Hello! Long time reader, first time poster here.

I would like to start by saying thank you to this community, you have helped me answer several questions and made my love for huskies grow tremendously!

I am in the process of buying a husky puppy from a local breeder and am curious if you guys think it's a purebred or not. The breeder only has papers for the dad but says the mom is also purebred.

The only reason I question the pup being a possible mix is primarily due to the head shape, to me it looks almost a little lab like, I know head shapes can vary amongst huskies but just curious what you all think! The ears are also rather large and floppy but he is only 7 weeks currently and I know ears usually stand up as they mature.

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated

Also any ideas to what he will look like when he's older? Thanks!

This is kevin

Okay, I've done nothing lately but get myself in trouble so here goes.

The picture of him, face on, looks like a decent Husky - young as you say but he does look like a Husky.  It's also very hard to tell at this age since so much of his head and body will change as he matures.  
It's not uncommon to have papers on the damn but not on the sire (a hit and run 'encounter' where the sire is an unknown) but to have the papers on the sire and not on the dam suggest to me that there are no papers.  That doesn't mean that she's not purebred, just that he can't really prove it.

Here's where I get myself in trouble.  That second picture - simply, he doesn't look like a healthy pup.  His tail's down, his head is down - he looks like he's been abused.  The way he's crunched over suggest that he's either hungry - and he doesn't have the belly a pup of his age should have - or sick.  Before I go any further, I'd have him looked at by a good vet who I trust.

aljones wrote:

Here's where I get myself in trouble.  That second picture - simply, he doesn't look like a healthy pup.  His tail's down, his head is down - he looks like he's been abused.  The way he's crunched over suggest that he's either hungry - and he doesn't have the belly a pup of his age should have - or sick.  Before I go any further, I'd have him looked at by a good vet who I trust.

Ive actually been kind of curious about that myself so I'm glad you said something! I met him around 6 weeks and he seemed very timid, not like he was scared, but more like he was shy, most of the other pups in the liter seemed more playful, he is also the runt of the liter which I know sometimes can lead to issues like that. The side picture could be a little deceiving because i captured it from a video, in the video he was sniffing around which is why his head is down, however I did make note of the tail being down as well. I will contact my vet and see what they think, thanks for the advice!

The second pic, I don't know, I see more a very shy pup who is cautiously investigating his surroundings.
Just seems a little bit "scared" to me and why tail is down like that and taking on that posture.

He should grow into his ears, they do seem kinda thin though, for a husky. Maybe it's actually fairly normal, I don't know, but all my huskies, past and present, had thicker ears at that age. He's a cutie for sure, congratulations! And welcome to the forum!

It's so hard to tell.. I tell my friends my dog baby is a mutt, and they laugh. Husky or not dogs are great. I think the pup looks husky to me

You could get him DNA tested if you really want to know for sure but otherwise he looks mostly, if not entirely, husky.

Personally I would not take the shy/timid pup of a litter. They tend to need extra work which is often a lifelong endeavor. But hey, if you have the time, desire and drive to put in that extra lifelong commitment then by all means go for it. I would prefer a more confident dog but that's just me. I have had dogs at varying ends of the confidence spectrum and the timid ones, in my experience, are so much more work both in the short and the long term.

As far as what he'll look like when older, based on his current colors/markings I'd say a grey and white (expect a good amount of the tan to turn gray) and I'd expect him to lose the coloration under/around his eyes (he'll likely lose the "goggles" as he ages).

He's a cutie, congrats!

I too would guess pure right now, just of questionable quality. As Val mentioned, be ready for a lifetime of work. I've had two runts in my time and while both were able to become quite confident dogs, it took a lot of work. What they never were was as healthy as their other siblings. Both seemed to catch bugs easier than my others so we had to feed them better than my others to keep their immune system anywhere near well enough to fend off excessive reactions to getting worms or other microbes from water on the trail. They always had sensitive stomachs as well. Just be prepared and realistic about what you have time and funds for.

Hello

I took a puppy in from a women who was unable to look after the pup. can someone tell me what they think it is? I thought it looked like a husky, but not sure. She is very neglected and scared but now after 3 days happy energetic and playful. gives Howls when she wants attention

NadzHitz,

What a sweet baby. This girl looks like a Piebald husky to me. So pretty. It sounds as if she is already happy being with you and knows she is in a better place. Congratulations on your new baby.

How old is that pup?!!? Looks way too young to be away from its mother and littermates which means you will have a dickens of a time with mouthiness and other behaviors that would have been corrected by mom and siblings. Good luck. Pretty girl.