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ddvm wrote:
I hope you get your dog! Just one thing – is she spayed? You mentioned that the people have another dog expecting pups so I wouldn’t be surprised if she is not spayed. If she isn’t you should have her spayed as soon as possible. She is in the age range where females can get a pyometra – which is an infection in the uterus which could kill her. Treatment is to spay her but the difference in cost between a normal spay and a pyometra spay is hundreds of dollars (or more than a thousand depending on where you live). Also, is she has never been spayed she is at much higher risk for mammary gland cancer.
Oooh- SUCH a good point- my dog Lady had pyometria and had to be spayed at a rather young age- I felt so bad for her, I knew she was in pain. Imagine a yeast infection on crack cocaine and steroids…poor little dog 🙁 Definitely get her spayed, she’ll be happier for it.
well wolfen, sounds exciting but use your head and trust your gut. huskies are beautiful dogs, but just like nam said they are a lot of work. i’ve worked at a pet store myself (petco.. we don’t sell puppies) for three years and i have only seen/met one husky that the owner themselves said was a really good pet. everyone has had major problems with furniture eating, separation anxiety,barking, howling, shrieking, shedding and most of all… that prey drive!! my boss has a husky dominant/alpha female and hers kills things on a daily basis. often it climbs their 6 foot fencing and goes on a rampage thru town, killing squirrels, raccoons, skunks, birds, etc. before they can catch her a couple miles away. in summer, hers kills an average of five critters a day,- they walk in the yard and the dog stalks it, kills it and sometimes even eats it!! lol! its a miracle it hasn’t killed a cat yet, otherwise hers would have been put down by the cat owner of course.that dog is her baby though and she loves her, though she admits the dog is nuts! both of our groomers have huskies as well and they are nuts too!!!!! severe separation anxiety even when left with other dogs…. one groomers sofa was eaten, along with her brand new $1000 bed!! if that dog is crated even for a couple minutes it screams like its being tortured- gosh it sounds like a panicing chimp!! i have not heard of anyone yet who has managed to put theirs with a cat., the dog always ended up chasing the cat. i imagine it would work much better if you got a pup and a kitten at the same time and they grew up together. i just had a customer whos ten week old pup chewed through a metal crate for a 70 pound dog… it chewed at the weld points until they broke and he chewed up half of the crate pan! yow! 2 days mind you the dog did that.i hear really consistently that they actually wouldn’t wish their dog on anyone, they just keep it cuz they wouldn’t want it to get put down, or end up with someone abusive.
in actuality ,2 years ago out here someones husky killed and partially ate a couples’ week old baby in the night while they slept!!!!! the baby woke up and started to cry, the crying got the dog excited and it jumped into the crib, killed the baby before its crying woke the parents and ate most of it.the abnormal silence woke the parents eventually. they said they had the dog for a few years and never had any signs of aggression and it was rather mild, etc. it was the couples’ baby before the human baby came along basically, so there were some jealousy issues possibly. on that same note, my bosses husky had aggression to their newborn baby and bit the poor thing in the face with no warning!! my boss had the baby on her lap, patting her back, the dog came up to say hi,just calmly walking by, gave a sniff and snapped!!
it is really sad because they are a beautiful breed – my b.f. was DYING for one until he met enough through my work- i called him down when one was in shopping so he could it/talk with the owner and realized they are just too much for most peeps, including him.
however there are good ones out there of course, i am merely repeating what current husky owners have told me. if this person doesn’t work out a husky rescue could do you well. they could pair you with a mellower dog, who is cat safe…. they usually a good selection with how many peeps give em up. also, an older dog will cost less so it would still be in your price range, plus you’ll really know what you’re getting. woo hoo! sounds like you have done alot of your homework though and plenty of years you have thought about it too! 🙂 the truth will be told when you go to their home and see the condition of the dogs, their living conditions, what they feed them etc. that will give you a little more insight into the care/love the dog has been given, and if the peeps have been honest with you. alot of peeps sound good on the phone until you actually go and see with your own eyes- man have i been horrified with what i’ve seen at some “breeders” houses!! that will be very interesting visit and exciting to meet the dog and definitely bring your cat for a test drive!!!
nam really summed it all up though, huskies are sweet dogs, but they have particular needs that their owners need to fill and be prepared for! i hope she is a gem when u meet her! the sweet one i knew was a big red and white male, to die for gorgeous and mellow as an old newfie, just a good ol boy, calm n quiet. he lived in a one bedroom condo with NO problems, he slept on the couch waiting for mom to come home!! so we have all extremes, but then again to do with every breed!! GOOD LUCK and trust that gut!!wow ! sorry for rambling!! oops! lol! thats great that you have a fenced yard and needed a walking partner, that sounds good for you!
Well, I can honestly say that one of my friends had 4 cats and a huskey. Everyone got along just fine. I don’t know if her dog was raised with her cats. Maybe. If you do get her, get her spayed. If she isn’t already. Dosen’t sound like it. They sound like the average backyard breeder. But for 6 years that really sounds like alot of money. I can’t say for sure but, it really sounds like they are just breeding for the money, not the love of the breed.
Goldragon2! wrote:How exciting!!!! 😀 😀 I wish you the best of luck with your possible new doggie! I also love the Siberian Husky’s wolf like appearance, but all I have is a Humane Society mutt. Gotta love him though, he is nuts like me. 😀
Please let us know how it turns out for you, I hope you get her!
Blessings,
Goldragon2!
And how many Windstones does he have???? 😆 😆I just had a thought- you live in Houston!! Did you know there are rescue groups JUST for huskies in Houston? Look up Husky Haven… that way you are giving a dog that needs a new home a home, and are not supporting a breeder! There are thousands of dogs put to sleep each day, hundreds in the Houston area alone!
Please consider adoption. I won’t browbeat a breeder… there are good ones out there. I just think that if more people looked to adopt there would be a lot fewer dogs put down. 🙂
Good luck!
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My art: featherdust.comyeah. you really want to watch out for BYBs. they are tons of em here, making a killing on folks that don’t do their homework. i have three casual tests i use when evaluating a breeder, real simple and bare-bone ones and there are alot more things you should look into besides these ultra basic things, but anyway….
1. ask LOTS of questions! a GOOD breeder who CARES about their dogs will respect you for asking questions and it shows YOU care! just as important their attitude gives to good insight into who you are dealing with. for example, i hear from too many peeps that a breeder got “irritated” that they asked alot of questions, they got “i’m in a hurry” , “i’m busy” and even “you know ,if you are worried about how i take care of my pets please go elsewhere”. a good breeder will love talking about their dogs, they are their babies!!
2. do they ask YOU lots of questions? a breeder who cares about their dog, wants to know everything about where their beloved dog they had since it was born is going. they won’t just ask, “when are you showing up”, lol. imagine if u had a litter of pups, you’ve fallen in love with every one, but u can’t keep them all. you would naturally want to be SURE your babies were going to the best home, so u would grill potential owners, to be sure your baby was going to be safe hands. expect them to ask you alot of questions about YOU and your experience and home. expect nothing less.
3. what brand of dog food do they feed? now, you don’t need to feed the best stuff in the world to be a loving, responsible owner, or prove you love your pet, but a responsible breeder will be up on dog nutrition needs and not feed junk., aka. pedigree, alpo, purina dog chow, gravy train, etc. and ideally not even iams. they have invested their hearts and lives into their animals and want to give them the best, so they look and feel their best and to give you a healthy dog.(i went to one breeders house…she had great pyrenees with very good if not excellent KNOWN pedigrees,( ps. the pedigrees were real with offical seals) but kept the dogs in squalor, they were emaciated, in crates with no food or water, with tons of bald patches, she fed food she bought at a discount store, which was all spilled on the floor. the pups were out in a cage in the yard, no food or water in the heat of summer covered with black flies and mosquitoes, skinny, with diarrhea. she had to have talked a GREAT game to the breeders she got the dogs from and had the shipped to her, so the other GOOD breeder never knew how she really was an an owner.let me tell you, she talked a good enough game to get me to come out, and i’m not easily fooled by em… but that was a wierd situation.but anyway….)
ahem, a good breeder would want to give their babies the best and would be up on good brands of food that are free from bad ingredients and aware of what the bad ones are… good brands including: nutro natural choice, nutro ultra, natural balance, wellness, canidae, solid gold, organix, castor n pollux, and some others. no pedigree!! if they don’t even know of those basic healthier brands, there is something wrong.
anyway, those are just a couple basic things to keep your eye that i tell peeps. two of those are merely attitude and conduct, not even actual questions. of course you ask about health screenings, pedigrees, bloodlines, family temperment, and all the other big things, but the little things like if they even ask you about YOU and your life GENUINELY, tells so much. good luck!Just wondering. What is wrong with Iams? I have feed my 2 dogs that since they were puppies because that is what the breeders were feeding them. If you change the type of food then it can bother the dog’s stomach.
yes true changing our dog onto a diffrent food, even a different flavor (ex. chicken to lamb n rice) in the same brand can cause an upset belly, but that subsides. also, there is NO perfect dog food for every dog, for every dog has different needs. dalmatians and wheaties need low protein foods, for they have different metabolisms that prevents them from digesting their food as other dogs do, resulting in a tendency for kidney and bladder stones…. they need less than 20% protein in their food. dogs prone to skin and ear infections shouldn’t have foods that have brewers yeast in them for that increases the incidence of infection by putting more yeast in the body.
anyhoo, iams does contain corn which is a non-nutritious filler grain which can cause allergies and at least gas.( there are strong rumors, well more than rumors, that iams does some pretty harsh testing on animals to authenicate the healthiness or harmfulness of ingredients in their foods.. they donate food to shelters and in silent exchange may use their unhomed animals in their labs to experiment on. the is some bad stuff on it on the internet, but you can’t always believe all the scandal you hear.) in contrast ,natural balance only tests their foods on voluntary people and their dogs privately in their own homes, to see how the dogs like and respond to their products.
some peeps like bil jac food but it too has lots of corn in it which can cause gassiness, and lots o poop! when u see corn meal in dog food or ground corn that means the whole ear, cob n all! that doesn’t sound too yummy! it is better when a food uses rice as a carb, for it is more easily digested and easier on the belly; think of when you feed a human baby ground rice cereal as a first food.
however, my old family dog back in the day lived 15 years and we fed her purina dog chow her whole life. tons o junk in that! healthy dog overall, no gas, but she was overweight, had dry skin and shed excessively which may not have been an issue if she was on something better, in hindsight .some dogs do great on basic foods but some things are kind of yukky out there…
things to avoid…animal digest, animal fat ,animal by products, bone meal: means they can’t legally say they know whats in there, could be cow, horse deer, cat, dog. companies have tested whats really in foods and have found for a fact, dog and cat dna in pet foods that use the above ingredients, along with the chemicals that they were put down with, which, if ingested over a long period of time can cause cancer.preservatives bha, and bht can cause cancer too, but not to be confused with dha , which is good…. remember, B in bha is for BAD….
corn, wheat and soybean meal ( not necessarily soybeal oil) can cause /aggrevate allergies or cause gas, plus they are not as healthy/digestible as rice, oatmeal or barley as a carb. by-products can be avoided too, as you never quite know whats in there; feet, heads, feathers, etc. all the spare parts noone else would eat, but they don’t want to waste. (though there are some good vitamins in heads, esp. eyeballs, yum!) did you know that science diet, a brand alot of people assume is a great food, puts peanut shells in some of their foods as filler?! uhh,wheres the nutrition in peanut shells? do you want to pay good money for waste material?uh no not me and you deserve better too!anyway i opened a HUGE, hairy can o worms here, and there is ALOT more to reading dog food labels and what is best for YOUR dog, but in the end if your dog is honestly doing well on its food, there is no real reason to upset the applecart. there are simply things in some foods you may want to avoid. i went through alot finding a food that my dogs did well on without issues, so i like to help peeps if i can, cuz i had to find out the hard way, with itchy, nibbly, choking dogs for a long time til i found my way. hope that helps. iams isn’t really that bad, there are plenty that are way worse, so nothing to be too alarmed about. 🙂
ok, i should go, my b.f. is gonna kill me for being on here so long! uh oh! 😯Quote:Post subject:
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Goldragon2! wrote:
How exciting!!!! I wish you the best of luck with your possible new doggie! I also love the Siberian Husky’s wolf like appearance, but all I have is a Humane Society mutt. Gotta love him though, he is nuts like me.Dragon Master Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:01 pm
And how many Windstones does he have????
Just because he is nuts like me, doesn’t mean I will share my Windstones with him. 😛 Tonight while I was feeding the critters, he was playing with what I thought was a root ball that he had found weeks ago, but it turned out to be frozen horse manure!!! 😯
I guess he wanted a poopsickle!
AAAAAAAACK!!!! 😯 😯Wow – I must have had the laziest Husky ever! He only jumped the fence if it snowed a couple of feet (making it an easy jump) and he never bothered my cat or killed anything except for a BlueJay or two. He was a digger, though – watch the holes or break an ankle. lol He was a wonderful, faithful dog and I am so happy that Watergazer painted me such a beautiful memorial.
I hope you find a wonderful dog! 😀
You know… My dogs have horrible gas. I think I need to change their food. We dont have a good selection here, though. I picked Iams because they sell it at the Commissary and at the PX, so if the commissary runs out, I can get it at the PX and wont have to switch their food all of the sudden. They really stink, though 😕 Time for some new chow.
dragonessjade wrote:Just wondering. What is wrong with Iams? I have feed my 2 dogs that since they were puppies because that is what the breeders were feeding them. If you change the type of food then it can bother the dog’s stomach.
Ya, same here- Iams large breed- my dogs have done very well on it and Lady is a picky eater and she’s eaten it for 6 years! Not every person who doesn’t buy top of the line ORGANIC dogfood is a bad keeper or breeder of their animals.
The funny thing is that I can’t feed my dogs almost all of the suggested foods… Nessie has horrible food allergies, and those foods all have something she’s allergic to as ingredients… Quite a few of them use chicken fat as a preservative and flavor enhancer, and she is highly allergic to chicken… So not all dog foods suit all dogs, even the holistic, organic ones. I’ve surprised more than one store clerk/owner buy sitting down and reading the ingredients saying “Nope, can’t have that… Nope, can’t have that, either…” etc, until I had gone thru their entire inventory of dog foods.
Ski, you might just try changing (slowly) the type of Iams they are on. Say from Regular to Lamb & Rice. That may be just as much change as they need to overcome the poots…
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