Looking to add a puppy to the family in June.

Currently have a 10 year old Male Alaskan Malamute, has been a great dog since I got him but I admit I got him very young and was more of a him teaching me exercise which did not lead to anything extravagant I was able to train him on an invisible fence (but if he wanted it bad enough he would go through maybe 1 or twice per year). The only real thing I wish was better was his ability to be left alone. Out side is ok, but if bored he will howl if left for extended periods of time and inside is not an option as he would go the the bathroom and/or get into everything.

Needless to say though he is an amazing dog, and I would love to get another one but the size is just too much, especially now at an older age it is becoming difficult. Which brings me to looking into a husky for a second dog. I just have a couple of questions/Concerns if someone could shed some insight I would appreciate it.

1) I would like to crate train the puppy, how problematic would this be with an elderly dog around that is not crate trained

2) I assume that the two dogs will help elevate the stress of being alone outside, it works decently on most days the dogs will be alone for 2-3 hours in the morning and about 2 hours in the afternoon. Dogs will be left in a 1/4 acre fully fenced yard.

3) We are currently also expecting in August, I was wanting to get a puppy before then to elevate training to basics of a dog with the hustle of a baby/Toddler later down the road.

4) Any other thoughts/recommendations

Thanks
Ryan

Howdy, Ryan! Just gonna jump right in here.

I have 2 dogs. Colby is not crate trained at all and is completely fine being left at home for long periods. Zhukov is (partially) crate trained. I say partially because he is fine eating and sleeping in his crate, but during the day acts like you are putting him in the Hanoi Hilton, complete with torture sessions and sadistic guards. I have found that if Zhukov can't see Colby wandering around free, he isn't so bad.

As far as leaving them alone outside, I would be careful with that. Huskies are escape artists and are not above digging under or scaling a fence to get away. I am not sure how everyone else feels about that, but I am not comfortable leaving Zhukov outside on his own.

Also, keep in mind that EVERY dog is different. Zhukov is VERY non-vocal. He is almost 6 months old and has not howled once (unless he is in his crate). He only (softly) woofs at the cats, however he growls like a bear when he is playing with Colby. Meanwhile, my buddy's Husky, has been howling since he was 2 months old, loves his crate, hates the house cat, has destroyed 2 couches, and cannot be trusted around small children other than my buddies kid.

To be honest, unless you are getting an older dog, for example, a rescue or something like that who has already been trained/housebroken, your time frame would put you in your second month of training your pup when your new (human) baby arrives. Like I said, every dog is different, and I have been training Zhukov for 3 months now, and it is a constant affair. Admittedly, I am not the best at this, but Colby picked everything up very quickly, while Zhukov has taken much longer.

In the end, it is up to you (and your wife, don't forget about her! ) I wish you nothing but the best and hope it all works out for you.

P.S. Might wanna clear out some disk space on your computer, because you will be taking a lot of pictures between your new furry baby and your new hairless baby!

In regards to crate training the puppy, we found it extremely difficult attempting to crate the puppy while the big one was in the house. As soon as we would leave, puppy would start crying and big would start howling, which turned into a 2 hour howl session until we got back. We gave up on crating the puppy because we only crated the big one for a few months until she was fine left alone. Maybe we got lucky, but the puppy has yet to :knock on wood: chew/eat/destroy anything. We took a lot of time to puppy proof, but he has little interest in our things (with the exception of shoes). I think the two keep each other occupied.

Congratulations!!!

In regards to crating, I would only want her (husky puppy) in the crate for the first couple months at night to sleep and when we are out of the house. In which case the older dog for all intensive purposes has become habitually an outdoor dog, he comes in when he wants to eat and socialize, might stay in a night or two a week but loves nothing more than to sit on the back deck watching the neighborhood.

I am not sure how this will change with a new puppy, I do not know if he will constantly want to be around her or get bored eventually and go back to his routine. I just do not feel it wise to leave a young untrained pup outside with him for a couple hours a day not to have her sleeping in the house able to roam free.

I was thinking of putting the crate in the upstairs office, as the old guy barely goes up their and only sleeps in the kitchen on the tile floor when and if he decides to stay inside so I do not think he will bother her their at night. My only concern is during the day. Leaving him outside and her in the crate in the office, they will know where they are and might start howling for each other during the day.

But who know eventually when she is housebroken and reasonable I may be able to leave them both inside in the basement when I go away as they can keep each other company and he wont get some devilish with her there, or they could both go crazy.

Clearly their are a lot of variables, I am just not sure on my right path.


To be honest, I originally thought about a Bernise for a second companion but after looking at the large health risks decided against it. Also why I decided on a female husky hoping for better train ability and less likely to test me.

It has been my experience that the girls are more apt to test you. A friend of mine has a male and he has always been more chill. My girl and the other girls that I have met have always been more high strung and testing. As has already been said, each dog is different. Some are harder to crate train, others aren't. Some are easy to potty train, others aren't. My boy, not a husky but has the butthead qualities of a husky, was easy to crate train and preferred being in the crate while my other dog was left out because he knew in the crate he could have toys to occupy his time and kenzi wasn't going to take them away from him. Your pup will prefer to be near you so at night you will have an easier time if you crate in your room with you. If you don't there will be a good chance that you will be getting a head start on no sleep before you have the real baby. Your pup may also wake the baby up on the few instances you can get it to sleep if you can't get it crate trained quickly.

Really, IMO, with a new baby on the way and another dog already, I would lean toward adopting an adult or older pup. With a pup and a new baby that is a lot of poop to keep track of and pups require a ton of time which is why they are often rehomed because people don't have have time once a baby arrives. No joke, over half the huskies rehomed on craigslist in my area are rehomed because no one has time to work with them or exercise them once a new baby comes.

With any breed if you are looking for a puppy it is important to find a reputable breeder (there is a sticky here on how to know you are working with a good breeder) and by going through a reputable breeder you cut down astronomically on the health issues you will be dealing with later in life. that is the same for huskies, bernese, gsd, etc. Bad breeders don't care about what health issues they are passing on so it is up to you to weed them out and care.

Fortunately I am very lucky enough to be able to work from home most days, and when needed to go into the office I live a mile away. I do travel a bit for work but I have a well known dog sitter that has been helping me with my current dog for years so I am not overly concerned with the time. Especially with a baby on the way someone will always be home then. I figure by the time the baby is here the new pup will already be house broken and I would just have to worry about whining nights.

I found a breeder in NC that I am thinking of using, I live in NY and would drive down and pick her up when the time came unless anyone knows any other breaders around my area I am open to suggestions.

Breeder I found is Huskypalace
http://huskypalace.com/

carbon8, personally I'd avoid them with a passion. I'm trying to get out of the house to get to the dentist so I'll be abrupt.
There is no reference to any eye / hip testing on their site. The best breeders you're going to find are those who work their dogs, either show or running - I don't see anything on their web site that indicates they work their dogs. They're breeding "wooley" coated Sibes - a wooly coat is a fault for a Sibe.
Lastly, they're in the dog business - that puts them about on the puppy mill level for me. They may have better living conditions, but they're still breeding dogs for sale not to improve the breed.

I'm with Al. They also breed multiple breeds and multiple litters of those breeds per year. The parents that they picture for the huskies are not breed standard and the price they are asking for out of standard dogs is outrageous IMO. They are in it for the money, not the dogs. They actually do have a page that says they test hips and eyes but they say they will only use dogs that rate as "fair" or better and eyes they just say that all their dogs are "clear". They don't say anything about having their dogs tested every year and they don't list what the dogs they were breeding are rated, so you would have to ask if you were just getting fair hips. Kinda shady way of listed your health testing as many of these things don't show up until some dogs are nearly 2 years old. If they had them tested at 1 then, yeah, they would probably be fair and clear.

What are some recommended breeders?

I got my Malamute from Northern Glories without issue, they also breed Husky's
http://www.alaskanmalamutepups.com/

For recommended breeders I'd reference our Parent Club-

http://www.shca.org/shcahp4f.htm

I am also going to agree with the above posts....a breeder who does not upfront disclose the health test results of their breeding stock, walk away. Their prices far exceed what you should be expecting from a quality breeder who is breeding dogs of proven health and quality. A lot of red flags. A couple years ago I wrote a blog describing some of the most common red flags in breeder ads- http://www.keahisiberianhuskies.com/blog/how-to-decode-puppy-ads

as well as the costs of some of the most common heritable disorders that an unsuspecting puppy buyer could be subjected to by not choosing a breeder who is invested in the health of their dogs-
http://www.keahisiberianhuskies.com/blog/why-choose-responsibly

Your old breeder at least hip and eye tested and were willing to put it out there that they did and the results. Healthy pups can be gotten from many breeders that aren't good breeders. Here we prefer to back reputable breeders when we can so we encourage people to look for more than just a dog that someone says will be healthy, we encourage people to look into upholding the standard and heritage of the breed. A breeder that does this will have well balanced dogs and are dedicated to ALL aspects of the breed, not just a healthy neat looking dog. Huskies shouldn't be wooly or giant and breeders who breed for this aren't doing the breed any favors.

This is the sticky on this forum that's a list of things to look for in a breeder.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t1041-how-do-you-find-a-reputable-breeder?highlight=breeder

None of the Siberians on your previous breeder's website are quality representatives of the breed. Its great they are health testing and disclosing those results...but breeding responsibly has to take into consideration the breed standard, functionality of the overall dog, as well as the long term health history behind the dogs being bred and the get they will produce.

The Breed Standard (not just for show dogs!):
http://www.shca.org/shcahp2c.htm

I would also like to add that usually reputable breeders will not have tons of puppies available. We waited over a year to get a puppy from our breeder as they only had 1-2 litters a year and the waiting list was quite long. I am so happy I waited. Our rescue (while we love her to death) likely came from a puppy mill and already has health/temperament issues at 3 years of age. I am happy to know that our puppy came from quality lines that have been proven over time to be sounds in both aspects. Not to mention, the mom and dad are living happy lives as working dogs, not cramped in small cages pumping out litter after litter. Especially with a baby arriving soon, I would feel safer knowing that my dog is a well bred dog.

Carbon...this is excellent that you are asking questions....there are some great racing line breeders in the northeast, as you have been doing include a site and we can check it out and help you. I personally would inquire Karnovanda in Michigan, great line. Proven dogs. They produce nice dogs and in reality Michigan is not terribly far away, or again look in the north east. Also Huskymom is a really wonderful person, and can give you great insight on breeders across the country. Check her website out, a ton of info on our beloved breed.

carbon8 wrote:

What are some recommended breeders?

I got my Malamute from Northern Glories without issue, they also breed Husky's
http://www.alaskanmalamutepups.com/

they also interbreed Huskys and Samoyed for sale .... This is definitely not a way to improve either breed.  They breed and sell wooly husky's ... Wooly Huskies are a fault - they aren't supposed to be that way.

Back from the dentist - who wasn't in - so I'm very tired and not in the best of moods so I'll quit now.

ETA: Carbon, maybe I ( or we ) seem to be coming down real hard on the 'breeders' that you're looking at but it's not without reason.  And let me set something straight, we're not, generally, breed purists.  
The Labrador retriever, though a hunting dog, makes an excellent family pet.  They seldom get too stressed about much of anything.  Having a "shaggy" lab would pretty much defeat the purpose of it's coat - as it is, it sheds water excellently.
The various Spaniels were also bred as hunting dogs and in general make good family pets though some may be a bit high strung.  A shaggy coat here doesn't matter much since they were bred to be field dogs.
Cross breeding the two of them would probably not result in a better retriever.

Sibes were bred to have a two layer coat; the inner coat keeps them warm in the winter and cooler in the summer; the longer outer layer (the guard hairs) sheds water, ice and mud and whatever else they can get into.  Breeding for a "wooly" result in a dog who can't naturally shed the muck as easily.
Sibes were also bred to haul medium loads over long distances - they were literally 'bred to run' - unlike the Malamute (and I think the Samoyed as well<??>) who were bred to haul heavier loads at slower speeds and often not as far in one stretch. There was a reason that most of the dogs that made up the 1920 Mercy run to Nome were Sibes.

Can the breed be improved? Undoubtedly and every responsible breeder is trying to help with that.  Like the German Shepherd who's been bred into a poor example of what the dog should be (sloped back, and very bad hips) there are breeders who are trying to recover the true GSD.  Our sibes also suffer from some genetic disorders, a good breeder keeps track of what dogs, for example, develop hip dysplasia so that they can breed it out of their lines; juvenile cataracts - ditto.  

You want your dog to have a long, healthy life.  Nothing and no one can guarantee that - don't we all wish we could - buying your Siberian pup from a zealous breeder will, however, improve the odds.

I am loving all the information, I do understand where all of you are coming from and of course also am looking for a reputable breeder. I found the Malamute when I was 16 so I did not do much research but maybe just got lucky with him. I do encourage the research and am putting together a list of breeders I would be willing to drive to from the resources provided, I will vet them all and find a final couple that work for me then inquire into availability.

Everyone else has made great points about the breeder, so I will touch on the baby issue.

I am assuming (correct me if I am wrong) this will be your first baby, you have no other kids? I have 4 kids, the youngest being 16 months old, I also have a 6 month old black lab pup and a 10 week old sibe pup, and I am a stay at home mom. I know everyone tells you this, but trust me you don't fully appreciate the advise until the baby gets here. Babies are exhausting work, they are the best thing in the world, but those first few months, ummm I mean years are so exhausting. I know every baby/situation is different, but unless you have a husband who is just as dedicated to the puppy as you are things can get rough! I love my husband a lot but he is not an animal person, he will help out a little and let the dogs out if I ask but that is it. There are times when I have puppies that want to go outside to potty or play, but I was either nursing the baby, changing diapers, or it was just too cold to take him outside.

I would highly recommend you wait until after the baby is born and you get into the groove of motherhood first, make sure to take care of you and the baby first. Trust me the last month of pregnancy just drags on!

Oh I almost forgot to add another reason to wait... While yes most of the time giving birth goes perfectly fine, but things can go wrong. For example my sons birth was going great, no problems, until everything went wrong. We still don't know what happened Dr thinks possibly he was having a bad reaction to the Pitocin, but my son was born not breathing and barely a heartbeat. He spent a week in the NICU. While he is perfectly fine now, I don't know how I would have been able to handle a young puppy at the same time, I chose to wait to raise another guide dog puppy until he was older, and I am so glad I did!

carbon8 wrote:

I am loving all the information, I do understand where all of you are coming from and of course also am looking for a reputable breeder. I found the Malamute when I was 16 so I did not do much research but maybe just got lucky with him. I do encourage the research and am putting together a list of breeders I would be willing to drive to from the resources provided, I will vet them all and find a final couple that work for me then inquire into availability.

Whew! I was just reading through this page again, and thinking to myself "Wow, I hope this guy doesn't think that we are bashing him." The whole breeder thing can really bring out a whole bunch of different opinions and feelings. I wish you nothing but the best and hope that you find that perfect pup for you, just like I did.

Spent the week reaching out to all the northeast breeders on the SHCA page, got a couple responses and some good prospects. Seems to be very few liters going around which is disappointing.

How much of a headache would it to pick up a 4 month old puppy? Do you not miss a lot of base work in training when you get them much later than 8 weeks?

carbon8 wrote:

Spent the week reaching out to all the northeast breeders on the SHCA page, got a couple responses and some good prospects. Seems to be very few liters going around which is disappointing.

How much of a headache would it to pick up a 4 month old puppy? Do you not miss a lot of base work in training when you get them much later than 8 weeks?

Son got his rescue at 4 months and he has worked out wonderfully. We got Ami at 1 year and, except for grooming difficulties, he has worked out great, too. He was highly trainable (still is). And I'm not really sure grooming would have been any easier if we'd started early...I have my suspicions that this is more of an inborn temperament thing. A 4 month old will also have a slightly longer attention span for training as well as longer bladder control.

I'm with Amy. You will come to appreciate that longer attention span and bladder control. Yeah, it won't be the little bundle of fluff some people must have, but there is nothing you can do at 8 weeks you can't do at 4 months and be just as successful. We've gotten dogs as late at 8 months old that trained out just as well as any 8 week old pup we could have started with. Even my 7 year old still learns new things.

This is prompting so many different responses in me that I'm going to have to pick one and go with it.

Since you're looking at breeders, I'm going to assume that you're getting the older puppy from one of them. At four months with a good breeder, you'll have a puppy who has most of his basic training out of the way - this is probably good. You will have a puppy who's been well socialized - this is definitly good! You will miss out on some of the early puppy training at 3 0'clock in the morning - this is probably good if you have school or a job; you won't miss out on all of it since you both will have a few weeks of adjustment time when he comes home. Now you may have some adjustment if the puppy has been trained with "lay" for "lay down" or "down" means "get all four feet on the floor" while you want it to mean "get off the couch". He'll still be young enough (until he's 15) that you can train him to do whatever you want.

If however you're going the rescue route, which will garner much praise from those of us who do rescue, you don't really have any idea of what the dog's been through and may have to untrain a lot before you start feeling like you're having any sucess. There may be some really rough spots - I've been bit requiring stitches - but in the end the dog will realize that it has a good home and you'll both have atighter bond, I think.

Yes it's true responsible breeders won't have puppies on the ground all year round. But, the rewards of a healthy, happy, well adjusted puppy are well worth the wait.

Keegan (my signature photo dog) came to us at 4 months old. His breeder held on to him, as litter pick, and really waited to find the right home to help him shine. I was blessed enough to have him choose us- It's true we missed out on the 8 week old fluff ball, some of the puppy antics (lets face it at 2 he still is a puppy). We also missed out on the rigors of potty training, the 3am wake ups. The amount of socialization and preparation he had for the real world...really gave us a confident puppy ready to tackle anything that life threw his way. He had a great foundation in training, completely crate trained, leash trained, house trained...really the only thing I had to do was the basic training for showing him. It really did make for all the joys of puppyhood being that much more enjoyable in a lot of respects.

I think I may have found my puppy, from a breeder in Minnesota, so a bit of a drive but worth it (I love road trips)

http://www.bestakcpups.com/index.html

Everything I can read seems very ligament, although pricey but I'm not too concerned about that. They have two beautiful girls available. I am more partial to the Parti-Eye so I think that will be my first choice.

My Only concern is they require the dog to be spayed before 7months, I was told you really want to wait till around 12. Should I be concerned?

Marci Born 2/21/16 so will be 15 Weeks when I pick her up
http://www.bestakcpups.com/apiperslitter.htm

Esme Born 3/3/16 so will be 13 Weeks when I pick her up
http://www.bestakcpups.com/bkhaleesilitter.htm

DO NOT BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!