Hiya everyone! In just two weeks I will be getting my first husky puppy! This will be my first time owning a dog on my own, and I am so ready for the challenges, and excitement, and love, owning a husky will bring!

I told myself I wouldn't get too attached to any name before meeting him personally but... The name Jet has kind of stuck in my house so, that'll probably end up being his name haha.  

I had a few questions and.. am not sure if I should post them on here in this thread or make a new thread asking, so I suppose I will just ask them here first!

Before getting your puppies shots finished, can I take him outside to walk? I live in an apartment complex and there are other dogs around, so I'm leaning on the no side. So that being said, what kind of places can I take him to get some outside exercise?

On the first night when he comes home with us, I've read that having his crate next to your bed is a good idea, and to maybe pet him through the bars if he starts to cry. But I also know that you shouldn't reward crying in the crate! I've read the crate training sticky post, but just wanted to ask that question.

I can't think of any other questions at the moment so here are some photos I've got from the breeder of my baby!






This last one was from last Sunday!

Congrats on your new puppy! So exciting! Jet is a very cool name.

Do you have any friends with homes with a backyard your pup could possibly get some outside fun, in?

With the crate....yes, it is advised NOT to pay any attention to them if they are in the crate and start crying. However, I went against that advice (I know of others who have as well) and suffered no ill consequences from it. With me, I actually slept by their crate. I'd put them in. Then go lay down next to it, I'd put my fingers through the openings and scratch their little heads, they would lay down in that spot, and fall asleep. Once in awhile, they'd get up and chew on something I had in there to chew on before falling asleep, but they'd always lay right up by me, before falling asleep. After about a week, I'd go back into my own bed and they'd be fine with the crate by themselves.

Welcome to the forum. We crated in the bedroom with us but we would just ignore crying. Did have one dog that we couldn't crate in our room for noise reasons and moved him out to the living room so we could sleep but since you are in an apartment and may get noise complaints I would just crate in your room and ignore to the best of your ability. Biggest thing is tire them out before they go in the crate to encourage them to sleep.

Apartments and pups are rough at first while you are getting through all your shots. It sometimes helps in these cases to leave the pup with the breeder a little longer so they have more shots under their skin before coming home with you. Leaving puppies with the mom until 10 weeks old has many benefits from behavioral to the fact that they can get round two of shots at 10 weeks which will be the parvo shot which will really help you out. It's hard to leave them since everyone is in the mode to bring them home at 8 weeks, but the rewards of doing so far outweigh the risks of picking up any number of things on potty breaks around an apartment. Opting for potty pads to avoid running in and out is a good way to teach a dog that going potty in the house is allowed and can be very hard to break when they are old enough to go outside for it so if you can find a way to safely avoid potty pads, I would.

Hi gatergnash!

Your puppy is suuuupper cute! Welcome to the forums!

I live in downtown Toronto, the largest city in Canada, and in an apartment. When people ask me what my thoughts are in terms of dog park and walks with an 8 week puppy I always say it's owners risk. Personally I think the benefits of early socialization far outweigh the risk of potential germs in the outdoors. In a densely populated city, the instances you're going to see rabies is very small, most dogs are typically well taken care of and up to date with their vaccines, so I personally think the threat of disease is a bit overblown in my opinion. Does that mean Echo didn't get sick as a puppy? NO, but nothing serious, I can probably think of two colds he got, and he did get oral warts.

For me, it was the dead of winter when Echo turned 10 weeks so I took the chance and took him to the park to start socializing with other dogs. Before then I did a lot of walks with him around the neighbourhood without issue. The winter helped a bit with the "threat" of disease as it's unlikely for much to survive in the -15 degree weather =D. I also personally did not do puppy pads as I've seen many people try and end up taking a lot longer to potty train their dogs. My apt bldg literally is built on top a dog park so I really didn't have any choice but to use it as my pee pad. Echo never got sick, I was just more diligent about wiping his feet when he came back in every single time. So if you want to think about it, technically he was roaming the dog parks at 8 weeks =P.

As for crate training, I had my crate downstairs. First week was a bit rough, had to sleep downstairs with him, then I slowly started sleeping farther and farther away, until I finally made it back upstairs and he was fine =D. People say to put things in the crate like a sweater with your scent or a toy, but I just found that to get dirty or he'd pee all over it. I think it's better to have a stuffed animal just outside the crate to provide some comfort. I will say, though that by crating him downstairs, he definitely doesn't really come upstairs that much nor has he ever slept in bed with me. He keeps to himself downstairs and always sleeps on the tile by the window or in front of the door.

Best of luck with everything and keep us updated with your new furry pal!