Hey everyone,
We recently adopted an 11 month old female siberian husky from a family who no longer had time for her. I'm not new to dogs at all but I am new to huskies so I did as much research as a could so I was pretty solid on what to expect. But now that we have her, I realise the old owners werent very honest with us and I want to make sure I'm doing the right things for her. Since my questions span a wide range of topics I hope I'm posting this in the correct section.
Food: when we picked-up Sookie she came with a big bag of "beneful".... I'm gradually switching her to "Blue Buffalo, wilderness" and she is adapting well. My concern is her weight. I know some huskies can be on the skinny side but her hips jut out and you can see the outline of her ribs... I was considering making her "silk balls" to up her weight, would this be a good choice?
Socialization: After introducing her to the senior dog we doggy sit, it became obvious she had never been around other dogs (not what we were told)... there is a local "dog club" twice a week in my area, I've been taking her there so she can learn good dog behavior from other dogs. She still plays like a little pup, nipping ears and hugging but I hope that with time she will learn. I'm worried that this behavior may come from being removed too early from her litter, I've heard this is common when this is the case?
Exercise: I walk her every night for about an hour and something the mornings as well. But she is still hyper as heck, could it just because of the new environment? I keep a brisk pace and usually halfway through she stops pulling.I have her on a martingale collar, but her owner trainned her on a pronged chocker... I hate using it but sometimes its the only thing she responds to.I'd like to put her in a harness, the kind that pinches at the front?
Home alone/night time: I'm worried about leaving her alone in the house. The few times she's been left alone (for about an hour) she always gets into things even though I've made it a point of walking her before leaving. The old owner said there was no point in kenneling her or confining her to one room, as she wrecked whatever space she was confined too... advice?
She's been a great addition to our family.She is wonderful with our children all aged under 4 and I dont regret her one bit. I was aware from the start I'd have some trainning of my own to do, but it seems I have to start from zero, I just wanna make sure I'm doing it right. Thank you so much and sorry, I know this was a little long.

dragonlily wrote:

Hey everyone,
We recently adopted an 11 month old female siberian husky from a family who no longer had time for her. I'm not new to dogs at all but I am new to huskies so I did as much research as a could so I was pretty solid on what to expect. But now that we have her, I realise the old owners werent very honest with us and I want to make sure I'm doing the right things for her. Since my questions span a wide range of topics I hope I'm posting this in the correct section.
Food: when we picked-up Sookie she came with a big bag of "beneful".... I'm gradually switching her to "Blue Buffalo, wilderness" and she is adapting well. My concern is her weight. I know some huskies can be on the skinny side but her hips jut out and you can see the outline of her ribs... I was considering making her "silk balls" to up her weight, would this be a good choice?
Socialization: After introducing her to the senior dog we doggy sit, it became obvious she had never been around other dogs (not what we were told)... there is a local "dog club" twice a week in my area, I've been taking her there so she can learn good dog behavior from other dogs. She still plays like a little pup, nipping ears and hugging but I hope that with time she will learn. I'm worried that this behavior may come from being removed too early from her litter, I've heard this is common when this is the case?
Exercise: I walk her every night for about an hour and something the mornings as well. But she is still hyper as heck, could it just because of the new environment? I keep a brisk pace and usually halfway through she stops pulling.I have her on a martingale collar, but her owner trainned her on a pronged chocker... I hate using it but sometimes its the only thing she responds to.I'd like to put her in a harness, the kind that pinches at the front?
Home alone/night time: I'm worried about leaving her alone in the house. The few times she's been left alone (for about an hour) she always gets into things even though I've made it a point of walking her before leaving. The old owner said there was no point in kenneling her or confining her to one room, as she wrecked whatever space she was confined too... advice?
She's been a great addition to our family.She is wonderful with our children all aged under 4 and I dont regret her one bit. I was aware from the start I'd have some trainning of my own to do, but it seems I have to start from zero, I just wanna make sure I'm doing it right. Thank you so much and sorry, I know this was a little long.

For your first question, I think a picture of her would be really helpful, but from what your describing she probably does need to put on a few pounds. That will happen gradually over time with the good food your feeding. Foods like Beneful go right through dogs.

My Kale was taken away from his littermates when he was 4 weeks and he plays normally, so I think it's just a matter of learning the ropes. Sounds like she's just having a good time lol If she starts getting overwhelmed or too rough just remove her from the situation for a while. (which I'm sure you already know )

Huskys need A LOT of exercise and attention. Kale gets a 30 min play/get the zoomies out sesh before our hour morning walk; another 25 min play sesh in the afternoon, and a 45-60 min "OMG I'm jumping out of my skin, I have to RUN NOW (zoomies)" sesh in the evening before our hour and a half walk. And It still takes him an hour at night to calm down lol I use a prong collar for walks when he's rambunctious and a martingale when he's calmer, it depends on his mood lol I have zero problem with prongs, Kale is such a tarte that if was truly abusive and hurt him, BOY would he let me know haha

Have you considered a crate for when you leave the house? I HAVE to crate Kale or I wouldn't have a house to come back to! haha

and...WELCOME! Can't wait to see some pics for your new furbaby!

Welcome and congrats on your new furbaby! I agree with everything Brooke said. I too use a prong collar to walk my 2. Some people might not agree with it, but it's the only way to keep them in check and avoid me being dragged down the street..lol.

As for the exercise, I let them out in the yard before their walks also and let Kody have his zoomie attack. Then they play chase for a few minutes, then I play with them, and THEN they go on their walk/jog. I normally walk them for 15min in the mornings and then about 45min in the evenings and they're fine with that. They might get home and play for a while, but are passed out by 9pm. I would consider biking with her. We have the walky dog attachment and it works out great! You just need to teach her some basic commands before doing that though. For example, "sit & wait" before crossing streets, "on by" for when she's getting distracted by something (I personally use "go", but most people use "on by").

Definitely get a crate! There's no way that I would leave Kody loose EVER. He's 14 months and I probably won't give him free roam until he's about 3years old (or more). We didn't start leaving Mya loose until she was about 3 1/2.

You seem to know what your doing so just take it day by day. It will wall work out for the best!

Again, congrats and pics please!!!

dragonlily wrote:

I was aware from the start I'd have some trainning of my own to do, but it seems I have to start from zero,

Welcome! I also have an 11 month old and have been working faithfully with him for the 8 months that he has lived with us. I quoted you above because most days I feel like I'm starting from zero as well...lol!

Huskies are incredibly smart dogs but also very stubborn. They often keep some of their "puppy traits" longer than other dogs. The puppy-like play is still going on with my dog, and he was with his littermates for 11 weeks. At 11 months old, he is still destructive if left alone and sometimes right in front of us! Friday I wanted to fold some laundry before walking him. He was SO hyper he was nipping at my comforter on my bed and ripped a hole! They all have different exercise needs but I think all huskies need quite a lot of execise. If you have a fenced area to allow her to just run full speed and do, what we husky owners call, zoomies, it will really help to calm her. We are noticing our boy has more energy with the cooler temperatures and needs more exercise. We need to do a little more than 20 minutes twice per day now. 20 mins twice per day is a total of 2 miles. We also play soccer or lacrosse with him in the yard a couple times per day. Sometimes he's in the mood for chase (even through the house on rainy days). Even with this much exercise and often a car ride to pick up the kids or a trip to a sporting event, he is still often crazy at times for no reason. It's just the joy of a husky!

I second, or third, the votes for crating her when you leave the house! We crated our first husky probably for about 5 years. This is another area where a different breed may act more mature early than the husky!

I also am a fan of the prong collar (if used properly). I do not always use the prong collar. We never use anything that "chokes", even the regular collar, when going on walks. We will often use a harness, but most of the time I have both a prong collar and the harness on him so that I can switch back and forth as needed.

Please keep us updated on your new journey!!

+1 on using a crate. Mine are a year and a year and a half and both are crated when we're not home to watch them.

Other than taking her for walks, you can do some training sessions to tire her out. All that thinking does tired them out. lol.

Taking her to dog class can help with her socialization, though make sure the trainer uses mostly positive training. Huskies don't usually respond well to negative training and if one of your goals is to get her used to other dogs, using negative reenforcement around other dogs might set her back more.

Prong collars work well if used properly. They also make gentle leaders, halties, and no pull harnesses. They all work well if used properly.

dragonlily wrote:

Exercise: I walk her every night for about an hour and something the mornings as well. But she is still hyper as heck, could it just because of the new environment? I keep a brisk pace and usually halfway through she stops pulling.I have her on a martingale collar, but her owner trainned her on a pronged chocker... I hate using it but sometimes its the only thing she responds to.I'd like to put her in a harness, the kind that pinches at the front?
Home alone/night time: I'm worried about leaving her alone in the house. The few times she's been left alone (for about an hour) she always gets into things even though I've made it a point of walking her before leaving. The old owner said there was no point in kenneling her or confining her to one room, as she wrecked whatever space she was confined too... advice?
She's been a great addition to our family.She is wonderful with our children all aged under 4 and I dont regret her one bit. I was aware from the start I'd have some trainning of my own to do, but it seems I have to start from zero, I just wanna make sure I'm doing it right. Thank you so much and sorry, I know this was a little long.

For exercise, an hour walk at our pace is really not enough. Try getting a doggie backpack and put something in it to make sure it has some weight to it, but make sure the weight is evenly spread. Put that on her when you walk and it may help to tire her a bit more.
As for leaving her home, i'd crate her. I've not much experiene with huskies inside tho.

Welcome and thanks for giving her a new loving home! everyone is giving you great advice and it just takes time and it sounds like your on the right track and we can help you along the way!

Welcome!!! Don't worry, over time you'll figure out what your dogs needs are as you learn their personality.

As far as the walking: I too have to use a pronged collar, it's the only thing my sibe responds too. No harness, special collar, head lead, or anything else will work for him. It doesn't hurt him because he has learned how to walk on it.

The crating: My sibe is completely different from most of the sibes on here.... He can be left out 24/7 in the entire house and never chew or get into anything. He just sleeps on the couch or chews his bones. BUT my GSD/Lab HAS to be crated when we are not home. I just put in a bone and then a kong filled with peanut butter with him so he has something to do.

The exercise: AGAIN my sibe is totally weird. He isn't hyper. At all. One walk a day for a half hour and he is zonked out the rest of the day - I'm trying to get him to be more active though... he's skinny so he doesn't need to lose weight, but he needs to exercise lol. But every other sibe I have known they HAVE to be walked at least twice a day for at least an hour each.

Hope this helps! And again, welcome, I'm sure you'll love it here! I just joined a couple weeks ago and am HOOKED.