Camber is 5 1/2 months old and I've been told that now is the time to have her spayed if I'm going to do so. I've also had a few people tell me that I really should allow her to have a litter of pups before "fixing" her. I get really attached to animals and honestly do not want to go through the process of having to find new owners for the puppies and watching them go. So, should I go ahead and schedule an appointment with the vet to have Camber spayed?

Second question. Where I am currently living I have a basement that Camber goes to when I am at work and I have fixed it up to where its husky proof. At night, she sleeps at the foot of my bed. Very well behaved at night. I tell her its time to go to sleep and she will lay right down, very seldom will she fuss and the rare times that she fuss's will be on those rainy nasty days that I didn't take her out for enough exercise. Well I am moving to the new house in a couple weeks. Currently I am in town on a corner lot in a neighborhood that does not all fencing to be put up. (Way to many laws in this neighborhood), so I have used a Petsafe Wireless fence, which has worked great. The new place has a 2 acre fenced in yard which will be so much nicer. Problem with the new place is that it does not have a basement and I'm not to sure what to do with her while I'm gone. Thinking of building a room for her in my garage with a doggy door to a smaller area of fencing so she can go in and out as she likes. My grandfather has given me eight 8' x 10' sections of fence so I can use those. The main fence around the yard is just a 5' chain link fence. She already gets over the 4' railing on my current front porch. Geez these dogs are escape artists, lol! Would it be to much trouble to crate train her now and leave her in the house while I'm at work or should I just fix up a room in the detached garage and make her a smaller section of yard to run in while I'm gone using the 8' x 10' sections that I have?

Third question, what is the best food to switch Camber over to? She has been on Purina puppy chow since I've had her and she is very healthy and gaining weight just as she should. She is currently 32 lbs. I just feel that there is better food for her and I want her to get the nutrients that she needs.

Thanks for the help.

I'm a new husky owner, too, so I'm sure you'll get more knowledgeable answers from the others, but I can tell you about my current experience. Sky is supposed to be an outdoor dog where we are renting, but she went into heat last weekend (two days before I had her scheduled to be spayed), and I didn't feel safe leaving her outside with an unaltered male dog next door and probably a lot of others around the neighborhood.

She isn't house trained (although she's had surprisingly few accidents so far!), so we've been blocking off the kitchen each day while we're at work. It has linoleum floors and has been pretty easy to dog-proof. Maybe that could be an option for you while you're getting your indoor/outdoor dog run set up. That sounds really awesome, btw!

She sleeps in her crate at night, because that's usually the time she's the most destructive in the backyard, and I don't trust her not to get up to mischief yet. I'm soooo glad we crate trained her before the spay. I doubt we could have kept her still enough the first days if we didn't have that option. I'd recommend it for that, if nothing else.

P.S. From everything that I've read, it's totally not necessary to have a littler before the spay. I wish I had gotten her in before she went into heat, because there are supposed to be greater health benefits (lower risk of mammory cancer later, if I remember correctly).

pixipanda wrote:

P.S. From everything that I've read, it's totally not necessary to have a littler before the spay. I wish I had gotten her in before she went into heat, because there are supposed to be greater health benefits (lower risk of mammory cancer later, if I remember correctly).

Miranda is right on that one. Dogs have a much higher chance of developing mammary cancer if they don't get spayed before their first heat. We got Ghost spayed at 5 1/2 months, and she has done great. We had no issues at all.

As far as food goes, Ghost came to us on Purina puppy chow, and we had horrible diarrhea issues. We switched her over to Blue Wilderness puppy, and she has done amazing. She has high energy levels and her coat and eyes look great. That's just my 2 cents on the food though, but most everyone on here will tell you to get on a higher quality food. www.dogfoodanalysis.com is a great resource for that.

Good luck!

Just an addition to the food argument/debate - Aevyn's on Orijen and has done amazing on it. We pay about $74 for a large bag and it lasts him a fairly long time. Its 80% meat and 20% vegtable. Aevyn loves it, his coat his fantastic, and the vet was very very impressed.

I can, however, also second the Blue Wilderness. It was our original choice when we had to switch Aevyn from getting sick on the food he came with, we just couldn't get the puppy formula in our area.

Good luck!

Camber wrote:

Camber is 5 1/2 months old and I've been told that now is the time to have her spayed if I'm going to do so. I've also had a few people tell me that I really should allow her to have a litter of pups before "fixing" her. I get really attached to animals and honestly do not want to go through the process of having to find new owners for the puppies and watching them go. So, should I go ahead and schedule an appointment with the vet to have Camber spayed?

Congrats on the adorable dog and kudos to you for seeking better info on her!

The having puppies before a spay is a horrible myth that people perpetuate - I can't believe people still spread those lies. <rant> We have the internet these days, I don't know why people don't become more educated. We have so many more resources available than 10 years ago. </rant> Sorry, it's a particular pet peeve of mine because our city impounds 15,000 of it's unwanted animals from a particular uneducated part of the city.

Get her spayed for the health benefits and to prevent unwanted puppies.

I just called the vet and set up an appointment to have Camber spayed. Drop her off before 9am on Nov. 1st. I won't be worth a crap that day I'll be so worried.

GREAT call on getting the apt set up! i say leave the breeding to the pros that know what they are doing and they don't do it often!

Meredith gave you a great link for food help and we have an ongoing thread on what we all feed here. i do TOTW.

i think you should work on crate training (never know when you will need it) but setting up the garage with the out side kennel is a great idea. keep an eye on her to see if she figures out the 8' high fence and you can always put a top on it. also make sure she does not dig herself out. you can hook chicken wire on the out side and fold it in by digging a trench around the kennel and bury the chicken wire under and into the kennel so if she starts digging she hits the buried wire.

love your little girl!

What a beautiful girl! Nothing to add to the awesome advice above. Glad you made the appointment, as my signature indicates I hate to see breeding while shelter animals die by the thousands.

I'll be getting a 3rd dog once I'm moved into the new house. Plan on getting it at the local Humane Society. Some people do not like mutts but I feel that every dog, regardless of breed or mix breed deserves a good home.