Hey everyone decided that it was time to join a forum and begin getting to know other husky owners, and more importantly learn from other owners!

So we picked up a new husky puppy on the 22nd of march, 8 weeks old so says the breeder. At first glance he melted me into a puddle, seriously beyond cute, his cuteness has probably saved his life as well.

Now I read up as much as possible on the breed, we have everything he needs, the very best walking area imaginable, right in the greenery of cheshire, england. I also read that we need to see the parents of the husky, papers, vet bills, the works. Now in my haste, and seeing him for the first time I overlooked all of this, he seemed healthy, he seemed happy enough, if I wasn't a first time buyer then I might of noticed how bad things were but I didn't.

I know I supported a bad breeder, and in retrospect I hate that we did. He has since been reported to the RSPCA, and the adverts online for the dogs has been reported, with any luck he will serve some time for what he did to this dog, and I can only imagine what he did to the other puppies in the litter.

Some facts about this puppy when he visited the vet two days after we picked him up. He had a red blood cell count of 3, yes, 3. He was incredibly underweight, anemic, weak. The vet gave us special food, and also a special mixture to make up to feed him via a syringe. We took him home, and began making sure he ate the mixture, and that he drank goats milk. You see the issue was he wasn't eating anything, he would pick at food, we took what the breeder said he was feeding him, and tried that and the only thing that worked was milk, cow milk, which we learned very quickly wasn't good for him, hence the goats milk.

Fast forward two days, which was two days after his visit, he had been moving through the mixture at a slow pace, only taking it via the syringe and constant coaxing. He began being sick, he vomited 4 times and we took him to the emergency vet who gave him antibiotics and an antacid to be given over the next 5 days. We brought him home really scared and obviously by this point so angry at the breeder, both because he had sold us such a sick animal, and because he had let him get into such a state. I felt guilty because I knew I had let a horrible human being profit off a sick animals life, and that he may yet continue to do so. The emergency vet had also given us another special mixture to increase his sugar levels, his energy, electrolytes etc. Which at first he would only take with a syringe but eventually began lapping up, at which point we stopped all other food and let the antibiotics and antacid do their work.

That night very late we noticed that he was biting the bowl his new fluid intake was in, so we decided to get some solid food which the first vet had issued and began breaking it up for him to eat, and he began eating it, slowly but surely in small pieces, and he didn't stop. Which he has since continued to do, now without breaking it up. He went back to our normal vet 2 days after the emergency visit, and had another blood count done, which showed a change from 3 upto 16. A significant increase. He was still anemic though and wanted to do a urine sample test. We took that in and it came back with blood in the urine, which meant either an autoimmune anemia which involved white cells destroying red. Fortunately we had a call the other day to say that was probably not the issue, we are now waiting on the results of his last blood test which we should get on monday. His weight is constantly increasing and he is getting heavier every day. We are still waiting to see why there was blood in his urine, the vet thinks hes either flushing something out, or may have a small infection which would explain why the antibiotics he got helped so much.

When we got him he weighted a shocking 1.1kg, which is about 2.4 pounds i believe. That he has survived is amazing.

His name is Django, like the movie that just came out, every day he is more alert, more interested in play time, he loves to pounce and play fight, and can't get enough of nuzzling into your neck licking and nipping at your ears. If you talk to him in a certain way he will talk back and howl in response. He hates being alone still because all our plans for conventional crate training and toilet training have gone out of the window, and his injections wont happen for a bit until hes better able to stomach the day or two of lack of appetite that hits after them, so he hasn't seen much outside yet.

We aren't completely out of the woods yet, hes fattening up now enough that we think a growth spurt is due, hes been around now a week and a half and just keeps getting better. We know we did all of this wrong intially, but we are happy we did now, because hes a complete part of the family, and we are looking forward to more games, walks, training, and lazy evenings on the couch watching movies with him.

If you read all of this, thank you, and hello! My name is jim btw.

Awww!! I am so happy to hear he is getting better! Keep us updated on his health! Pictures!!! You have pictures of your little guy?

Welcome to the forum! I was just visiting England this weekend!

I am due at work for three hours in a bit but after that I'll get a few snaps.

Aww poor little puppy It sounds like you are a wonderful owner for this little guy, with all you've done so far! Keep it up!! Can't wait to see pictures!

That's him, Mr Django in the puppy flesh, hes improving leaps and bounds. Yes there are wires in the background but hes always supervised (he would follow someone anyway, he hates being alone.)

Welcome. He is so tiny and cute.. I am glad he is improving being with you now. Did they lie to you about his age?? I wonder being he is so tiny and having such health issues.

When we visited the vet two days after getting him the vet said based on his teeth growth he is between 6-8 weeks, we think because of just how much he needs company that he might be closer to the 6 week mark.

It could also be just how badly he was fed, a red blood cell count of 3 and literally every bone in his body could be felt easily. He was essentially skin and bone but his coat disguised it so well.

He's got a right little stomach on him now and he eats more than i could imagine is possible, he doesn't have treats though, doesn't like the puppy ones we bought and we refuse to feed him human food until hes on the right path, when i say human food i mean as treats, any tips on that would be great.

I feed mine string cheese for treats and I get doggie cookies at the pet store they get a cookie everynight before bed. You can try making chicken jerky in the oven or a dehydrator.

I also have make some homemade dog treats if you are interested in trying some. I believe there is topic on it already.

I make the homemade treats too, my dogs love them

We just got takeout and tow of the meals were chicken, he lost his mind and started going mad for the chicken one, we didn't let him have any but we think that cubes of chicken might be just the thing for him, he has his first injection on wednesday, then another two weeks later and he can finally venture out of the house, that is when the real training starts.

I feed my girls frozen green beans as treats; they LOVE them! I also give string cheese and homemade dog treats. Baby carrots are also a really big hit in my house. Boiled chicken.. Almost any and all healthy REAL food. There are of course real food they can't eat; such as onions, grapes, large amounts of garlic, and so on and so forth. You can find a lot of websites online that have lists of what dogs shouldn't eat.

I will say though, a lot of those lists have what I like to call "scare tactics" on them. They will say dogs can't have bones; dogs can and IMO should have raw, meaty bones. They will say dogs can't have raw eggs; raw eggs are an excellent source of protein as are the shells. You have to have an open mind when looking at these types of lists. Some lists have been made by vets who do not support a raw diet, so lists have examples like those I put above. Some lists have been made by pet owners who mean well, but are pretty far off on the facts.

There is nothing out there that is better for our dogs then real, human food..plain and simple. Second to real food comes REAL dog treats. There are processed dog treats that are better then others. A great rule of thumb is to not buy any treat you can find in a supermarket. Like Milkbones for example..AWFUL. Any treat that is made in China is a big reg flag to stay away from. I only buy treats that are made in the US or Canada, and I research brands before I buy them. It can be an overwhelming thing when you REALLY start to dig into what treats are and what treats aren't good for our furry kids. Once you have a general knowledge of what ingredients and what manufacturers to stay away from, things become much simpler.

I'm happy that Django was found by a nice family that will take good care of him. He's a cutie.

Wow. You guys have definitely already overcome so much. He is a cutie and I hope he continues to get better!

Welcome to the forum.

I am pleased to say that the big man is now going from strength to strength, hes getting bigger all the time now, putting on weight nicely, and is eating like every one is his last! I am finally starting to let my self believe that I will have in a year's time a big old husky that will love walks and climbing mountains.

Aw! Poor guy! He's blessed to have you to take such good care of him! It's good to see he's on the road to recovery.