Hi there. My name is Markus and I live in a small town in Bucks County, PA. If you can, imagine that God (or whatever) dropped an idyllic New England town about an hour north of Philadelphia and you've got where I live. Anyway, I'm a 46 year old divorced father of 2 awesome 17 and 14 year old boys. Unfortunately, I only have partial custody but that's another story.

I've owned 2 sibes in the past but it's been over 10 years. My younger son is dog crazy and has been begging for a dog for a few years now. Just this past Summer I was able to get out of an apartment and into a house. I was actually looking into getting a puppy but I have a thing for the blue eyes and the breeder I was working with wasn't having pups with blue eyes. Long story, short, I went back onto the website for one of the local rescues and there was an 8 year old male I had been looking at who looked a lot like the male I owned back in the day. I expected him to be gone but he was still available. I filled out the online application, half expecting to not be accepted (those forms can be pretty scary) but, and possibly because of, after visiting the rescue's kennel, I was informed that they were willing to let us adopt him. So, without further adieu, I give you, Snickers:


Er...I don't know if that worked. I'll edit it if not. Anyway, everything happened very fast. I'm actually behind on a couple of things and I don't like that. But Snickers was dropped off last Friday night, the 13th and I'm very impressed. He's huge (the rescue said 85lbs), but happy and healthy for 8. I got him a 12" elevated bowl set and started mixing Orijen Red into the food that the rescue brought over with him. He eats just fine and is holding it down with no problem. He spent the first night in bed with me and has spent every other night on the couch in front of the fireplace on the main floor (I have a finished basement). He hasn't done anything wrong any of those nights at all. He walks without pulling and fetches as good as any dog I've ever seen. He loves it! I know how sibes are with being outside but I am absolutely shocked by how much he wants to be outside. I'm not sure if he just likes it or wants to be back at the kennel. Maybe that sounds silly.

Unfortunately, one of the things I'm behind one of the things I'm behind on is a crate. I had various people tell me they had "big" crates I could have but I decided to go with the 48" size which is on it's way from Amazon. As such, I tried fencing him in the kitchen for a bit. He did good but got to some potato chips. No big deal. But, because he'd done so well the rest of the time, I tried to give him the run of the house on Monday. Turns out that he was howling, he did some scratching at the door and pulled some of the weather stripping off. Yesterday, I left him outside as he seems to prefer it but the neighbors told me he was howling. And that's not a bad thing. They were just letting me know. So, after running my son to an appt yesterday I worked from home for the rest of the day. Even after I come home though, he comes in for a bit but then wants to go right back out.

It's raining here today but it wasn't when I came in to work, so I came in for a bit. I'm actually heading home to see if he'll come in and stay in with me. I CAN work from home for the most part whenever I want but it does add a level of difficulty to my job. So, I have a lot of questions but I at least wanted to get this out there. Hopefully the pic uploads.

My boy much prefers outside to in - we put up a 100' overhead trolley between trees that we use when we are not at home. He has a nice big doghouse that I fill with straw for the cold months - we are in upstate NY and it can get REALLY cold and he still prefers outside most of the time. Maybe something like that will work for you (though it will help with getting into stuff in the house in lieu of a crate, I doubt it will do anything for the howling )

My sister and her family live in Newtown, PA.


Welcome to the forum.

Ah Bucks County! i grew up in Croydon then moved to Oakford (Neshaminy) as a late teen, all my family is still there.

Thank you for rescuing an older husky, we got our girl just shy of 6. It will take him a few months to truly settle in but it will be worth the work in the end.
If he was good in the kitchen maybe do a better job husky proofing anything he may get into while you are gone.
Do you know if he is crate trained? at that age they can still get in trouble, our girl is 12 and is a PIA. But i stopped crating them a few yrs ago, mainly cause they were behaved but also because i did not want her joints getting stiff being in a crate for 8hrs a day. we also have to put chairs up, move trash and any of her other likes to keep them from trashing stuff.
as for the noise, it could be a separation thing or just him talking away during the day. It will take some time to figure that out.
check out our search up top and look at all the sticky topics for any questions.
welcome!

Hi Markus (and where did glorth2 come form?)  Thanks for rescuing the older guy.  Virtually all of my dogs have been rescues and I've had a couple of older ones (they tend to match my age [68] and life style [sedate]).  As Jenn said, his wanting to be outside and his howling (probably talking, but what's a neighbor know, eh?) are more apt to be a result of rehoming than anything else.  With an older dog it's going to take longer for him to adjust to you and your life style than if he was a younger pup.

I have two - an Alaskan and a Siberian - both of whom were "adult" (about two) when I got them.  The one that came from the pound adapted almost immediately to me and the one who came off the streets of San Antonio was more of a challenge.

Avalanche, the Alaskan, is outside probably as much as he is in - though he like laying in front of the heater so now that it's cooling off (68f today) he's inside.  Sasha, the Siberian, is inside since she apparently wants to be somewhere around me - not in my lap but within a few feet of me.

If he's crate trained, you'll have most of that battle won, he'll adapt to being there when you're not at home; if he's not, I would personally put more effort into making him a "safe" dog to leave loose - crate training an older dog can be a real challenge and at his size a real destructive challenge.

Welcome to the forum, OM and let us know what the reaction from the kids is ...

Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your new furry friend! It's always good to see a rescue

Thanks all. The howling is one of my favorite things about huskies and I've tried to get him to howl with me. I will ask about the crate training. My understanding is that his previous owners kept him in a "hallway" while they were gone. He did good in the kitchen while the kids and I were gone for a short time but it's the kitchen door he attacked when he had the run of the house long term, as that's the door we tend to use. I came home to bring him in from the rain and, though he didn't want to come or stay in, has seemed to settle down. I'm working on a fence but, in the meantime, I've got a run embedded in 100lbs of concrete. I've been taking him for walks in the morning and trying to get him exercise in the afternoons as well. I have a good sized yard so after I get a fence put up I'll be able to play fetch with him on a grand scale. I just need some things to fall into place.

Small world, I'm about 45 minutes from Newtown. Nice place. I also used to live in Canadaigua and Geneseo so I'm familiar with the Finger Lakes.

hi, welcome to the forums, beautiful fur baby. congratulations on your adoption.