So, this companion animal groomer (the girl with the dogs) with a TikTok account has boldly and successfully – judging by the more than 10m views – claimed that a husky is a cat in a dog’s body by which she means they are ‘incredibly stubborn’ and hard to train. My research confirms it. And the reason is because they are working dogs bred to pull sledges in the snow. They’ve not been selectively bred to be close companions to humans. Her statement also says that cats are stubborn and hard to train. I am not sure about stubborn. I think that is unfair. Hard to train? Well, harder than dogs except for the husky! But cats are very trainable. Dr Fogle DVM says that training cats is logical and he firmly advocates it. The fact of the matter is that cats train humans all the time and vice versa. It is carried out very surreptitiously. Humans don’t recognise that it has happened: the feeding of treats at a time dictated by the cat and many other examples.
The problem with the groomer’s assessment about cats is they have been artificially selected to be companionable and entertaining and they’re still stubborn 😊. They are not working animals in the conventional sense. Perhaps we can see a big difference between dogs and cats. The pack animal who wants to please the top dog – the owner – and ‘The Cat That Walked by Himself’ in the words of Rudyard Kipling. The inherently solitary animal. But this is untrue. Domestic cats are perfectly sociable 10,000 years after their initial domestication.
And about the husky in the video. I see a very cooperative animal. No bother. Pliable, friendly and pleasant! Where does the groomer get her ideas from? Perhaps she edited the video a hell of a lot! We don’t see the stubborn bits.
How silly but I see more lost Huskies then any other breed. It’s nearly impossible to keep them in a fenced yard. It’s go go go with a Husky. It’s in their DNA to run, run, and run. We have a Husky owner here who’s dog ends up at the shelter at least once a month. When his dog disappears he knows where to find him. He even put up a 6 foot fence, he’s chained him, and still can’t keep him in the yard. He finally had to put him in doggy day care while at work. P.S. if he leaves him alone in the house he eats the door, curtains etc. Separation anxiety maybe but it’s just in his DNA to run (work). What she describes I see in the working dog group that’s been in their DNA forever to do a job not sit around the house.