I brought home a 6 week old Siberian Husky puppy last 6 days ago and I need some advice. I realize now after getting him that many people say 6 weeks is too young for him to be away from his mother and siblings, so I understand that but there is nothing we can do about that now.

The previous owners said that they were feeding him Purina Puppy Chow so we got that and have been feeding him on it but he has had really runny stools most of the time. We feed him only about 3/4 of a cup at a time, 3 times a day. I hear that it's either due to anxiety or over eating. Are we feeding him the right amount?

Also, I know we're not feeding him the absolute best stuff, so I'm open to suggestions, but understand that a raw diet meal is not an option, nor is the really expensive stuff. What is the best "cheaper" brand of dry dog food we can get for our puppy?

He wants to bite our hands non-stop when he's awake and playful, and we really want to curb that as soon as possible. What can we do to keep him occupied when he wants to bite hands/arms/pant legs? He gets bored with his toys REALLY quickly (30 seconds is about it...). We have a puppy teething bone to chew on and a rope with two small "tennis balls" on it. He obviously wants something that is going to give him a challenge. Suggestions?

We put a collar on him a few days ago, and while he's gotten a little more used to it, he still tries to scratch it off very often. I'm assuming that's common? Also, what's a good technique for getting him used to a collar? He just howls and pulls back on it even if I don't pull at all, it's completely loose (or he'll just try to bite it).

Is it common for them to sleep for a lot of the day and be awake a lot of the night? Should that be able to be reversed pretty quickly?

What are some good treats to reward him for good things? He doesn't like the treats we got him, but I can't think of what they're called right now.

I'm sure there are a ton more questions, but I'll post them as they come to me. Thanks so much for your help!

Six weeks is young, but I got Libby when she was 5 weeks old. She was eating a really bad blend from the place I got her and changed her to Canadea for all stages ans she has been on that for 3yrs. I would try to buy a kong that you can stuff with treats for the chewing or else we had a hand puppet we bought at the pet store. She got used to chewing on it instead of me.
Did you take him to the vet for an initial check up? If not I would recomment doing that. Did he get shots for worms yet? That may be the reason for tummy issues.
With the sleeping issue, I would say try to force him to stay awake playing during the day so he sleeps at night.
I know money can be tight but you also want to make sure he is healthy. Pick up a few books about the breed, they are very informational.
With the treat, I would try a small soft treat for rewarding him. I think Zukes is the name of them. Be consistant.
Is he potty trained yet? Are you using a crate for training?
Just enjoy him, love him and take good care of him.
By the way, what is his name?

For the food, check out http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/. They give ratings for each kind of food. We used IAMS Large Breed Puppy (3star rating) and our 2 did really well on it. At PetSmart you can sometimes find a 40-lb bag for about $30. Purina Puppy Chow is rated 1star on that website.

For the biting, redirect his attention with a toy or something he can chew on. Even if his attention span is limited consistent redirection will help in the long run.

When we introduced collars, we put them on for a short time, let them get used to the feel then took it off. We repeated it for longer periods of time each day until it didn't bother them anymore. It took even longer for harnesses and leashes.

As for treats, I can't remember what we used for them as little pups. Blue Buffalo makes yogurt based treats of varying flavors that our 2 love right now.

Like Christine said, enjoy him, love him and take good care of him. Everything will work out. Can't wait to see pictures!

Thanks for the responses so far! We are having a hard time biting the bullet in picking his name, but we're pretty darn sure we are going to call him Niko/Ni'cko. We were looking for some inuit/eskimo names that had to do with blue because of his eyes but nothing seemed to strike our fancy.

We are taking him to the vet today, so hopefully that will answer some of our questions as well.

I'll try to find Zukes and the Blue Buffalo treats, sounds like he probably needs something softer than what I got him.

He's not potty trained yet. He usually knows he's supposed to pee on the training pad, but not always. He is clueless about where to poop. Still trying to work on that. We take him out immediately after eating, play time, and naps, and he usually goes then. It's the other times, when we're not expecting it and then find he has already done it and it's too late to pick up him up and carry him to the pad so we lost the training moment. Any other ideas?

As for crate training, we just got a crate yesterday and actually had him sleep in the garage with his bed inside the crate for the first time as opposed to next to our bed. He whined for about 3 minutes and then seemed to be quiet the rest of the night (as far as I'm aware, the bedroom isn't all that close to the garage though, and I needed sleep BADLY because of my little buddy). He's been great to never go to the bathroom in his bed, although he's starting to treat it as a toy and bite it. Again, I just need to find some better toys to keep him occupied.

What's the best way to play with him without the biting? I will definitely redirect the biting to another toy or whatever, but what are other methods of playing with him?

BTW, thanks for the IAMS food advice, sounds like a good thing to try! (Gradually, of course).

Congrats on the new gorgeous pup! Man....you must be SO tired! Our dog was on meds that made him pee every few hours - so I can imagine how it is with potty training!

This book helped us a lot :
Siberian Huskies for Dummies - actually not for dummies, it very well written! http://www.amazon.com/Siberian-Huskies-Dummies-Diane-Morgan/dp/0764552791 They had it at the local bookstore and most pet stores.

We also really like the Dog Bible - available at most pet stores - it has overall good dog advice, since it sounds like you're new to the puppy world.

Good luck!

Hi, I just got a puppy that was only 6 weeks old too - Sally.

She is fine. In the USA they don't seperate them so young but in Central America if they aren't hurt or killed by 6 weeks they are sold. Common practice, sad but true.

Anyway at 6 weeks the puppy is a bit young but here is what happened when I got Sally - she had very runny stool and could not control where and when she went.

She was also upset and nervous.

The best thing to do is make the puppy feel welcomed, give it a bed, attention, and show it that it is okay. That will eliminate the stress, you need to establish yourself as the pack for the young pup so he/she knows she is not alone - Huskies are social animals. (I have 2 now, and have had a total of 3).

Once the stress is ironed out, switch the food. I personally find Beneful puppies to work for them when they are SO young. I know there are better foods, but it is easier on their stomache it seems.

You can get Beneful Puppy Chow at a local store - trust me - give it a shot.

That should do the trick, you may want to give him/her some liquid vitamins too to ensure proper growth due to the young seperate. A vet can help with those, also they are sold without a vet too.

We had a hard time naming our puppy too. We ended up with Atka because it means guardian spirit. It was between Atka, Siku (ice) and Suka (fast). Inuit names/words are so complicated ! I couldn't pronounce any of the longer ones, haha.

Kong toy is definitely the best choice. Atka totally loves it because he has to work for a little treat. They do tend to run a bit high though :c
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3882654
Thats what we have.
Better get a petsmart pet perks card !

He's so handsome, btw ! Good luck :]