Hi,
I have never owned a Husky before and don't really know where to being with the feeding. I believe I will be picking him/her (they were just born 5 days ago so I'm not sure yet) at about week 6. After reading numerous threads on here I'm thinking you can't go wrong with Blue Wilderness. Should I just follow what BW recommends or does anyone have any advice they could throw my way?

As you can tell I'm a bit excited and just want to be prepared when the time comes. Cant wait to post pictures in the Welcome Thread!

A thank you in advance for any help!

Christopher

If at all possible, you should try to wait until at least week 8 to separate the pup from its mother and littermates. If you take him too early, you can make the job a whole lot harder for you and puppy. Pups that are taken early can have behavioral issues like separation anxiety, socialization problems, and problems with bite inhibition, nipping and biting your shoes, fingers, legs.

All that being said, this is an excerpt from a feeding guidelines page on a reputable breeder's website.

"He will eat three times a day at first - early morning, early
afternoon and evening - and should have an appropriate amount for his
age and his size. If you overfeed your puppy, he will develop chronic
diarrhea. Needs and appetite vary and a puppy turning down a meal
occasionally is no cause for alarm. He will probably cut himself back
to two meals a day by age 3 - 4 months. One feeding a day is adequate
from about 7 - 9 months onward, depending on the puppy's size and
growth rate. Studies have shown that a puppy of this age is quite able
to eat and utilize his day's growth requirement in one meal. "

Like the author above says, all puppies are different. The feeding schedule is the most important part for infant pups. To avoid sloppy poos, risk feeding a little too little at first. with 3 feedings a day, you will know if your pup is getting enough food, and you can always adjust accordingly.

As far as foods go, Blue Wilderness, Acana, and Taste of the Wild are all safe bets. They are rich in protein, and soft on the stomach. Because of the high protein contents though, pups are more prone to soft stools if they eat too much, so be on the look out!

Remember to love and enjoy every minute of puppyhood, because it goes away so fast! The love, affection, attention, and socialization you give your puppy in it's earliest stages of life are crucial for development, and will go a long long way down the road on your journey with your new best friend.

Welcome to the forum. This is an enormous wealth of knowledge, coming from a lot of really great people. Don't be afraid to ask questions, WE don't bite!

Alright lets see here. First off, congratulations!! Can't wait to see new pictures of the pup. A few people might bash you for getting the pup at 6 weeks, but while I do agree it is recommended to wait until 8 weeks, I got my pup at 6 weeks and honestly it is what it is. Just a quick question, have you put a deposit on any pups do you just know you're getting one of them without an idea which? I don't know why I'm wondering but it seems most breeders let you choose your pup xD Back on topic, since you'll be bringing him/her home early, you will have to work a LOT on bite inhibition. Yuki was horrible about this, especially at about 12 weeks she seemed to be getting worse and worse. We've finally passed that stage I don't know how. One day, after consistent! work on turning my back and putting her in time out every time she bit, she seemed to just click and stop biting. Also, on food. Raw is preferred, if you can do it. I don't have the stomach for it, there's a reason why I hate cooking my dinner XD Blue Buffalo Wilderness is a great food, but check out a couple back-up foods in case your first choice doesn't work out. Remember to always gradually switch over the food, especially with your pups sensitive stomach. Yuki has an allergy to chicken and since Wilderness only comes with chicken for the puppy food, it made Yuki sick all the time. Now I feed Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and both my pups are on it and love it. More people will probably chime in a food later. Let's see what else. For the 10 weeks after you get your pup, expose him/her to a lot of sights and sounds -especially expose him to a lot of people!- and get him accustomed to everything. My mistake with Yuki is that I didn't take her to see a whole bunch of different people and now she's scared of everyone and doesn't ever want to approach people. She's only 19 weeks old so hopefully with a lot of work I can turn it around. Most people, including me at the time, seem worried with getting the pup socialized with other dogs right now! I got my eskimo at 4 months old and he's great with other dogs even though he wasn't very socialized with dogs as a little pup. So don't worry too much about dog play dates, you don't want to take him/her to the dog park yet until he is 16 weeks old and has ALL his/her puppy shots, all the way up to the rabies. Lastly, make sure you keep up with those vet visits and make sure he/she is completely dewormed! Yuki was 'up to date' on everything and still had roundworms, but apparently that was fairly common in pups. Was completely freaked out at the time xD. Anyway I've got to go to work now and can't think of anything else, good luck!

I second everything that Sean had to say!

I agree with everything Sean said. Congrats. I take it your are from Oklahoma or at the lease a OKC Thunder fan. Welcome.

MyKeeonah wrote:

The love, affection, attention, and socialization you give your puppy in it's earliest stages of life are crucial for development, and will go a long long way down the road on your journey with your new best friend.

Nice job, Sean! I'm going to expound on the socialization and training a bit...
That may be my new favorite "soap box" and one fresh in my mind since I am still recovering from a conversation with an acquaintance last night who has a one-year old lab who takes down her Christmas tree, won't walk on a leash and never spends time with other "nasty" dogs...
I would advise that, as soon as you get the puppy vaccinations to allow you to do things, you begin socializing him with people and other dogs and by putting him into certain "training" situations. Even before the puppy shots are done, you can make a list of "scary things" and introduce him to each of them. Some of the things on our list were: a loud person, a shy child, a kid on a bike, a person in a wheelchair, an elderly person, someone wearing a hat, a busy street corner, a train, a bridge, a cow or a horse, a person in a uniform, a baby stroller. The idea is to train him not to fear these common things so that when he sees them he will not react in fear. A dog reacting in fear can appear mean and may actually bite or nip! After you have all of his shots, you should take him to the pet store, to the dog park, to a puppy training class, to the people park, etc! One of our favorite places to go is a youth sports complex. You get to see most of the things on my previous list there! You've got kids with hats in their sports uniforms, their parents with babies in strollers, loud cheering, older grandparents...great fun!

Good luck and welcome to the forum!!

Thank you all for your advice I really appreciate it!

I do understand about the receiving the puppy at week 6 is a bit early but for some odd reason that is the way this breeder seems to do it here. I live in New Mexico currently and I've been here 5 years and still don't understand half the things I see. Say that if the rest of the puppies are also going to be picked up by other owners at the same time, would it be a bad idea to leave it their for an extra week without any other puppies present? Beyond that though, that is why I asked. I knew that it was early but was hoping someone else had be in this situation. I do though understand your concern.

The information regarding the food and how much was perfect! I gave me an idea what what to expect and kind of a starting point, it was great.

The training advice was awesome! Some ideas I never would have thought of and cant wait to implement myself. Training is something I really want to have the most information about so I'm ready for various situations to arise. You can't be ready for everything but you can know and see a lot of things coming.

I did put down a deposit already and have actually gone to see them. They informed me about the ease of the birth for the mother and they all were and are extremely healthy. I wouldn't be able to tell if they were or weren't but nothing I encountered alarmed me in the least bit.

Also, I'm not from Oklahoma but did live their for a time period on an internship. Became an avid fan after going to a few games and rest is history. I'm basically saving everything I learn in an excel sheet and categorizing it so I can go back and look up what I need to know and when. Think it could help in the long run and maybe one day I could be the one giving advice years down the road.

Thank again y'all!!
Christopher

I just want to add that while your puppy is that young potty training may be a bit of a pain. Remember to stay consistent with your pup all the time. I got Cally at 6 1/2 weeks and when they are that young they should not be expected to hold their bladders longer than about an hour. So be prepared to take your pup out every hour, and after eating, drinking, playing, running around, sleeping etc. Also during the night be prepared to wake up every hour to take your pup out, set an alarm and stick to it. It's alot of work but in the long run it makes your job much easier. Cally was 6 1/2 weeks and she was potty trained by I would say 8 weeks. She had very little accidents as I kept to a schedule.

Also- crate training, I would (and most people would) suggest crate training right from the start. It wil benefit both you and your dogs as huskies often can become destructive when left alone. This will also help alot with potty training the pup.

I completely agree with everything that everyone above has said

While I agree that it is more beneficial for a pup to stay with it's mama and littermates until 8 weeks old, it is not impossible to have a well trained dog. As said before I had Cally at 6 1/2 weeks and she was extremely easy for me to train, I didn't have problems with biting and she was an all around easy going puppy. Mind you every puppy will not be easy but with consistency, time and patience you will come to love the husky breed as much as the rest of us and enjoy all of their quirks and funny personalities

Enjoy your puppy and take lots of pictures, they grow wayyy too fast!