Oh the joys of puppyhood they say . My 12 week old husky is a ball of energy. This morning, after feeding him, I went upstairs to change to take him out for his walk. We have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs so he doesn't come up, although he has done it several times already. Well, as he was waiting at the bottom for me, I think he tried to climb up 2 stairs (gate was there) and must have fell back because I heard yelping. I noticed he was limping and hurt his right rear leg. He shook it off and I decided maybe it wasn't a good idea to take him out for his walk/run. Well, he INSISTED on going out and was walking and running well. He limped a little bit and whimpered as we were approaching our house and wanted to walk more but I said no. He came back in and is now sleeping. I'm pretty certain it's not broken as he walks on it but limps a little. I spoke to my vet about how long he should be walked (trying to follow the 5 min per month rule) but for those of you with husky puppies, it seems as though that rule goes out the window. She told me if after 15 minutes, he wants more, then give a little more. Yesterday, he was a ball of energy and after two 20-25 minutes walks/runs, he STILL didn't sleep until nighttime! I take him to a nearby park and let him run off leash because I find he so much better being off leash (he controls his own pace) because he doesn't stop at hydrants, posts, etc... (he's not fully vaccinated yet) compared to when I walk him on a leash. If I see he is nearing a dog's poop I pull him away immediately. He does get leashed walks and I have spent A LOT of time training him to come back off the leash. For those of you who have had a husky puppy hurt his leg somehow, what advice can you give and when does it warrant a trip to the vet? Thanks everyone!

Sarah, I always say puppies and kitties are made of rubber, haha. They normally bounce back quick. Miya did something similar at 5 months old and we did let it go overnight, happened on a Sunday afternoon, by Monday afternoon she was still limping and took her in. With her it was her front leg, vet thought she may have pulled a muscle or leg out of socket, he said there was mild swelling but felt that there was no break. He gave her pain meds and off we went. Today, I probably would have waited longer, since they didn't do anything, and pain meds, ugh I think I gave her 2 pills and threw the rest out, couldn't stand to see her all zombied out. What I did, was for a week limited her "heavy" walking so the swelling went down. We ended up playing a lot of tugs and solidifying commands to wear her out.

Some of the best exercise, in which you build a bond, is to do doggie things with yours. I have become a husky most of the time I have had Miya. Giving your dog a fulfilling life is more than walks. Especially for some of the monsters out there that are super hyper. Getting down on all fours and wrestling, playing tugs, playing chase can limit the amount of walking, and keeping your pup safe from diseases until they are fully vaccinated. Slap on some old clothes, put on gloves if your skin breaks easily from puppy gnawing and be a husky. One of the most valuable things that I did with Miya to tire her even more, is play tugs and when she dropped tugs she had to do a command her reward was the continuation of tugs. Hope that helps you out some.

Give your vet a quick call if your pup doesn't seem to be improving and ask if it warrants a trip in.

It's happened to me a few times, mine were older than 12 weeks though. One time I saw the entire accident Mishka had and was so sure something got broken, however everything turned out ok. Like yours, Mishka limped on it a bit, but after a few hours (I think) she was pretty much back to normal. My advice would be to let him rest a bit, I don't know about totally staying off of it but if you can prevent him from running or playing too hard throughout the day I'd do that. I think it's more of a judgement call on your part as to whether you feel some serious damage was done if after resting it a bit, things don't get better or seem to get worse on whether to get him to a vet.

I agree with Renee, they're a little more indestructible than we tend to think. We rushed Klaus to the vet when he was a puppy for so many silly things just to pay for office visits and be told he'll be okay. I say give it some time, and take it easy for a day and if the limping persists then speak to the vet (unless it gets worse). I remember at that age short walks didn't do much to help with the energy, I recommend adding in a lot of mental stimulation. Trainings takes a lot out of them, play hide and seek, and get some treat/puzzle games.

An easy one is a baking pan/cupcake pan and put treats in a couple of the slots and put tennis balls over all of them. He then has to search underneath the tennis balls to which ones have the treats.

Thanks guys... yes, they are like rubber, but for those of you who have had huskies in the past ( I had a 7 1/2 yrs old alaskan/siberian) they milk the pain for all it's worth to get extra treats and belly rubs. They are notorious for being babies for life. I will limit his running for a few days (if I can manage the hyperness). He's walking fine now, but I am not allowing him to jump, etc... Yes, with my previous husky Kiki, I took him to the vet so many times, most of which were useless visits and lots of money out of my pocket But then again, I never had a dog before so I wasn't sure.
Renee: did you get Sofie her vaccinations yesterday? and if so, did your vet recommend she get a 4th round?

Sarah, yes she has gained 11 pounds in the 4 weeks with us. Very healthy little girl. Vet looked at her shot schedule from the breeders vet, and they did not give her all the shots he felt necessary. Actually what he said was she need another round of one shot, either Lepto or Parvo, because there's a new strain in our area, he said if he could give an individual shot for just that, he was fine with doing 3 rounds, however, they do the all in one shots and therefore would like her to get one more round so she was fully vaccinated on that particular strain. Ugh, looking at her charts, she was never vaccinated for lepto, I did tell him I wasn't overly concerned about parvo, but, I would like her to have 2 rounds for lepto, so I may have to just do it. Ugh, not pleased. Looking at her records, the previous vet I think did a 3 in one vaccine, where my vet does a 6 in one, so she didn't get 3 vaccines that she should have, so in the end she will get 2 rounds of 3 vaccines and 4 rounds of 3 vaccines. I wish vaccines were more universal, especially in the same area. My breeder is only 65 miles away, you would think both vets would have vaccinated with the same vaccines. Good luck to you, hope your situation turns out better than mine. Also, I did say I refuse to over vaccinate. and he said he is fine on not vaccinating every year for Miya and when Sofie is an adult. I did pick up a little info on titers, and some say you can do titers 3 to 4 weeks after vaccine, and from my vet on the 3 year rabies you can titer after a year, he feels the 3 year loses it's efficacy after 2 years, and recommending not to wait 3 years and get it every 2.

Renee: Ugh what a mess!!!! Why did you take Sofie to 2 different vets and get 2 different vaccines? didn't your breeder provide you with a medical certificate from the vet she got her first vaccines from? My breeder did that when shiloh was vaccinated at 6weeks. He got the 'all in one' DA2PP as most call it, which includes: parvo, adenovirus type 1 and 2, parainfluenza, and distemper. He then got a repeat of that (2nd round) last week and bordatella because my vet says there's a bad case of it going around. He is then due for the 3rd round dec.7th for DA2PP. In my case, she wants a 4th since he will only be 14 weeks and 1 day. I consulted MANY people and other vets if a 4th is required and they all said not necessary. Actually, I called the vet who gave him his 1st set of shots at 6 weeks and she said a 4th isn't necessary. As for titer testing, I was told to do it a few weeks before their annual visit because just in case they are low on something, you want it boosted at their annual. Hope this helps....

Sarah, yeh, they are a lot more indestructible than most people think.  I was out walking Misty, my first Sibe, over by Houston it was fairly remote (for being in the suburbs) and had her on a long leash - something like 30 - 50 feet.  Something in the field across the road attracted her attention and she took off - on the other side of a telephone pole from where I was.  When she hit the end of the leash, it'd wrapped itself around her front leg and I thought sure she'd broken it.  We walked (er, she limped) home and was in obvious pain but was walking on it so I let it go overnight - of course the next morning she was ready to go again.

Renee, my two vets both consider the three year rabies vaccine good for about a five year span and others are testing for longer, see this rabies challenge.

Quote :

Our conclusion from studies with the initial rabies vaccine is that the immunity conferred by that product, and assessed by the in vitro RFFIT, was excellent for the first three years, but declined during the fourth year, and continued to drop during the fifth year. The second vaccine group, which is now three years from vaccination, will remain on study for at least two more years.

You might find the article worth reading since there are other observations that I found interesting.

Renee - my vet basically echoes what Al is saying - that the 3 yr rabies vaccine induces excellent immunity (I was asking for a repeat of the 3yr at the 2 yr mark based on something I had read and Ami's high exposure risk. It would have been easy for her to say "sure, come in, I'll take your money..." she did not.)

As for the lepto - it really depends on the locale and the dog's exposure risk. And since its consequences can be lethal, it has a good risk/benefit ratio. I'm a bit pissed at myself - we probably have a medium risk up here and Ami's risk is probably more than most due to his free-ranging and the amount of wildlife we have. I had asked about the shot when I was down there with kitty, brought Ami in specifically to get bordetella for daycare on our trip and we were supposed to get the lepto, but we(vet and I) both forgot. I was particularly pissed since the southeast has a higher incidence of lepto. Since immunity only lasts about a year and our risk is highest in late summer/fall and again in spring, I think I'll wait until Feb/March. BUt I'm still kicking myself and holding my breath...

Thanks Al I'll take a look at that link.

@Sarah, I have no idea, it was 2 against one, my husband kept agreeing with the vet. and now looking at the paper work she didn't get the lepto. It is a bad problem in Dallas area about 200 miles east of me, and Sofie eats dirt, lol, Miya didn't so I was more concerned on getting that shot, and she didn't. To be fair I think my vets just don't have a clue, they charged me $32 for her core shot, rabies shot and exam, so they do not charge me a lot. The 3-4 weeks on titers was for the core vaccines, to make sure the 3rd one is protecting your pup, so you can avoid the 4th round.