Feeding a husky

Tomas_S

Hi, just looking for some info about feeding a husky. I've just brought home a nearly 2 year old and wondering what food is better for him.He's a little bit underweight but it wasnt a case of neglect or anything like that. If any husky owners here- how do you feed your dog? I'd probably prefer a mix of dry food and bones/dinner scraps.

Hooked

I've a 10 month old Sibe and feed him Royal Canin mixed with whatever I'm having. As a young pup, he loved the nuts on their own but has since needed a little more persuasion. And the feeding time has also been adjusted.

I'm in the fortunate position that I go home from work to cook my dinner at around 1.30 every day and have found that feeding him at this time suits us both. He had stared turning his nose up to his morning (8am) and evening feeds (5.30pm) about 6 weeks ago so I decided to change things.

He's fully crate trained and would always sit in his opened crate while I ate at the table, getting the odd treat to reward his good behavior. So I decided to feed him at lunchtime, in his opened crate after I'd finished eating. So, to answer your question - he has his dry nuts (Royal Canin) mixed with a little of what I'm having (steak, pork, chicken, veg) or tinned mackerel/other fish. I often add rice, egg or both as a treat.

BUT...

Every dog is different. Some feed raw meat, eggs, etc... some, dry nuts. I've been frowned upon for feeding my Sibe in the house at his crate - but to be honest, it works for US! He's walked/run every day at 7.30 am and again in the evenings. We get out for off lead fun every weekend in UL or at the beach in Lahinch and he gets tons of attention from myself and my girlfriend - and the longest he's in the yard on his own is 4 hours. They are a HIGH energy breed and need lots of exercise. Otherwise you'll have howling, hole digging and escape artistry on your hands.

Find what works for both you and your dog and the best of luck with him!

Tomas_S

I was just wondering is raw meat safe to eat for a dog. Especially chicken?

Irishchick

I would avoid giving royal canine. Husky's are prone to skin conditions and allot of people have reported hot spots on they're diets.

If you are thinking of a raw diet ( I would recommend it) then you should read back through some threads on here about feeding raw.

A dog should have a variety of raw meats, bone (never give cooked bones) fish and puréed veg.

ISDW

Irishchick wrote: »

I would avoid giving royal canine. Husky's are prone to skin conditions and allot of people have reported hot spots on they're diets.

If you are thinking of a raw diet ( I would recommend it) then you should read back through some threads on here about feeding raw.

A dog should have a variety of raw meats, bone (never give cooked bones) fish and puréed veg.

I know its given a good few posters issues, but I know a lot of sibe owners who swear by RC for their huskies, never had any problems and keeps their dogs in great condition. I've also fed my dogs on it from time to time and had no problems. One dog I got in went to Australia and we wanted to feed him something that the quarantine kennels over there could also get, so we put him on RC and he absolutely thrived on it, his owners had always had issues with keeping weight on him, and couldn't believe how well he looked when they collected him from the airport, and he continues to do well on it.:)

Irishchick

I still wouldn't recommend it as the predominant ingredient in the food is maize which is of poor nutritional value to a dog.

Zapperzy

Tomas_S wrote: »

I was just wondering is raw meat safe to eat for a dog. Especially chicken?

Yes raw meat and raw bones, even chicken bones are safe provided it's all raw, cooked bones are very dangerous as they can splinter or not digest properly. If you use the search function up top you can search through this forum for threads about raw diets, it can be very beneficial and some people find their dog's do much better on it than dry food. Provided you give a mix of different meats, and some people add vegetables too, you shouldn't need to worry about it not balancing.

My terrier got a big chicken leg this evening, skin, bone and all (well except feathers of course). I don't feed a full raw diet he just gets raw bits and pieces a few times a week, his teeth are pearly white and his doggy breath is much improved! And no problems at all, although he usually has a iron stomach anyways!

Tomas_S

Yeah had a good read on previous posts, loads of info. Just a silly question-when feeding a raw meet, is there no extra aggressiveness developing over time?

andreac

Tomas_S wrote: »

Yeah had a good read on previous posts, loads of info. Just a silly question-when feeding a raw meet, is there no extra aggressiveness developing over time?

Do you mean does the dog get aggressive from feeding him raw meat?
If so, not at all. Not sure why you would think it would.

tk123

andreac wrote: »

Tomas_S wrote: »

Yeah had a good read on previous posts, loads of info. Just a silly question-when feeding a raw meet, is there no extra aggressiveness developing over time?

Do you mean does the dog get aggressive from feeding him raw meat?
If so, not at all. Not sure why you would think it would.

I think if your dog is a resource guarder/possessive in any way you could have an issue. I don't mean that the meat causes it but if they value the meat highly (and why wouldn't they lol ) and say growl etc you could mistake it as the meat making them aggressive when really they need some work on learning to share. With my guy I tried with chicken wings a few times when we were going to be having chicken ourselves so cut the wings off before cooking the rest....the first time I held the wings so he'd chew them, the second time I held the first wing and no probs, the second wing he didn't want me to hold it and tried to pull it away- i held on to the wing and we had a bit of a stand of with him softly growling a few times and me holding on to the wing until he calmly started to chew on the wing. Now obviously we need to work on him guarding certain things and he wasn't agressivly snarling at me or anything but i could see somebody mistaking things thinking the meat made him aggressive and blood thirsty!

Tomas_S

tk123 wrote: »

i could see somebody mistaking things thinking the meat made him aggressive and blood thirsty!

I think thats exactly what I was thinking.Thanks a lot for the info!