Fostering a rescue - newbie Husky carer seeking advice

[SeoulPurpose]

Hello Husky community,

We have just started fostering a 3-year old female Suki (7 days in our home) - she was rescued from a breeding farm here in S. Korea. (the organization that rescued her is worth a look - if your interested and it's allowed I would be happy to pass on info!) Even though we have never had dogs before, we took her because it is very difficult to find foster homes for bigger dogs here in Korea. We happen to live outside the capital, Seoul, and we have access to trails, rice fields, and a park along a canal all near our apartment, so we figured we could take her because we could at least get outside to open spaces

We were told by the rescue group that she was very sweet, and this is definitely true. She is very quiet and chill most the of the time. She seems to have gotten comfortable with me - she looks for me and seems to want to be next to me a lot. But, basically, we have all kinds of questions about the routine we are trying to keep with her, feeding and housetraining, and her behaviour. I have tried to summarize what we have seen about her since she came home with us - if anyone has general or specific suggestions on these points or anything else, or any kind of feedback at all, please by all means I would appreciate your thoughts.

1) Routine and house access - initially, to monitor her for housetraining and introduce her to the apartment in stages, we thought that we could make use of our enclosed apartment balcony (4.5x2m) that gets good sun during the morning and early afternoon, from 830-ish until near 3pm, and let her into the house with us at certain times during the day, and from late afternoons into the evening. Her meals are at 930-1000 and 600-ish, and she gets her long walks are 2 hrs after her breakfast 1130-1230or 1, and after her dinner (7-ish) with morning and late night potty trips and short walks. We have used the enclosed balcony and a room in our apartment for sleeping - see next point.  

2) Housetraining - we wanted to housetrain her by having her near us throughout the day, with frequent potty trips, and using the crate by night. 2 issues here: 1) even though I tried to get her out just for potty trips, on a regular schedule, I don't know whether this means she understands about going outside - she didn't seem to need to go very often the first few days, trips every 2 hours didn't seem to do much, and she never showed any signs of needing to go pee when we were monitoring her in he house; 2) Nights - She does not like using her crate, and wouldn't get in from the second night - I tried a couple of times, using treats, and a gentle voice when I lifted her but I didn't want to force her. The rescue group also didn't really seem to like the idea, even of confinement, since she was in a cage for most of her 3 years, (so I gave up on crate training for later.) She was fine from night 2 on our enclosed balcony, and when we felt we needed to bring her in when a cold snap came, she was also fine inside a room in our apartment for a couple nights so far. She hasn't had any accidents at all to this point and from this, we wonder if she might have been someone's pet before the cage in the breeding farm. She gets outside 4 times a day at least, but  she isn't going to the bathroom much at all, neither peeing nor pooping - see next point.

3) Eating and Eliminating - She seems to be a picky eater. We wanted to start her on dry dogfood, because we don't know when she might be adopted abroad, and we didn't want to get her used to a certain type of food, or to reject dry food completely. After eating dry food here once, she refused meals for almost 2 days - maybe this was because of the way the clinic wrapped bandages around her tummy after her spaying, maybe it was the antibiotics they told us to give her, but we decided to use small amounts of boiled chicken and the warm liquid to moisten the kibble - this seemed to work today. Because she isn't eating much, she has only pooped once every other day since she came here, and she doesn't pee often at all. Today, even after finally eating a full breakfast, and 2 walks and a morning potty trip - she drank quite a bit during the day - she has not peed or pooped at all...still don't know her processing time after eating, and worried that I should go back a couple steps with the housetraining

4)Her behaviour - when she is in the house, she is fine, she lies near us, doesn't climb on the furniture, listens when we tell her no:) BUT as she gets more comfortable with us she seems to be a bit more willful...or stubborn; not wanting to go back out on the balcony, for example, and getting a bit too pushy about coming back in. She quiets down quickly if I speak in "the tone", at least for now. But she also begs when we eat - this also leads us to think that she might have been someone's pet before - and so we put her back on the veranda when we are eating. 

I apologize for the length, but you've read all this - thanks, and go easy on us. You can see that we do need some advice, on anything that you feel might help us out. We just wanted to care for the dog as best we can, as a small step to helping her find a home. Please also let me know if you would like more info on the rescue organization 

 

[wolfpup]

Thank you for your detailed post above  and may I also thank you for trying to help this poor dog.

Can you make bone broth for her?       Many times when dogs will not eat dry food  (kibble)  they will eat it when it has bone broth and the meat added.   You just need marrow bones, - you can also add chicken feet etc for the chondritin.    Add 2-3 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and top it off with water   - ensuring the bones are covered with about 2" of the water  -  bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 24-48 hours   (if you have a slow cooker this makes it very easy as you dont have to keep a close eye on the water level).   remove all the bones and throw them away  (ensuring no dog/cat/animal can try and eat the bones) but remove any meat at put it back in the broth.      You can even use the bones from joints of meat you have cooked for yourselves  -  it does not matter that they have already been cooked when you then cook them again for bone broth.   Once the bones are removed  (check for very tiny bones at the bottom)  let it cool  - then remove the layer of fat that solidifies on the top   (you can leave some fat - it does contain nutrients).    It will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days   - I tend to pour it into trays and freeze it then take a tray out each day.

Huskies like to be with their 'pack'  -  and hate being on their own.     Bearing in mind she has been living in a crate I would not try crating her again.    Being 'stubborn'  is a normal husky reaction   -  you wont change it  -  just work around it  - its part of their charm.

We do have some experienced husky rescuers on here - I hope they see your post to help you with other areas.