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[Sarah&Tesla]

Hello!

My name is Sarah, and I am about to bring a 10~ month old husky mix home from the pound. She was a stray, and the pound's best guess is that she may have Samoyed and Border Collie in her lineage, although she is very very husky like in appearance. I honestly was somewhat surprised they didn't think she was a pure bred. The name the shelter workers chose for her was Juno, but I am changing her name to Tesla.

I've grown up with and been around dogs most of my life, but from what I've been reading, Huskies are unique in many ways. I want to give my new family member as good and fulfilling a life as possible, and be prepared for whatever new adventures she throws my way. I've been researching like a fanatic since I decided to apply for her, but I also feel that there is no substitute for hands on experience and knowledge. I would be thrilled if some of you would share with me some of your experiences, what I might expect from my new dog and so on. 

My foremost concerns are these:

1. What to feed her. When does a husky puppy typically need to stop eating puppy chow and be given adult food? Do your dogs thrive on dry or wet? What brands are ideal? 

2. If I want to bring her to the dog park to play, how do I go about introducing her into that environment seeing as I have no knowledge of her previous experiences or socialization? I know she is excited by and not initially aggressive towards other dogs by watching her at the pound, but do huskies typically muck in with strange dogs without drama, or are they likely to be picked on or instigators? 

3. I know that she loves to play fetch and to chew. What toys and activities do your huskies most enjoy, so that I might try them with her? 

4. Crate training. I've read that huskies have a natural affinity towards dens, and adapt easily. I really want this to be true, but have you faced challenges? How best to overcome them?

5. Huskies and water. What are the chances that she'll come swimming at the local lake with my family, or be terrified to get her toe wet in the bath?

6. Leash discipline. Nobody has taught this dog how to walk on a leash, and she is both higher energy and less interested in treats than any dog I've interacted with before. Then again, she is in an unfamiliar and extreme high stress situation, so it is entirely possible she'll be easier to train than I expect. What have you done in the past to ensure good leash manners?

 

Thank you for your time!

 

Edited July 19, 2015 by Sarah&Tesla

[robke]

 TO 

[Mobezilla]

Welcome, and congratulations on starting your new adventure with Tesla! 

First and foremost, make sure you have a secure area when you bring her home. I've seen a few cases, including a personal friend of mine, whose dogs have gotten out when coming out. in my friends case the dog broke out the screen and window that had been open for the night when my friend was asleep. So don't underestimate the prowess of a siberian, and ensure she is safely contained

For food, she can be on adult food now. Most people switch at 6 months and a lot of people do so earlier. Look into raw feeding for the healthiest diet. If you can't do raw, look into good grain-free brands like Acana, Orijen, Merrick, Fromm, TOTW, and etc. I personally feed Acana and my dogs have thrived on it. Keeping in mind these may seem like 'more expensive' brands, but they have more protein. For example my rescue Link ate 6 cups of Pedigree with the old owner but only 2.5 cups of Taste of the Wild with me. So you'll be spending more per bag but the bag will last you longer, and your dog will be healthier.

Dog park I won't go into myself. My dogs adapted fine but I am not one to suggest techniques and give advice.

Crate training, I never had issues and my dogs love their crates. Make it a safe, fun place. Throw toys in there that she likes. Feed her breakfast and dinner in there. When you close the door only leave for a few seconds, building yourself up to the amount of time you leave the room to minutes, 20 minutes, etc. And when you leave her in there with the gate closed, give her a peanut butter kong or elk antler to have as a distraction.

Water is 100% up to the dog. Some huskies LOVE it. Some huskies HATE it. It's more dog-personality based than breed based. The only problem is huskies *are not off leash* dogs. So letting her loose at a lake where there is no secure fence is not a good idea. Even sibes with the best of recall, the "exceptions to the breed", have been lost due to chasing something, often due to their incredibly high prey drive. I unfortunately had someone in my states husky group loose their dog last year because they thought their dog was an exception and while hiking it chased a squirrel across a road and got hit by a car. So just be very careful with that. If you visit the lake, you can use a long lead. Indi-Dog can make you a nicely priced one. And just her decide if she wants to go in or not ^-^

Leash manners.. What works for one dog may work for another, I personally just stop and have them come back to my side and we start walking again. They're allowed to be in front, but not pull me down. So the moment someone pulls, they must come back by my side, and they are rewarded and we continue. Consistency will be the key, but with you being unsure if shes food motivated or not, you'll have to find what motivates her.

Best of luck with Tesla, and don't forget to show us some pics

Edited July 19, 2015 by Mobezilla

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Welcome to the pack

[Andy]

[Carly]

Hello and welcome 

[Emma]

Hi there! Welcome to the forum. Megan gave you some great advise there! I would add to take note of what food she is currently on and start off with that. Then gradually transition over to a new food very gradually over at least one week to try and avoid upsetting her tummy.

[Mazz]

Welcome.

[goingsolo]

Welcome xx  time, patience and consistency will be your friends.  We love pics here, cant get enough of the babies xxx 

[CarmynS]

Hello welcome, I absolutely agree with Megan.As far as food goes there are some excellent websites which rate dog foods and explain why.Maybe someone out their has them handy.I just googled something like "consumer review on dog foods".Feeding raw and getting info is another whole story.I now feed Skye raw but it took me awhile to figure out what she would eat.I do not make my own.Not into it.I buy mine prepackaged at my wonderful local pet food store.I feed Skye her chicken kibble frozen.It contains no fruits or vegetables.I also give Skye frozen chicken necks after her daily walk.It is a very long story on how I figured out what and how she would eat raw.There are many, many, and I mean many different opinions and theories on how and what to feed your dog raw.The bottom line for me was this is what I felt is best for Skye.As far as dog parks go.I would not start bringing my dog initially for teaching social skills.Since Skye was a rescue and I didn't know how well she was socialized, I brought her to a wonderful, small, country doggie daycare.The reason I did this is we are a one dog home.I visited first by myself to check out the facility and talk to some of the staff.I wanted to know how they would evaluate her.They do not just take every dog.They worked one on one with Skye and a dog who was very mellow that they called an introduction dog.Non reactive to other dogs.Once she was thoroughly evaluated the she was introduced to a small group of dogs etc.I had her go everyday for a few weeks, even though it was relatively expensive, I did this for a full two weeks, then went to a couple times a week, and still do one day a week.Since I have to board her when I go away, she stays there.The boarding includes her being out all day with the gang.She is pretty relaxed about having to stay.

For me I chose this method since I wanted to have Skye be safe and start out slowly.Dog parks can be a lot of fun, but they also have their drawbacks.

As far as behavior.I would definitely encourage you to take a beginner dog training class with you.Well worth it for Skye and I.I was very lucky Skye as always been on the mellow side.No escape artist under normal everyday conditions.Of course, gate left open, is just too much for her.No matter how secure you think you have made your place.Something will happen and out they go.

I would absolutely get your pup microchipped and a collar with a strong tag.No matter what you put on that tag, your phone number has to be current.I can not tell you how frustrating it is when you run across a loose dog who fortunately has a collar and has a tag with a phone number on it that is not current or the tag that is so chewed up you can't read the phone number.

Again there has been a number of discussions about collar wear.I leave Skye's collar on 24hrs a day.Again for me I just don't want to take the chance should she get loose.

Every Husky is so unique. But on this site everyone of us so appreciates and loves our Husky's.

[Dunc]

[Clare70]

Hello