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Hello From Retford


Mark Marples

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Hi guys, firstly can i say what a informative forum this is, over the last week i heave spent my spare time trawling the interwebby looking for information on Huskys, and have spent many an hour lurking on the forum

 

ok on to me and Blaze, well Ruth and Jamie as well.....

 

we have been looking for a family dog for a while (we have had several collies in the past but currently dont have a dog), we decided to check out the local rescue home, and low and behold a Husky called Blaze found us, he we immediately affectionate, with my 9 year old son Jamie and obeyed full commands off him. so after some time to think and research he have agreed to take him. (he was only handed in after a relationship break up), we are an active family walking and cycling most days anyway so he will get plenty of exercise with us.

 

but i do have 2 questions if someone can guide us

 

1 - food, at the kennels he eats pedigree but weve heard he be better off on Eden or Millies wolfhear, is that right?

 

and 2 - he have 4 Hens, that are fully caged up in the garden, is there an easy way to de-sensitise Blaze to them, he cant get to them but i dont really want him going crazy trying to

 

Thanks

 

Mark

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Welcome to Husky Owners and kudos for giving Blaze a home. Can't address the alternative foods you mentioned, as I'm in the US and not familiar with those foods. With regard to the hens, not sure how to advise you. Perhaps he will get used to their existence, but I would not underestimate the cunning of a Husky.

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Hi Mark. :welcomepack: Glad you've stopped lurking :) with regards to your questions 1) food is a big decision for your new fur kid there are many people on here that would recommend a raw diet and others that will recommend a good quality kibble. There are lots of threads on raw feeding and normal feeding to look through here. Personally we feed our boy a raw diet now. We used Royal Canin Giant Junior when he was younger but at about 9 months he went right off of it and hasn't touched much kibble since. We periodically pop a bowl down as it'd be easier for him to eat kibble if he needs to be kennelled when we go away in the future. He's currently 16 months old and weighs 55kg!

2) sadly I can't offer any advice about the chickens, only that Husky's and Mals have very high prey drives.

I'm sure someone will be along later who can advise you about this more than I can though. Welcome once again :)

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hello and welcome, my husky was a rescue and we tried several foods as he couldn't tolerate most things then I came across "vets kitchen" it's a dry kibble and comes in 2 flavours, I've only seen it in asda but you can get it of amazon cheaper. can't help with the chickens.

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welcome to husky owners.  Not heard of the foods mentioned.  Wainwrights is a good brand, it's manufactured by pets at home and is pretty much on a par with James well beloved (an expensive holistic brand) but considerably cheaper, look it up and see what you think.

 

With regards to the chickens, good luck!  Not much you can do about prey drive, I'd reccommend ensuring they are kept as far away from him as possible and as securely as possible, as it's very likely he'll kill them given a chance.  It's just a genetic thing that you can't really do much about.  Some huskies have a higher prey drive than others, so fingers crossed your baby has a lower one! 

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Welcome to the forum :) Cant help you food wise as i feed mine a raw diet :)

 

Chicken wise my two would kill a chicken instantly if they could get to it and i know full well if there were some caged up in the garden even secure they would go mad trying to get to them... its just a natural instinct.

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Hi Mark, Ruth & Jamie, welcome to Husky Owners. Glad you're no longer a "lurker"

 

Well done on helping a rescue dog out, Blaze sounds like he's fallen on all 4 paws with you.

 

Food: there is so much advice about this topic that it really is down to the individual what they want to feed their dog, a lot will be dictated by the dog as it may be intolerant to certain dry / wet foods. We predominantly give our 3 raw (beef, fish, chicken carcasses / wings, offal etc) but they also periodically have dry biscuit (kibble) covered in tinned sardines in sunflower oil and the like; just make sure it is a decent brand of kibble & does not have a high ash content. Alternatively, we also feed trays of Wainright "wet" food occasionally so they are getting a "mixed bag" of nutrients.

 

You need to decide what is right for you & Blaze but I'm sure he'll adapt to whatever you decide on.

 

As for the chickens, I would give them a very wide berth if you are to keep them; we went camping a few years ago and a chicken flew over the windbreak right in between Myshka & Diesel - the caravan jolted as they played tug-of-war with this poor bird. We rescued it but it died. You may find, like ours that it's all in the chase & once the "prey" has stopped moving, Blaze loses interest, but it will be too late for your chickens :(

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