Hey everyone! We have been lurking around the forum for quite some time now! We are currently preparing for our first Sibe! After months of looking we found a breeder we were quite comfortable with several months ago - and are now waiting for nature do its thing! I've wanted a Husky since I was a young young kid and am very excited that it is going to happen in the near future. We currently have an 8 month old (50+ lbs) chocolate labradoodle named Paige who is extremely loving, obedient (keeping in mind she's 8 months old), and social! She is an F1B (labradoodle x poodle). Paige absolutely loves all dogs and recently had spent some time with a friend's Husky and yes they even shared a water dish! Paige is high energy and with the recent snow falls absolutely LOVES the snow -- which will make her a perfect match for our future Sibe. Paige is fully crate trained, and generally has no issues being in her crate at night or while we are away. To make up for this we take her on several walks a day, and even have a walker come mid day.

I have two big questions for all the experienced owners out there:

1. How has your crate training experience been with your pups? Paige took 2-3 weeks before the seperation anxiety of being alone in her crate wore off, just barking, no destructive behaviour.

2. Any tips for integrating the new pup into our pack? Paige is very loving, and generally is only shy around overly aggressive dogs.


Here's Paige with a husky friend, from a recent visit!

Loki was pretty much same as my other dogs. I think you can expect a few weeks of troubles like you had with your other puppy. With loki I did move his crate in my bedroom and it fixed nighttime issues. For him having other dogs around was not enough at night.

It may depend on whether your current dogs are dominant. My female is very dominant but loki was a submissive puppy. When he rolled on his back and licked my other dogs faces, it was pretty easy. So maybe a puppy that shows this submissive is easier.

Did you find there were any attachment issues with moving the crate to the bedroom - for example when Loki had to be in the crate and you were not in the bedroom? Paige's crate is on our main floor. The first two weeks were tough but after that it was okay - and now its only the occasional early morning wake up call (usually just for a pee).

Paige is dominant even with older dogs - which leads me to believe she will be the pack leader. There has really only been one or two times I can think of where she became the submissive one. Thanks for the tip! Harmony is key, to make the new pup feel welcome, and as well to keep Paige comfortable as well.

Would you recommend any reading material? We've spent countless hours learning about the breed online, we have read various Sibe focused magazines and have read Siberian Huskies for Dummies.

One thing I am planing on doing is there are the first few weeks with a new puppy where it's not up to date on it's shots and shouldn't be taking out to public places. I am going to use my normal walks with my dog to be me and her time so she still gets her own special time even with the puppy.

That is a great idea! Special one on one time! Growing up and with Paige, we kept our puppies away from parks, pet stores, etc.. generally they were able to roam the backyard until they had all their shots. Even socializing with other dogs in our extended family we did not allow until she had her full shots.

So do you have a rough idea on when you are getting your husky?

The breeder was estimating her girl would go into heat in October-November, but nothing as of yet. So it's almost anytime plus the 4ish months for them to be born and to get to 8-10 weeks. We are excited, but also patient Paige will be at least a year by that time and ready to be a big sister - she passed puppy school with flying colours!