New owner!

Hi

We are going to have a new member of our family in a few weeks a beautiful 7month old sib husky.
We have met him and spent time with him and our children to see how they interact which was amazing!

My question is how can I easily and without too much stress to him intergrate him into our home?
His owners are very sad to rehome him but have too due to circumstances.

Any advice would be great!

Claire

hi. i got my girl (gsd) 2 weeks ago. take it from your post that you are getting your dog direct from her home .. i found with my girl that that makes the move a bit easier for the dog bacause you can ask her present owners so much about her .. ask what food she eats, what times she's fed, walked,settled at night. if possible get her bed,blanket,toys etc. also what key words are used .. eg, sit,down , does she know wait or stay etc. Ask as much as you can. & remember,much as you're going to be happy/excited to get her to give her time out etc.Also,if you are not going to be feeding her same diet,to change food over slowly. I was told Sheba was housetrained,which she is, but she messed for the first 4 nights ( i was lucky it was only for 4!) & she has had several "nervous" pee's, but that is getting better, .. she was a confident dog when i met her,but remember that her behaviour may be different to what you originally saw, & bear with her. With patience & understanding the move will be successful & any problems shortlived . I'm sure others will have plenty of other tips... Good luck with your new dog when are you getting her?

Hi thank you for your post we are getting her next weekend!
The owner has been really good and has told us all his good and bad points.
I'm really nervous about becoming a new owner especially to such a wonderful but as per breed strong dog but my partner is over the moon. I just hope we can be the right family for him so he matures into a good dog.
But we have to get it right at the beginning as soon as he comes home especially as he is a pack dog.

From your post, it sounds as though you have not had a husky before?

Why is his owner rehoming him? Do you have lots of free time to spend with your new dog? Do you intend to work him in harness - ie with a trike or a rig type of set up? Do you have any other dogs or animals?

Naturally, it is a very exciting time for you and you have had some good advice from Steph already. Take it slowly, don't expect too much from your new dog immediately but he will need time and patience to settle into a new home and new routine. Don't introduce him to all and sundry in your neighbourhood immediately - give him time to settle in.

I am sure you already know that Siberian Huskies are renowned for:

1. Having endless energy (they love to run);
2. Not being good with small furries - which may include cats, rabbits, small dogs etc (find out from his current owner how he is with other animals).
3. Being livestock chasers/killers. Not all huskies of course, but many have a very, very strong prey drive.
4. Not having a good recall (as they love to run so much) and so should not be let off lead.

There are loads of really experienced Husky folk on Dogsey, so hopefully they will pop in and give you some good advice.

Best of luck with your new dog, and I would love to hear how he settles in and see some pics too

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/newdognewhome.pdf

http://www.siberianhuskyclub.com/abouthuskies

http://www.siberianhuskyclub.com/abo.../disadvantages

Thank you we haven't had a husky before. We have only ever fostered dogs and looked after our friends. We have both been brought up with dogs my partner gsd and myself whippets (bit of a big difference)!

The owner is rehomming as he has been posted and his wife is unable to look after him along with their baby.

I plan to train him with a scooter but understand from reading that he needs to be over a year and it's a slow process with gradual increase of weight. More research to be done!!

I only work 18.5 hours a week and my partner 25 so we can split child care so it's only a Monday from 11-4 he would b alone but then we are both going to use our lunch hours to take him out (work 5mins from home).
He is used to being left and is crate trained

We have 3 out door cats. He lives on a army base at present and is used to small furries and not bothered with them. However we will do a lot of work to ensure he his comfortable with them and them with him I'm guessing it will have to be vey controlled! Lol

Do we follow the previous owners routine or set our own? I know the owner also feeds him at the same time they have their meals- I've always believed it was after you have especially with such a dominate breed that needs a defined hierarchy? Going to buy some books today!

Thank you for your help I will post pics and let you know how ts going! I reckon I will be on here lots for advise!

Start as you mean to go on, set the routine (if you have one) to suit YOUR set up, dogs are extremely adaptable.

Do not fall into the trap of "he is a rescue/rehome etc" and treat him any differently than you would if he came to you as a pup.

I think you might want to review your views on dominance, none of the dogs I have met (and I have met a fair few) have ever expressed any views on world domination etc.

Feed your dog when it suits YOU, either BEFORE you at, WHEN you eat or AFTER you eat, it matters not.

HTH
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/caninedominance
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die
http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti.../dominance.htm
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonli...0statement.pdf
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2297
http://www.journalvetbehavior.com/ar...:cool:00115-9#
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0521112711.htm

I forgot to ask, how old are your children?

Thank you smokeybear very informative articles.

I'm very grateful for your advice. Although we are very excited about our new family member I am anxious that we won't do him justice. He is a stunning dog with a lovely temperament and I want to ensure he remains that way!

I feel less anxious knowing there are people that can offer sound advice that can help us on our journey to becoming responsible and loving owners of a magnificent Siberian husky.

My son is 2. He is autistic but responds amazingly to animals some how he knows how to behave how to approach and when to leave alone- this has been tested a lot with my friends 4 dogs (staffs 10 weeks -4 years) sib huskies (16 of them she races) and various other dogs in our local rescue centre where we go on a weekly basis.
My daughter is 10 and is very interested in teaching basic commands and has been for the last few years to the point my nans whippet can do some great tricks ! Lol to be honest she is the one I worry more about as she can be very hyperactive! However she has been brought up around family dogs and us having foster dogs for months (hospital stays)

There is always so much to think about when adding to your family