paleobones wrote:

We had a contest and the winner got to name the new pup. My daughter won and named him Rusty!

We had a tough weekend Rusty's health went down hill with pure liquid diarrhea a vomiting. We say the vet today, and I must say I feel kinda duped. Our vet thinks Rusty is 14 to 15 months old not 9mths and that he was most likely sick when we got him. Since they neutered him in June I would think their vet would have told them his age. I suppose my vet could be mistaken. We got some probiotics and antibiotics to kill the infection and he, and Raven  , are on the bland diet.

I also go back and forth on whether he is a mix or just a goofy looking husky. Something about his head and snout is just off. But as you can see Raven seems to think he's alright

I would have been the first to reply to this thread if I saw it! My apologies.

Anyways, looks like you got 'Rusty' already so I will skip the adoption stuff.

Don't feel duped! Rescues go through many dogs. It's hard to keep track of all of them. We guess our age based on teeth and energy level. Shelters are usually WAY OFF when they guess age. Vets are good at telling ages but some of them can be wrong too.

It sucks that he's sick! At least it's not the food though. You wouldn't want to go through the joy of figuring out which meat he's allergic to. Maybe the foster that he had before him didn't notice that he was sick. That happens sometimes.

I would feed Rusty in the crate for a while. Put him in the crate before you get the food out. Leave Raven out of her crate and let Rusty see that she isn't in a crate. It can help establish a higher rank in the pack for Raven. Maddie (my foster) used to gulp down her food in seconds, but now that she knows she gets it every day, she sometimes will eat half and save the rest for later. I feed her in the crate and now she doesn't growl at me or Juneau if we're nearby while she's eating. I'm working on feeding them outside of the crate in specific areas but it takes time.

Congratulations! I'm not sure if he is a mix or not. I don't know huskies too well, but I know I question if my puppy is full husky or not. I got all types of opinions on it, so I guess I have just concluded he is at least a big part husky. I also was told multiple different dates for his DOB - ranging from 10 weeks to 14 weeks when I got him. Rusty is really cute whatever he may be or how old.

You will probably need to begin working on getting Raven to feed at defined time or Rusty may plump up. I have had Loki a few weeks and he is getting better. He was a grazer when I got him, but grazers and labs (my other dog) don't mix, so he must adjust for the sake of my labs waistline. I started with 4-5 times a day he got access to dish and now he is down to 2.

I'm not as knowledgable on the training but I would just try to desensitize him as much as possible like ther people are saying, feed him in the crate. My friend still feeds both her dogs in their crates and they've been together for years now just to avoid the whole food aggression thing. They need to work out who's higher in the pack.
On another note I think rusty is all husky, maybe not champion dogs but poorer breeding which could attribute for the large stature and large ears! He's cute tho! Love his color! Congrats on the new addition!

He has huge ears! If he's a mix then he is and I'm ok with that. I do wonder about the age though. He is really puppy like in his mannerisms. He has those big ears they all get for awhile and his feet are huge and he cocks his head to the side a lot which is adorable!

He is absolutely awesome with the kids. They are still supervised, but he is just a big laid back lover. His is kinda an oaf though bumping into you and your legs.

Once we get him healthy again and off the bland diet we'll see if the resource guarding rears its head again. So far there hasn't been any other fights and no more accidents in the house.

Ha I caught it!


I got a profile shot too

My friends dog...looks very similar and hers is purebred! Just as a reference.

They do look really similar!

He looks purebred to me. A friend of mine has a Husky that kind of sort of but not really looks like Rusty, I'll see if I can find a pic. Honestly, he's absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn't care if he was mixed or not (which I don't think he is).

As far as his age goes, does he lift his leg? Hayden is 18 month's old and just started lifting his leg, not sure if he's just a late bloomer or what lol. Can you contact the rescue to find out his background, so you can contact the previous owner and maybe confirm his age with them?

Adopting a second dog has turned into a huge headache! We've had several fights one of them a bloody mess. And its not Rusty its Raven! Rusty is a really nice dog, a little dumb, but really nice. He needs some work. He really wants to be loved and is affectionate. He does unforturnately not realize his size and will jump on you which we are working on. He tries to play with Raven but she is relentless and mean, even if he's down she will continue biting his face.
I don't want anyone to get hurt and my biggest concern is one of the kids trying to break up a fight and getting bit. I am unsure what to do.

Have you walked them together yet? You are going to need to do a lot of bonding work like that to get them to work together. I would tell the kids to not interfere when they start fighting, as that will only lead to the kids getting hurt (without the dogs meaning to.)

looking at the dates you have had the 2 of them together for about 3ish weeks right? you are still very much in the "feeling it out" faze. the 2 of them are still working out their issues and place in the pack. have you been giving Rusty more attention then Raven, how much work have you been doing with them together and how much with them alone? for food and treats are you making sure Raven is being given the things first, are you showing her that she is still the #1 in the pack so that Rusty knows he is below her? it will take some time for it to settle down, for now tell the kids to leave them alone if a fight breaks out, i would keep some spray guns or water bottles around to wet them if they do start fighting, or teach the kids the right way to break up a fight, pulling out the hind legs of the attaching dog or with water. hang in there, it should get better with time and work.