Goberian – Golden Retriever Siberian Husky Mix

Hudson is 90lbs, with a thick second coat that appears more lab like that a typical husky. He has white and black coloration throughout with gold covering his back legs. His ears are floppy, however they have a hitch and sometimes get stuck in the upright position. He has a long, curly tail that is most certainly his defining husky trait, next to his icy blues.

Sully came from a litter of 7 and was the only pure white pup. He’s often mistaken for a White German Shepherd, with his upright ears and a feathered retriever tail. He has a typical husky thick double coat with a super dense, fine undercoat. His winter topcoat hair is very long, and he appears to be quite a ‘fluffy’ boy compared to siblings, with an impressive mane making him look a bit wolf-like. People are often surprised at how soft his fine coat is, like rabbit fur. He is a fairly lean dog, hovering around 30kg which is probably quite low on the Goberian weight scale, though he will fill out a little as he matures. He has more pronounced husky physical characteristics, but with a softer looking face and ears that go up and down depending on his mood.

Really a perfect mix of Goldens and Huskies. He is extremely talkative, loves to howl and moan at us all day, especially at ambulances. He is obsessed with the snow and tries to bury his whole face in it anytime he gets. He is extremely loyal and truly aims to please people. When we go to dog parks, he makes sure to greet all humans and solicit free pets before running up to the other dogs.

We are fortunate to have a good mix of the best bits of the two breeds combined in Sully. He’s super friendly with everyone and actively seeks attention from passers-by when we are out and about and keen to greet other dogs. We soon realised that he moderates his behaviour around children and tends to just roll over for tickles, which kids love. We couldn’t be happier with his temperament and generally he’s friendly with strange dogs, though like humans, there’s always the odd exception! For early socialisation (during Covid) we took him to ‘parties’ at a local field which proved he has pretty good manners through play, though submissive at times as a pup, he seems to have outgrown this now.

Hudson’s appearance is certainly more Husky. He has piercing blue eyes, a long curly tail, black and white coat, and thick tough paws. It is only when I see him standing next to a Golden that I realize the similarity in body type. Also, he is always smiling and has floppy ears, which he certainly gets from his golden half. As far as temperament, it’s almost all Golden. I’ve had Huskies in the past, and they are typical introverts and prefer personal space. Hudson has to be near humans at all time and loves to shove a tennis ball in your lap until you submit to play fetch. He is a social chameleon though. When playing with a Husky, he adapts to their mouthy neck biting play style, and with goldens he flops around on the ground and lays belly up!

I have to lean quite heavily towards the Husky side for Sully. Though we did do an Embark genetic and health screen test which showed he’s actually 51% Retriever, so there you go. They also identify the distant genetic ‘wolfiness’ score and he does rate high on the scale which was very interesting to find out. I’d say Sully has the loyalty, prey drive, stubbornness, appetite, chatter and wit of a Husky and the loving, lazy, goofy part of the Retriever. 100% a good boy!

I think most of the time we see a pretty even mix between the two breeds, but at times she might show more Golden traits. She is a very social, gentle, and affectionate dog and will always seek out attention from anybody around, which probably comes from the Golden Retriever side of her. However, she can also be very stubborn at times, especially when we want her to do something she doesn’t want to. This probably comes from her Husky side.

High [exercise needs] … very high. He is the mix of two very active breeds and requires roughly 4-5 miles per day. Thankfully, he is a very social dog and can get a large amount of his energy out at the dog park. In addition, he loves to be offleash in Central Park. His recall is temperamental. He displays the husky stubbornness every now and then.

We are able to stick to a good, regular routine with his exercise fortunately as his dad loves outdoor time. Unsurprisingly he enjoys 7 – 9 miles (over 3 walks) on an average day, more at weekends if we head out to countryside, though I think he would be fine with less. He is proving to have a high prey drive, so although he’s friendly enough off leash, if he sees a bird/rabbit/mouse, he’s off. No looking back! Until (and if) we have success with a confident recall we’re using a 15m longline for any hikes, beach or open spaces to run off any surplus energy, which works great without the risk of watching him disappear into the sunset in pursuit of something interesting.

He’s actually really lazy from the minute he’s back home and he’s happy snoozing the day away around our feet or bird-watching on the back doorstep. He’s pretty undemanding and chill around the house and isn’t a chewer or a digger, but I’m sure this is down to good early training and providing him with enough exercise and stimulation.

Absolutely! We try to take her, at the very minimum, on a walk every day. If she doesn’t exercise for a day and is cooped up inside, she can get a little stir-crazy and will pace around the house. We love taking her outdoors on hikes, trips to the beach, and playdates with other dogs. These activities are crucial to her health and well-being.

Surprisingly, he sheds far less that his purebred parents. Their coat is thick but feels more similar to a long haired lab. It is waterproof and dries quickly.

Affectionately known as Goberian Glitter. Shedding didn’t start until he was six months, not too bad at first but then we had the first proper blow-out from March which lasted two months. I wasn’t mentally prepared for this and neither was my hoover. It’s a never-ending snowstorm at this point and even with daily brushing we had dust-bunnies of hair in every corner. I hoover the house 2-3 times a day and it’s full every time. Dinner isn’t dinner unless we have a couple of Sully hairs in it. They blow their coats twice a year so it’s a real consideration if you are houseproud, and shed to some degree all year round. That said, not all Goberians are seasonal heavy shedders, it’s the luck of the genetic draw.

We knew this was something to expect and as they say, it’s 100% worth it and a small price to pay.

Yes and no. Both Huskies and Golden Retrievers “blow their coats” twice a year during Spring and Fall, which means they shed their entire undercoat within the span of about a month. For these two to three months of the year the shedding is a mess and covers everything in sight with her white undercoat fur. However, for the rest of the year she has very little to no shedding at all. Overall, the shedding is very manageable if we stay on top of it.

His coat isn’t hard to maintain with a quick daily brush, other than being white of course! We do use a professional groomer every 8 weeks, but more to check nails and hygiene trim. He appears to enjoy the pamper time there which takes 1 and ½ hours due to the drying time because of his dense coat. The cost is a little prohibitive to go more often, so we have just built our own outdoor hot & cold-water bath/grooming station and invested in a blaster dryer as his coat takes up to eight hours to dry naturally.

They are extremely intelligent. Not hard to teach them commands, however they are not extremely food motivated and tend to be a bit stubborn. If you find toys or balls to get his interest, you are in the clear. The largest challenge has been walk training. They are truly built to pull, so it takes some time to teach them how to walk side by side as companions.

He is smart. Super smart. And equally as stubborn! Teaching all the early basics was straight forward and he was potty trained in the first week at home. We opted to use crate training for sleep/ time-out as a pup and he was happy in there, but we graduated away from it at around 8 months as he proved himself to be a good boy if we left him alone for any length of time. He has a good recognition of lots of vocabulary and if he’s feeling compliant, he will do anything to please, but conversely if he’s not in the mood his hearing suddenly becomes selective and he will avoid eye contact. I think with the right training method and lots of patience you could teach them almost anything.

Effective recall is our only sticking point (the husky in him) and although we do sometimes let him off-leash, we are very selective about this and make sure there’s minimum likely distractions, though we don’t always get it right! We advocate positive reinforcement methods of letting him know when he’s being good and re-directing from anything ‘bad’. He continues to be a ‘puller’ on the lead if we are anywhere new, or somewhere we need to keep him close, or he’s wanting to engage with other dogs, and to be fair to him this is borne through frustration as he behaves perfectly when he has the freedom of the longline.

It was actually pretty easy! She is an extremely smart dog so she was able to quickly pick up on most things. Kona is also very food-motivated, which definitely made the training easier. I think the hardest part of her training was the potty training. One of our favorite stories from that phase is when she was a puppy, she ran over to my Dad’s office, looked him straight in the eyes, and laid a huge poop right in front of him. Almost as if she was only doing it because she knew she wasn’t supposed to (again, the Husky stubbornness).

Extremely [family friendly]. Loves children and babies and is very delicate. He once passed a toddler and made sure to give them a gentle kiss on the face as he passed by. I don’t have children yet but I can promise he would be a fantastic family dog.

Absolutely! As with all breeds early introduction and setting boundaries plays a major part and he now sees everyone as a potential playmate, probably a bit too trusting at times! He certainly wouldn’t challenge a burglar….We’ve said many times he would make a great therapy dog as he thrives on attention and is gentle with strangers. Because he’s a bit different-looking people often stop to chat and he knows he can command attention by being cute and handsome, a winning combination! His absolute best friend is a neighbours’ female Malamute, it’s definitely love…

Definitely! Kona is a very loving and social dog, but is also extremely loyal and protective. I think the Golden Husky breed combines excellent traits from both breeds that can lead to a great family dog. She’s also great with little kids!

I have to say yes, they can to some extent, but we attribute this to the early ‘working from home’ environment created by the pandemic and he therefore didn’t really know anything else. He appeared anxious when mum left the house for short periods as she’s the one that’s been home all of the time, whereas he’s used to the rest of the family coming and going. He would fret a little and just sit waiting at the window, it didn’t manifest into destructive or extreme behaviour, and we’ve overcome this more recently by leaving him for up to 4 hours alone on a few occasions to make it less stressful in the future. We have a doggy cam and he now just snoozes.

He has the run of the house these days and chooses to sleep on the cool porch floor overnight rather than in the bedrooms or his own bed, so he doesn’t appear to be too needy for contact. He allows us to willingly leave him at groomers etc without fuss so his anxiety levels appear low as he trusts us to come back.

Sully developed fussy eating habits from around 7 months old, around the same time he realised he could manipulate us with a bit of strong will as his preference was, and will probably always remain, bits of human food.

We have had to be tougher on him since realising his wily ways, to ensure he eats an appropriate diet rather than supplementing him with things he prefers, and he has proven he can go for a good 48+ hours without food if he’s being particularly stubborn! We’ve found a good balance by just feeding him once, very late in the day, which is quite typical for an adult husky and ensures he’s ready for a good meal.

Sully is not food driven in the slightest and we haven’t found anything high value enough to use as training treats to keep him engaged. On a good day some cubes of cheese or cooked chicken might get his attention, but only if he’s in the mood. More often than not a treat will just bounce off his head or he spits them out!

Don’t go in with too many specific expectations. They are a newer breed and there tend to be a lot of variation from looks, temperament and size. Either way- they are the mix of two tremendous breeds and regardless of how the genes shake out – you will have yourself one of the best companions you could find.

Do your research on how the breed would fit into your family and lifestyle and engage with other owners if you can. There’s some excellent Facebook discussion groups where you can find honest answers to everything there is to know about Goberians. The combination of the breeds means their characteristics and personalities can be very diverse from dog to dog so it’s important to be aware you may not get the exact model you wished for. Find a reputable breeder early, only a couple recognised to date in the UK that I’m aware of, and build up a relationship with them if you’re sure this breed is a good fit. Most likely you will need to go on a waitlist and be super patient. A good breeder will screen potential buyers thoroughly and prepare you for welcoming a Gobie pup into your life.

Be realistic about the demands a larger, super-active breed requires, as it really is a full-time occupation to give them the tools and consistency they need to learn, thrive and become an integral part of the family.

We get this question all the time and it’s actually a funny story. A friend of a friend had a Golden Retriever that had “accidental” puppies with their neighbor’s husky (he jumped the 7 foot fence to get to her). The timing just happened to work out when we were looking for a dog! We actually haven’t heard of any dedicated Goberian breeders but think that they would be an excellent idea.

Do your research on both breeds! It’s important to understand that both Golden Retrievers and Huskies are very active dogs and they need to exercise! If you can’t provide an active lifestyle for your Golden Husky it might not be the dog for you. But if you can, you will have a great relationship with your pup and will thoroughly enjoy taking them everywhere with you.

We started our Goberian journey prior to the pandemic, deciding we wanted our first family dog and agreeing on our ideal breed and later finding a potential breeder. However, the demand for puppies in the UK exploded during 2020 and our breeder of choice was inundated with requests to go on the same waitlist, influencing the price they commanded. Despite the fact they are not a fully recognised breed in their own right in the UK and a relatively unheard-of combination, the qualities both physically and in temperament mean they are creeping into higher demand and combined with little availability, this is reflected in a healthy price tag equivalent to KC registered pups of other breeds.