well to start hello to all! I brought home a tiny little puppy Monday morning. she is all white. owner said she was almost 8 weeks. when looking at her vet papers I saw DOB was 7-3-15. I took her to the vet on tuesday because I was concerned about her size. the vet said she is healthy but no way is she 8 week and the DOB may be off as well. She is eating soft food and water, playing sleeping and eating but she is a tiny little thing. Any feedback on this topic is greatly appreciated. Thanks- Adam

Congratulations on the little one! Welcome to the forum!

I know my Koda was not huge, but I wouldn't say she was tiny. (I got her at five weeks before I knew any better. She took a ton of bite inhibition training, but she turned out Okay.)

Is there any way you could upload a picture of her? Many members on here (including myself) would be able to identify the age if we saw her.

ive got to download some pictures from my phone. we named her Nunuk because she looks like a little polar bear. I will get some pics asap. thanks for such a quick reply!

Welcome to the forum!! I too got Miya at 5.5 weeks old. My vet had to fake her DOB because she was too young for certain shots (it's been a while so forgive me on what shots, but she was 1 day shy of her 6th week when we took her to the vet). I agree with Tyler your biggest challenge is the biting issue. They do miss out a lot in those 3 weeks of not being with their momma and siblings, but it is doable, so no panic needed. With the food, hmmm, she may not have been weened correctly, or to soon. The can food I wouldn't recommend for too long and try and get her switched over to kibble. We also fed Miya can the first few days, but the poops were dreadful, so that is something you will want to work on. I also think because of the young age, you may find feeding in general a little difficult or a challenge. It seems to me that the group of us that acquired our little ball of fluff too early deal with a lot of tummy issues, so having a ton of patience is going to be important on your end. We love pics here, so would love to see her.

we have been giving her some formula with meals as well. esbilac 2nd step is the brand. how much did Miya weigh when u got her?
And yes, patience and love and plenty of it. Its basically like having a newborn. hour of sleep, take her out, back inside then she cries for her litter mates and mom and dad, I have a little kennel on a tv tray next to the bed with a bed and a little stuffed cuddler in there. then repeat that until dawn. Its well worth it though. I will probrobly post pics tonight or tomorrow with the help of my wife.

Oh, hmmm, I don't recall, I could fit her on one hand of mine, I have small hands, so maybe 3 or 4 pounds. We have been blessed twice with Miya and our kitty Kitana, she was all of 3 weeks old when we got her and did indeed weigh less than a pound. So it is very doable, and lots of love and attention. You are describing Miya to a T with your girl. She loved her teddy bear until she was around 3 months old and eventually teddy was a goner, lol, I still can not say the name teddy without her looking for him, haha.



Miya on her second day home with us...just to give you an idea

she's a beauty. thanks for the feedback. I was getting a little worried about her. pics to come soon

Renee, I CANNOT handle baby Miya! The floppy ears... The adorable face... I... Can't....

Just to give an idea, here is Koda at 3 weeks old.


and these two are at 5 weeks.




That little penguin is Koda's stuffed animal. I bought it for her when she was 4 days old and she got it when she was three weeks so it would smell like her litter and her mom. She NEVER chews on it, only snuggles. (Watch me say that and I go home to a beheading...)

Thank you. We love her to pieces. It was a lot of hard work, yes the every hour thing, and the crying for her siblings, so I do fully understand that. I don't often times recommend people coddling and babying their husky pup, however pre 12 weeks of age I do recommend, especially when you get them pre 8 weeks. Security in the pups mind is the most important thing. We had the first day used an old bathtub and laid blankets down for her, by her second nap she figured out how to climb out, haha, so she was a handful.

There is a wealth of knowledge here on the forum, and people always around to help with questions. Miya is almost 3 years old, and one thing about getting her so young is the adaptability of her, she was very eager to learn and had basic commands down pat extremely fast and both my husband and I have a tremendous bond with her. My only caution is she was very attached to us, so she did have trouble with separation anxiety, stemming from the huge amount of time we spent with her, and leaving her litter so young. So yes there are challenges with getting a pup so young, but you can work through them. Can't wait to see your pics!!

Tyler, i was hoping you'd come back. You Koda was about Miya's size at 3 weeks to her 5 weeks. Miya is now around 65 to 70 pounds, haha, no fat on this girl. Thanks on the Miya puppy, I don't want to hog Adam's thread, but at around 7 weeks(maybe?) she had the one up and one down ear thing going, haha. Koda is just such a pretty girl, funny Miya changed a lot and Koda's mask really hasn't much.

Thanks, Her mask is moving inward. It looked like eye shadow for awhile, but now she has a pretty prominent nose piece. Koda's mom was 48 pounds and her dad was 60, so I'm probably looking at 50-55. She is only 30 now so we have a ways to go...

I didn't deal with the whining and stuff too much. Koda slept with me since she came home. I had a bad mattress and planned on getting a new one once Koda grew up, so if she had an accident, no harm done. Lucky for me, I got a sleeper. She LOVES bedtime and wouldn't dream of getting up any earlier than 7. She is pretty independent too, so she didn't act like she missed her mom or her siblings at all. We had a 3 hour ride home, and she didn't whine until she needed to go potty. She just slept in my lap and we rode on along. She was a perfect puppy! (Except for the biting... Oh the joys of owning a husky puppy   )

Good luck @adamc. As Renee said, there is SO much information on this forum. I would never have been able to raise Koda as well as I have if it hadn't been for this forum and all of the kind, knowledgeable people that are apart of our community. Any possible topic you ever need help with has been discussed more than likely, and if not, You can always start a new thread asking for help. Once you get some pictures, be sure to start a scrapbook so we all can see your baby! Good luck!

ok I am hoping this works here is a pic of my sweet little girl

She looks two, almost three weeks to me. Very young. I would definitely be watering down dry food. She is beautiful though!

She needs a mom, so seeings how she doesn't have a dog mom, it's you now. As Renee said, security is everything. They need to feel safe.

The issues that could arise are separation anxiety, socialization issues, and bite inhibition. Start taking her places like petsmart or other pet stores (Don't put her on the ground. Depending on where you are, Parvovirus can be very dangerous.) Just being around other dogs will teach her more than you ever can. Start by having people with vaccinated dogs come over and interact with her. At this age she is missing out on a lot of playing and learning from her litter mates, so it will help her get used to other dogs. Do the same thing with people of all ages to get her used to being handled by all kinds of people. It will take some time and patience, but I promise it will be well worth it!

I used this website in combination with itsahuskything. The part about teaching bite inhibition is great, but the whole website is fantastic! Good luck with the little baby! Can't wait to watch her grow up!

This is her awake. we just took a trip to the 24 hour vet because she has a urinary tract infection. Constant adventures!

Adam, I can 100% verify Miya's age, not sure on Tyler if he could. I absolutely know that when Miya was 12 days old, I held her, her ears were completely snug to her head, and her eyes were still glossed over blue and did not really "see" yet (if that makes sense). Now going on what I know, and verifiable pics we all put up.......husky pups ears will not be able to stand at all under 4 weeks. Miya at 5 weeks had a hard time, and Koda in her pics at 3 weeks were not up yet. Your girls ears are standing in 2 out of three pics. Also Miya at 5 weeks is almost the same size as Koda at 3 weeks. So my best guess is she was the runt of the litter, like Miya, if Tyler sees this I hope he chimes in on Koda, but my guess she wasn't the runt. My guess is your girl is somewhere around 3-4 weeks, 5 max, but I am almost certain no younger than 3, since her eyes are bright and open (color hasn't set yet) and her ears are able to stand away from her head, which means development of her ears is almost complete. What have the vets guessed as to her age? Curious to know. As far as food, I would stick to the formula with softened kibble or a high quality can for 2-3 more weeks, when you feel more confident that she is in the 6-8 week age range. Also as far as socialization, I would also wait until that age as well. Her immune system has not fully developed, and way too many germs are out there that she is unable to fight. Mother's milk gives these valuable nutrients that she is lacking, so be cautious until at least your confident she is past 6-8 weeks old. Wipe her paws every time she goes out and touches the ground before she can lick them. Her UTI is probably to some degree caused by lack of consistent fluids, since typically mother's milk is all she would be having.

I feel terrible for you. The "breeder" was horrible at giving you such a young pup. I mentioned earlier that I had a cat that was in this same situation, and honestly I had to teach her everything. Her poor little mouth was so small, I had to eye drop feed her, bottle feeding was out of the question for her and her size. So yes, I can totally relate, and am here to help you any way I can. You can do this!!
You and your wife will have to become momma and papa dog to your pup, and teach her everything.

Renee- thnx for the advise. The vet we saw last night estimated she is between 4-6 week. Her first two nights she got formula mixed with canned food. last night after the vet visit we started her on softened kibble and a little formula. she is taking an antibiotic for the uti and a cranberry supplement. Last night was a momentous occasion when she started crying, I started singing her a lulabuy and I'll be danged if she calmed down and fell asleep. worked every time I took her out and back in.

I originally wrote three weeks and then changed to two or three. With the eyes open she does look 3-5 weeks as Renee said. Koda was the runt, but all of the puppies were big puppies. She grows really slow because of it.

I always thought her birthday might be off, but the lady I got her from always said the 23 of February and that's the same day she posted that her female had puppies on her facebook, so I don't believe she is lying, but Koda did seem bigger than any husky puppy I've seen on here at that age. I think that was just the litter. They grew very fast for the first few months and then slowed down. She also seems like she hasn't grown in a while... but I digress.

Here is another one of Koda at three weeks.

Sorry to not be much help, but Cuba at 9 weeks, weighed 8 and a bit kg's which is roughly 18 lbs.. He is a big boy, but i think most his weight is on his huge paws im guessing at 8 weeks, they around 15lbs?

@adamc.  I'd tend to agree with the vet at 4-6 weeks, but closer to the four than the six.  Argh! I'd love to get my hands on that purported "breeder" - but that's all behind us and now it's just up to you to give the little one all the help you can to making her the healthiest, pretties little snowball around!

I really have nothing to add to the excellent advice you've been given so far, just wanted to put my "Howdy!" in and welcome you to the forum.  I know that from what the others have said and your actions so far that Nunuk is well on her way to teaching you how to be a good puppy parent - and you do have your work cut out for you since you have to replace all the things she should have learned from her damn and siblings.

I agree that she looks to be about 4 weeks old. Here is a picture of my pup Onyx at 4 weeks. She was the runt of the litter.



And here she is at 8 weeks. If the breeder hadn't sent pictures every week, I would have thought she was younger than 8 weeks, but I guess she is just going to be a small girl  Like Renee said, I would guess that your girl was probably also one of the smaller puppies in her litter.

Thank all of you for the responses in our time of need. My wife Sheri and I really appreciate it. I guess I should introduce the rest our family as well, we also have a two year old Kelpie named Ranger who is very happy to have Nanuk in the house. We also have a 4 year old cat named Stormy who is in his opinion in charge and that its his world that were all living in it.

She is adorable! I have nothing to add on her age but wanted to welcome you to the forum! Did the breeder give you any indication why she was separated from the herd so early?

Everyone here is pretty understanding but if you get grief from other people just ignore them. These things happen. My aunt has had goats whose mamas refuse to even clean them after they're born. My mom had skunk whose mother was hit by a car. My grandma had a calf whose mother was neglectful too. All of them had to be bottle fed and raised by people and you know what? They turned out ok. You just have to play mama for a bit. I think you'll do an amazing job and I'm sure she'll turn out very well adjusted. There are lots of helpful articles and discussions about nutrition and bite inhibition and all that jazz. Everything will be just fine.

Congratulations on getting your puppy!

Thanks for the reassureance Rumflower. Today has been a challenge. I will be doing a lot of the parenting for the next month though because im off work for 3 weeks. This is going tobe a challenge I have not yet faced.