂 Just give a jingle!
What’s the elevation there in Maggie Valley?
Sweet hugs,
Sierra Rose
When it was just me, a 4lb bag of kibble lasted about 5 weeks (momma also cooks chicken and rice and veggies for our main food). Now with The White Dog Army 40lbs lasts a month. You guys probable require something a little bigger, huh?
I have no doubt the store manager loves to see you guys come in for supplies. Ours loves us and there are only two dogs to feed.
I like water. I had lots of fun when we went to the lake last summer. I jumped off the boat into the water where I couldn’t touch. Steve likes to play in water too, but prefers to just be where he can touch. He didn’t really like swimming in the middle of the lake, but liked playing along the edges. Mom thought Steve sort of was afraid in the middle of the lake because he paddled like crazy, even though he was wearing a life jacket and wouldn’t sink!
Kat
Really fun reading today! I just love your blog. My boy, Sitka,loves to swim also. I can’t keep him out of the river by our house. He’s always on a long lead though because he would swim to the ocean if I let him.
Does not like to get in our pool though because he can’t just walk out.
Enjoy your snow,
Sitka’s mom
It’s good to know that you are being looked after and have plenty of food!
That was a cool Q&A session, we liked it! Looks like you guys (and gals) have lots and lots of snow! What fun, especially for Sibes. Riley loves the snow but we don’t get it that often and she’s not a Sibe so I think that even though she has a great appreciation for snow, she doesn’t truly LOVE it like all the Sibes do.
Elyse (and Riley)
Wow, that IS a lot of snow. We envy you your fun but at the same time are happy for you.
TD and Ciara are water-lovers too, well, at least they love to be rain-soaked, not sure about going in a lake or an ocean as they have never had the opportunity. Phantom, on the other hand, does not like rain at all:(
Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara
furry interesting…. how fortunate (for the biped) woo have such great snow removal service! We are non-swimming Sibes. We’ll walk at the edge of the back & get our toes wet, but that’s about it. Back in OH, Star took to guarding the kiddie/dog swimming pool at the dogpark and stood with all four paws in the pool one day… and a huge satisfied grin on her face. Of course, one time she was doing zoomies and ran across the “ice” on top of the garden pond… only it had melted! She had to swim, and she didn’t like that at all!
Great memories! : )
Kiah, the Sibe we had before Ice ‘n Ayla, LOVED the water. We swore she was part beaver! She used to stand in the icy water of the small river near us, and catch the ice chunks as they came down the river. If we went near any lake, river, or stream, we had to keep her on leash, or she’d be halfway across that body of water before we could stop her. On the other hand, neither Ice nor Ayla want any part of water, except the muddy wading pool when we go out to visit “Gramma Deb” at the kennels. The only time they’ll use the wading pool we bought for them alone is if we toss something they want into the middle of it, then they’ll “snorkel” after it, and right out again as soon as they retrieve it.
Yep, as long as you can see the street signs, you don’t have enough snow! 😉
*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus
Very interesting! Just as with 2 leggers, 4 leggers all seem to have their own likes and interests.
Sounds like you live in the perfect place for all of you!
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions. Thank goodness for great neighbors needing to take care of their fur animals. But we do know, being hounds we would be in some serious trouble with 32″ of snow on the ground. Heck if you stacked us on top of each other we still could not get out of a snow drift that tall. 🙂 The HoundDogs
Pretty lucky that you have such great road service — unless you just really need a snow day from work! I’d have figured Rusty for the rebel who’d like to get in the water. Then again, Cheoah IS the otter!
Great questions and answers! It’s very convenient you live to close to those who will make sure the area is fully dug out. Was that planned?
I always love looking at your photos. You lead such a fun life.
Great Q & A. 🙂
32″ of snow…holy cow. But at least it does sound you have some pretty awesome neighbors and businesses near you to keep you moving about. 🙂
Very interesting post. Thanks! in responce to Sam; we used to have a Sibe, who would get up every morning, go to the pool, by herself and swim a couple of laps. Then she would roll in the dirt and come into the house. (they’re a special breed.) When we would swim with her, she would swim underwater with my husband. Quite a gal…
Oh I like this! I hope you do more of these posts!
Great Q&A session you guys! What we’d like to know is, does Rusty think he’s a herding breed, instead of a working breed? That’s the only thing we can think of for why he tries to herd you.
Or, he’s just a little weird. But, then again, we have Samuel, who is VERY weird, so weird is just fine in our book!!
Holly and Khady