naildownx Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 To be honest, I have never owned a dog that I have invested in and kept inside...This will be a first, so I have many questions that come to mind, that to many may seem foolish, but if you have never done this before then how are you suppose to know? So with that said and at the risk of looking dumb here come some hopefully simple questions... 1. What size crate do we need to buy for our sibe? links would be helpful, let me know if you need to email them to me... 2. what kind of collar/harness and leash do we need to buy? plan on just being a pet and jogging and running with... 3. what kind of rake/brush do we need? 4. At night when we put our puppy in it's crate, do we need to just let it potty on a pad? until it can hold it all night? 5. how often do we wash a sibe? 6. what kind of shampoo do we need to use? 7. what age can we trim nails? (we have hard wood floors) I will ask more as I think of questions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca_&_me Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Hi there alabama, lol. I reccomend a size 36 inch crate (the metal kind with divider) this way you can make the crate smaller for now while he's little. You can get one by midwest on amazon.com for like $48. If youre just going to walk and jog then just buy a regular nylon collar with metal buckle, and a nylon leash (for walking). when the pup is older (10 months to one year) go ahead and buy a regular nylon harness to jog or speedwalk. i have also bought the furminator deshedding tool, and the evolution slicker brush. Bought both on amazon.com on sale this last week. While some folks use puppy pads in the crate I dont recommend it, just use the divider to make the crate just the right size that the pup can sit and lay down comfortably with no extra room so the pup has no comfortable way to potty in there and then lay away from it. Most folks only wash their sibe once every 3 months at the most and just rinse them out if they get a little dirty in between. I ended up first trimming the mails at around 4 months, and then once a month since then. It is never dumb to ask questions..."often the only stupid question is the one you never ask." We are all glad to be of help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca_&_me Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Oops, I meant trimmed the Nails, lmao. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahNukka&Shadow Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Firstly welcome! Great to have you on board and greater that your asking things your not sure about as its always better to ask for help before you start than get it wrong and have to start over!! 1) crate size wise it should be big enough for your dog to lay fully out (when its fully grown) and turn around comfortably. For the pup you can get a crate divider to make it smaller to start with as one crate and one divider is much cheaper than having to buy several! dont have any links for you as Im in the UK but am sure someone from your kneck of the woods will help you out there and when they do just look for the size guide you'll need a crate thats for a medium large dog (usual examples will be labardor) 2) Collar's are really a matter of personal preference, you can get a regualr flat collar when you pup is still little so he gets used to wearing one and then if you have a hard time walking him (pulling etc) you might want to swap to a half-check or martingale (this is half regular collar half chain) to help you restrain him abit but as I said its a bit of a personal pref thing! Harnesses are also good for walking a husky as they naturally lean forward as they walk so something that cups his chest will give you better control over him too, but again this is pref. 3) Brushes and rakes you will probley need one of each brushing him once a week to keep the fur off the furniture and a rake for when hes in moult twice a year, also I'd recomend looking into a good pet fur friendly vaccum if hes going to be anywhere near anywhere carpeted or on your furniture! Lol! 4) Crates are best used as a potty training tool to be restrict him so he DOESNT go in the house so I wouldnt recommend letting him go in the crate or he'll get used to going in there and it will be hard to train him out of that (mine was alowed to go in her crate at the breeders so I couldnt use the crate to housetrain her!) Your best off setting your alarm for every few hours in the night and getting up with him to potty as well as restricting his water intake after 8pm. 5) Washing isnt too much of an issue as they are very clean dogs licking themselves like a cat would, also if you over bath them you cna destroy natural oils in the coat and give them skin problems so keep it to a minum litterally only when hes possertivly CAKED in mud or REALLY smelly! Just make sure you have a couple of towls that are just for him and give him a rub down when he comes in from outside and is abit mucky, babywhips are also good to use as long as they are fragrance free. 6) If you do bath him make sure you get a proper doggy shampoo from a reputable pet store as human shampoos arnt formulated for dogs. 7) nail trimming again shouldnt be needed to be done very often as they will wear down naturally walking on hard pavements etc but if you do need to make sure you get proper doggy nail trimmers and maybe even ask the vet to give you a demo for the first time as although you cant do them SERIOUS damage them do have a vein called a wick in their nails and if you cut them too short you can hurt them and make them bleed which will make it diffcult for you to handle his paws in the future, which btw you should pratice doing with him regularly so he gets used to it. Hope all that helps and anymore keep um coming theres always someone aroun d to answer you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 1. What size crate do we need to buy for our sibe? links would be helpful, let me know if you need to email them to me...Never crated mine, sorry. 2. what kind of collar/harness and leash do we need to buy? plan on just being a pet and jogging and running with... Jogging and running? That would kill me but for walking we use a harness. 3. what kind of rake/brush do we need? We have a furminator and a normal brush. Just get your Husky used to the brush from the off. 4. At night when we put our puppy in it's crate, do we need to just let it potty on a pad? until it can hold it all night? Again, sorry. What we did was take our puppy upstairs in the bedroom with us, on his own bed not ours, and he never soiled during the night. 5. how often do we wash a sibe? Haven't washed ours in 3 years (he's 5 now) just a rinse down with warm water after a dirty walk. 6. what kind of shampoo do we need to use? See above. 7. what age can we trim nails? (we have hard wood floors) We have never had to trim his nails as the walks are a fair bit on hard pavement which does it for us. You will eventually have to trim the hair around the pad though... Edited to add they are not dumb questions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazz Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Great questions. Kudos for asking before you bring your furever baby home. 1. What size crate do we need to buy for our sibe? links would be helpful, let me know if you need to email them to me... Go with Erika's suggestion. Can't go wrong. That's the type we have for Zoya, although we got ours locally. Paid about $100 for it. 2. what kind of collar/harness and leash do we need to buy? plan on just being a pet and jogging and running with... We like a nylon web harness for walks or trails. Normal around the house and back yard, we have a rolled leather collar. We used a 4-ft nylon web leash when Zoya was a pup, then graduated to a 6-ft nylon leash later. We use an 18-ft retractible for walks and trails. 3. what kind of rake/brush do we need? Again, what Erika said. Furminators rock. 4. At night when we put our puppy in it's crate, do we need to just let it potty on a pad? until it can hold it all night? No pads in the crate. You don't want the pup to potty in the crate. The puppy will cry when it needs to go potty, so at two or three in the morning, you'll be awakened. Get dressed and take the puppy out for a potty break. Then praise and reward the puppy, put the puppy back in the crate, get undressed, and go back to bed. A puppy can hold for about one hour for every month in age. At least that's the rule of thumb I use. 5. how often do we wash a sibe? Once a year, maybe. Our last Husky, Elke, was almost 15 when she crossed. If she had ten baths in her lifetime, I'd be surprised. 6. what kind of shampoo do we need to use? Get a good quality pet shampoo, with oatmeal base. W use an oatmeal base pet shampoo on Zoya. (She's only had one full bath so far, and she's about 18 months old.) 7. what age can we trim nails? (we have hard wood floors) We first trimmed Zoya's nails at ten weeks. She's so active now, that she keeps them worn down, so we only have to trim her dew claws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 nuffin 2 add great replies every1 as a pup u can just use a normal collar however as they get older and see something they want u might b better off with a half check as they can slip normal flat collars harnesses are good 2 my boy blaze has never slipped his harness (tho sum huskies have) hes managed 2 get an arm out whilst rolling around playing but thats it - hes slipped a collar ALOT ov times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arooroomom Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Just a few things... As puppies i have never used a regular collar prior to them being 6-8 months old. I don't feel it's safe for so much pressure to be placed solely on the neck. We use harnesses until they're around 6-8 months. Then we switched to martingales which are pretty much anti-slip. While running i put on a harness but their regular collars are still on (with tags.) After a year old we used Pinch collars for training. Some might disagree with them, but used in sensible hands... i see nothing wrong with them. About crating: Don't put pads in the crate. That defeats the purpose. At night we stopped water about 8pm and we all went to bed at around 10. Every 3 hours (even if they aren't crying) we would wake up and let them out. We put words to their actions (Pee/Poo) and it really helped with housebreaking. (ex: Good Pee Pee Good Poo Poo) Still to this day do i find myself saying it. Also as Erika said buy a large size crate with a divider it's a great investment. Put the divider so the pup only has room to lay down and turn around. Any bigger, you'll be allowing space to mess in. As said above, Furminator is our saving grace. Baths. Mine get totally filthy. They are at the dog park constantly and in and out of the lake. They need baths regularly. They get them about once a month. Basically when a good hose down won't rid the smell... it's bath time. Oatmeal based shampoo is good. That's what we use. It's also not as harsh as the regular shampoos so it's ok for more frequent bathing. I got mine used to me holding their paws and trimming nails ever since there was room to cut. Having a dog who is terrified (or nasty) about nail trimming is hard work. Now i only do "maintenance" cutting about once a month. Just check the nails over for bits that aren't worn down by our outings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snowdog Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I cant add anymre advice than has been given above, but did want to say good luck with your new pup and i hope youll all be very happy together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidjk Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 make sure you dont cut into the pink areas in the nails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damrod Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 furminator and slicker brush work good for me. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/cratetraining.htm http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/dog_nails.aspx http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/housebreaking.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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