To make a long story short. I have,a 1 year old husky who until now has spent her lifeet miserable with demodex mange. Multiple vets denied her treatment with Ivermectin for a year and miniban didn't do it. Finally in October I found a vet who actually tested her for the MDR1 gene mutation and she didn't have it so she was approved Ivermectin treatment!!! yay. Along with that aname antibiotic that doesn't make her sick. So that being said shes not even a month in on treatment and she's feel 100 tines better. She's full of energy and making up for that year of playing she lost it seems. .

However, she's too hyper she goes out early in the morning and plays hard till evening. Let's not ignore I play tennis ball with her, and recentky started taking her on walkies since her paws no longer hurt for her:) . None of this is wearing her out, my vet for now only wants me to give her xamount of benadryl as needed, because other wiservices she's only getting about 3 hours of sleep. All she wants to do is play, she's keeping my 8 year old husky awake all night bothering her if I don't manage to get her asleep. Does anyone else have any other ideas to wear her little butt out, or some natutal dog safe remedies to make her sleepy, I'm not a fan of benadryl especially with her taking two antibiotics a day and 1.2cc's of Ivermectin a day... the vet assured me it's safe but I'm just nervous.

Sorry for it being so long, but I'm sure the back story helped. Thanks for any advice, tips. Etc in advance!!!! ♡♡♡

Woops sorry for typos! I'm on a phone, and she's(husky) actually loving me right now so I has a hard time double checking for them

Melatonin is a more natural sleep aid. You can get it at walmart in with the vitamins and such. I think the dosage for dogs is around 3mg or so depending on weight.

How long are the walks you are taking her on? At a year she is developed enough she can start carrying weight in a backpack, running and biking. Not sure how the backpack might irritate her skin with the mange so you might want to hold off on that one if she is still sensitive, but she is old enough she needs really long walks. Sticking to grass or getting a salve called mushers secret to rub on her feet should help if she is still having some rawness in her feet for longer activities.

I agree with Jenn. Another thing is they need to exercise their mind. My go to when Miya was young and a live wire, was to do command training while playing or walking. So the idea is to walk a little and then say a command, such as sit, reward, then walk some more and say lay down, etc. Or while playing fetch, when she gives you the ball give her a command, resuming fetch is her reward. Also giving her a serious work out closer to bed time should help.

Our walks range from 5-10 miles. I take her up in the trails, depending on the temperature is how I determine which trail length I'll be taking her on. I also take het out for about a 2 mile walk before bedtime, but I can't keep her outside for long much longer as winter is coming. She doesn't have fur and can't regulate her body temp, unless I throw a sweater and booties on her(which is super cute). However, right now her carrying any weighted things is out of the question as far as the vet is concerned. She spent her whole first year suffering with severe demodex mange. She was super sick and not eating as she should've been, and is currently nothing but skin and bones. So the vet would rather me wait until she's healthier, and has bulked some before i have het carry any weight. She's a significantly smaller husky than average huskies.

I give her commands all the time while playing and on walks, I just think she is making up for a year of only being able to lay around, watch my other husky play, and she only wanted to sleep..

5-10 miles seems a bit much to be honest for a one year old sickly pup. I realize she has a bunch of pent up energy, but those types of walks and any type of hill hiking need to be slowly worked up to. Regardless, I would invest in a walky bike thing, some members have it, or when she is more healed have her do some pulling of a bike, sled, or you maybe on rollerblades. Playing tugs along with the command training may work better. And when I mean command training, do fast commands, as in "your dogs name" sit, good girl, lie down, good girl, stay, walk away, do recall resume tugs, walk, fetch, etc. at the end of the night you need to demand quiet time from her, I know she is feeling better, however, she is at an age where she should respect you and your families quiet time, bedtime. Even my 14 week old knows to be quiet when lights are turned off, even if she doesn't want to go to bed. Sounds to me like she is in the horrible teenage phase, and needs a little reminder of who is in control, by reinforcing commands, and if she is not crate trained I highly recommend you do, this will keep her to herself and leave your 8 year old alone. The last solution to the pent up energy is to find a dog that has boundless energy too and have them play closer to the evening. And when I tell you that Miya is a high energy dog, I can well sympathize. Miya at 3, has worked up to the point that she can hike and walk wherever. I can certainly do a 10 mile walk with her, and because I constantly call her back to me, she more than likely covers closer to a 20 mile walk, and she can have a drink and a short nap and be ready to do it all over again. Perhaps building your girl her own agility course in your yard? That may help. These are suggestions, but when you get to the bottom of the suggestion list, it boils down to her behavior, and being what most of us call a bratty teenage husky, regardless of her being sick.

Hehe the trials are completely flat:) i let her go on her own pace, I do long ones with both of them. Honestly it's nothing to her, there were times even feeling bad she'd escape and go up into the mountain with my other husky on a deer run. Don't freak out, I keep right up with them because they both have GPS trackers so I am always hot on their trail when they escape, they're just faster than me when it comes to snatching them onto their leashes. Thankfully they're always on my property so I'm not as nervous the end of it has a giant protection fence they can't get out of, they just get out of their main yard to play in. :/. She takes 10 miles like a breeze and wants to do more, the vets said it's fine, at this point she needs as much outdoor activities as possible to help build up her immune system, and muscle mass. Etc. I'm not turning away any idea or thoughts don't take me that way. I'm she's very well trained, she knows quick commands as I do them with her every single day. She's just a napper I guess in terms. Shell Aly down for about an hour here and there and go for x amount of hours playing. I tried crate training with her, she gets severe anxiety, and she almost ripped her claws off, and almost broke some teeth so that was a no go, because I don't believe in sedating her to put her in there, kind of defeats the purpose.. there's a whole group of us that work with her on the daily, we were just hoping for some more ideas on how to wear her out. She respect quite time in my house as long as I'm in my bed. Like in it, I can't be on it or sitting up doing my classes for college, unless my hubby is home, she lays done and plays with his feet(which he doesn't mind since she's not biting them) . She's definitely in the teenager phase!!!

The deal with the walking times is to not stress their growing joints to prevent arthritis later in life. The consensus on time is 5 minutes per month of age AT ONE TIME> If you are walking her 5-10 miles and she is 7 mos old (?) then walk for 35 minutes, take a break, let/encourage her to lie down or just stop, then go again.

She's over 1 year now she'll be 2 in April.. I let her do her own thing as I said, because I have my other husky with us as well who lover to take long strolls and roll around. Actually they both love to do that, I'll take the little one jogging with me which she handles really well, it's only a 10 minute run for her because I make her go home and rest. She's just so full of energy. I'm not bothered by it, I just can't figure out how to fulfill her needs. I've tried everything I could think of. I don't have her carry weight though and I think that's the problem but she's no even a month into getting better, she's so small (could be cause I'm looking at her without fur) but the vet agrees not to overwhelm her with weight while recovering and gaining muscle mass etc.. One step at a time.. I just wonder if I let her pull something behind her thats not super heavy but just enough to be noticed would help?

OK - the 5 minutes per month of age is for the first year, so you're ok.

I use a walky dog on the bike - Archer loves to run on it but Ami just trots along sedately. Archer actually pulls me up a hill if I let him. Ami just keeps pace beside me. You might find that is a way to up the exercise without putting weight on her. Its called WalkyDog.

Also - with her skin being so fragile, make sure she is well hydrated on your walks.

Husband says maybe you should check pup's thyroid and heart rate, he may be hyperthryoid.

Oh she stays very hydrated! Lol if she isn't drinking it she's playing in it and drinking it.! There's no underlying issues with her, I had her home and it wasn't two weeks later were were already dealing with demodex mange. I've spent more time in a vets office than I have home with her. Finally found a vet who from the first look at her tested her for the MDR1 gene mutation and pulled enough blood to run tests for all underlying issues from simple allergies to cancer. She's fine. Just a weaker immune system so she's on vitamins etc, to keep it up which appeared to be doing fine, aside the demodex and the infection, and issues that go with it and only it, she's in perfect health suprisingly. She's little, but she's pushing 48ibs, the vet just wants us to take it slow with her with carrying weight, because she isn't bulky at all you can count her ribs and see her spine:(.. her skin is coming along nicely, I'm just over protective of it, this is the longest she's gone without open wounds (almost a full month)

On the bright side, out of all of this... I did buy her from an AKC breeder, and I've since gotten her in trouble with AKC and she's no longer allowed to breed, because this isn't the first puppy that came from her that had an issue with severe demodex which tells me she's breeding a dog that had demodex outbreaks in its lifetime. It took me forever to find others that bought from her to find out if they've had issues as well. And of course, they had.

Katie, this is slightly off topic question, but you had me curious in your first post, and also, may help us in understanding fully the situation. Is you dog a rescue? I am wondering, because this could explain some of her excitability. The reason I ask is because, vets denied her Ivermectin treatment because of MDR1 gene mutation, but that is pretty limited and is very common in Australian shepherds, Collies, and long haired whippets. So is your girl a rescue, or is there a possibility she is a mix? Working dogs need a purpose, and knowing what type of working dog can help.

I agree, and mentioned in my earlier post about the walky dog, thanks Amy, I could not remember the exact name of it.

Katie, sorry I hit send at the same time. I would question the legitimacy of her pedigree as all husky. To be fair with my post above, there must be a reason so many vets would not prescribe Ivermevtin, unless they thought she may be a mix breed????? Any help with that?

She's full husky, she's AKC registered, from an AKC breeder. That's currently under investigation for breeding dogs who have suffered from demodex mange. I've ran a blood test on her to be sure she's pure husky. I live in a small town an hour away from Virginia Tech, I usually use their vets for serious situation because our old vet would always refered us if it was beyond his ability. He retired so I found a new vet in the area, long story short they didn't seem too concerned, they didn't tell me me .icy about mange, I didn't even know there was a test for the MDR1 mutatio, they didn't run it. They jut told me it was something I'd have to deal with for the rest of her life after mitoban dips failed and the drug rep denied my husky Ivermectin WITHOUT the test being ran, just going off she's a husky. They essentially told me to put her to sleep, nor would they refer me to VT animal hospital, or anywhere in the surrounding area or North Carolina. They were too proud to admit they didn't know what they were dealing with.

I finally got her into a new vets office in October, from the first 5 minutes of then seeing her, they drew blood for the MDR1 mutation which she doesn't have so she can take Ivermectin, and has successfully for almost a month. They drew enough for all blood work for underlying issues to pit me at ease because there's nothing causing is aside the fact she's just unfortunate and had it attack her as a puppy.

Yes she's 100% husky.

Ugh sorry for typos my phone is horrible for making it'd own words.

To get to the point though, there's a limited amount of vets here. And they're all stupid except the one I've got now these two are AMAZING and I can't thank them enough l.
.the first vet that saw her after our old one retired said, "looks like mange" I asked if she did a scrape she said no but here's some antibiotics, and a steroid shot. So I left them went to than other vets office, they just wanted money from me. I'm not entirely stupid when it comes to dogs and vet care, however I didn't know anything about mange or mitoban, they didn't offer and education. And essentially scared me away from doing the dips myself, so they charged me $50 a biweekly. For 3 months. They couldn't even keep appointments consistant on their part, I'd show up and they'd tell me oh we can't do it today bring her back later this week.. on days she had scheduled appointments. But I couldn't not take her anywhere because I needed antibiotics for the infections on her skin... and the vet she's at now was completely booked till next year.. they took me because of a friend's begging and they lost a doggie

Katie, byb's and millers can give you a piece of paper stating they are akc pure, this "breeder" is one of those. Many have other dogs roaming around, and could possibly father some of the pups. I am sorry you are going through this and your dog, but any "breeder" who does this is not fully aware of what's going on, let alone if their dogs are 100% husky. Also, most vets know about mange, and know how to treat, there are way too many stories in the news that show these poor babies suffering to not know about this. Lastly huskies are no where on the lists for the MD1 mutation, they do not even show up as a possibility, so there had to be some type of question as to whether or not your pup was pure to refuse the Ivermectin treatment. Please do not take any of that as me being rude, but, understanding the cruel practices of horrible "breeders" will help you understand what your dog is currently going through. Many of the bad breeders do not produce the best quality dogs. Your dogs hyperactivity can be related to not being the best bred or a mix bred husky. Knowing and understanding this will make your life easier. Again, please do not take that as an insult. Poorly bred huskies in particular, are much more difficult to handle. A mix breed say collie and husky (which is very possible since they can have blue eyes and some form of facial colorations) will require slightly different approaches to training and exercise.

Katie, I am glad you found a good vet. How horrible that a vet would do this. I would be right there with you on the dips, just couldn't do it. I am so sorry you and your girl is going through this, and happy that she is on the mend.

Renee - just a guess, but I'm thinking the drug companies are lawsuit shy and are demanding the MDR1 gene test before prescribing to cover their asses. So the vets have to do the same or they are going against the prescribing information.

My papers came from the AKC, she's full breed, I'm sorry you're doubting me but I'm not stupid. I met the mother and the father of her.I've seen her blood work results there's nothing in her but Husky.

The issue arises for the MDR1 because she light footed. Why are you questioning what my vets have said, and blood work says exactly? I didn't come here to be berated and essentially be told I'm wrong about everything I know about MY dog. I've even been talking to a vet from Athens GA, and the WSU vet school who said it's very common to test huskies for MDR1 just in case

Sorry I just get angry when it seems people are doubting me what I know about her, no one but my hay band an I have been in and out of vets offices, talking to them.. and yes its probably because they're scared of lawsuits, NY current vet even informed me she had a husky last year she lost because she didn't test for MDR1 ended up having the mutation and killed it.. she was definitely a pure breed and just extremely unfortunate.

Meanwhile I just asked both the vets I've been in contact with, they both told me the same thing that vest seem to go by when it comes to thworse administration of Ivermectin and other such drugs. It's not just Collis etc. "White feet don't treat." Without testing of course. Khaleesi has white feet. So they justook jumped strsight to she couldn't have Ivermectimy one even admitted she would have been reluctant as well without testing.

Katie, I apologized to you more than once. a quality breeder will never breed a sick dog. If you got this breeder shut down, then indeed she was not a good breeder. Amy explained the lawsuit issue and makes sense. I sincerely did not want to upset you, however, it is a possibility that you should think about. It does not mean you love your dog less, it is to encourage you to understand the dynamics of dog breeding and what a bad breeder can actually do to offspring. This situation that you are in, says to me, that there is underlying issues than just a husky being pent up. many of the dogs on this forum are rescues, and come from not the greatest of breeders. Many have AKC papers stating they are pure, when they investigate, get the answer well yea there was this other male dog around. It is a fact of life that I can attest to, and Amy with a rescue can attest to. There is a reason why this person bred a sick dog, and that is to fool people into buying their dog, who is sick, if the dog is sick, it's because the breeder is breeding poor quality dogs. My dog is a poorly bred dog, and under 1 year of age she was a total lunatic. She also has severe separation anxiety, and issues with eating. Why? Because she was poorly bred. Amy's dog is a rescue, why do you think there are so many huskies in rescues? Because many are poorly bred and the owner gets the,m and takes them to puppy classes, and other classes, and then one day bam their dog is out of control. I am not saying your dog will or is, I am saying, that poorly bred dogs are much more difficult to deal with than most huskies coming from a quality breeder. Please have an open mind. There are plenty of people who would like to help, me, Amy, and Jenn just to name a few, and guess what even Jenn's dog is from a rescue.

So back to the original issue. Your dog is being a bratty teenager with way too many freedoms. She will make you work to make her tired. By allowing her to do what she wants, when she wants will result in a hyper dog. at about 2 years of age she should settle down some, but not unless you limit her freedom. It has not as much to do with not enough exercise, as much as it has to do with her being allowed too much freedom. The only other option is to ask your vet is any of the medication she is on can make certain dogs hyper. I would place a bet with any member on here, that has a dog that doesn't settle down and sleep with that much exercise at least 6 or 7 hours straight. There must be an underlying issue, that you haven't figured out yet.

Again please, do not misunderstand my questions, or my reasoning. It is heartbreaking to know that you paid money for a dog that you think is one thing and ends up being something else. I have a dear friend who paid good money for her AKC husky, only to find out there was another male on property, and some of the litter is pure and some of the litter is not. I am not saying this is so for you. Like me, I seen Miya's mom and dad, they both "looked" pure, but her momma wasn't . It happens every day. Understanding why your dog acts the way they do, is the biggest hurdle you will cross. Once you do, it will be far easier, to settle her down, and also to expect, certain issues along the way. Like my girl and food. I also understand bad vets. My girl wasn't spayed properly, so now she goes into heat and has false pregnancies.

So please don't be angry at me. I truly understand to an extent what you are going through.

Sigh. Something tells me you missed what I've been saying. She spent a year of her life curled up in a ball watching all out other dogs play. With swollen bloody paws she couldn't use. She had open sores. She didn't feel good all she could do was sleep, and all I could do was what I was told to do via the awful vet I had. She's pure bred husky yes. I have her breeder under investigation with AKC but they're leaning more towards the Stud being the issue and the woman I went through was just as clueless as I was. She has been a breeder for 15 years. akc certified. I feel horrible for having her being the one under investigation. She only has females, and while others had the same issues as I it was after she'd started using another AKC breeder who had the studs. While I don't want to blame I feel like she should've investigated the new studs breeders history before she used them. I hate to ruin someone's life and income. Ya know?

My husky don't have any underlying issues as far as medically goes. She's prefeftlt healthy as far as demodex. I didn't come here for anyone to try and tell me stuff I already know the real answeres to. I'm well aware of poor breeding conditions, my sister runs a rescue and has had over 400 dogs in her care in the past 6 years. I'm also affiliated with rescues around here myself, and help my fired with her rescue. I also pull animals out of shelters and find the fosters.

Where are you getting she has to much freedom? She trained, works with a trainer when I'm away, simply because the trainer has been a lifelong frond of my family. She's highly intelligent and I don't think quick commands are going to solve it. While I will continue to use them. I leave her outside to play? Because she doesn't want to stay inside? Neither does my 8 year old husky, or 11 year old jack Russel. Why? Because our dogs aren't house dogs, they come in for bedtime and when it's too cold. I take the huskies on extremely long walks, because the only one needs to keep her joints moving.

Meanwhile I'll be leaving this website now, so if anyone can let an administrator know to remove this thread that's be great. I don't come for people to tell me I don't know what's wrong with my dog when I clearly know everything about her down to the color of her urine. I just gave a back story on why she's so feisty now she didn't play for a year. She hardly even talked for me. I thought I was going to lose her. Now she just feels better and is making up for a year of lost time, this is all knew to her.. I regret coming for ideas. I'm tried of peoplearning who come at me over her sickness when you clearly haven't delt with it or seen her suffer... I'll just let her be a 1 year old and I'll figure out a way to wear her out myself. Looks like I did that today actually since she's been asleep since 11pm now 3am... Thank you to those who didn't feel the need to tell me what's actually wrong with my dig because I know nothing. Thank you for the idea of the walkybike?? I'll have to check that out.

MiyasMomma wrote:

Many have AKC papers stating they are pure, when they investigate, get the answer well yea there was this other male dog around. It is a fact of life that I can attest to, and Amy with a rescue can attest to.

Renee - please do not quote me as attesting to something I have not attested to. She has said her dog is a pure breed and you should let it go at that.

My rescue was seized for neglect, not given up because of behavior issues.

Katie - I hope you don't leave. Renee speaks for herself, not me.

Here is a link to show you the walky dog:

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t15422p20-just-need-some-advice-or-tips#232530

I like that it is on the side so I don't have to worry about whether puppy knows directional commands and it has a sort of bungie piston sort of thing that absorbs a lot of shock from the dog giving me stability on the bike. Just ocurred to me - she would have to wear a harness for this - I don't know how you or your vet feel about that at the moment.

I'm only back because amymeme reached out personally to me. First, please always excuse my typos in my posts before anyone jumps the gun I can't even legibly type. I do think use my laptop for anything but school most of the time.

However, yes I know my baby is 100% Husky. The bitch came from a line of show dogs. I've got the legitamate from the AKC papers, not fake papers. I've obvisoly stayed in close contact with AKC since the demodex broke out on her shortly after she came home with me. Yes it'd true others have had the same issue with this occurring with their babies from her. None of them were bold enough to confront her of the AKC about it they just thought they were unfortunate and treated it as I am doing. Lucky for them they lived in bigger cities and not my little farm Town area of southwest Virginia. I took it upon myself to get in contact with precious buyers because she had a little forum set up for her buyers, and I essentially creeped and stalked posts to get names to look up. We're all from the same time frame of her switching to a new breeder studing out their huskies . ALSO AKC certified, or was.

However we will never know if somewhere in there they both got screwed because someone wasn't careful to not breed a husky who had suffered demodex and didn't follow standard breeding protocol to simply not breed. It can be genetic unfortunately.

I have had DNA tests on both of my huskies mainly because my 8 year olds father is the size of an Alaskan mal. I had my doubts. For my little girl in question it came with all the blood work already being done on her. Like I previously stated only females were on the 100+acer farm she came from. She brought studs in.

Also go say MDR1 isn't an issue for huskies, it is all white footed dogs are at risk for it.