Hello all,

I'm Jay, my wife is Pam, and the newest member of the family is Kodi, our 4 month old male. Our real children have already accepted the fact that they've been replaced in the will with Kodi getting the house and all its possessions.  :-)  Seriously, he's been a great pup.. Just graduated AKC Puppy Kindergarten, really good on commands (although outside when we're doing long leash, not so much yet!).

Kodi was born in Tennessee from a breeder who we were so impressed with several years ago, that we told she and her husband (he's since passed) that when the time came for us to get a new puppy, we'd be back (we make frequent trips to Nashville for family).  We successfully raised a Kitzbue Malamute a while back (lost him to cancer at 7) and we couldn't be happier to be back with a northern breed, and can't wait for winter and the snow to return.  In the meantime, it's three long walks a day, rain or shine, long leash (and off leash) in a large fenced back yard, and a lot of love, playing, belly rubs, etc. all along the way.

Looking forward to interacting with folks in the forums and anyone from the Hartford area, please feel free to PM me.. Always welcome play dates.  :-)   In the meantime, some Kodi pics..

Welcome! He's beautiful!

Thanks..  His Mom was a Sable Husky so had the full gamut of colors from Copper through B&W.. As he's getting older and his adult coat is coming in, there are hints of copper red coming in to certain spots..  His Dad was big, so we're expecting him to be like his father in that regard.

Hayden_69 wrote:

Welcome! He's beautiful!

Welcome, Kodi is gorgeous!  He's got very similar facial markings to my Ghost actually.  Our Shadow is just a little younger than Kodi, so I can commiserate on puppy shenanigans.  Thankfully Ghost keeps her little butt worn out, which helps.  I would like to caution you about long walks at this age, it can actually be really damaging to growing joints.  A good rule of thumb is 5 minutes per month of age, so 20 minutes should be the max.  Let him romp in the yard and work on training for mental stimulation to wear him out

Thank you :-) The breeder REALLY does a great job overall with the pups .. I noticed some of that similarity on another post I saw of yours and Ghosts marking. When I said long walks, I was talking about 20 minutes or so, but is there an issue if we do it multiple times a day, with multiple hours breaks in between.. As long as it isn't hot, we do one in the morning, one mid afternoon, and one evening walk. I hear you though on not pushing it, so want to understand. We also play in the house to burn some energy. Would like to get him to run on the long lead in the back yard, but right now he's more interested in tug of war with the lead... hard to remember he's still a puppy at times, but it isn't too early to get him used to doing things the right way. :-) Ideally the back yard is better given the grassy area.. Work in process.. Again, is three walks too much? We mentioned to Vet and he seemed to think it was O.K. He is a good Vet and has taken to Kodi.. Helps on visits.. :-)

blueeyedghost wrote:

Welcome, Kodi is gorgeous!  He's got very similar facial markings to my Ghost actually.  Our Shadow is just a little younger than Kodi, so I can commiserate on puppy shenanigans.  Thankfully Ghost keeps her little butt worn out, which helps.  I would like to caution you about long walks at this age, it can actually be really damaging to growing joints.  A good rule of thumb is 5 minutes per month of age, so 20 minutes should be the max.  Let him romp in the yard and work on training for mental stimulation to wear him out

Hey another person from Connecticut, finally!

Welcome, I'm not exactly around the Hartford area but my dad commutes through there every day and it's only a 40 minute drive so maybe one day I'll be able to meet you guys. Your puppy is outstanding btw, very handsome.

My best friend lives in East Windsor! Soon, she will have a fenced in yard so we can visit with the pups. If/when we do, we could be down with a husky meet-up!

Welcome to the forum

Jay_S wrote:

 When I said long walks, I was talking about 20 minutes or so, but is there an issue if we do it multiple times a day, with multiple hours breaks in between..  As long as it isn't hot, we do one in the morning, one mid afternoon, and one evening walk.  I hear you though on not pushing it, so want to understand.  

Gotcha

We've had a few people come on lately talking about walking young pups several miles a day, and even one guy who was biking an 8 week old. So I see long and my mind immediately goes to some of those previous posts. That should be completely fine for him, and as long as he's not showing fatigue three 20 minute walks per day should be ok.

Appreciate all the info. Measured our usual walk, and it's about a mile.. so a 20 minute mile isn't exactly burning the track. :-) He seems to still have plenty of energy (or pull if I'd let him), so I don't think he's tuckered out. On warmer days, we'll take water breaks, etc. Usually we're stopping to talk to neighbors, meet other dog owners on walks, etc. We lost a lab (at a very old age) to hip arthritis, so again I appreciate this. We read something about giving pups Chondroitin even at this age to help with joints.. May run it by the vet..

blueeyedghost wrote:

Jay_S wrote:

 When I said long walks, I was talking about 20 minutes or so, but is there an issue if we do it multiple times a day, with multiple hours breaks in between..  As long as it isn't hot, we do one in the morning, one mid afternoon, and one evening walk.  I hear you though on not pushing it, so want to understand.  

Gotcha

We've had a few people come on lately talking about walking young pups several miles a day, and even one guy who was biking an 8 week old.  So I see long and my mind immediately goes to some of those previous posts.  That should be completely fine for him, and as long as he's not showing fatigue three 20 minute walks per day should be ok.

Koda wrote:

My best friend lives in East Windsor!  Soon, she will have a fenced in yard so we can visit with the pups.  If/when we do, we could be down with a husky meet-up!

Welcome to the forum

That would be great..  There's another female husky in the area the Kodi was in puppy class with.. I meet her owner once a week for them to walk together.

Kodi's on the left and Hachi (the female) is on the right..

AMB wrote:

Hey another person from Connecticut, finally!

Welcome, I'm not exactly around the Hartford area but my dad commutes through there every day and it's only a 40 minute drive so maybe one day I'll be able to meet you guys. Your puppy is outstanding btw, very handsome.

Great to hear.. Maybe there's a spot somewhere in the middle we could meet sometime. Send me a PM and we can try to set up something.

Jay S.

Welcome very cute puppy..

Jay_S wrote:

I'm Jay, my wife is Pam, and the newest member of the family is Kodi, our 4 month old male. Our real children have already accepted the fact that they've been replaced in the will with Kodi getting the house and all its possessions. :-) Seriously, he's been a great pup.. Just graduated AKC Puppy Kindergarten, really good on commands (although outside when we're doing long leash, not so much yet!).

I like that I maybe I should tell my adult kids that same thing.

It's amazing.. they start calling more often, making plans to visit more often.. :-) Of course it's all in the name of seeing the new pup, but I'm thinking they're worried.. LOL

ljelgin wrote:

Welcome very cute puppy..

Jay_S wrote:

I'm Jay, my wife is Pam, and the newest member of the family is Kodi, our 4 month old male. Our real children have already accepted the fact that they've been replaced in the will with Kodi getting the house and all its possessions.  :-)  Seriously, he's been a great pup.. Just graduated AKC Puppy Kindergarten, really good on commands (although outside when we're doing long leash, not so much yet!).

I like that I maybe I should tell my adult kids that same thing.