Hi, all! Looking for advice on Lutsen's eating habits. I've read to expect that husky's generally eat less than other breeds due to being a working dog. I have also read that they can become bored of their food if they feel they are getting the same thing every day?

I guess I should actually ask my question haha...

Lutsen wakes up with me around 6:00 AM every day. My boyfriend goes to work at 4:00AM and is usually home by 12pm every day. Lutsen does eat when Ryan lets him out once he is home, but when he gets up with me in the mornings its always a hit or miss. Sometimes he will pick at his food other times he will chow down.

I try to spice it up by adding a touch of wet food...sometimes that works!

I guess I'm asking if any of you have experienced this? If so, should i be worried if I have to leave for work and he has yet to eat or be glad that he at least will eat a full meal between 11-12 when ryan gets home?

Let me also add that afternoon/night time eating habits are completely fine! This is just a question directed towards mornings .

How late do you feed him at night? Skipping meals is normal. I've had my girl skip a whole days worth of meals before and be normal for her. If he is still eating at all I wouldn't worry. If he is being fed later at night and then sleeping much of the night he hasn't really worked off any of the meal some mornings to be hungry yet. All sounds normal to me. If they aren't losing weight and still growing well then that is your main concern. Not all dogs get bored with their food. Some can be picky and others aren't. My two get one of two flavors and have since I've had them. I might switch flavor once every few months and they've never snubbed any of it out of boredom.

TwisterII wrote:

How late do you feed him at night? Skipping meals is normal. I've had my girl skip a whole days worth of meals before and be normal for her. If he is still eating at all I wouldn't worry. If he is being fed later at night and then sleeping much of the night he hasn't really worked off any of the meal some mornings to be hungry yet. All sounds normal to me. If they aren't losing weight and still growing well then that is your main concern. Not all dogs get bored with their food. Some can be picky and others aren't. My two get one of two flavors and have since I've had them. I might switch flavor once every few months and they've never snubbed any of it out of boredom.

Thank you, Jenn! I definitely see what you mean now. Normally we are placing his dinner time food out around 5-6 and he will pick at it...the come to us to see what mom and dad are having for dinner haha and once he realizes that the begging isn't going to get him anywhere he will go back to his bowl again.

What time of day are you most exercising kenzi and keno? I find that Lutsen's most willing to finish his meal roughly 30-45 minutes after I have exercised with him which is usually 3:30-4:00 when I get home so that would explain why he's actually hungry late after noon/dinner time.

Also, what types of flavors do you think they like the most? I got two kinds of wet food to add to his dry...he loves the chicken...is passive about the turkey lol.

I don't feed any wet food on a regular basis. They get raw ground deer when I have it on hand or didn't need all of it for a recipe. The kibble flavors I feed are beef and chicken. They are questionable about lamb just as Lutsen is iffy about turkey. Not worth it to me to try and coax them through a flavor they don't like.

Mine get an hour of hard play in the morning 7am-8am, half hour jog and play at lunch then get fed their first meal, and get a full mileage walk out at 4:30pm. Their last meal comes at 9pm. Keno will eat anytime you put food in front of him (comes with having hound in him), but Kenzi isn't interested in food much in the morning after sleeping all night. By the time she has played in the morning and had some exercise she has better processed the 9pm meal and is ready to eat by noon without much hassle. Usually if she is going to skip a meal the first meal is the one. She is usually always ready to eat by night unless it was a really slow day for some reason.

Yeah i agree. I tried the turkey, he didn't like it so I stopped. I want to get into raw feeding but not sure where to start. I have read through some of the discussions on raw feeding in this forum...its been interesting to read all the advice!

Lutsen plays with Ryan for about an hour at noon then when I get home. I feel like this routine might need to expand once he's bigger? Do you feel like it should be a little longer or a little more each month they grow or weekly? Sorry to switch topics but I do feel like diet and exercise go hand in hand with dogs much like humans haha!

As he gets older you will need to do more of something. Play is fun and good, walking and running is where they really get their exercise. I tend to ramp up my walking distance more than the play that my two get. With him as young as he is I would step up monthly with his walks and let him play as much as he wants to (as much time as you can spare to play. Some of these dogs will go all day) rather than setting a set amount of play time. As he gets older it is going to take more to get him worn out and you will want to do more walks/play to keep your sanity. As he reaches the end of his growing though his food intake will probably decrease despite the increase in activity.

Thank you for the tips! Yeah I have been doing to 5 min walking/running for every month of age. I can already tell he wants to go further and further...its beneficial for me because I love having a work out buddy! I guess i do feel sort of dorky setting a "play time" for him...I usually try to let him play as much as he wants before he gives me the "i'm wiped out" signal. Unfortunately sometimes its hard when we have things going on/dinner/cleaning/life haha. I must say he does like to mess around with his chew toys solo too on his bed, that's his happy place while we are doing other things.

It sounds like you balance it all really well with two pups though so I will just keep asking for advice as he gets older lol!

I am fortunate enough to have a very large yard and good setup at the house to aid me in getting them what they need to not drive me crazy. No kids either. The biggest thing I noticed going from one to two time wise was getting training squeezed in for the second dog. Play time and exercise time is simultaneous between the two so that didn't cost me anymore time. They all have a plateau point I think. They need so much of your time until they are about 5ish and then as they age the play for some settles down much. My girl is going on 7 now and she isn't as interested in the play so much as getting the structured walks now.

How big a yard? We like to think we have a big yard but i know members on this forum have acres which i'm so jealous...someday! We do not have kids either...yet! Lutsen's very sweet around kids...his breeders had two children so he is super gentle and mellow around them...i hope that doesn't change! I would love to introduce a new pack member to our family but we are waiting for the right time when we can.
I've found that play dates with some of our friends dogs have been the most beneficial as far as Lutsen getting his play time in. We kind of just have it narrowed down to our neighbor's dog who is very sweet and loves to run around with lutsen and then our friends with a german pointer who is super active.

He has only had his first round of Parvo so as of now the dog park is not an option. Some day though!

Did you adopt both dogs as puppies? I almost wonder if rescuing a slightly older dog would be good for round 2 for us..not sure.

Since Jenn (who is really helpful, not even suggesting that she isn't) is the only replying to you in this thread, I figured I'd put my two cents worth in.

All these dogs are different.  I have two - an Alaskan, Avalanche and a Siberian, Sasha.
Avalanche has his food on the front porch, which is where he lives during the day and I free feed him because he just picks his way through the day.  
Sasha gets fed in the house since she'd eat her food and Avalache's as well - if she could.  She gets two cups of food a day, one in the AM and one about 11 hours later in the evening.  And she just spent three days of not eating breakfast ... go figger!

I live in an area where my dogs can be off lead - to a degree.  
Avalanche will stay out and run around my house (see this thread) at about 100 yards out ... and around and around ... with the occasional side trip to go make friends with a bunny.
Sasha doesn't run, but will walk on the desert with me off leash, seldom getting more than a couple of hundred feet away from me.
Neither dog is off lead unless I'm right there with them!

And I just looked at my "Where's Al Live?" thread and the pictures are missing, guess I'm going to have to host them myself!

aljones wrote:

Since Jenn (who is really helpful, not even suggesting that she isn't) is the only replying to you in this thread, I figured I'd put my two cents worth in.

All these dogs are different.  I have two - an Alaskan, Avalanche and a Siberian, Sasha.
Avalanche has his food on the front porch, which is where he lives during the day and I free feed him because he just picks his way through the day.  
Sasha gets fed in the house since she'd eat her food and Avalache's as well - if she could.  She gets two cups of food a day, one in the AM and one about 11 hours later in the evening.  And she just spent three days of not eating breakfast ... go figger!

I live in an area where my dogs can be off lead - to a degree.  
Avalanche will stay out and run around my house (see this thread) at about 100 yards out ... and around and around ... with the occasional side trip to go make friends with a bunny.
Sasha doesn't run, but will walk on the desert with me off leash, seldom getting more than a couple of hundred feet away from me.
Neither dog is off lead unless I'm right there with them!

And I just looked at my "Where's Al Live?" thread and the pictures are missing, guess I'm going to have to host them myself!

Al, Lutsen is a siberian like sasha...so reading that she has skipped breakfast too makes me feel better about Lutsen's morning appetite..or lack thereof!

Lutsen is only off lead when we are with him in the back yard. He gets a little confused when he is on lead in the front yard like..."really mom?" Sorry kid but i can't trust that you wont bolt! Right now he doesn't show much interest in digging...and he doesnt try to jump...he's only 4 months though so we will see! He's oddly mellow honestly!

How much land do you have? Its a beautiful property! Ours is burried in about 4 ft of snow right now!

Old picture but you get the idea by how small kenzi is as a red dot down by the back fence. I have an acre inside the fence. There's more unfenced but they don't go off lead to use it.



Both of mine were shelter dogs I got as adults. I picked up Keno when he was about 3 and I got Kenzi at 4 years. I don't hardly have patience for puppies so getting as adults worked better for us as I didn't have to wait to get started with hard core hiking and biking. I love puppies but I personally am better suited, and my lifestyle is better suited, for adults.

I only have about 5 acres ... but there are very few of the parcels around me that have anything on them except sage & creosote bushes ... and rabbits, quail and roadrunners.  

You'll see references of mine to a sibe I had who I let run because there's little out here and she always came home when I called - until one time she didn't.  Even though I let these two run, I'm always close enough that I can get them back to me when I need to.  Sasha will come when she's called and Avalanche doesn't go far and will come to the Jeep when I start it (cheating, but it works).  Even given that I do let mine off lead, you'll seldom see me approve of 'off lead' without the caveat that it your dogs life your putting on the line when you let them loose!

You said "It's a beautiful property!" were the pictures there for you???

Since Jenn has added a note, mine are both rescues and both are about 5 years old now. At my age, I'll agree with Jenn's comment that I don't have the patience for a puppy - definitely I have the time.

I definitely am hesitant to raise a puppy again. I agree with you Jenn, its a little hard to have to wait on doing all the activities i want to do with Lutsen. I obviously love the choice in getting him young, but i think the second go around I might want to rescue instead. Your yard looks awesome jenn!

Al the pictures were great! I love seeing where huskies from all over get to play! So fun.

I agree with you on the off lead argument. Even though I will usually mention that Lutsen is surprisingly mellow...he still comes from a bloodline of avid sled dogs so I know given the chance he will use his little legs with full force.

I'll also add to the wanting a rescue for next time (whenever that happens) because I feel that we got SO lucky with Lutsen being so good and so mellow that there is NO way we could be that fortunate the second time with a youngster. I am in no way trying to brag or implying that he isn't ever challenging at times because he is still a puppy and they come with challenges automatically, I just know that if we tried to get another puppy we'd basically be trying for another Lutsen which is an impossible expectation to have so therefore I think going with an older dog next time would be more beneficial.

Greta, had a busy morning but I will chime in on all of this. Both Miya and Sofie I got as pups, and I think when we get a third, haha, I know....I want to rescue as well. I just do not have the patience for puppies, Sofie is pretty close to killing me because I worry all the time, Miya I didn't as much.

We do have about a full acre, and we also have access to 400 acres about 6 miles away from us that we walk to and then hike out. Haven't taken Sofie yet, she is too small, but have taken Miya. I do have a pretty excellent recall with Miya, and we do walk off leash on our dirt road, but Sofie is a gsd, which are slightly more prone to staying along side of their owners compared to huskies, gsd's do though have as strong of a prey drive as a husky. Sofie is too afraid to wander too far off. With that said, and some people are against it, Miya is e-collar trained and I will more than likely train Sofie on one as well. They are my safety net to go off lead, with Miya I use a tone only, so no shock, and at a half a mile away she can hear that, because she can't hear me call her. I will not continue on with that, but I do agree huskies are not to be trusted off leash.

The food issue, Miya is rarely hungry in the morning and she barely eats, most days max 2 cups more often 1-1.5 cups and I feed one meal a day raw. Sofie is my chow hound, she is always hungry I feed her 1.5 cups in the morning, 1.5 cups in the afternoon, and then raw for her evening meal. Miya has gone days with out eating, she is a nibbler, where she may eat a few pieces of food numerous times, typically she eats most of her food at 1 am, after everyone is asleep. With Sofie here, Miya has a better appetite, and if she doesn't eat hers, Sofie will sneak mouthfuls of Miya's, so Miya is slowly getting the idea, she better eat when I fill her bowl, or it may be gone at 1 am when she really wants to eat, lol. There is one exception to all of this, and that was yesterday, never ever has Miya ate more than her 2 little biscuits in the am, but she wanted some kibble so I gave her a half cup, she wanted more and gave her another cup, lol, I have never seen Miya eat that much in the morning, she also ate her 1.5 cups in the late afternoon as well as her raw. There have been weeks where all Miya has ate is 3 cups of kibble and some raw, and this was in one day, haha. Can't explain that.

Thank you for your input, Renee! In my opinion, I feel like as long as something works for you and the dog is a happy camper then go for it! My boyfriend has had experience with E collars but I have not. Lutsen has been pretty good at recall training though I agree I think that as long as you are with them while they roam its the safest option it seems!


Isn't it so funny how two dogs can live with each other, play, all day long and still their eating habits and personalities can be completely different.

As I've said to you before, I love german shepherds. Your pups are so cute!

Also, so jealous of everyone's big back yards!!!

wow, Jenn that's a huge backyard. backyard envy (dreams of have one that big one day) lol.

My experience with not eating in the morning? Turns out I was feeding too much. Since i cut back on his food, Ami esta each and every meal with alacrity. Now my only problem is convincing Wayne that puppy is not starving

I read a quote by a veterinarian, somewhere... sometime ago...that if your dog is not eating with gusto and looking for more food, than he's fed too much.