Hi all! We had to put our beloved husky down in May. After Time to mourn we decided it was time to get another one. After a couple failed adoptions through rescues (our kids were too young, fences not high enough) my husband decided to buy one off Craigslist. We were told he was full husky (never saw parents) but my husband and I are starting to doubt he is full husky. He has dark eyes, he is super super fluffy, and his snout doesn’t seem right to me. What do you all think? Picture of him looking at camera is current (11 weeks) the other 2 he is 8 weeks.

At that age, it's hard to say - I'll go so far as to say he's a dog but much beyond that - nope!

This is the second time recently I've had to say that the paws just don't look right for a bigger dog. In my recollection, even puppies who are destined to be medium or bigger dogs tend to have 'puppy paws' that seem outsized - his look to be the paws of a smaller dog to me!

Dogs tend to grow into their ears and paws - and the snout that's smaller in puppies tends to grow out more ...

Maybe one of the 'Powers that be' here could contact the DNA labs and see if we could get a discount rate ...????

He seems small to me too! For a second we thought Malumute because of his fluffiness, but he is small, so that makes me say No to the malumute. He was only 4 lbs when we got him at 7 weeks and my husband said he was the big one of the litter.....maybe they lied about the age??

So sorry for your loss. It's great though that you got yourself another Husky.

To me, your pup looks like a Husky. Does that mean he is? No, haha. As someone with two extra fluffy Huskies,, I won't guess Malamute mix or anything like that just cuz he has a fluffy coat and brown eyes. Btw, as I'm sure you are aware, huskies don't exclusively have blue eyes, they have several shades and color variations. As far as puppy pics go, I don't have much on my iPad from my boy Kohdi before 9 weeks, those are in my laptop, however, here is Kohdi at 9 weeks so you can see a fluffy Husky puppy and use your own judgement on thoughts with yours. Other than that, DNA testing is about the only way to know for sure what breeds your pup *may* consist of. Beautiful puppy , congratulations!

Another pic. He is just under 8lbs in these pics at 9 weeks. Kohdi has a parti eye so don't let that throw you off. In your current pic, his eyes look a bit round, I'm assuming they're not usually like that and why I included this pic...when Kohdi is listening to something I say, or he is focused with excitement on something, his eyes get big and round, like in this pic, and with your pic I'm guessing he is focused with excitement on something you are saying to him, or something you have for him. If his eyes are always that round though, that would be the only thing I see that is uncharacteristic of a Husky.

Right now he looks pure, but with craigslist and frankly a lot of breeders anymore, quality is more factor than a mix. Lot of out of standard dogs out there and unless you get from a reputable breeder nothing is really guaranteed.

I am the odd man out and will say this pup is probably a husky mix, the ears are not right for a husky, and eyes are very round. How old and how much does this pup weigh? Lovely pup and I am guessing this is a pomsky.

He is small, at least I think so, he is almost 12 weeks and was only 9 lbs at the vet yesterday.

Wow, Renee...my very first thought Pomsky

Pomsky did occur to me when viewing the last pic (most recent) mostly because of not only how round his eyes are but how close they are to each other, however, I discounted it for a number of reasons, one has to do with the angle the pic was taken. Do you have other pics? Another reason was his ears, I feel the fluff and markings distort their actual shape at this young age, I notice markings in both my huskies ears distort their actual shape when viewed from the front, only not as much now as when they were younger. I could go on but the biggest reason I discounted him being Pomsky is you said he was advertised as a Husky. Even on Craigslist I can't imagine why someone would pass off a Pomsky as a Husky because I think a Pomsky would actually be easier to sell, most people want that smaller size. I can't even tell you how many people over the years have told me they want a husky so bad, but only if they'd be smaller could they get one. Anyways, 9 lbs at 12 weeks is small but it's happened. Was the vet concerned about his weight at all?

Just to refresh my memory, I looked up Pomsky images and as puppies, they look exactly like Huskies in most cases, it's later on when it becomes more noticeable, besides just the size, haha. I still think you have a Husky, but if it isn't too much of a bother, can you post more pics?

I'm going to bug you with one more picture. Just to show you how Huskies come in all different shapes and sizes and how difficult sometimes it is to judge whether a puppy is full husky or mixed, at an age as young as yours.

My boy, Kohdi, (pics above) came from a pretty big litter, I think there were 8 pups altogether. All are the fluffier version but one is a wooly. This is a pic of two of Kohdi's brothers, one being the spitting image of Kohdi, only with blue eyes, and one being the wooly. You can visually see the difference in size, and although the wooly is fluffier, look how small his paws look compared to his brother. This pic was taken at about 6-8 weeks old, btw. But notice also how petite the wooly's face is, how the eyes are different, even his ears are smaller. I've noticed that about most wooly's, their face is almost "feminine", like...pretty, if that makes any sense. Not saying yours is a wooly, but it's possible too. I just don't want you worrying your Siberian is actually a Pomsky when it's really hard to tell right now. Well, now that I look, their paws are roughly the same size, lol, but they're also not HUGE either

Here are a couple more pictures, I tried to get a side profile but the kids keep distracting him. I also had Pomsky cross my mind, but I am sure he would have cost a lot more if that was the case!
I can’t decide if I should pay the $90 for a wisdompanel or just be patient and wait 6 months and see how he grows!
First pic he is with his litter at, what they told us was 7 weeks, he is the big one. The other 2 I just snapped.

I was thinking possibly pomsky too with the face being so small, but 9 pounds at 12 weeks doesn't sound like a pomsky to me unless he's only like 1/4th pomsky. The 4 pounds at 7 weeks is definitely not husky standards. From everything I've seen and read, a husky puppy should gain about a pound a week as a puppy. The other pups from the litter definitely have more typical husky look, but they also look younger so I'm not totally sure they're all from the same litter. He's quite possibly a Pure Siberian husky, just wooly, but I'm no expert. Do you know the size of the parents and do you have photos of them possibly?

I'm still thinking Husky. The ears throw me off though. They are big right now, however, huskies often grow into their ears, and just as often, offer a glimpse of how big he may be once full grown. Seeing that he was the biggest pup of the bunch, and now so small, maybe means his growth spurts are not typical (?).  The shape is a little off but a lot has to do with how fluffy they are. I've seen Huskies like him before, almost a cross of a plush Husky like mine, but with fluff and feathering of a wooly (even though it's not possible to get that coat from breeding a wooly and a plush) . If you have Instagram, I can give you a couple account names to look at as to what I personally feel your Husky may turn out like.

Your pups weight, 4lbs at 7 weeks is not far off of my boy (he was 7 point something pounds at 9 weeks) and although your pup was the biggest of the bunch, it's possible he was underweight from his littermates hogging all the food. You would think being the biggest, he could plow his way to the bowl, but I think it's also possible the little ones were just going in underneath him.