Huskies show off speed, smarts at Morton Arboretum

Kelly McCarthy of Woodridge found a big bite mark on her homework.

So her mom had to write a somewhat embarrassing note to her daughter’s teacher. Yes, the dog really ate the homework.

“He’s taken to devouring literature,” said Kelly’s mom, Jen McCarthy.

While her daughter’s assignment wasn’t exactly “War and Peace,” their 14-year-old Siberian husky, Behr, did take a big hunk out of the last chapter of “Harry Potter,” McCarthy said.

Arthritis and complications from anemia have sidelined Behr from pulling dog sleds on tracks through DuPage County forest preserves. McCarthy has to get creative to keep Behr active — and his nose out of a good read.

“If they don’t have a job, they will find one,” she said.

As any owner of a husky will tell you, the breed needs plenty of exercise and stimulation, or the canine will unleash a mischievous side.

Those were some of the insider facts husky lovers revealed at the Morton Arboretum’s Husky Heroes event Saturday. The annual event continues Sunday with demonstrations of the breed’s speed and intelligence. A rescue group also will be on hand with huskies available for adoption.

Pam and Rich Biederman bundled up and brought a camera to cheer on the dog sledding teams at the end of a quarter-mile course near the arboretum’s Visitors Center.

“This is the one opportunity in this area to really see huskies do their thing,” Pam Biederman, of Naperville, said.

McCarthy led presentations on what the dogs are “born to do.”

After the dogs whizzed through the course Saturday, packs of huskies curled up on a bedding of hay, despite the frigid air.

A fluffy undercoat and thick hair deep into their ears keeps the huskies warm, McCarthy explained.

She taps that knowledge to help find permanent homes for dogs rescued from high-kill shelters through Adopt-a-Husky, a nonprofit group that returns to the arboretum Sunday.

They aren’t the best “couch companion,” but huskies make great family pets, McCarthy said.

“They are such a loving breed,” she said.

Husky Heroes runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the arboretum, 4100 Route 53 in Lisle.

For details, call (630) 968-0074 or visit mortonarb.org