How To Care For A Husky Puppy

When you bring your Husky puppy home, it will be a happy time indeed.

Your Husky pup will need lots of love, reassurance, and patience to settle into their new home.

Read on to find out everything you need to know about how to care for a Husky puppy.

Husky Puppy Care

Your Husky puppy will be a sheer delight to have around. Husky puppies are sweet-natured, outgoing, and playful. They are full of energy so they will keep you busy! If you have kids, your Husky puppy will love to play with them too.

At first, your puppy may be a little shy and want to hide. This is normal. Do not forget that they have just been taken from their mother and their littermates.

Give your Husky puppy a safe, warm, dark, and quiet place to take ‘time out’ if they are overwhelmed.

Equally, your Husky puppy may want to be with you all the time for reassurance. This is a good thing. Use the opportunity to build the bond between you early on.

Raising A Husky Puppy

You will need to be prepared to care for your Husky before you bring them home.

This means a shopping trip to your local pet store and the supermarket.

Read on to find out what you need to get ready to care for your Husky puppy, and some useful tips on sleeping, eating, playing, exercising, and toileting.

What Items Do I Need To Care For My Husky Puppy?

Sleeping

A bed: a dog bed is essential for your new puppy. It should be soft, close to the ground, and have a nice warm blanket in it.
You may wish to provide a crate for your puppy to sleep in. This is up to you. Crate training works well for some families. Read more about it here.

Eating

Bowls for food and water: Stainless steel, non-slip bowls that can be rinsed are best.
Puppy food. Make sure you buy food that has the word ‘puppy’ on the label. This is easier for your puppies to eat, and has the right balance of nutrients for growth.

Playing

Toys: Husky puppies, like all puppies, love to mouth and chew. This is normal. Do not let the dog mouth or chew on your hand, even in play. Give them lots of sturdy rubber toys to chew on.
Avoid rope toys, as the pup can swallow the fibers and this is dangerous to your dog’s health.
Put their toys in their bed so that they know that is their special place.

Exercising

A small collar and leash: Once your Husky puppy is old enough, you will want to get them used to wearing a collar. You can start taking them for little walks around the house on a light leash, just to get them used to the feel of it. But do not overdo it, be gentle, patient, and only do this for short periods of time.

Toileting

Puppy training pads: These are useful during the toilet training phase, as there will be accidents! These pads will protect your floors. Learn about puppy pad training here.
You should take your Husky puppy outside every few hours to let them sniff around and relieve themselves.
If they have an accident indoors and mess on the carpet DO NOT punish the dog! This can make them anxious, and make the problem worse.
Be patient and use lots of positive rewards and praise for the right behavior, which is toileting outside.

Grooming

A dog brush. Get your puppy used to a gentle brush once a week.

Taking Care Of A Husky

As your puppy grows into an adult, there are four main areas that you will need to continually focus on for taking care of your Husky.

One is exercise. The second is training. The third is grooming. The fourth is their health.

Husky Exercise

Very young Huskies do not need a great deal of exercise. It is important not to over-exercise young dogs because their bones are still growing.

However, early leash training is vital so that your Husky puppy gets used to the sensation of wearing a collar, and walking on a leash.

In order to keep a young puppy happy and healthy, a run around the backyard or at the dog park every day should be plenty to keep them happy.

Husky Training

You can teach your Husky puppy some basic voice commands as soon as they are 2 to 3 months old.

One important word that they should learn at this age is their name! Repeat it often, and praise them when they respond to you calling their name.

Another important word to teach your Husky pup is “no”. Use a firm tone, but do not yell at them. This comes in handy when it comes to many different aspects of daily life, for example when it comes to food/eating and toileting.

Wait until your puppy is around 3 months old before you teach them the “sit” command. Dogs younger than this are still uncoordinated, and still trying to learn to control their limbs! So give them a chance to figure this out before expecting them to sit.

Once your pup is old enough to start jumping up on people, it is time! Jumping up may be cute in a little pup, but annoying and dangerous when your Husky pup is a big adult.

All puppies like to ‘mouth’ things. Huskies are no different. Give them plenty of safe toys of their own to chew on, and NEVER tolerate them chewing on your hand. This is a dangerous habit for them to get into, so you want to put a stop to it right away. This is where a firm “no” command works wonders.

Husky Grooming

Taking care of your Husky involves taking care of their amazing coat. Brush them with a wide-toothed brush once a week. This will remove loose hairs. Try to be firm enough to pick up the hairs, but not so hard that you touch the skin.

Your Husky will let you know if you are being too rough by turning their head towards your hand.

Expect your Husky to ‘blow out’ its coat twice a year. The hair will come out in big clumps. This is normal; it gets the coat ready for the new weather in the coming season. If you live somewhere hot, expect to have more ‘blowouts’.

Husky Health

Make sure you care for your Husky by taking them to the veterinarian several times a year to get their vaccinations, and once a year for a general check-up.

You need to de-worm and de-flea your dog regularly too. Your vet can advise you on this regimen, and discuss products with you.

In Summary:

Welcome your Husky into its new home with lots of love and attention, but establish good behavior via training and exercise early on. You will have a loyal friend for life!

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