Author Topic: My Husky-any advice?  (Read 22957 times)

GYPSY JAZMINE

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #15 on: August 12, 2005, 03:59:10 pm »
have any of you ever been convinced there was something wrong with your pup and made an emergency appointment at the vets, only to sit there looking stupid with a dog who's just fine and decided to start acting normal in the waiting room?????????
Now THAT's embarrassing ...

First off Samson is a picky eater too & I always worry he isn't eating enough...I try to go by by his apperance...If you can feel your dogs ribs under a thin layer fo fat he should be o.k....I am also thinking about switching kibbles...He just doesn't seem crazy about what he's on now...I took Sammy to the vet a few months back because I had convinced myself he was anemic...He seemed tired alot & I thought his gums were pale...so, I had them do blood work & check him over & it turns out he was just a normal Pyr pup...lol!...That's the 2nd time my vet has told me I should think about relaxing a little...The 1st time she told me was when I took my cat, Henry in becuase he was coughing...I was sure he had asthma...Turns out it was probably a hairball. :-\



Offline ZooCrew

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2005, 09:41:59 pm »
Keiko is only half husky, but takes after that half in behavior and looks.  B/c of Gunther, she now eats regularily, and has gained 5 lbs b/c of it.  I much preferred her when she was a sporadic eater.  She, too, would go a day or two without eating and it never concerned me, since she always would eat again.

As for the discharge, yes that is normal, although gross.

I always give my guys bordatella simply b/c we frequent the dog park alot, and it's always better safe than sorry, since kennel cough can take awhile to get over.  If your dog has continuous sniffles, I would have the vet take a look at him.

You must have a really good doggie day care.  The ones around here are pretty expensive, and the cost does definitely NOT include overnight visits.  Since I do pet sitting and dog walking, I dont' have to worry about that for myself, thank goodness.  And I do get the worried parents, checking in on the pets to make sure they're still alive......... ...lol.   ::)  I don't mind, it comes with the job, and it means the owners care alot about their furry family.

Offline hairprincessnyu

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #17 on: August 13, 2005, 11:42:29 pm »
Hi there,
I am having the same problem with my husky/lab mix. He won't eat for days at a time!!! And he is so picky! Someone told me it is a Husky thing, but I worry about him! I am sure he would eat a bowl full of hamburger, but is that ok to give to him? I mean is human food as healthy as dog food? I don't want him to expect human food and stop eating his dog food completely! Just don't know what the answer is!
True love is being gone all day, and coming home to a dog who licks your face.

Offline brigid67

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #18 on: August 14, 2005, 12:12:34 am »
1st off - your babies are very beatuiful

I think the not eating thing is fine.  As long as he is acting his normal self.  Is he drinking water ok?  Dogs can not eat for days sometimes...  I feed BARF and I love it...  I fast my dogs for a dy and a half to help purge their system of the bones etc that they are eating...  I just give them broth, yogurt etc on those days..  nothing really solid.  My vet and I talked and she said that in the wild they don't eat every day..  and their systems are made that way.  She said we completely over feed our dogs.  Also pups you are suppose to grow slow.  Everyone loves fat puppies but it really isn't good for their joint development. 

If you are interested in BARF then there are a few great books
Dr Ian Billinghurst has 2 books.  "Give your Dog a Bone" and "Grow you Pup with Bones"
Those are my favorite
Pitcairn has a homeopathic book that has a lot on nutrition.
Volhard also is has a boof on BARF

There are also a few meassge boards that deal with nothing but BARF and they are very helpfull


SaraphWolf79

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #19 on: August 14, 2005, 08:46:26 am »
hmm...strange, my husky eats like 5 times a day, no kidding!  What he's picky about though is treats and any human food I may try to give him.  Like, what dog sticks his nose up to *that*?  :-\  I finally bought some treats that he likes - pedigree bone marrow treats, he loves those. 

My parents' chow however is alot like how you're describing.  I rarely see her eat - and when I do, she's extremely slow about it and constantly looking over her shoulder for my German Shepherd - who's the dominant of the two.  Naga, on the other hand, eats and eats and eats, even when she's not hungry, simply because she doesn't want the chow to have any...grrrrrr, dogs lol.  Anybody know how to break a dog from that?  They're not young, they're both going on 11 years now, and it's been that way since they were pups.


Offline irinad83

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #20 on: August 16, 2005, 09:59:54 am »
Ok, so I went shopping for new food-because he's a butt lol(oh and yes he is drinking good-its hot now, so he's drinking ALOT!)
I went to the Organic store we have here and bought some food, as soon as I brought it in the house he went crazy-sniffing it-trying to open the bag etc, he even did tricks to get it! I know its new food and thats why he's probably doing it, but hey worth a try-this is the last time I'm trying new food! I swear :)
He is so funny though-I mixed the new food with the old so he wouldnt get a tummy ache, and I went upstairs just for maybe 2 minutes, when I came back down the bowl was up-side down all the food on the floor, and Koa was separating the new food from the old-he would spit out the old food if he got any in his mouth-and he didnt do it quietly-he would make a scene! Huffing and Puffin everytime he would get a piece of old food near him! Arrrrg!
Well for now he's happy and full...
We are thinking about getting a 2nd husky-maybe that will help-encourage him to eat more, cuz he eats when other dogs around him are eating
Well thank you guys sooo much for your help-sure took the worries away!
Oh and he might go to see his friends at the sitters :) - another thing that our sitter does thats awesome-she sends us pictures through out the day of the kids playing :) how cool is that!

Offline siberescuegirl

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #21 on: November 26, 2005, 08:41:33 pm »
Huskies are VERY smart, to the point where they can be manipulative. They can even train their owners to put all kinds of goodies in their food in order to get them to eat. Be careful though, Huskies are finicky eaters, but they can have sensitive stomachs. Also, once they figure out that if they hold off on eating you'll tempt them with all kinds of treats, they'll just keep up the routine. Also, Huskies are pretty "fuel efficient" - if they're not getting much excersize, they may not be very hungry.

Granted, I'm no longer a fan of commercial dog foods. My Husky can't digest grains and he can't handle beef, so now he gets raw chicken, and we found a holistic vet who will help us find out what other foods he can handle.  But the raw diet is a really good way to go, and once you find a good supplier that sells in bulk, it's usually cheaper than feeding premium dog kibble.

Check out this link about the Husky's appetite and eating habits: http://www.siberescue.com/Breed_Info/BDiet.html

Offline siberescuegirl

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Re: My Husky-any advice?
« Reply #22 on: December 03, 2005, 03:38:52 pm »
Yeah...most Huskies have something that they don't like and turn their noses up at. When my dog still got commercial food and treats, he was extremely picky about treats.  Someone from the rescue we work with gave us a box of Trader Joe's All Natural Peanut Butter Treats, which he LOVED. Well, we don't live near a Trader Joe's, but we live near a Whole Foods Market. Silly me, I figured that the all natural peanut butter treats from this store would be just as good. Indy did not agree. He sniffed the treat, then turned his face away, and looked at me as if to say "This is not the same treat, I am not fooled. This is not up to my standards." then walked away.

I gave them to my boss, whose Lab will eat anything.

In August we took a dog out of shelter and took him to the vet before taking him to his long term foster home. He was a Rottie/Husky mix. He looked mostly like a Husky, except that his head was shaped like a Rottie's and his tail wasn't very fluffy. He was really underweight and had been very neglected. The vet tech tried to get him to eat a treat, and he sniffed it and turned his nose up. I laughed and said "Yup, he's a Husky."