Goberian Dog Breed

The Goberian comes from two parent breeds in separate groups: the Golden Retriever (which the American Kennel Club (AKC) places in the sporting dog group) and the Siberian Husky (which the AKC places in the working dog group). Nevertheless, your Goberian may be suited for either category (i.e., sporting or working), or, as most designer dogs tend to be (especially as they are bred down a bit for size), she may be best suited as a companion — and that is usually the best, as she will be devoted to the family and within that family, she may pick one person with which she likes to be most the time.

PROS

• Extremely loyal
• Low-shedding coat
• Loves to make friends
• Very strong but non-aggressive
• Good watchdog; can be a good guard dog
• Great with kids, other pets and acquaintances
• Most health concerns of parent breeds are very low possibility due to cross-breeding

CONS

• Double coat will blow out once or twice a year depending on climate
• If not exercised frequently and regularly, may be prone to obesity
• Will roam if allowed outside in unsecured areas and off-leash
• Needs large home and outdoor property for room to run
• Training must be done with persistence and patience
• Must be brushed several times weekly
• Requires a lot of daily exercise

Goberians are hybrids and as such will inherit their characteristics from both parent breeds — in this case, Golden Retrievers and Siberian Huskies. If you plan on adopting one of these hybrid puppies, it is best to get Goberian information by learning about their parent breeds who are well-known for their hunting and work histories in water, swamps, woods and snow. Goberians are especially family-friendly, personally loyal and great with children and other pets even as they retain their hard-working and game-retrieval traits.

Goberians are highly intelligent and due to this, they tend to be difficult to train. Patience, persistence and a gentle hand are required to guide these puppies into happy, healthy and responsible adult dogs whose eagerness to please, desire to be with people and potential ability to work is fulfilled.

Due to the wide range of abilities that their parent breeds grant them — not to mention the mitigation of health concerns that cross-breeding gives a hybrid — the Goberian's loyal, outgoing and intelligent demeanor is backed by a workhouse mentality that works great when hunting. As they are essentially bred for companionship, however, their inherited working and hunting aspects are rarely employed.

Aside from grooming, you should be ready to set aside time for frequent, regular and energetic exercise, as these dogs need a lot of activity (as well as careful diets)to keep them from becoming obese. Likewise, leaving them alone for long periods of time may prompt bad behavior such as incessant barking and furniture-chewing. Just as they are not good for small apartments or being inside all the time, neither are they accustomed to be left to exercise on their own or left alone, for that matter.

Goberians are crossbred from Golden Retrievers and Siberian Huskies that, despite their parent breeds' established ad diverse histories, have very little history themselves. They are believed to be a designer dog whose mixed breed has been around for only a decade or so. Still, you can learn a bit about this Golden Retriever and Husky mix by learning about the two parent breeds.

The Golden Retriever is a very well-known breed despite the dog's relatively short history. Having been first known in the mid-19th century where it was developed in Scotland by a one Lord Tweedmouth, this remarkable hunting dog was the result of crossing the Irish Setter, the Newfoundland and the Tweed Water Spaniel with the desire being a dog that had the body, tolerance and intelligence to be specifically trained to hunt and retrieve birds from dense brush and difficult waters.

The Golden Retriever became very popular very quickly in the United Kingdom, and by the early 20th century had been introduced to the United States. The Golden Retriever was formally recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1925.

The Siberian Husky, on the other hand, has been around for approximately 3,000 years. This dog's development is accredited to a northeastern Asian culture known as the Chukchi people. This regional dog remained rooted to the area until just over a century ago when an inadvertent triumvirate of men — one from Russia, one from Denmark and one from Scotland — became responsible for importing the dogs for the 1909 and 1910 All Alaska Sweepstakes races that had an astounding first-place prize of $10,000. Although the "Siberian rats" (as they were insulting called by locals) came in third in the 1909 race, the three teams for which the Scotsman was responsible for importing for the 1910 race came in first, second and third – with the first team breaking a record.

The AKC formally recognized the Siberian Husky in 1930.

The Goberian is a medium- to large-sized Golden Retriever Husky mix that is cross-bred with a desire to get the Siberian Husky's piercing blue eyes and the Golden Retriever's namesake coat color. (Goberian puppies with blue eyes are irresistible!) Goberians tend to stand tall with an ample torso and sturdy rear legs.

As their parent breeds are distinctly different, your Goberian may end up looking very different from others — even if they come from the same litter! Still, they generally tend to have a round head with a long and narrow muzzle, large (and sometimes floppy) ears set well apart, and big paws. They will all have a long tail.

The coat type and color of this Husky Retriever mix is one of the key features of this designer dog, and there is a wide variety of styles that may develop. The hair on their tail may be very long, and the double coat may be extremely dense as well as present a pattern of gold interspersed with white, black, brown and sable that may culminate in a heart-shaped outline, widow's peak or speckled mask on the head.

Like most hybrid dogs, there are four basic variations of the Goberian (informally called the Husky Golden Retriever mix) breed generations: F1, F1b, F2 and F3. (It seems, however, that most breeders usually forgo getting to F2 with Goberians, as many claim to crossbreed this Husky Retriever mix with yet another purebred dog or back to a Siberian Husky.)

F1 Goberians come from cross-breeding a Golden Retriever with a Siberian Husky. This first generation hybrid, when crossbred with another F1 Goberian, produces an F2 Goberian; when two F2s are crossed, you get an F3 — and so on.

The variation within the variation, the F1B (and F2B, etc.), comes from cross-breeding a an F1 Goberian (or F2, etc.) with either a Golden Retriever or a Siberian Husky. Breeders tend to do this to either reduce the coat size (by breeding back to a Retriever) or intensify the eye color (with a Siberian Husky).

The coat of the Goberian is a double-coat inherited from the Husky, and while it ranges from medium-depth to very dense with the very long hair hanging off the torso and tail, the colors and patterns vary greatly from singularly gold to a multi-colored swath of swirling stripes topped by a mask that itself may come in many colors and patterns.

There are some breeders that claim to produce Mini Goberians, but there is very little information on how this is done or if such breeding down for size has been successful.

Goberians come from two great, hard-working and intelligent parent breeds who themselves are fond of companionship and make great family pets. They are, however, gentle dogs who require patience when training. While their eagerness to please will be brought out if they are socialized early, their intelligence can make training difficult.

They need a lot of exercise or they are prone to developing destructive habits as well as bark and howl to register their displeasure; they are very active dogs and you should be ready to accommodate this on a daily basis. As they prefer being outdoors, your yard should be very well-fenced as the desire to roam is strong in Goberians, and short or weak fences can be easily breached when that desire strikes.

As working dogs, the Goberian's intelligence, loyalty and obedience comes strongly to the fore — provided they have been socialized early, trained with a gentle consistency and allowed to choose the one person they prefer to be with (this latter aspect being normal behavior for this hybrid).

For the most part, Goberians are prone to few health problems. They do have one significant concern, however, and that is obesity. They need a lot of daily exercise, and they demand a lot of human companionship. Left alone and to their own devices with little or no exercise, they tend to quickly develop very bad habits that are usually expressed with destruction of property, barking and incessant howling. Close attention should also be paid to their diet.

Kept healthy, happy and sociable, your Goberian Husky Golden Retriever companion should live to be 10 to 15 years old — or even longer!