Husky, Malamute and Sled Dog Puppies
Bringing a new husky puppy into your home is an exciting time for every owner. At the same time, it is most likely a confusing and bewildering experience for the puppy, which has probably just been taken away from everything it has known so far in its life; its mother, siblings, familiar sights, smells and surroundings. Aside from what it has been taken away from, it is also being introduced to a whole new range of experiences - people, places, sights, smells, etc. Above all, a new puppy needs time to adjust - don't overwhelm it with attention, or let everyone in the neighborhood come round to say 'Hi'. Giving your husky puppy the time it needs now to get used to its new life will help to ensure it grows up to be a happy, well balanced adult dog.
The Journey Home
Every puppy we've ever had has spent the journey back to our home drooling and throwing up all over us!
Dogs, and especially puppies, often get travel sick until such times as they have become accustomed to car journeys.
Don't be too alarmed by this happening - it's pretty standard.
Do prepare for this to happen - when you pick up your new puppy or dog, take along lots of kitchen towel, plastic bags, wet-wipes and a couple of old bath towels or blankets.
Ask the breeder or previous owner NOT to feed the puppy or dog for a couple of hours before you pick up a dog or puppy.
It will probably be sick anyway, but maybe a bit less-so than otherwise!
Some people put their puppy in a car-crate on their journey home.
We tried this with the first couple of puppies we acquired but within ten minutes of the puppy getting upset, had, in both cases, stopped the car and brought the puppy out to sit in the lap of whoever was in the passenger seat.
We just have new puppies sit with us from the outset now - it saves them getting upset, and saves us getting stressed.
It does make it very likely that the puppy will be sick on you, but we just accept this as part of bringing a new puppy home, and prepare accordingly.
If you have a long journey home, and need to stop along the way, you will have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL about taking the puppy out of your car.
Your puppy will probably not have had all its injections yet, and even if it has, will probably not have had sufficient time to develop full immunity afterwards (there is normally a 2 week grace period after the second injection, before which you should keep your puppy away from public areas).
Motorway service station and other areas at the roadside are not going to be very clean, and are sites where hundreds of other dogs will be going to the toilet.
These are not safe places for a young puppy.
If we know that our journey home from picking up a puppy is going to be more than a couple of hours, we try and arrange to stop off at a friend's house along the way so that we can let the puppy have a toilet break in their garden.
Plan your route and breaks in your journey before you set out - if you have several hours to drive and are stuck for somewhere to stop, ask your breeder!
He or she will be very concerned that the puppy get's home safe and well, and should be more than happy to call anyone they might know who's house and garden may provide a good 'rest stop' for you and your new Puppy.
Arriving Home
It will probably be sleep and woozy from the journey home -
generally the best thing to do is to put your puppy in his or her crate in a corner of the living room and let it settle for a while.
Make sure if you have kids they keep the noise down and give the puppy space.
Let them come and take a look and say hello, but make everyone who comes in to the room with the puppy behaves calmly and quietly.
Sit in the room with the puppy with a book to read or the TV on low volume.
When your puppy wakes up, take it straight outside to a spot in the garden where you want it to go to the toilet, and wait until it does.
When it starts to 'go', tell it 'good pee!' or 'good toilet!' or whatever else you want to say... and there you go - toilet training has begun!
You can then take your puppy inside and offer it some food and water. Your breeder should have given you a supply of food
(see our page on Feeding Puppies) and it can also be a good idea to bring a couple of bottles of water from your breeder's house.
Localized changes in the water supply are a common cause of upset tummies in the first few days at home, and slowly introducing the local tap water at your house by mixing it in increasing quantities with water that the puppy is already used to may help avoid this.
The First Night at Home
We tend to let our new puppies sleep in our room for a while after we bring them home. The old-fashioned ideas about leaving a new puppy alone in the kitchen just don't make any sense to us.
Such ideas don't seem to come from any particularly enlightened source or have good reason behind them - they are just a 'tradition' that arose somewhere in the past, developed from attitudes about the 'proper' distance that should be established between Man and Pet.
We have no desire whatsoever to assert our dominance and superiority in this way - we don't need to. Puppies get upset when left alone, and the idea of leaving them to 'toughen up', having just yanked them away from their litter-mates is not one that sits well with us.
So, our puppies sleep upstairs with us.
Many of our friends with huskies instead choose to sleep downstairs with the pup for the first few nights - this seems to work just as well.
The main point is that we feel it's only fair that the puppy should have company - we don't take on a dog with the intention of keeping it at a distance - we take them on as part of our family, and treat them as such!
Having a new puppy sleep in with you also helps with toilet training. We tend to wake up if we hear the pup stir, at which point we get up and take the pup outside to its toilet spot
(you must do this quickly! - a good tip is to sleep is to make sure you wear some clothes at night, and have shoes by the bed or at the door).
Puppies develop incredibly quickly, and it doesn't take long before they will sleep through the night without needing to pee.
Toilet training will take a while, and there will be accidents... just when you think they've finally got the hang of it, your puppy will pee all over the carpet - again!
We have always found that one day it just seems to 'click' as it were... in the mean time, be patient.
Don't punish your puppy for accidents - NEVER EVER, EVER rub his or her nose in it or shout at your puppy when it goes to the toilet where it shouldn't.
All you will do is confuse your puppy and make it thing going to the toilet is bad.
Never tell a puppy off for anything unless you catch it in the act, or it will have no idea what it is being told off for.
You should soon be able to tell from its behavior when your puppy is about to 'go'.
It will start to sniff the floor in circles or 'squat' down.
As soon as it does this, or if you catch your puppy 'in the act' make a short sharp noise to distract it for a second, pick it up and take it outside to a spot where you want it to pee.
Wait with your puppy and praise it while it goes to the toilet.
It is much easier to teach a puppy through praise and reward when it does something good, rather than by telling it off for bad behavior.
When you tell a dog or puppy off, you are only telling it what it SHOULDN'T DO. If you try and toilet train a pup this way, all you are telling it is that it shouldn't go to the toilet.
By stopping your puppy from going to the toilet indoors with a gentle but firm 'NO' or 'STOP' and taking it to a place where you reward it when it does go, your puppy will soon get the idea!
You will find there are various products designed to help with toilet training.
We have found that 'Puppy Pads' are wonderful... for entertainment! All the puppies we have tried them with have just ripped them apart and made a mess!
One product you probably will want to invest in is urine and stain neutralizer such as Puppy Aid Training Spray
Leaving Your Husky Puppy Alone
A Kong Puppy Toy
stuffed with canned
dog food can help
to settle your puppy
when you leave it alone.
Huskies and sled dogs tend to suffer from separation anxiety more than many other breeds.
Huskies and sled dogs are pack animals and do not like to be left alone.
Most huskies will learn to settle when left alone, but may be noisy and destructive at first.
This is especially the case with puppies, who will be used to the constant company of their litter-mates.
Leaving your dog or puppy in a dog-crates with a chew toy such as a Nylabone
You can also buy a special Dog CD
Help and Information
For more useful information, you should buy a book about puppies, and at least one that focuses your chosen breed. Buy these before you go and visit breeders and their puppies. Try the Siberian Huskies Complete Owner's Manual
Try Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Behaved Dog
DVDs on Siberian huskies and other sled dogs are also available. The Pet Video Library Siberian Husky DVD
You can find out more about malamutes with the Breed All About It - Alaskan Malamutes DVD
If you have kids, it is important that they know how to handle your new puppy or dog. Try the DVD Dog Training For Children
Useful DVDs
Recommended Reading
On puppy care and training:
On housebreaking you dog or puppy:
General dog training and behavior books we recommend: