Good afternoon everyone,

First, a little background information. We're new to the forum and husky community. My Wife and I have decided to expand our household to a headcount of 5, we currently have 3 in total and are joined by our female cat. I have grown up with labradors and around dogs the majority of my life. This however, will be our first experience with a husky breed. I would be lying to say we've done all the research and read all the articles on what to expect, however the generalizations we've encountered are energetic, intelligent, loners and stubborn at times. I wanted to get into a little bit of our layout plans, actions and hear some thoughts from the community. Thanks in advance!

My wife and I are an active couple, in a nice neighborhood. The puppies are currently 4weeks old and we anticipate bringing them home between 6-8 weeks. They're siblings (Boy and girl) born outdoors. The breeder has been fantastic and has 46 huskies herself (40f 6m). Our home is mostly carpeted with the exception of kitchen/dining room with hardwood. We have purchased two separate crates (48" with dividers) and plan to put these into office connecting to the family room below our bedroom.

This room also has a computer desk and futon and I plan to wrap/sheath the cabling and the room can be sectioned off with a child/dog gate if needed. We have not decided to buy a gate yet as we're in limbo on needing it or not to section off the room. We also purchased a play gate (we can place in kitchen and living quarters) as my wife and I do not work the same schedules so it would be easier then tethering them all the time.

We have purchased separate food/water dishes and feed them separately and to do a bell method on the door adjacent to the room leading to the backyard for bathroom breaks. We plan to allow them full range of the house excluding the upstairs and we're in debate on gating off the top or just teach by training.

Some of the initial questions we have or if you have any initial input you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

1) First question, best methods for introducing them/interacting with the cat.

2) Should we allow them to be together while at work in the crates or keep them separate?

3) What things can we expect when we crate them at night for bed?

4) Accidents in the house, 100% chance these will happen, best actions after? Clean and citrus spray the spots?

5) Should we purchase a low-end carpet/mat for the office room to lay over the main rug to plan for accidents?

6) We have a gated backyard (Approx 5ft fence) should we still leash them for bathroom and training or free range?

7) While recognizing they're siblings and familiar with each other, how independently should we teach/play/train with them?

Toys - Kong and Dental bones - Any other MUST BUY toys?

9) Foods - Breeder uses Diamond we plan on switching to Blue Wilderness, any feedback on these (we know to wean them off)?


Thanks in advance, we have had a majority of questions we were able to get input on from other threads, just looking to join the community and ask some more directly related ones.

Hi there! I'm new here too but I've done a ton of research before bringing home Juno, so hopefully I can be of help.

1) We have a cat too, and we still haven't formally introduced them. Instead, we keep them entirely separated and the 2nd floor 100% belongs to the cat. They've done well so far. Whenever they see each other, they will stare with interest, but we try to discourage Juno's interest in Blueberry. We encourage Blueberry's interest in Juno. Blueberry has been mostly fine with the changes, but she is very reluctant to eat her food these days, since her plate and the floor smell like dog. Be prepared to fix up some tasty plates for kitty.

2) You're going to have a hard time raising two puppies at the same time. I've seen people do it, but mostly experienced handlers and breeders. The recommendation is to keep them separate AT ALL TIMES. As in, separate feedings, walks, etc. Otherwise they will NOT bond with you. It's hard enough to form a bond with a husky one-on-one. You have your work cut out for you.

3) They will probably cry. Juno wasn't too bad. He cried for about 1 hour each time we put him back in his crate the first night. It was much better by the third night. He started sleeping through the night around day 5. You will have to get up hourly to let them out to potty. Don't listen to anyone who says they will just sleep through the night without having to pee or poo. Also, Juno's poops were completely unpredictable, which resulted in several accidents. Don't feel bad for having accidents as long as you are vigilant about letting them out hourly.

4) Yes, just clean it up. Use Nature's Miracle to get the smell out. Juno hates the smell of Nature's Miracle though, so I will wipe with a wet towel afterwards.

5) Don't take puppies anywhere with carpeting unless they have JUST peed and pooped. They like going on carpet.

6) Yes, absolutely leash for bathroom. You want to stand there and only give them a foot on the leash until they go potty. Then walk them as a reward.

7) See above. We have Kongs and a few stuffed animals. Juno likes the stuffed animals the best. He's meh about the Kongs. Only once or twice he really tried to get the kibble/treats out. I don't think he's big on toys in general. Buy a few of everything and see what your pups like. Be careful and supervise them with anything that could break off.

I don't know anything about those foods, but definitely switch slow and be prepared for food sensitivities! Look up the protein percentages and try not to jump up or drop a lot in protein level.

Best of luck! Feel free to ask more questions. I was just there, and I definitely do not envy your first few days as you get to know your pups and stay up all night with them.

Edit: by the way, definitely do NOT take the pups home before 8 weeks. They will learn bite inhibition from each other from 6-8 weeks. You do not want to be the one teaching them that. Even Juno, who we got at 8 weeks, is extremely mouthy with us.

Rebecca did an excellent job of answering your questions. Twothings she said that I'd like to emphasize:
Wait as long as your breeder will let you before you bring them home - 8 weeks is a minimum and 10 is better, puppies learn an imense amount from each other and "how to be a dog" is on the top of that list. Bite inhibition, that can be so cute in a little puppy can be a real terror in an older dog and they *do* learn bite inhibition better from each other.
The other thing is that you want them to bond to you - they've already bonded as siblings, so as she said, do as much as you can separately.

Ummmmm, i am not so sure how "responsible" of a breeder this is, having 40+ dogs, do they have multiple sled teams and are worked often? Allowing to go home between 6-8 weeks, another red flag. And yet another red flag allowing siblings to go to one home with 0 northern breed experience?

I am sorry if I appear harsh, but this is not a terribly great breeder, imho. Questions have been answered so i wont rehash those things, except tethering is the preferred method in teaching potty outside, huge battle with pups born outside and bringing in 2 makes it even more difficult. If they have not started on crate training at the breeders, since I imagine they are not because of being outside, they will be difficult to crate train, and since being outside they are more used to doing their business in close proximity, so they may not care about defecating in their crates. lastly Blue Buffalo was sued by purina and Purina won. Blue says no by products and no grains and well they lied. I would consider a different food than Blue, and Diamond isn't a bad choice, a step up within the same manufacturer and what many feed here is taste of the Wild. There are others that are better in the same price range as Blue like Acana, Earthborn, Merrick, Wellness, Candidae, Fromm and Victor.

Yes, I agree with Renee completely. Didn't want to get into those red flags since you seem pretty set on making this happen. Be prepared for a lot of problems potty training. They will probably pee and poop in their crates, especially if the crates are too big or you put in blankets. If you're willing to reconsider, I'd recommend only getting one puppy from this breeder. Or go to another breeder altogether.

Thank you all for the replies. Apologies I misspoke earlier. We are going to visit them between 6-8 weeks.

@miyasmommy yes, she runs two full sled teams. Has a village set up for living quarters with indoor living conditions and approximately 70+ acres. I didn't get into details about the breeder as I didn't think it was necessary?

We had a rep at the pet store (worked for blue so obviously bias) saying no grains in the top end brand. Was the lawsuit for that? I'll have to do some more research. You guys said a lot of members use "into the wild"? How has this mix been for you?

Thanks again everyone.

Taste of the Wild is what I feed my girls, and they have done fantastic. Blue was sued throughout their whole line. Even before the lawsuit, most people have had a hard time with Blue being too rich for their husky puppy.

As far as the breeders, hmmmmm, well, we as a group here respect and support responsible breeders. How many breeding pairs do they have? If more than 3 they are bybs or millers and neither should be supported. I also find it ethically irresponsible for a breeder selling 2 puppies to a person who has 0 experience with huskies. Even 1 husky puppy to a person with no experience has a difficult time, I can not imagine getting 2 with no experience. Beyond the whole sibling bonding syndrome that many owners face.

I am sorry if I am not a bringer of oh my goodness and happy thoughts for you, however, I am the Debbie Downer of the group today, and I sincerely wish for you to perhaps look for a different breeder, or only get one from this one. I can assure you I have lived with huskies my entire life, you can see my age, so I am not going to paint you rainbows and kitties for you, I endured the demon puppy from hell with my current girl, and I wish that on no one, if I can spare agony to a potential owner I will, if I can spare a pup at 8 months from not being rehommed because it wasn't well bred I will. Sorry for this not so happy post, but I really think it is best to really know how huskies truly are, especially not well bred huskies, which is what I am hearing in this thread.

@Triassi, as Renee said, we are supportive of reputable breeders and when someone says that they're getting a pup it's something we'd like to know. A couple of reasons, it may be a breeder who's new to us, doing everything right and we like to know that so we can suggest them if someone asks. It also allows us to suggest that people might want to consider looking elsewhere if a breeder - for example - has never had their dogs eyes and hips checked. The agony that having a dog go blind or lame from a genetic disease must be crushing - 3-5 years in with a dog only to have them go stone blind ... a good breeder will have the eyes checked and not breed a dog who develops cataracts (or other).

Wow, I get a negative treat for saying that a kennel with 46 dogs is suspicious of being a byb or more than likely a miller. Hmmmm and I have given negative treats before and someone else goes and evens it out interesting. And if the negative treat is for the Blue statement, well look up the lawsuit, maybe reading the actual lawsuit will have you think differently. Everything I suggested is sound advice, and really people need to read how and why treats are given and treats are taken away, it clearly says if a harmful suggestion then negative treat, not to give a negative treat because you do not agree with my statements.

Here is the section on negative treats I did none of these........

When do you take treats away?
-When someone breaks one of the Forum Rules (always displayed on the righthand sidebar of the forum).
-When someone contributes negatively to a discussion (meaning they resort to name-calling or attack another member).
-When someone posts incorrect or harmful information (Please be careful of using treats in this manner. We are ALL here to learn, but there are situations when it becomes clear that a member might be perpetuating misinformation without regard to actual facts. If the information is incorrect and the member makes NO attempt to correct him/herself, then it becomes appropriate to take away a treat for that post.)

with in regards to the last point.........if a negative treat is given instead of being sly and give it, how about expressing why you gave it so I can do what the bullet point suggests to make an attempt to correct myself, so how about it negative treater, let me know what I said that would require a negative treat.

Please read this so you know the proper steps to giving and taking a treat.   https://www.itsahuskything.com/t4488-what-are-treats

Lastly if the negative treat was in error, own up and request a mod to correct the mistake.

I am unaware of these "treats" as I am new here so I unfortunately cannot assist there, I openly asked and appreciate all feedback.

I did some more looking around last night and looked into the "Taste the Wild" brand. Seemed to rank high on nutritional value and scored well on a few different sites. The other one that i saw some good info on was "Natures Recipe" as it was shown as 100% organic with no grain. Was priced a little less than some of the others as well.

While on the fence, I think i'll continue to do some more reading today on these brands. I like what the "Taste of the Wild" seems to be offering.

I feed taste of the wild and have good results with it. I use the High Prairie because it has the highest protein and fat content. My boy has wonderfully soft, glossy coat, nicely formed compact poop, lots of energy (lots and lots and lots of energy )

I may be less concerned about the breeder even with that many dogs if, in fact, she is running 2 full sled dog teams. And if she gives health info as in OFA for hips, CERF for eyes, has a good guarantee and takes back pups that don't work out. How many pups does she produce a year and for what purposes?

I just wanted to add that my breeder has around 30 dogs and doesn't sled. She also produces 2-3 litters a year, which is on the high side. I do think she's pretty overwhelmed, but she does give the dogs the attention they deserve and is highly committed to breeding to continue/improve her lines. And the puppies are born in her bedroom and raised in her living room, so my main concern with OP's breeder is that the pups are born outside. My breeder even rotates all of her dogs so that 3-4 of them live in the house with her at any given time.

OP, if you're committed to bringing both those puppies home, please research how to raise two puppies at the same time. Work really hard on potty training and socializing them. You don't want them growing up to be wild kennel dogs. Have a plan B in case you need to re-home one or both of them.