Hello!

My name is Sam and I am not a Husky owner, at least not yet. Oh the 14th I get the extreme honor and pleasure of bringing home my new little puppy, a pure white Husky boy. I have been reading all the literature/websites/blogs I can get my hands on for this wonderful breed and came across this site. I would love any advice and knowledge anyone is willing to pass down to me because while I have been a dog owner almost all my life, a shelter volunteer, a breeder's assistant (French Bulldogs), and a pet store clerk I have not had any hands on interaction with Huskies.

I have a particular interest in sledding, or at the very least teaching my new friend how to pull things to give him some exercise... when he gets bigger that is. Here is my puppy as of a few weeks ago when I got to meet him with his sister.

Hey from another Mitten resident. Where are you getting the pup from?

Hey there Michigander. What part of Michigan you in? Those pups are cute, heh, they look like teeny polar bears. A few things I can tip you on.

Here's a list of things you should pick up.
A small bag of food of what your breeder/shelter/etcetera weens your pup onto

Bag of food of what you are switching to. Keep in mind there are many brands of food that are terrible. Huskies need high quality food for their unique digestive system. Plenty of threads discussing this topic in this awesome forum.

Rake and slicker brush. Brush every couple of days

Puppy shampoo... you don't want know how many baths Okami got in the first 6 months.

Dyson vacuum. Best husky vacuum ever.

Carpet cleaner (obviously optional if you don't have carpets.)

Carpet/hard floor Enzyme cleaner. Helps with making sure your pup potty train's well.

Toys. As many as you can. At puppy age, kong wubba, toys with treats in them, sqeakers, stuffed toys .... many textures. Later in life you will find huskies can turn a 20$ toy into confetti in 5 minutes. Antlers and tough toys are needed at that point.

A wired crate. It is highly important so you can keep your dog safe when you can't be present, and it gives your dog a safe haven to be themselves. There are a lot of threads here about crate training.

Pick a vet. Don't pick one just because of convenient location. Pick someone you would trust your dog's life to if something made you need to fall on that.

Get a retractable leash for tethering inside. I find potty traing goes a lot smoother if you keep your dog leashed to you at all times. They can't run off and do it when your not looking this way.

Hope this is a good start for you. Just keep reading around here... I learn something new every day

Well I live out by Lansing, and I am getting the little one from a breeder.

Yeah he DOES look like a baby polar bear! I am half in love with him already. I have the crate and a few Toys already, I pick up a few things every time I go to the store. I hope he likes to play because I have never had a dog that likes toys before.

As for diet I was thinking about putting him on a raw food diet, but I am worried about going about it wrong. I have seen so many suggestions about what to put in it but never about WHERE to buy it, like the raw bones and organs, or how much of each to give the baby as he grows.

*Squirts carpet cleaner* I am prepared.

Sam,
the raw feed section will give you lots of ideas on feeding. start with Lucy's suggestion first. I prefer grain free since husky tummies are ultra sensitive. as far as raw bones, talk with your local butcher or meat department at your local grocery store, tell them you are feeding raw and need bones, they may be able to provide you with them at a very low cost. If you need further assistance, there are many of us who feed raw, or partial raw, start a thread and you will get help.
Good luck and Welcome

Most huskys' middle name is play ^_^ so you needn't worry about hoping for a playful pup.

I actually go out to Lansing pretty often. I have a ton of friends out there (lived there for like 10 years)
I live in Fenton (about an hour away)...

Also, check this out if you have FB https://www.facebook.com/groups/224477627577861/?ref=ts&fref=ts

It is the H2M2(husky huddle malamute mingle) official page. It would be a great way to socialize your pup.. we meet once a month.

Yeah if you need raw info, just search around here, or if you need to know something specific, as Renee said, start your own thread and you will get lots of advice

I sent a request to join the group! This looks like tons of fun! I was worried about how to socialize my puppy, I don't know many people with friendly dogs where I would feel safe bringing him until he was much bigger. Proper puppy manners are important! Plus it would be nice to make some new friends, since moving I have been a bit lonely. Okami seems like an awesome dog, did you name him after the video game character?

I am in Williamston myself, before that I was in Howell all my life, small burgs are my forte LOL. One day I hope for a big place in the middle of nowhere so I can get a bigger pack (I can only have two pets where I am ), but for now I will be content with my man my cat and my new puppy (SOON!)

My apartment complex has a huge dog park 2 minutes away from me, and there are three nature trails for him to explore and run with me in. I am rather eager to get a running buddy, I have a pretty extreme case of ADHD so I am constantly bouncing around (or running) I feel this breed understands me on a cellular level.

And I will check out the raw feeding thread! There is so much to read here I have spent half my day off going through threads!

Yeah the H2M2 group is awesome. I had issues trying to socialize Okami in the beginning, I only knew one friend whom had a husky, and his schedule always differs from mine. So it was pretty awesome to find this group.

Actually, I had never heard of the game before naming her... I am a huge gamer too so it was surprising. But I have been asked that several times now haha. But her full registered name is Hokkyoku Okami.

Hokkyoku- winter, arctic, snow...
O- great, spirt, spiritual...
Kami- Wolf.

Roughly translates to Great Arctic Spirit Wolf in Japanese.
To be honest, I almost named her Akamaru- Kiba's white dog from naruto lol. But I tried to be more creative heh.

Personally I feed 4Health it is a Tractor Supply brand- it is by Diamond I think, however it is high quality food, and it is unbeatable in the way of price imo. However they only have one grain free flavor which is the turkey and potato, but Okami loves it so that is what matters. I wouldn't know much in the ways of a raw diet- I never looked into it because I wouldn't be able to afford it.

So what type of activities do you want to explore once your pup can go running (12 months+ - You can give them later life health issues if you run huskies earlier than this.) I saw you said you were interested in sledding

So far I have found that we are huge bike jorring fans here. She can run as fast as she wants this way and we can go twice the distance than running (me and running don't mix well hehe)

Alpine outfitters is a great place to get some gear, also ruff wear? I think that is what they are called, anyways check them out so you can get some ideas to keep busy all seasons

Sam, I grew up in Pinckney. Practically neighbors!

By the way which one is your boy? The one giving us the paw(left) or the one snuggling(right)?

Lucy, feeding raw is not that expensive if you DIY, buying the premix raw I'm sure is expensive. I feed part raw/part kibble and honestly it's not that bad to do and price wise. Just my 2 cents, but research you may be surprised at how inexpensive it is.

I did do a little research in the beginning, but faltered at what seemed to be more expensive, maybe I was looking at something more lux- but I have nothing against raw, infact I was thinking about doing more looking up for it once my husband got his new better job. But I don't know yet. I wish there was someway for me to know how Okami would take to it... she has a highly sensitive tummy, and it took quite a few brands before we found one she didn't get sick from (yes I properly transitioned her each time )

Lucy if you go to the right places you can make anything cheap (Trust me I know). I just went to Meijer and asked if they had any chicken necks and they said if I go early they will just give me a bunch for nothing, and my baby is the one giving paw. Even for being so tiny he didn't put up any fuss to being handled by the little kids. He snuggled my neck though and blinked at me with his new puppy eyes. Forget what I said earlier, I am totally in love.

As for what I wana do when he can run with me, I was thinking about getting a scooter of some sort, I hate bikes they hurt my rear if I am on em longer then ten minutes, but I can run for forever. I can go two hours non stop jogging on an average day. As of late I have gotten a bit out of shape, I just moved a little bit ago and settling in still so I have put working out to the side.

I am a huge gamer myself, so is my boyfriend! What do you play? And I love anime! I was thinking of naming my boy Kiba actually. After the character is Wolfs Rain though not Naruto.

And Sara: Heck yeah we are! I have known some awesome people from Pinckney and my best friend lives there now. Its a nice place!

Renee: Thanks for the advice on the Raw thread, I have found a ton of great info! My Boyfriend's family lives on a ranch so I can get organs no problem and I can get chicken and turkey for a decent price at the grocery store. I am thinking of switching my cat over as well. She is my sweet little snaggletooth tortie named Kira.

I play all sorts of games. I did just sell my 360, and my wiiu :/ didn't want to though. I love Skyrim, Final Fantasy... I still have my 3DS which I would say the pokemon games are highly played among some other stuff lol. I play 1 mmorpg, which is DDO (dungeons and dragons online.) Which brings me to my next topic... also table top gaming we play d&d 3.5, pathfinder, and Legend of the Five Rings. Also play a lot of Magic the Gathering and tons of board games...... *cough i am a nerd cough* LOL

Also huge anime fan, big Naruto fan, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note, Vampire Hunter D, Trigun, Stuff like that

Awesome, my kitty is also on part raw, she's 14 and has always had a sensitive tummy. If it helps to know Lucy, I just buy a little extra of whatever I am feeding me and hubby and give to Miya and Kitana, I add kibble , about half as much as feeding all kibble, to make sure they get all the right nutrients. I fed Miya beef liver for the first time last week, and I have never seen her so excited about food. She is grain intolerant and hates kibble in general, I have to trick her into eating kibble, sorry for the hijack, but I am happy to help with the finicky huskies.

Btw, for what it's worth 3 out of my 4 cats were named after mortal combat characters, old game but what the heck. lol, ps3 here, hubby loved skyrim. played all the diablos and guild wars.

Aww I am sorry you had to do that, it sucks. I also love ALL of those things. I am just getting into Magic the Gathering and I play pathfinder with my friends every Sunday. I DM some weeks. I too am a nerd and proud of it, nerds are the best type of people! God I love Death Note and Trigun, its where I got my kitties name. She is Kira the Killer Kitty. My one  MMORPG is The Old Republic, its a Starwars game and I am pretty obsessed!

And Hijack away Miya! I appreciate any advice at any time!

I had to add my slight nerdiness with an edit of my above post, hahahaha

Lulz we play every Sunday too.. tonight is my turn to DM

Renee, I will have to try. We get a cow every year (family business, black angus cow farm ) maybe I will have her try some stuff and see how she holds it if beef is okay lol. I just always heard beef is a no no so idk lol.

Kira the killer Kitty lol!!

That Star Wars game took a lot of my DDO friends away when it came out lol

Hello and welcome! We're from Grand Rapids.

Ohh I didn't see you there Melissa! *waves*

Still I wanted to pop back in here and give a very excited TWO MORE DAYS TILL PUPPY TIME!

Hello there another Michigander here! I'm from south of Detroit though (Woodhaven) bunch of small towns grouped together LOL! But welcome! this forum is awesome and everyone is SO helpful which I'm sure you can see already! the only advice I have is no rawhides!

Oh yeah, I have gotten so many tips and great advice. I know what to expect, and what not to expect , what toys would be best and what leashes would be best and *dizzy* I feel like I have gone through the entire form and learned so much.

Now all I have to do is wait until I can grab my bundle of fur and take him home. In the mean time I am making a dog bed for him, I asked the breeder to save his mother's shed fur so I can stuff the bed with it, its a fun project to keep me occupied.

Hi - I am not from Michigan and I've only ever played a video game, maybe once for a minute or two - my hands just don't get it  

But...tractor supply 4Health grain free now comes in turkey, whitefish, pork and beef, all with potato. Note that the protein content varies according to the source (the turkey is 28%, I think, don't remember the others.) I switched to Taste of the Wild High Prairie only because they were out of the turkey and beef. Ami loves the High Prairie. Then when I went back to turkey he was not thrilled. He ate it but you could see he was looking for the TOW stuff. Since he's my baby boy, he got the TOW on next bag  

Your pup is super adorable - have fun!

Welcome! I'm in metro detroit. I didn't know any breeders had whites available right now, both look super snuggley.

Lani will be a great source for sledding information

*waves* Oh yes if I could figure out how to get the rest of the pictures off of my phone I would show them off. He just keeps getting cuter every week.

And the breeder wasn't really expecting whites either, according to her one of the grandpas was solid white. The mother was grey and white and the father was black and white, they were both rather grand dogs. Their parents were her mothers dogs and she was just starting her own line from those dogs on her own, or so she said, perhaps that is why you haven't heard anything about them?

By the by Ami and Cato are just the sweetest looking dogs!