Thinking of getting a Siberian Husky

Question
I have three kids 6, 9, and 12.  My oldest loves Siberian Huskies and she has posters of them in her room.  She has been asking for a long time and my wife and I are finally ready to let the kids have a dog though my wife would prefer more of a house dog.  My daughter runs track so excersing the dog won't be a problem but I'm  a little concerned about training and the size of the siberian husky. I know this may be a difficult to answer but can you reccomend a suitable replacement for the siberian husky, yet closely related enough that my daughter will see the resemblance and be satisifed?  My wife and I would prefer a medium sized dog that is very clean.  We would like to have a playful energetic dog yet docile enogh that it will be fine with 6 year old, oh and housebreaking ability is also big priority.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Well, definitely research any dog that you look into.  As for the Siberian, you mention size being an issue.  A Sibe from a good breeder should be within the breed standards.  A Siberian female should only weigh between 35-50 lbs and be less than two feet tall at the shoulder - a good definition of a medium sized dog - much smaller than labs, German Shepherds, etc.  Running track is definitely a good exercise outlet and that is needed for any dog, but especially for a dog bred to run as much as a Siberian.  Sibes are also meticulously clean animals as a whole (although that is put to the side in the interest of digging in the yard), and they are very good with children who are old enough to understand some rules of play with a canine.  Also, as for housebreaking - I had my female trained in 3 days, my male in 5 days when they were just puppies.  And the female was only 7 weeks old when we brought her home, the male was 8 weeks - so I think that qualifies as easy to housebreak.  The only things that you mention that is "anti-Siberian" are training and docile.

Siberians are very intelligent and ingenious problem solvers, which means that while they can LEARN quite a bit, that does not mean by any stretch that they will actually obey.  They are very stubborn and a challenge to train.  However, most Siberian owners find a level of joy in their disobedience as it is less being in charge of them and more being a partner in crime.  As for "docile" that is another minor issue.  The breed was designed to run with 15 friends, pulling a sled in the snow for several hours and repeat on a daily basis.  I always tell people that the Iditarod is 1100 miles and the 16 dog teams finish it in just over 9 days.  You therefore have a dog that is literally bred to run 110+ miles per day.  Siberians are also well known for the indoor "furniture Olympics" which often include high-speed sofa turns, the 15m coffee table hurdle, and hallway freestyle wrestling.  On the good side, furniture Olympics usually happen with multiple dogs more often.

As for a dog that is close in resemblance but is calmer and easier to train than a Sibe - I don't think there is one.  Now granted, some people might be feel that certain dogs do look like Siberians, but my opinion is that only an Alaskan Malamute "looks" like a Sibe, but they are two to three times larger and a little more clam than Sibes.  However, ANY spitz breed seems to share a general stubborness (and spitz breeds are pretty much any dog that has the "wolf-like" characteristics).  So you will be hard pressed to find any dog that looks like a Sibe but is easy to train.

The only other thing that I might be able to suggest is looking at a Sibe mix.  While a lot of shelters seem to call every dog with questionable breed stock a Husky mix, I would not tend to believe them.  However, a Sibe mixed with another dog who is calmer and more obedient might me a good thing.  However, any time you deal with mixed breeds, you never quite know what you are getting, so there is a little bit of risk there as well.

Hope that helps some, but feel free to write back if you have any other questions or concerns.