Layla does not have diabetes.

And thank goodness for that! She does not need another ailment and I don't need another thing to worry about.

We were a bit worried about her weight. Female huskies should ideally weigh no less than 35 lbs and no more than 50 lbs. Layla weighed more than 50 lbs even before she hit a year old. She gained weight fast from the first day she came home with me. We did not feed her any more than we fed Lobo and yet Lobo is taller and lean. Layla was...chubby. She gained an ounce for every kibble she ingested. We were scared that she may have diabetes thus causing the cataracts.

Whether Layla suffers from cataracts or glaucoma is up to the specialist to diagnose. Right now, all we know is that her left eye isn't right.

Reading up on eye diseases on siberian husky I found out that these eye diseases are either inherited or caused by old age. Since Layla is only a year old, hers could not be caused by old age but inherited. According to her breeder none of Layla's parents had eye diseases which would only mean one thing, both her parents are carriers of the recessive gene. Unfortunately for Layla, she got both genes; one from her mom and one from her dad.

Hopefully, the specialist can still do something for Layla. We're making the appointment to see how we can help Layla. In the meantime I'm going to contact her breeder to let her know that both Layla's parents should be taken out of the breeding program.

She's a brave girl.

Layla just turned a year old just this past December, for me she's still a puppy but to a lot of people she's more of a preteen.

Layla was a "returnee". A couple bought her from the breeder. A few months later, governed by the breeder's policy, she was surrendered because the couple was getting a divorce. A month after she was returned I adopted her, took her home, bathe her, fed her, bought her things she needed for a comfortable first night at her new home only to find out that she has some problems. She was skittish. She was hand-shy. She was extremely nervous, anxious, and a bit distrustful of everything and everyone.

Her first night was difficult. She was so used to staying outside in a crowded kennel with other puppies. She marked inside the house, our other husky was trying to dominate her and chase her, she ran through and broke the screen door probably not knowing it was there. I couldn't sleep that night because she was constantly checking up on me, maybe to see if I'm still there. She would jump on my chest taking me by surprise and put all her weight on me. She clearly needed to adjust, she needed reassurance, she needed comfort and did not know how to get it.

It's almost been a year since she first came home with me and she is a changed pup. She's happier, more playful, a little more trusting of people but still a little on guard. She warms up to strangers quicker than she did a year ago. She knows basic commands. She loves the snow, she loves to pull the bike, she loves running, she loves her treats, her toys, and us.

Layla has clearly grown up. She had her first physical check up in March this year and she checked out fine. She passed with flying colors; ears, eyes, lungs, heart, blood, liver, kidneys, except she had tartar which to the vet, is something minor since she will have her dental cleaning in August.

Last week, on my way out to work, I noticed that she could not open her left eye when she came to greet me. After a brief look over I noticed that her sclera is red instead of white. We took her to the vet immediately and she came home with some eyedrops and antibiotic. A couple of days after I noticed that the same irritated eye was a bit cloudy...or was it a reflection of our white walls? I was not sure until my husband noticed that the cloudiness I've been noticing was inside her eye. After looking it over on the internet I quickly narrowed it down to two things; glaucoma or cataract.

I was devastated. I do believe that I am more affected about her condition than she is. I called the emergency vet and brought her in. I love being right, but who does not! But this time I wished so much to be wrong. I would have been happy if I was wrong, but I was not.

We took her in to her regular vet and they did more blood test because a dog as young as Layla should not have cataract unless it is congenital. Her vet was worried that she may have diabetes which is the leading cause of cataract on a very young animal. He also said that although cataract is common in some breeds including Siberian Huskies, it normally does not start until 6 years of age. He wanted to rule out diabetes first before doing anything else.

This was so sudden. We did not see it coming. She just had her physical and she was fine. I do not understand. I do not think Layla understands either but her condition, whatever it is, does not seem to bother her one bit. She remains happy and in good spirits and still the sweetest little baby girl on the block. Througout these vet visits she remains so well behaved. She would look at me with those big brown eyes as if she's telling me "It's ok mommy. I'm going to be just fine."

I think she remains brave mostly for me.

An awesome show!

It was our 2nd wedding anniversary but the gifts we received were for the entire family. Actually, it's what we really needed to keep our huskies in check.

Last year, the gifts were traditional; paper. This year, it was not so traditional. My in-laws gave us the entire first season of the "Dog Whisperer". We have heard so much about this show, although we have cable we do not get the Discovery channel where they air the show.

I have read numerous articles about the husky breed, from all those, I gathered that they always have to lead. They are huskies and were born to pull. I never thought the dog whisperer's way will work on huskies; that huskies need a different set of training methods.

We walk our huskies on a retractable leash or a rope to the point that they have us trained. They are suppose to lead, not us. Easing up the walk, means long leash.

According to the dog whisperer, that is all wrong. Basically, we need to retrain our dogs and at the same time, ourselves. We need to let them know that we're the alpha male and female, not them. We must walk the dog on a much shorter leash and with confidence.

Lo and behold, in a week, the pulling has stopped! Well, I'll be!!! By George, they've got it!!!

Finally. Now, we just need to get Layla used to kids.

Show mommy!

This is a command that works on both our huskies. They respond to it in two different ways.

When Lobo wants something, he howls at me to follow him to where he wants me to come. Generally, when he howls, he takes me to the direction of the kitchen. Why the kitchen? That is where his treats are and where his dishes are. When he gets to the kitchen, he howls again. This is when I say, "show mommy". He would normally point his nose to where his treats are sitting on the counter or if it is water he wants, he points his nose towards the empty water bowl.

Layla on the other hand, is the quiet type but very clumsy. For a princess, this one has no grace. While Lobo moves with grace, like he has spring under his paws, my baby girl is the complete opposite. When she feels like a treat or if she wants me to follow her somewhere, she would hop on me. It's sort of funny, because to everyone else, it would look like she wants to ride on my back. She would totally put all 50 lbs. on me if I were sitting on the floor and she wants my attention. Anyhow, we've been so used to Lobo's body language being that we've had him much longer and had hours of one-on-one with him, that he is a lot easier to read. Layla is a whole different ball game. It takes me a few minutes to read her before I figure out that she wanted something. She uses the same body language for everything else that it makes it difficult to understand what she means.

After she'd try to squash me under her 50 lb. frame she'd take 2 steps forward, look back to see if I'm coming or not. If she sees me moving she'll keep going but if I don't budge (because I'm being dense), she'll keep trying to sit on me. That is when I start to get it. So she also makes sure that I follow her and again, like Lobo, we quickly move to the kitchen. Once there, I command her "show mommy". She'd just stares at the counter where the treats sit or she would circle her dish if it's water she wants all very quietly at the same time, clumsily. All these without making a peep. So different, don't you think?

Clearly our huskies have developed their own identities.

Disclaimer:
Our dogs have never been to obedience training, they are not professionally trained.

And they flunked!

About 2 weeks ago, we tried to have our two huskies evaluated to qualify for temporary lodging at a doggie hotel. We did not want them home alone while we were at an important wedding, we thought that was being too mean. The doggie hotel was too cool, you can see your dogs the entire day because they have a live webcam, not that we're going to have our laptop to watch the webcam during the wedding.

First day of evaluation, Lobo did ok. Alert and curious he was exploring the new place, which was expected. Layla, on the other hand, was scared. She did not want anything to do with the stange man that was evaluating her. His methods were quite like the dog whisperer's way on the discovery channel. He said that Layla's reaction may be due to stress and unfamiliar surroundings. The huskies were probably unsure because there were a lot of dogs already in the kennel. He suggested that we take them back the next day. So we did.

Day two, he suggested that we leave the dogs for a couple of hours. Two hours is the maximum time before they notice that "mom and dad" are gone and become antsy. Sounds like a 5 year old on his first day of kindergarten? Definitely! Sure enough, after two hours of playing with other dogs, they wanted OUT! He then suggested that we leave them there the next day for half a day.

Day three, Lobo and Layla wanted NOTHING to do with the doggie hotel or the possible play time they may have had. That was a bummer! You have to understand, these dogs, especially Lobo, are mellow dogs. They are very social and friendly with people and other dogs and yet THEY FLUNKED!

This is just my opinion, I think our huskies are too attached to us and have developed an affinity to a certain routine and familiar places that any deviation from it will lead to anxiety. I guess our lives are pretty routine (work/home) and we're comfortable with it, hence, our puppies are too. Hmmm, in the end...this reflects badly on our lives. It's routine!

This is our male husky, Lobo. He is a natural athlete with all the keen senses of a wolf but the disposition of a puppy. He just turned 3 years old earlier this month.

This picture was taken during our recent trip to Donner Pass, Lake Tahoe. He absolutely loves the winter. We indulge him with a few minutes of freedom to just run around the snow unleashed and wild. It's amazing how this 50-lb. pooch, who has never seen snow until last winter season, taken in the surrounding white powder of snow like he has lived in it all his life. Agile and graceful even in the thickest and deepest of this white fluff.

The biggest misconception about huskies is that they are mean dogs. On the contrary, Siberian Huskies are sweet and affection dogs. If entered in a contest for best guard dog, huskies would score the least...better yet, flunk. I do believe though that they could become protective when necessary be it out of loyalty or in defense of their humans.

Although they strongly resemble their ancestor, the wolf, they are not at all vicious. I always say that if there was a burglar in the house, the huskies would gladly welcome the company and even show the burglar around if it means the human will stick around.

This other husky here is our female, Layla. She's our little princess...in every sense of the word. I would like to believe that this "attitude" is due to the reason that she just turned 1 and still considered a pup. She is such a cutie and boy does she know how to work it. Traumatized from the mistreatment of her previous owner left her a bit skittish and aloof, mistrusting the smallest of hand gestures. Despite these, she is extremely sweet and affectionate once she has warmed up to you. I say, time heals everything and Layla's condition is no exception.