Mika is GORGEOUS!! Thanks for the photos! :D
You may have a hard time washing her outside unless you can use warm water...at least I've tried to wash Nebo in cold water and it didn't work very well. I use Tomlyn brand Milk Shampoo (sold at Petco, maybe Petsmart too, also through Pet Edge) on my dogs. I can use it for free which is nice, it makes their coats very soft. There are lots of good dog shampoos on the market. You can buy a dryer through Pet Edge, they are pretty pricey though...$100+. It works really well to dry them fast and it blows out lots of the undercoat, it is loud though and some dogs get scared by the noise...my dogs are fine with it but huskies in general don't really like bathing and blow-drying. Do you have a self-service dog wash near you?
My dogs love being outside too, and Keva really loves to chew up plants and dig. I think letting them be outside is fine as long as the yard is secure, they just need to be able to go inside and spend time with their family as well. It sounds like Mika has lots of fun playing with your neighbors dog. :) If you have any husky questions feel free to ask me or others on this board, there's lots of "husky" people on here. Oh, and yes all huskies sleep in weird positions lol.
p.s. Here's a pic of my two :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...7/easter07.jpg