My husband and I know a couple that have "owned" a husky for almost 4 years now. The story about how they got her is that she was found in a spud pit. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a large hole in the ground about 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep, filling with-you guessed it- spuds, and all kinds of bacteria and junk to feed to cattle. The man(we will call him Dan) got in a tractor after seeing her trapped in there and pulled her out, but she was COVERED in mats, from head to tail. He brought her to me and I did the best I could, but I ended up having to shave most of her body(now I NEVER would have done that had I know even one thing about husky's at the time, but no one wanted to spend money on taking her to the vet, or groomers) after we left Dan and his family decide to put her on a chain. She has been on the chain sense the September 2010.
EVERY time I have seen them sense than I have begged and BEGGED them to give me her some times to the point that I would cry. But FINALLY after all these years, they agreed to give her to me. I want her to have the best rest of her life as possible. I can't imagine what is would be like to be chained to a dog house for that long, with no love, to attention, just food and water to keep me alive.
I know that I know nothing about husky's and I WANT to give her to someone that does and who has all the means to give her everything she could ever want and need, but the deal that I made with Dan and his family was that I would never give her to anyone but them. So I plan on making changes in my life to keep her here and keep her and my family happy.
I need help though to know what to do, how to discipline, groom everything. I know the first thing that I have to do for her is to get her to a groomer and than a vet, but after that I'm at a loss. So please ANY helpful, kind, and caring advice would be appreciated!
By the way her name is Spuds, and she is a long furred husky, with Carmel eyes, and an excited heart of gold.

Wow
What a lucky girl that you fought for so long for her.
First, look into a really good quality food for Spuds, she will need it for her coat and health.
Vet first of course, dont let them push you into buying their food, do your research. we have a lot of threads on different types of food, a lot feed grain free.
You'll need to build up trust, that may take a while, but keep at it, once its won, its so worth it. Try not to give up, this is going to be very long and frustrating. Keep at positive reinforcement, reward good behaviour with lots of love and pets.
Start a walking routine as soon as you get the clean bill of health, start small if you need to, but she will need daily exercise. Ours walk 6km a day in 2 trips. morning and evening. You'll get in shape fast too! Always have her leashed well, make it a really positive thing. Start by giving her a little treat when you put on the leash, she needs to realise its not a chain and its for fun. There are lots of different options if she's a puller, that you can look into later.
What area are you in? We have a HUGE network, and it may offer the opportunity to get her socialised a bit.

go buy huskies for dummies and read it! then spend as much time on this forum reading all the stickies at the top of each topic. then search for any other questions you may have. get her a good collar with your info and have the vet chip her with your info. keep her on a leash when out walking and really start as you would with a puppy on the training.
thank you for fighting for her and im sure she will know you are there to give her a better life but it may take some time.

Goodness what a story! I agree with both pieces of advice above. Also, for what it's worth, you can change her name if you want to. New start to life, new name. Many rescues get renamed when they go to new homes and have no problem learning their names if changed. It's up to you, but you can definitely change it if you want to. I think with her, as Jennifer said, patience will be key and as Kelly said be loving and gentle and once you win that trust it will be pretty amazing. The fact that you have fought so long for her is pretty awesome! Welcome to the community, nose around and feel free to ask as many questions as you need to. Also, we love pix here!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice. Kelly, I live in Idaho. I also have two small children, who have a way with dogs when ever we go out to the house she just loves them with all of her heart. As soon as I get her I will take before and after pictures of her grooming.

just like everyone else said good food and exercise is key
I use this website to determine good food
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/dry/
a 4-5 star food is what I would recommend.

exercise is very important but don't over due it, I have a feeling he didn't get much exercise before so he might be out of shape so take it slow.

also I brush mine 1-2 a week for about 5-10 min
I would also recommend a good harness for walking because most likely he will pull.

My husband just brought her home tonight after work, and I was expecting her to be super hyper and scared, but she wasn't at all she was so calm and was happy to see my children, and almost immediately walked right up to them. Our other dog Shaggy(long haired wiener dog) growled at her and she pounced away, and they started playing! I'm so happy that she seemed to settle in right away. She did tip over the garbage cans, but I should have realized she is a little bigger than 8 pounds!
The funny thing about all of this is that I LOVE furry dogs(I was raised around Chow Chow's my whole life) but I'm allergic to dog fur, and dog's when they are wet. Zyrtec is about to become my very best friend!
Tomorrow she is getting groomed and I will post pictures of her before and after 

She is a lucky girl! This forum has helped us a lot with our rescue pup too. Both for advice, and for just ranting and fun stories

So I took her to the groomer today and she is still there . She has been there for 2 hours now and they finally gave up on trying to brush out the mats because it was hurting her to much and taking to much time. So they have to shave her from her neck down. When they started shaving her they began to notice sores on her. There are some sores that are so bad that they have bled a little. The groomer said that she is lucky that she didn't start to go bald in some spots, and that if she would have gone on the way she was for 1 more year that she would be missing a lot of fur.
The groomer also said that they have never had such sweet dog in their shop before, and that she is very calm and kind especially considering her background. She will be going to the vet next Friday, and he has agreed to fix her if she needs it so that she won't be used for breeding! Also we have a possible age for her, 6, but we won't know for sure until next Friday. Also her teeth are in almost perfect condition(I'm thinking thanks to my husband giving her deer and elk antlers once a month to chew on) but it looks like maybe two will need to be pulled in the back. She is getting started on some vitamins tonight that will help heal her skin, get a fur growing back to normal, and get her to a healthy weight(she is VERY under weight). She is only 20 pounds right now, but I'm sure with all the exercise, proper food, and care that she will be able to live out the rest of her life in pure bliss   

I don't know how much you know about huskies but it's worth mentioning that they do need to be kept on a leash or a very secure are at all times otherwise they will escape/wander/see something exciting and just run after it. Even when they're trained well they can escape/run out of nowhere.

Food - I think grain free, high quality kibble the best compromise of cost, health, and convenience. I use taste of the wild.

Training - I would start doing basic things like sit, stay, leave it, etc every day, will help you build a relationship.

I would monitor the deer antler chews - some people have issues with them though I haven't. Maybe get some raw hide chews as well.

Regular exercise people have mentioned...

Other than that, as you discover behavior issues just come on here, google it, and take everything with a grain of salt. You're doing a good thing, welcome.

Glad to here she is home with hou now and you are doing all the right care for her. Sucks they had to shave her but it sounds like it was good u found the skin issues. Remember I know she is calm jow but give her a good month and see if she comes out of her shell, most rescue huskies show their true colors after a month, or at age 6 she may stay calm. Can you post some pictures when at the vet get her chipped as well. Thank you for spaying her, do you know if she ever had a litter? I find it hard to believe being chained up out side and not fixed that no boys ever got to her while in heat. Anyways im glad she is with u all now.

Time to fatten her up!! Poor baby, I agree with Jen, it took a good 2 months before we finally saw our rescues personality.
Google recipes for Satin balls. They are used to add weight quickly to seriously underweight dogs. Call your vet and ask about them, because he might not want to spay until she puts on a bit of weight