My husband and I have decided to adopt a male husky similar in age to Raven. We found a dog at a rescue, on there website, and have started the adoption process. We passed the home inspection and we are set to meet our potential new family member.

I've got 2 kids and Raven of course  he is listed as both kid and dog friendly but there isnt a lot of information, which is the case for most of the rescue websites i've surfed.

This is an entirely new process for me and since a lot of you have gone through adopting,, from both sides, I wanted to get some advice on what I should look for and what questions I should ask.

Not one response! All those advocates of rescuing and adoption have nothing to say?

Sorry no one response We got a second husky from a shelter they has listed her on petfinder. We didn't have to got thru an application or home inspection. We drove to the shelter with our other dog and introduce them to each other to see if they got along then sign papers and she was microchip so I really I am not sure what kind of questions to ask sorry. Have you look on petfinder and at the shelters in your area..?? Oh and our two huskies are about the same age they both turned 3 years this year at least according to the shelter and my vet they believe our female was 2 when we got her last year.

Sorry, I didn't go through a husky rescue when I got my puppies in the past and they were puppies, so I didn't respond since it is different with adult dogs. In both cases, it was more of a immediate approval based on interview and there is so much unknown about puppies. Puppies are not tested like adults either.

Often, I think that most rescue places will give you as much information they receive, but when I volunteered at humane society sometimes that could be almost no information. I would ask them to provide whatever information on the history is available.

I would be happy to see they did a home visit. This would be a good sign to me that they are focused more so on forever homes for their dogs then getting the dogs placed quickly. Like my local humane societies now focuses on easier returns and high level interviews to get the dogs placed into somewhat adequate homes quickly. This is how they can pull dogs out of kill shelters and the success rate is very good as long with one of best adoption rates in midwest.

If I adopted a adult dog, I would want to make sure it was kid, dog, and cat (if applicable) tested. Since you didn't mention cats and have a husky already, I assume that is a not a concern. I would want to introduce my adult dogs to the new dog. I may suggest a trial basis of a few days. I would want to know what the return policy is if it doesn't work out, but not feel so locked into the adoption if the trial period doesn't work out.

For my recent adoption, the rescue I believe indicated a 7 day no questions asked return policy with full refund. They also indicated I could return him at any point with no refund instead of taking him elsewhere - they would want him back.

Really the only thing left is to do a meet and greet at a neutral territory to see if they'll get along. I don't see what questions you really can ask other than to ask them to give you all the info they know, and like Jessica said sometimes they hardly know anything. My main concerns would be is he food aggressive or possessive of anything but since he's kid-friendly I'm going to guess they wouldn't adopt out a possessive dog to a family with kids. Doesn't hurt to ask though.

Thanks for the responses  We completed the home inspection and we have a dog picked out that we think will be a good fit. We, the whole family, are going to me him this week. I am most concerned with his behavior toward the kids and how him and Raven get along.

I know they dont have a lot of information, most rescues don't, at least they don't have much in his profile. He's young, 9 mths old and was a stray. I was more talking about questions to ask them that most people wouldn't think to ask.

We are going to ask if he's house broken, crate trained, food aggressive or possesive, they did mention he is learning to walk nicely on a leash and learning to sit. I was also going to ask if he has any known health issues. Other then that im not sure?

I will ask if they have a trail period and the return policy but I'm hopeful that everyone will get along great.

The one thing I will recommend to you, especially with a rescue with an unknown past/breeding, is to get pet insurance. I unfortunately learned that lesson the hard way last week.

I am sorry about Shadow. I hope you can manage her seizures with medication.

I hadn't thought about pet insurance. Thank you it is really good advice.

So far so good a week in on the meds, but we'll see what the next few months have in store.

Check out Trupanion and Healthy Paws, they seem to be the best. Definitely get your new addition into the vet, but know that there is a couple weeks between when you apply for insurance and when it actually kicks in, and if something pops up in that couple weeks it probably won't be covered. Both the ones I mention above do cover congenital issues though, but take some time and search the threads we already have, there is a lot of good information.

Good luck, and I can't wait to see about your new fur kiddo. You go through Free Spirit?

We got him!

First walk together.

Playing on the deck.


But we cant decide on a name. We like Pheonix, Ember or Yol. Any suggestions?

He is adorable Congratulations I love the blaze of white down the back of his head! ! I would call him Ace because his mask reminds me of the makeup of Ace Frehley from Kiss   I really like Ember though

Beautiful. someone here has a red husky with a white patch on his neck like that the husky's name is "helix"

I have some questions! Should we treat him like a new puppy as far as potty training goes? Meaning outside every two hours followed by a short play session then back in crate? They said he was potty trained but he peed inside within an hour of being taken out.

congrats on the new pup! He's gorgeous.

I'd give it a day or two before I'd start being worried about "re-potty training". We had a few accidents the first two days when we moved into our new house with our 5 year old aussie shepard, but she got right back to her normal self after 2 days. He's in a new place with lots of smells and excitement so hopefully he remembers his training when he settles in a bit. That said, dont brush it off either, make sure he knows he shouldnt be doing that.

I'm willing to give him a few days  He has been playing pretty hard with Raven. and at 9 mths he's still a puppy. The women at the rescue, ironically named Raven's Husky Haven and Rescue, said he was very clean and didn't go in his kennel.

He is kinda derpy  he's blowing his puppy coat so its kinda a mess. He's also still kinda gangly with big feet and ears. Raven went through the big ear stage too. He just needs to fill out a bit.

He is really sweet with the kids. Raven and him are working out there places. No fights yet but lots of humping, by Raven and putting heads on shoulders and hip checks.

paleobones wrote:

I'm willing to give him a few days  He has been playing pretty hard with Raven. and at 9 mths he's still a puppy. The women at the rescue, ironically named Raven's Husky Haven and Rescue, said he was very clean and didn't go in his kennel.

He is kinda derpy  he's blowing his puppy coat so its kinda a mess. He's also still kinda gangly with big feet and ears. Raven went through the big ear stage too. He just needs to fill out a bit.

He is really sweet with the kids. Raven and him are working out there places. No fights yet but lots of humping, by Raven and putting heads on shoulders and hip checks.

Yuki did that constantly the first couple week with Link. Made me so happy I got a male, because he just put up with it.

I love the name phoenix!! Mainly because im in love with phoenixs but also i think it would fit. Since he js a rescue he was kind of reborn into a new home..

Sorry just saw this thread! Congrats on ur new boy, he is stunning! Give him some time to settle in but keep up a routen for him so he gets what's going on. And I. Know u say all is fine most rescues will take a dog back if it does not work out. Can't wait to hear how he improves and thanks for saving him!

He is gorgeous!! I absolutely love his color and his markings are so unique!

Well we just had a huge fight. It started over food. The food wasn't even on the ground yet my husband was just scoping it out of the container in the kitchen and the dogs were in the dining room and BAM! I was near and pushed my daughter out of the way then I threw a blanket over one of them and the break in line of sight ended it. My husband put, I still haven't settle on a name, in the crate. No injuries that I can see.

I looked at some resource guarding threads but they seem to be more about teaching a single puppy/dog how do I get them to not fight over food.

Maya did that with Kay for a while, it was over the sight of food and smell of food if Kay was near her she'd attack her. I'd just break it up and put her in a timeout, after a while and a bunch of bonding experiences for the both of them Maya doesn't do that anymore. I also would have these small training sessions where i'd give Kay a treat and then immediately give Maya one with a lot of praise. I did that twice a day and it seemed to help.

We feed in the crates, when I get the bowls I say crates and they both go in till I get the food and offer it to them, sure it took some time to get them to understand feeding time but that may help you with fighting during feeding time. If they are in their crates before they get food that should help

What kind of bonding experiences did you use? I was able to feed him by hand and Raven was able to approach. Offered her some but she didn't take it. Raven is very much a grazer. We give her 2 1/2 cups in the morning and she'll eat it throughout the day. He gorges himself as soon as he gets food. He doesnt even lift his head out of the bowl and finishes in seconds. I just need to find a balance between the two. Thanks for all the help  

We had a contest and the winner got to name the new pup. My daughter won and named him Rusty!

We had a tough weekend Rusty's health went down hill with pure liquid diarrhea a vomiting. We say the vet today, and I must say I feel kinda duped. Our vet thinks Rusty is 14 to 15 months old not 9mths and that he was most likely sick when we got him. Since they neutered him in June I would think their vet would have told them his age. I suppose my vet could be mistaken. We got some probiotics and antibiotics to kill the infection and he, and Raven  , are on the bland diet.

I also go back and forth on whether he is a mix or just a goofy looking husky. Something about his head and snout is just off. But as you can see Raven seems to think he's alright

paleobones wrote:

We had a tough weekend Rusty's health went down hill with pure liquid diarrhea a vomiting. We say the vet today, and I must say I feel kinda duped. Our vet thinks Rusty is 14 to 15 months old not 9mths and that he was most likely sick when we got him. Since they neutered him in June I would think their vet would have told them his age. I suppose my vet could be mistaken. We got some probiotics and antibiotics to kill the infection and he, and Raven  , are on the bland diet.

I also go back and forth on whether he is a mix or just a goofy looking husky. Something about his head and snout is just off. But as you can see Raven seems to think he's alright

What is with old owners giving us inaccurate ages lol? I was told Link was born in November 2011 but then when I rang the vets they said January 2012. At least the difference in age wasn't /too/ bad. Does he have a rabies tag from the old vet? That's how I found out Link's information, I called his old vet from having the number off the rabies tag and was able to find what shots he had and how old he was and everything.