My little Siggy was brought home yesterday. She is 5 weeks old today. I found out why she is so small. I only got to see her in pictures and visit one time in person. I was so excited to see her, I didn't really pay attention to her fatness if that makes any sense saying it that way. She has absolutely no fat on her. Her siblings wasn't letting her eat. She has all her teeth and drinks water and eats soft food. "Now that I have her home" I didn't wanna bring her home so soon but the previous owner had a lot going on and wasn't home to monitor her food intake. I was afraid she was gonna die of starvation. I don't regret bringing her home. In my heart I believe I saved her life. She is such a sweet baby. I bought her taste of the wild puppy bison venison flavor. So far she dosn't really like it. "added hot water to soften" She does like Ceasar puppy soft food. She is drinking really well so she's not dehydrated. I went to my vet yesterday when I brought her home. I paid for her first vet visit but they can't do anything until she's 7 weeks old. I always thought it was at 6 weeks but she said that's all changed because puppies should still have some immunity from mother's milk at 6 weeks. I'm just still worried since she wasn't getting really any milk, would she have as much immunity? She won't be going outside until she is vaccinated but I just worry. She was born and lived outside at previous owners. I'm not in anyway trying to bash these people but am upset they would let her be so small. She is pretty much emaciated. She is so happy now to have food and water and a safe place to call home. It's almost like I can see her smiling. i just wanted to post about her situation to see if maybe anybody has had this happen to them. Thanks guys it means a lot to have a place to talk to other husky lovers who care. <3

Did you ask your vet for nutrition recommendations? The Ceasar foods in general are quite low rated on dog foodadvisor.com. I would try to up the quality of her food asap. I can't answer about the maternal immunity - I don't know if it is conferred in lactation or is inherent in the body from birth. She's a cutie. Good luck.

Tammy, mother's immunity comes from the milk, and typically within the first 7-14 days of nursing. I brought my husky mix girl home at 5.5 weeks old, similar circumstance, tho she was a nice healthy weight. If she takes to soft/can food, then I would look for a better quality can food like Amy suggests, TOTW has can food, and you could try and mix it into the kibble and see if she likes that better. Do not over feed, emaciated animals want tons of food, but it will make tummies upset, and then you will have other issues. Feed 4 times a day, feeding about a half cup of food each time. I wouldn't be concerned with immunity, feel your pup was probably properly fed by mom at least the first month, unless there were like 12 puppies in the litter, then she may have had issues getting to mom, if the litter was smaller, like 8 pups, I see no reason why she would not have had enough milk, so I just wouldn't worry so much with that. It is a common practice in certain dog breed types to pull from the mom at 10 days old, since they have acquired enough immunity. My bigger concern will be down the road another month or so, when your pup has bite inhibition issues, since the window of training by mom and siblings was disrupted from taking her so early. That type of training occurs at 6-12 weeks of age. From my experience with Miya, she has sensitivities to grains, it is very common in huskies, and I also believe more common in pups taken at a younger age, since their tummies were not developed properly from feeding pups requirements when young. Most go from mother's milk, to milk soaked kibble, to kibble, and she missed that. I would look for grain free kibble, TOTW is perfectly fine, and grain free can. I can relate to you indeed Hang in there, it will be a bumpy ride for a while, but holy cow, huskies are such an awesome breed. <3

Thank you guys! So far she dosn't bite too much. She's very sweet and has taken well with my kids. She follows them around and even tries to sleep with them. The biting yes i agree in the future may be a concern. I'm gonna try my best to teach her when enough is enough. I was told by a trainer to curl her upper lip over her tooth and press lightly to give a little pain to teach OUCH that hurts. I will definately give the better soft food a try. The ceasar was a last moment idea because it was after 9pm and my local petco and tractor supply was closed so i went to walmart. I'm gonna go in a bit to get some TOTW soft food. Gotta wait til my husband gets home with vehicle. LOL I wish she could've stayed with mom longer I do. Just this situation was bad and I didn't want her to suffer and starve. She is like my baby and will be very taken care of. My husband makes fun of me over it. lol He says she's treated better than him.

Not telling you what to do, but I would seek out a different trainer, someone that is teaching positive reinforcement. The pinching of the lip is an adversive, and it may be fine for some dogs, it is an older based training method that most of us are not on board with. There are plenty of threads in this forum on teaching bite inhibition, or when and if the time comes post a new thread on how to work on this issue.

Oh ok thank you for the advice. I had no idea. I don't wanna hurt her in anyway. An update on the soft food, I got a few cans of TOTW and so far she hates it too. I'm gonna give her a day and try heating it up a little to see if that changes. If that dosn't work are there any other brands of soft food to reccommend? I seen one called Merrick is it any account?

Yes my girls prefer Merrick

ok i'm gonna try that instead. You wouldn't think she would hate food with real meat but she wont even lick it but eats the Ceasar right up so I know she's hungry. Just picky lol

They can be crazy about food, the Merrick is slightly different than any other can food I have tried, some of their flavors have real potatoes, peas, carrots, and the 2 flavors actually have real chicken, the wing aling has chicken wings and the grandmas smoothered southern (something like that) has a real chicken thigh in it. Merricks 96% real meat is also one of my girls favorite, and is more traditional can, just isn't processed as much. Hope she likes Merrick.