my dad had a pure breed husky when he was in his later thirties and he absolutly loved her...he got her when she was a pup and was able to train her amazing. Loyal, loved fishing and hunting, and was fantastic with kids. when i was 9 or so we got another pure breed siberian, however, she was a race dog and always wanted to run, we got her at around 9 months which made it difficult to train, but like others have said, this one was born to run, and needed to run everyday, but she was absolulty enjoyable. we never took her hunting but fishing, she loved! those dogs have made me loyal to that breed...with a little patients those are IMO the best dogs ever, which made me go to their bigger cousin the malamute 2 years ago. We got Gus when he was a 8 wks old and have trained him well...like huskies and malamutes they can be stubborn but they are extremely smart. Patience with any breed and you will have a fantastic friend!