Meet My Pup and Share Your Knowledge!

[Jakebrown4]

So after a bit of searching for the right pup I finally found one and brought him home. He's a 6 month old pup that the breeder was going to show but due to family circumstances was unable to. As a result of him being a show prospect he is debarked, something I did not know show breeders did, but nonetheless I'm fine with it. Only one of his testicles has descended and the breeder told me to either wait until the other descends or wait until he is a year to neuter him, whichever comes first. I named him Hiei (He-ay). His parents are both OFA hip and eye tested, sire's hips excellent, mother's good. Sire weighs 45 pounds, dam 55 so it seems he'll be a bit on the smaller side but that's okay!

Upon meeting him he was a bit shy, but curious. He seemed to want to play "chase me" (a game I'm avoiding playing with him to prevent him thinking running away from me is okay). I was given vaccination records, copies of the OFA certs, a pedigree of the father, and AKC papers.

I met the dam, she was beautiful and well mannered. Hiei was fantastic on the ride home, he didn't make a sound, he just sat up and looked at the things we passed, looked at the speakers when he heard an interesting sound, and then slept when I turned the music off. I was so surprised. He seemed to be doing well so i took him to the pet store where he was more even more sociable than when I met him.Upon arriving home he captured the hearts of my family members and acclimated well to everything. He loves his crate and slept through the first night without crying, so no need to crate train.

The only issue we ran into was that he had 4 accidents the first night. He didn't show signs of wanting to go out so i think house training will have to be from scratch, but admittedly I should have let him out sooner after he drank a bit of water for two of those accidents. I'm following these guides for house training. Whenever he had an accident I would tell him no in a calm but firm voice and take him outside immediately after.

http://www.siberescue.com/articles/housetraining101.php

http://www.huskytraining.net/housebreaking-your-husky-puppy.html

Any pro tips for house training a husky? What worked for you and what didn't?

The breeder had Hiei on a mostly raw diet with some kibble. I've been reading about both raw and kibble diets and cannot discern what is fact from hype from either camp. I want to say that feeding high quality kibble is probably the safest bet as long as the ingredients suit your particular dog? The choke hazards, bacteria, and possible nutrient deficiencies are what scare me about raw diets. I know there are benefits and downfalls to both so I'd like to know...

What do you feed your dogs? What do you think of each diet?

For now I bought Taste of the Wild kibble,but he didn't touch it the first night so i'll offer it to him today and see what he does.

As of now I'm just trying to acclimate him further and establish myself as the alpha by doing the small things like: giving him crate time since he loves it, walking through doors before him, taking toys away after play, putting him belly up and touching his belly, paws and tail.

Any advice on anything "new husky pup" related is appreciated! I'm so excited to be a part of the site with a pup of my own now!

Can't wait to share stories and experiences with you all, cheers.

[Andy]

Now that is a handsome young man

Welcome.

[wolfpup]

He is truly gorgeous!   He will look like a grey wolf as an adult.

I feed raw in answer to your question.   My pup is around 16/17 weeks old - my other dog is 7 years old - both have been on raw or BARF since I took them in.   The adult gets chicken carcases (two) with either liver, heart or kidney  (lambs mostly), grated carrots and any veg we are eating that day, twice a week they get raw beaten egg with spirulina mixed in before their main course.   They also get meaty bones (lamb usually), as well as puppy raw green tripe (senseless getting two different types).  The pup is on chicken wings, and am progressing him onto the ribs of the chicken carcases as well as the necks,  he will eat heart but as yet has not developed a taste for liver - although yesterday he did eat some kidney.   When I can get hold of a rabbit carcase the dogs think it is Christmas.

I did a post on here a couple of weeks ago showing the vitamins and minerals a dog needs - and which meats they are in.   It is very easy to provide all the vitamins and minerals your dog needs from a raw diet  -  with the added bonus of them having naturally white clean teeth all their life without the need for a doggy toothbrush  (Yey).   The other added advantage is that I have found feeding a raw diet is cheaper than the high end kibble type food.

[Emma]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

When your taking your pup to the vets, remember to mention the undescended testicle as it can cause a few health problems.

Raw food vs kibble is a big debate. The raw food isn't as scary as it sounds and is probably healthier. Kibble will always have some degree of added stuff that isn't needed or even particularly healthy for our pups. But then kibble is pretty straight forwards to do: open bag and pour in bowl, job done!

Taste of the wild is supposed to be one of the better kibble a so I'd try to persevere with that for a while. If he's getting some raw food one time and then some kibble another time then he might simply be holding out for the raw food. Who wouldn't want the juicy bone over a bowl of processed kibble? Lol.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[goingsolo]

He is beautiful xx a question though what does debarked mean? Im assuming it means messing with the vocal chords though I have no idea why someone would do that. Dogs bark, actually my little dog barks my husky makes a pathetic sound and woowoos.

[jmscott]

My preference is raw, but really, if you're more comfortable with kibbles, thats okay too. 

Debarking is done on the rare show dog because they need to be housed in hotel room quite frequently, among other public places. It's more like a smokers voice and its also pretty common for it to come back after a couple of years.

Don't worry too much on being the alpha. That is an old theory that doesn't play too much into our modern understanding of canine behavior. I will post some of my favorite sites below, including one on the Umbilical Cord Potty training method, that for me is at 100% success.

 

 Suzanne Clothier, Behaviorist

Patricia McConnell, Behaviorist

www.dogfoodadvisor.com

Umbilical Cord Housebreaking

SHCA Pack Dog Title

SHCA Recommended Reading List

 

 

 

 

[Jakebrown4]

Thank you for the warm welcomes and compliments! @wolfpup would you mind linking your post? I'd like to learn about it properly and feed raw. I think he would enjoy it more and get more health benefits from it. Anyone have experience with commercial raws? There are some "just add water mixes" and "just add water + your own meat" mixes, each with a grain or no grain option. They're reasonably priced for the convenience. Pictures attached below.

@jmscott thank you for the links! I am trying clicker training out at the moment, working on shaping some good behaviors! I'll definitely do umbilical training a shot, it seems foolproof to me.

BIG PROBLEM that is scaring me......The breeder mentioned to me that she gave him one last worming shot before she sent him home with me, gave me a "record" of his past dewormings,  and mentioned he probably doesn't have worms but not to freak out if i see stool with them in it. Sure enough he has worms in his stools, they look like roundworms from what I can tell.

The "record" she gave me is written all with the same pen and is pretty bare bones, accounting for everything as "2 weeks" "4 weeks" etc instead of actual dates? The names of the wormings are Pyrantel  for weeks 2, 4 and 6, and fenbendazole at 2, 4, and 5 months. The "record" also shows shots of "Solo-Jec 5" at 6, 10, 14, and 18 weeks.

Important to note that he was kept outside since he was born, and he paws away at the snow and pulls up grass/dirt too, i know the eggs can be transmitted through soil.

I sent her a picture of the stool containing many visible worms and she said he's had all of his dewormings, was given another before he left, and to use safeguard wormer on him three days in a row, wait 3-4 weeks and do it again until they're gone. I ended up buying a liquid brand and giving it to him orally via syringe, but he threw up some of his food a bit later (vomit did contain a few worms, but not NEARLY as many as the stool), so it might not have been fully absorbed? My mother says to feed him some Food Grade Diatomaceous earth once a day for 30 days and it'll take care of them all including the larvae.

Even if she did write up the deworming and shot record just before i got there, she is a responsible show handler and breeder who tests her dogs genetics before breeding, so I want to believe she actually did worm him along with his littermates at the same time and just didn't keep individual records for each of them.

You would never be able to tell he has worms just by looking at him/his behavior though... He's got a healthy amount of fat, isn't anemic, has a ton of energy, isn't coughing, and doesn't have a swollen belly.

Bottom line, should I trust that she gave him the wormings and let them take effect? She seemed like a really nice and honest person, and did tell me that he wasn't house trained at all. But If he was supposedly given all of these dewormings would be still have worms at 6 months? If he has intestinal worms could he also have the dreaded heartworms? Should I take him to the vet to get him tested for heartworms, and get treated for the intestinal ones just to be sure? Or just treat it at home with the Diatomaceous Earth? What do you do for your dogs if/when they get worms?

She also mentioned he is a little on the small side for coming up on 6 months (birthday August 16). the highest point of his back is 15.5 inches, and he weighs 22 pounds. I was told the sire weighs 45 pounds and the dam 55. Could he be on the small side because of the worms inhibiting his growth?

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I am just obviously a concerned parent lol.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Welcome to the pack , have you had him checked out by a vet? That would be my first port of call for him with regards to the worms etc , take all the breeders notes with you too

[wolfpup]

 @wolfpup would you mind linking your post? I'd like to learn about it properly and feed raw. I think he would enjoy it more and get more health benefits from it. Anyone have experience with commercial raws? 

 

 

The only commercial raw food I get is puppy raw green tripe for the prebiotics

[SamK]

He looks so healthy what do you feed him?

[Jakebrown4]

So definitely make a vet appointment for him just to be sure?

Thank you @wolfpup for the link!

@SamK Well I've only have him for 3 days now, and he hasn't eaten much of anything to be honest. He doesn't like Tase of the Wild kibble I don't think... and threw up that mixed with some Raw food mix.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

So definitely make a vet appointment for him just to be sure?

Thank you @wolfpup for the link!

@SamK Well I've only have him for 3 days now, and he hasn't eaten much of anything to be honest. He doesn't like Tase of the Wild kibble I don't think... and threw up that mixed with some Raw food mix.

Did u mix the dry food with the raw? They digest at different rates so shouldn't be fed together , even my 6 and 7 year old can't stomach both

[Jakebrown4]

Yes I fed him the raw mixed with the kibble, I'll make sure not to do that again. The pet store I go to gave me 20-30 sample bags of kibble and raw so i just mixed one of those with the Taste of the Wild and his stomach didn't agree. He wouldn't eat the Taste of the Wild after that at all, but chowed down on one of the chicken based kibble samples the store gave me. I took the Taste of the Wild back and the same woman gave me 20 sample bags of the food he actually ate and enjoyed to see if he'd keep eating it.

MOST IMPORTANTLY-   I made a vet appointment for him tomorrow morning to get the worms taken care of right away as I'm afraid they may be hurting his growth, at 6 months 22 pounds seems too light, even if he's genetically destined to be a smaller Siberian. I have a stool sample ready to be tested for what kind of intestinal worms he has, and they assured me over the phone that Heart worms take a year to incubate, so they don't even test for those until dogs hit 1 year old, but they said they will give me preventative meds for it.

[jmscott]

Sounds like she does all of her own vaccinations. Solo-5 is the basic rounds of vaccinations.  "http://www.jefferspet.com/products/solo-jec-5-plus-1"

I'm pretty meticulous on records for this sort of thing, I also like to see dates. 

Go ahead and see your vet, and get some more information. Also be sure to let his breeder know of your concerns.

 

[Jakebrown4]

Took Hiei to the vet today...everyone has been saying there's no way that he's 6 months because he's too small at 15.5 inches to the back and 22 pounds.Turns out he has his adult canine teeth, so the vet says he is AT LEAST 6 months, and could be older. She's a bit stumped as to his small size despite having adult teeth, saying he may just be VERY small, could have gotten his teeth earlier than usual, could be a mixed breed, or could be a "mini husky". She postulated that the breeder may have lied to me about many things about him.

Most importantly she said his weight is healthy for his size, he doesn't feel skinny, his coat is healthy, and heart sounds good.

Personally i think he'll just be small, as the breeder had informed me that he would be on the small side given the fact that his sire was 45 pounds and dam 55. He doesn't look like any mix I've ever seen, and the breeder would have had to gone through a lot of trouble to pull false papers and lie just to sell a pup she was reluctant to let go, and didn't even advertise for (heard about him from a friend of hers). She could have sold him as a mutt pet with no ofa certs, pedigree, or anything special,  and for probably even more money if she advertised it as a toy or mini husky.

Regarding his one undescended testicle- they want to wait 2 more months, then neuter him no matter what.

His fecal test came out negative for parasites, so that's good news, but there were worms in his stool just 2 days prior, so he'll get another test in 3 weeks. 

What does everyone think about his size and the situation in general? I'm just happy he's healthy, I don't mind if he stays as small as he is, it'll just make backpacking and hiking with him easier!

 

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

I'm surprised your vet wants to only wait 2 months to see if his testicle drops , my vet said to give my boy till he was a year old n if it hadn't dropped by then to neuter

[loudlucky]

He's cute! 

He definitely looks small for 6 months... To me he looks a bit 'short' from front legs to back...my two have longer bodies, it could just be the angle of your photos

I would also be careful with the testicle, it could be a sign of great health issues! (Or could be nothing...)

The worms in the vomit is something I have not heard or ever seen before, that just sounds terribly wrong to me! Maybe it was a way of how the medication works and kills them?

 

[Jakebrown4]

Hmm it seems that the amount of time to give the testicle to descend would be of opinion then... would it dropping help his growth? If so I might wait until a year then, GIVEN it doesn't cause any health issues, although the vet didn't seem convinced it would benefit him at all if it were to drop.

It might just be the angle, or he might just be that small! Here's another picture of him @loudlucky

 

[jmscott]

Would you be okay with private messaging me the name of the breeder? 

[Jakebrown4]

@jmscott absolutely, it says that you can't receive message though, do you have an email I can send it to?

[jmscott]

Weird! I tried disabling it then re-enabling it. Maybe now?

 

[Jakebrown4]

@jmscott still no luck :/ same message on my end

[jmscott]

Ah-HA! Inbox was apparently full. 

[Jase]

With an undescended testicle my vet says waiting till 10 months is usually fine and then the risks of complications start to increase. The likelihood of it dropping after 8 months decreases. 

[Jakebrown4]

Would the 2nd testicle descending stimulate more growth? Vet said at 6 months they start producing testosterone anyway, and she didn't seem too concernee about it affecting his growth. 

In any case waiting for it to drop would save me $100 i can spend to spoil Hiei, and if it doesn't cause health problems up to 10 months, i may as well wait.