Shaiasaur Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Alright, guess who is back?! Moi! I've been thinking a lot lately that I would love to adopt a young adult / adult husky, and for many reasons, since I honestly feel too scared or worried about getting a puppy. This will be my first dog on my own (we had a family mut that passed away in 2006) but other than that, I've read around roughly 3 years of research on this breed alone, and I admittedly say what captured my attention on this breed was the beauty, and I wanted to understand how to take care of such a beautiful breed. Now, with being 19 I am going in my second year of college, and I have a car and am able to go back and fourth to let the dog out to the restroom and walk for a whole before I have to go back. But my real questions are, I work too and I am just worried about letting the dog out when I am not there. I'll lock him/her in a crate while I am gone but maybe I can hire someone to let them out, or I can even ask family members to stop by and let him/her out? I have a cat and I am planning on just locking him up in my room since that's all where he stays at. I am probably going to adopt once we are done with the house that is under construction. How do you guys do it when you work long hours and are unable to visit your adult husky on timely hours? I worry too much about that and I wish I could give my baby 24/7 attention, but honestly, we are all not capable of that! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osinn11 Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Hi Shaylynn! Welcome back! Glad to hear you are considering adopting/rescuing! We adopted both our pups as adults. They both came with thier own unique "issues" but nothing we weren't able to overcome through time and patience. Both our pups are crate trained and stay in thier crates while my wife and I work. Luckily for us my wife has a very flexible work schedule so the pups don't have to spend long days in thier boxes. We make sure they get plenty of exercise in the morning and have plenty of treats to keep them busy for the first little bit we are gone. What's a typical day for you? How many hours per day do you think your pup will be in a crate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted July 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Thanks for replying Osinn! I'm happy to hear equally that you adopted too! Saving a life is always the best and I want to contribute to that just as much. ^_^ I am not as equally as blessed since my mother works a lot and my uncle stays with us at the moment. He has a dog but cannot be by other dogs (I'm waiting until he moves to get the dog too). The thing about my schedule is that it's constantly changing. This semester in college the dog would be crated for around almost three hours on Monday and Wednesdays unless my job has me work right after. Tuesdays for probably 6 hours and Thursday for probably a couple hours and then I'll go home, then after around another couple hours go back to college and then that'll be 4 hours. On the weekends and Friday I'll probably work all day meaning from 11 to 9, but my mom or someone I hire/ask to stop by can give the pup some exercises and potty break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybeans Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Hi there Figured I'd pop in and give a little insight as well. I adopted Champ almost 11 months ago now and I must say that while rescues come with their issues they are so worth the work and it's amazing to watch them blossom in a loving and stable home. It doesn't sound like your schedule is too bad as far as the pup being out of their crate would be. The maximum amount of time I am willing to leave Champ in his crate is 9 hours, after that I start to get uncomfortable and have to go home right away. I currently work part time at a grocery store and some of my shifts are 9 or more hours long, but my partner is able to come home on his lunch breaks and take him for a walk if needed. A lot of the time though he gets off work before me so the pup is fine waiting until he comes home. I'm getting ready to start graduate school so I've been a little worried about him since my schedule is going to change drastically, but so far it looks like I'll only be going to school three days a week. The part that has me concerned is that I'm also going to be a graduate assistant and will have to cater my office hours to my class schedule and that could mean that I'm going to be gone for long periods of time. I can't leave him out because the little rascal likes to get into anything and everything to keep himself entertained so that means he'll be in his crate for a long time three days a week. But I know that I'll get it figured out and worked out with my partner. The only thing you can really do is try to get someone to let them out or take them to doggy day care if you can afford it. The pup will still be happy and healthy as long as you're giving them the exercise and attention they need when you're home and someone lets them out to potty if you're going to be gone for too long everything will work out just fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osinn11 Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Here at our house the lengths of time away don't seem to matter much as long as we keep the same routine. Personally I think establishing a routine and sticking to it really helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanki Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 I just adopted an older dog last week, she's my first dog and is seven. I got very lucky with her, she's already house trained, I can leave her alone for 12 hours and she's fine (accidentally slept in the other day), she is very friendly and so far has been easy to train (easy for a husky). I say if you have the time to walk it, train it and can take some time off for it to get used to you, do it. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. The best thing you could do is wear the dog out before you leave for class/work then it will probably just laze around/sleep until you get back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osinn11 Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 I say if you have the time to walk it, train it and can take some time off for it to get used to you, do it. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. The best thing you could do is wear the dog out before you leave for class/work then it will probably just laze around/sleep until you get back. Well said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 I think it's best to look out for a dog with a calmer disposition each Husky is an individual, and some are just very hyper. That's the best thing about rescuing; you know for sure what kind of dog you're bringing home. So thumbs up for rescuing oh and welcome back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted July 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice, and I love it all! Also, quick question, what do you do for exercising in the harsh cold winter months? I know Huskies thrive in the cold be us humans do not... So what do you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammybeans Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 I know a lot of people get plugged in with different mushing groups so their pups get exercise that way. Champ and I are backpack training so he's carrying weight on our walks, during the winter it can be hard to get out and actually walk but we manage it at least twice a day when the sun is up and it's a little warmer, otherwise he just gets put out on his tether and I stand there and watch him run around and play in the snow while I stay warm inside lol. I will admit that we get kind of lazy in the winter though. We also go to husky huddles with a group called H2M2 so that he can run and play in the snow with the other northern breeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 You can train your dog to do the following: - Mushing - Bikejoring/scootering - Weight-pulling - Backpack training (like Champ did) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Although my first two I got from puppies, I did rescue Kodiak. He is a lot more calm (usually) that Nikko is so that was good. I work full time M-F, but I am able to come home for lunch, so they are in their crates for no more than 4 hours a day. That's their routine though, I know people that can't come home and leave theirs alone for 8+ hours a day. Mine are also crated. Like it was said, try as best to stick to a routine. You can still do this even though you work different hours, such as going on a long walk before crate time, making sure they go potty right before, etc. In the winter....basicially I just suck it up. I knew they are huskies and that I would have to be walking at 6am when it is 0 degrees out! The only times I don't do walks is if it is raining/thunderstorming, or if it is brutally cold (like below zero with -10 wind chills!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted July 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2014 Okay, thank you for all of the feed back because it helps a butt ton! It really does! I'm so excited to be getting my baby but just the question is ... Is when! Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Okay, thank you for all of the feed back because it helps a butt ton! It really does! I'm so excited to be getting my baby but just the question is ... Is when! Haha I'm getting my second dog in at least 2 years from now should we go looking around together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted July 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Haha oh yeah we should! Why two years though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 I need to first transport the dog from Indonesia to Michigan once I leave the student housing As a freshman I'm required to live on-campus, and you can bet they're not pet-friendly. Once we're settled in a pet-friendly apartment and I got used to the idea of being both a student and a Husky owner, I'd start looking for a second Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted July 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Oh yeah I remember you said you wanted to go to Michigan and study. I wish you the best of luck and I know you'll go far! I'm in my second year of college, then maybe after this year I will see if I can get accepted junto Michigan State University and study for Veterinary Medicine. Ah I'm so excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted July 24, 2014 Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 I'm leaving for Michigan early August! I'll be in East Lansing by the 14th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted July 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2014 Awesome! I don't know when I'll be there but maybe we can meet up and have some fun together! ^_^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buna Posted August 7, 2014 Report Share Posted August 7, 2014 Great topic I rescued Buna (a 5 year old F husky) from the shelter 3 months ago. Since my partner and I are employed on a full time basis, the period of leaving her home alone at first sounded very challenging. For me, it was the hardest thing to go through with Buna, since she was an already grown up dog with well built personality and habits, on a new territory and with new owners..luckily (as there always has to be some luck involved my partner was on a leave for the first period of time so he could stay with Buna at home..but after that, we had to work hard to make her feel more comfortable at staying alone and to stop her bark/howl BUT..we got through it Now, she can be alone at home for at least 9 hours. Sometimes she does a mini mess but those are the times when she alerts that she didn't have her usual longer period of time for a run in the morning I think all of the habits can be altered and improved, but it takes a lot of effort and time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaiasaur Posted August 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2014 Awe well I'm happy for you and yeah that too is something I have to work on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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