Hi all,

I am seeking reassurance or advice. I raw feed meat to my female Husky (Noelle) and have been for a year. She seems to sleep an awful lot, only sometimes wanting to play and having read a lot on huskies prior to getting her, this seems at odds with the breed.... I wonder if she is getting the right vitamins and minerals and all with her diet or if it's worth switching back to a good kibble (symply) and supplementing with cooked meat which imight be more scientifically balanced. I do ensure I feed ratios of bone to meat, liver and kidney too....

Any advice would be great!
Cheers,

Where do you live about? If in the USA I don't want to alarm you, but there is a really serious dog flu going around and Lethargy is one of the symptoms. It is affecting the Great Lakes area, minus Michigan. (Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin etcetera, and I have heard it was around Kansas? ) I would get to your vet immediately to get the vaccine if you live in anywhere close to those areas. It has affected over 1,000 dogs and a handful have died because they didn't get treated in time.

If you don't think that that applies to you, has there been any changes to your lifestyle recently? Maybe your dog ate something that isn't sitting right? Did you do some really active stuff with your dog over the last few days? How long have they been acting really sleepy or low energy?

I live in the UK so no issues there hopefully. She is always very happy to sleep in the house (though I gather from other owners that their Huskies are too..) It just seems like she is "too easy" to look after as a dog who is only a year and a half old....... Perhaps we picked a really chilled out one? I do take her on bike rides sometimes but not too much until she is at least 2. Other then that she gets 1-2 hours walk a day...

First, being my normal self, would you please go fill out a bit more of your profile; as you noted from the exchange so far, it would have helped with Lucy's response - applicable here in the US, but not in the UK (or outside the US, or so it seems at the moment)

An idea of where you live ( no, I'm not beating a dead horse here ) will help, too.  If you're in a flat where you seriously control when your dog has outdoor time - compared to living in the country where your dog is more apt to be out and about is one example.  
Another suggestion I might give, would be to give us some idea of your life style.  Are you sedentary or active;  I'm retired and somewhat inclined to spend my time inside and my dogs are much more apt to be laid back "chilling" than actively involved with the exercise we should all be getting.

I have two "husky's" one is an overactive Alaskan who is more than willing to go run and play, given the opportunity - as long as it's not near water!; the other is a Siberian who's more apt to want to stay inside than to go out - I garden a bit and may be outside for a couple of hours at a stretch, she's seemingly happier to lay back and wait till we're really doing something before she wants to expend the energy.  Just saying here that different dogs will respond much differently - you may need to give her an incentive to be active.

Or ... help us to help you, the more information you provide will allow us to cater our responses to your needs / situation.

My girl is down for whatever type of dog. So if I'm chilling, she will too. If I'm out she's a spazz, lol. So I wouldn't be too concerned, as they age, they tend to be less hyper, as in not hyper ALL the time, just some of the time.

As far as the feeding. Cooking meat takes out the nutrients your dog needs. Some of us here find success in feeding a grain free kibble and raw. If you decide to do that I suggest a cup of kibble in the morning and then stick to your raw in the evenings. Kibble digests at a different rate than raw, so feed approximately 8 or more hours apart. If you decide to go partial, I again would suggest feeding no more than 1 cup of kibble. You do not want to overfeed. Huskies feeding requirements are lower than most breeds, so they eat about 20-25% less than most dogs. The benefits of feeding raw outweighs the excellent quality kibble that you can feed, imho, so for me I include the kibble to give added variety, and to make sure I am not missing a key nutrient, I'm also limited in space to completely feed raw, as well as for me living in the middle of nowhere find feeding raw exclusive not financially feasible. I really don't think the extra sleeping is because of feeding raw, so I wouldn't necessarily change that. It could be other factors, heat will make a dog more tired acting, excessive exercise when they are not used to it will make them more tired.

So with my 2 cents, I'm with Lucy and Al, what is your lifestyle like?

dinverro wrote:

I live in the UK so no issues there hopefully. She is always very happy to sleep in the house (though I gather from other owners that their Huskies are too..) It just seems like she is "too easy" to look after as a dog who is only a year and a half old....... Perhaps we picked a really chilled out one? I do take her on bike rides sometimes but not too much until she is at least 2. Other then that she gets 1-2 hours walk a day...

Have you had blood work done? I would say that as long as there aren't any abnormalities on blood work she's probably fine. I know some people that supplement with kelp. It's loaded with vitamins and minerals. It sounds like you just got lucky. My guy is pretty chill, unless he doesn't get his daily long walk/run. I got lucky in that he's fine around our cats, and he has never been destructive. He's pretty much a couch potato when inside the house, but I prefer to think he just has good manners.

http://www.amazon.com/Dogzymes-Organic-Norwegian-Kelp-3-Pound/dp/B00G4V0KP4

I don't feed raw, but I have a low energy husky. When I got my first husky, I posted here and it seems to happen as all dogs are different. Then, I got my second husky who made my first seem full of energy. Actually, my second husky is the easiest of the 5 puppies I have raised. I asked my vet about it both times and the blood work checked out so they are healthy as far as I know. I think you want to judge each dog's normal behavior and then respond if they are not acting normal.

Do not start supplementing until you get your dog tested for hypothyroid. This is especially important if she is 4 or over. Hypothyroid can make them super lazy. That being said, my girl is incredibly lazy and there is nothing wrong with her. Then again, my Siberians are lazy in general. There is nothing wrong with them, and they like playing and running outside...but the house is their veg out area.

Don't cook your raw. Denaturing meat takes away vital nutrients.