Luna-tic

There doesn’t seem to be much action on this forum anymore, I’d love to know how this owner got on with his rescue, whether he kept him or not. I still have Luna and she’s a lovely enough dog but has never turned into the owner loving dog I was hoping she might. She still spends nearly all her time outside even when it pours with rain, she won’t come in even if I call her, she could as there is the dog flap. We’re 4 years + into owning her and we both love her to bits, she has a wonderful calm demeanour and is very popular outside our home. I know she is attached to us, she just doesn’t show it in the same way as other more exuberant dogs might.

I’ve no idea but he’s an absolute stunner.

My first observation is that she is sitting awkwardly, she somehow looks a little hunched. Huskies love to run, if this has changed for her I’d have her checked over.

We took in a 6 year old female, we had two cats. She was very interested in them, we also have hens, she was very interested in them too. Both cats chose their own way to cope with her attention, the older Maine Coon stood her ground, the Bengal ran away. All we did was to reinforce to the dog that these animals were not for chasing. Within several weeks both cats settled, the Bengal treats the dog as just something that also lives here, the nose together, he walks past without a care etc. The other cat was just the same, we no longer have her sadly. I suspect the relationship your dog has with cats will depend on how well you train her. Our dog still wants to chase other cats outside along with squirrels. She has never shown any aggression towards even tiny dogs, she treats them just as dogs. Most owners though see her coming and pick them up! I'd advise some good training material and stick with it.

From a dried food point of view what's important is the protein content. Most dried food makers know full well that the protein content is inadequate so they suggest feeding larger amounts. The dried foods are bulked out with cereals and or rice and tend to be carb heavy, not good for dogs. I've heard owners say how their dogs love what they feed them and would eat more if they could. That's likely to be the dogs trying to get more protein by eating more dried food. It's really not ideal as a main/only food but if you must use it, please source one that is grain free and low carb. It will be a lot more expensive but surely you want to give your dog the best food you can? I'd also be throwing in a bit of raw too to help their gut 😉

Maybe it would be better to say which to avoid! I’ve had 3 different insurers. The first was Animal Friends, 8 months after I took out the policy with cover for £6K, Luna had a bladder stone which nearly killed her as her bladder burst, she had sepsis and had to undergo surgery followed by 9 nights in the vets, lots of blood and urine tests, pile of medication to rival a pensioner and they also found a bone stuck in the side of her stomach. Of course I claimed and the larger part of the claim was refused due to a pre-existing condition! That was a reference to my having taken her to the vet when she was peeing a lot, vet gave antibiotics and suggested a urine sample to test, that didn’t happen. Insurers decided she’d had cystitis so the bladder stone was magically the product of that so they couldn’t pay out. They paid the cost of removing the bone lol. Anyway, after some strong communication from me they settled the whole bill, just under £6K. Renewal a couple of months later saw the price double to over £1K. I reinsured with Moreth>n. A year with no vet claims and at renewal they wanted almost double as Luna hit 8. So I moved from there to another insurer for another claim free year and yes, you guessed it, the premium almost doubled again. I tried a net search and found the same company with the same policy offered for around £550 so as that was a big saving on what they’d quoted me direct I tried to sign up for the policy but when I hit the send button to pay for it, it just wouldn’t go through so on again and this time I have a policy with Animal Friends, same £6K cover yet the premium, despite her now being 9, was less than I paid when I took the first policy with them 3 years ago! It’s a total con isn’t it! It’s a chore trying to find the best premium and if a company pops up with a too good to be true price, check them out on Trust Pilot.

Oh my word, I could be reading about my Luna, taken in at 6 years old she was much as you describe your boy, she even looks like him and I’ve often wondered if she had Malamute in her too. We’ve had her 2.5 years and it took her a long time to settle, she’d lived in a family with at least 2 other huskies for a while then just the one. Her home environment was mostly the garden, I think only allowed in at night to sleep. I have just described her on another thread which you can read if you’re interested as I’m not going to type it all out again. give your dog time, Huskies are loyal, I don’t know how it’s ended up in a rescue but it will be pretty upset that its human is missing. I might sound as though I’m humanising a dog but maybe he’s just finding it difficult to trust, 6 is half way through a dog’s life after all, he may only have one owner before, I wonder if that was a man or woman, he’s unsure about who to do what for. I think he needs time, even now I feel that Luna isn’t as happy as I’d like her to be, she occasionally sits behind the side gate with her back to the rest of the house. I think your boy needs stability and you will have to wait it out, being there, never being cross, just offering him your love. I can’t forecast if that will be enough but you’re already trying to be there for him, just keep it up [emoji176] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You sound as though you are trying hard but I’m wondering if you’re trying in the wrong direction? Is it just you and your boys and the dogs, no partner maybe? When we got Luna she was 6+ and had come from quite a chaotic household where she had another Husky for company. I had no idea about huskies and took her because I felt what I could offer had to be better than what she had. Within a couple of days I was ringing a rescue asking if they might take her. They suggested they could if I was desperate but they preferred new owners to keep their dog for at least six months. I persevered, in the first few weeks she had pooed and peed in every room if we went out, she could open every door just about. We left her outside one day when we went to shop and came back to find her inside, she had ripped out the cat flap until she could squeeze through the hole. Our front window was smeared with husky snot where she pressed her nose to the window. I never imagined she would react to her move that way, I was very naive. Looking back I realise I needed more guidance and possibly I should have invested in some training. She is walked twice a day, she has no idea how to play with humans, doesn’t play ball, doesn’t tug, won’t engage in food hide and seek etc. My thoughts in your situation would be to watch husky training videos or even just dog training, think about giving yourself a break by booking them into doggy day care once a week, maybe one at a time so you can spend time with each of them separately. You say their food is low protein, I’m not sure that is wise, dogs need protein and some fat, I also hope it isn’t kibble. Invest in some recreational bones to give them an interest, maybe think about feeding raw which is supposed to calm dogs down. Dogs like children need rules and boundaries and they need to know what’s acceptable. A month is no time at all for them to settle into a new home, you’re strange, the environment is strange and it’s no surprise they are restless and anxious, the one thing they can both relate to is you and you keep disappearing so naturally they want to know where you are. For the first 2 weeks we had Luna we just had her sleep in our bedroom, she never moved all night. One night she made it clear she didn’t actually want to sleep with us lol and now she sleeps wherever she chooses, often outside. She’s been with us 2 and a half years, she’s a really love dog and I don’t regret taking her in, she isn’t however particularly affectionate, she doesn’t ever approach us for interaction, we have to make all the effort. Even after all this time I think she is still settling in. It takes time, lots of it. First and foremost consider if you are prepared/are able to invest some time and or cash into your dogs in order to incorporate them into your family, you sound as though that’s what you want but if it’s not what you can offer you may need to rethink. Have a good look through this forum, there is lots of help and advice from seasoned husky owners, with some help and planning I’m sure you could turn this situation around and have yourself 2 family friendly huskies. I hope so. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Luna was a rehome from a rather chaotic household. There were originally 3 huskies, Luna was taken in when she was 5 months old and had been returned to the breeder, the owners had her brother already but had originally wanted Luna. I was asked by my daughter if I wanted to rehome her not long after we had to have our collie euthanised. When we went to collect her there was a house full of people, her brother Zeus and Luna were outside. They brought her in and she was not interested in the people at all, in fact she started licking the floor, she was 6 at the time. When I asked why she was licking the floor the owner said she didn’t know but it was the first time she’d been allowed into the lounge! I’ll be honest, I didn’t take to her at all but to me she seemed depressed, no interest in much at all. They wanted to rehome her because the owner was expecting her 7th child and also had a toddler. The toddler apparently had never met Luna so he was busy grabbing handfuls of her fur, she was totally ok with him though. I said I would take her, got outside and told my daughter the truth, I felt so sorry for her that I didn’t want to leave her there. We’ve had her 2.5 years, in the first few days I felt totally unable to keep her and contacted a rescue who said they would take her but they’d prefer if we kept her for 6 months. After a week, she wasn’t going anywhere [emoji174] She is one lovely dog, temperament is beautiful, never growls, very sociable with any dog, respects our cats and is no trouble at all. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, it’s taken a long time for her to really settle in and I’m still not sure we’re there yet. She isn’t a dog who comes for cuddles and she often spends many hours outside which upsets me a bit, I want her to be inside with us but I respect her choices. We nearly lost her last year when a bladder stone ruptured her bladder, she’s recovered so well [emoji4] Of the three dogs in that household, the first to be rehomed went to some dope of a woman, she ate a whole banana cake but they delayed taking her to the vet “because it was closed” and they found her deceased the next morning, just too tragic for words. The brother, an extremely handsome dog, began to bleed from his nose and ultimately they found something nasty up there, before they could decide what to do he had some sort of stroke and had to be euthanised, the couple were both heavy smokers [emoji3525] So all three have been through it and only Luna survives, for a lot longer we hope. She is a beautiful dog and is much admired when we’re out. I’ve never regretted taking her in. My all time favourite photo of her.

Dr. Karen Becker is quite clear that both sexes should not be spayed until they are around 2 to give time for their hormones to do their work in setting them up for life, if you start removing them too early it seems it causes problems in later life. Both bitches and dogs can be just sterilised, that’s tubes tied rather than complete desexing, all you have to do is find a vet willing and able to carry it out. Lot less invasive for a bitch and keeps them both intact. here’s a video link for information or a link if you prefer to read - https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2017/01/11/age-of-spaying-neutering.aspx Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I agree Paul, when we got Luna she was six and had lived in a town all her life and latterly I don’t think she was walked much. Her owner said that of the two huskies she had she would trust Luna more to come back when called than her brother Zeus. I was very careful with her for months, I had been letting her off, round here there are sheep in the winter months but in the spring they go back to the hill farms. I started to walk alongside the brook by our house, Luna was off lead as she had been and then suddenly she was gone. I got to the fields, I could see her in the distance but she took no notice of me at all. I followed her across 3 big fields, shouting like a loon, totally ignored me, she stopped to sniff a couple of times but kept going until she came to a fence, on the other side were sheep, lambs, cows and calves, I’ve never been so frightened in all my life. She didn’t seem able to get through the fence, she went and had a look at the gate, then from one side of the field a farm hand appeared and stood in front of her on the other side of the fence. I was almost hysterical by then. She made no attempt to get over the fence and she wasn’t looking as though she was desperate to get in but I know if there’d been a gap she would have been through it, the stock would have bolted and she would have chased them. I can’t tell you how relieved I was, the farmhand just said did she run off and I said yes, we were the other side of the brook. You learn a very object lesson when something like that happens, it’s not an experience I ever want to repeat. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Would you give your children dried food for most of their meals and expect them to eat it? If you’ve just adopted her she will take time to settle in and you may unwittingly have changed her diet which can upset the gut. Could you not feed at least some raw to encourage her gut bacteria? Kibble varies hugely and most is cheap rubbish full of cereal and not enough protein, a good quality dog food, not Pedigree anything tbh, Aatu, Barking Heads and similar tray or tinned foods would be infinitely better for her. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have one 7 year old re-homed female husky, one 10 year old Female Maine Coon cat, one 5 year old Bengal male cat and 4 hens. It was a bit of a juggling act fitting the husky in but the Maine Coon adapted well by just not running away from the dog, the Bengal is a bit of a scaredy cat but he now will just step over the husky and they often touch noses, the hens well, the husky was fine with them until one day she wasn’t for some reason and despatched two of them so now they don’t share space lol. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I've learnt the hard way twice, fortunately there weren't any dire outcomes but there could have been the second time had it not been for a dog proof fence. Even on the lead she can bolt, another dog walker I was chatting to threw his dog a ball, I didn't see him do it and Luna shot off after it, pulled my arm nearly out of the socket and the lead just went with her. Fortunately she came back when called. She also pulled me right over when another dog ran past and she took off after him despite him having already run past once and been ignored by her. Luckily only my ego was a bit bruised as there were several dog walkers all standing and talking lol. Today was her first time in an enclosed safe space, she wasn't impressed or terribly interested in doing anything more than wandering round and sniffing, I did more running than she did! There was some agility equipment, she managed to go down one tube but to sniff the insides, coaxed up and over one apex with treats and over an almost flat jump twice. I'm not sure it's worth trying again unless I can find another dog who would run round with her. The people had a huge great Harlequin Dane but he wasn't let out which was a shame lol.

If you have a computer/phone/tablet just download the Kindle app and use that. I have it on my iPad, laptop and phone so I can snatcha read whenever I want to. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Luna is 6 years old and weighs 30kg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why would you give your dog kibble as a main food? Dogs should have meat, raw for preference. Most kibbles are full of fillers, cereals and really poor quality protein and not much of it. You wouldn’t give your children a bowl of dried food 3 times a day and expect them to be healthy would you? (I hope not!) if you really can’t manage raw then a good quality canned or pouch food without cereal/fillers and a decent protein & fat content is better. There’s a difference between manufacturers who make pet food to make money (Pedigree, Purina etc.) and those who have pet welfare at the heart of what they make. I wouldn’t use Royal Canin (if it’s on the vet’s shelf then it’s probably not worth buying) or any other kibble that’s got any sort of cereal in it, in fact I won’t use it full stop. I do have dehydrated raw meat which my dogs have always liked. This is a good guide for pet owners: http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/ Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

just observing from my hairy seat in the car to make sure they unload the shopping properly! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk