[Ravenlost]

The first of July we adopted two Siberian Huskey mix puppies, Brenna and Guinness. They're 13 weeks old now and are the lankiest, bony things I've ever seen! I can not put any meat on them no matter how hard I try! They don't have worms and have plenty of energy so I assume they're healthy, just skinny. Is this normal for Siberian Huskeys? (Their mom is a full-blooded Siberian Huskey who managed to dig out of her back yard while in heat. Dad is unknown.)

I've never had a Siberian Huskey so do not know if this is just normal appearance for this age. Doesn't seem like any of our other pups were this lanky so early.

:help:

 

[white eagle]

What type of dog food are you feeding them?

Are you sure they don't have worms?

Only other thing is the daddy dog maybe skinny as can be but for husky they should be nice an fat looking. Unless like I stated the daddy is skinny.

 

[Filas are Prima]

Go buy horse paste wormer-either fenbendazole or ivermectin. Worm the pups, acording to their weight, every two weeks.
At their age, they will reduce meal needs down from 4 x's per day, to 3 x's per day.
Add to their regular kibble any of the following, in multiple combinations with each other:
eggs, veg. oil, oatmeal, rice, sausage, hamburger, liver, yams, pumpkin, pearl barley, lard, milk, leftovers of all sorts, meats of all kinds.
Expect them to eat 2-3 C food each meal for this age.

 

[donsgal]

The first of July we adopted two Siberian Huskey mix puppies, Brenna and Guinness. They're 13 weeks old now and are the lankiest, bony things I've ever seen! I can not put any meat on them no matter how hard I try! They don't have worms and have plenty of energy so I assume they're healthy, just skinny. Is this normal for Siberian Huskeys? (Their mom is a full-blooded Siberian Huskey who managed to dig out of her back yard while in heat. Dad is unknown.)

I've never had a Siberian Huskey so do not know if this is just normal appearance for this age. Doesn't seem like any of our other pups were this lanky so early.

:help:

Go buy some canned dog food and give them plenty! They'll fatten up in a hurry.

donsgal

 

[GoldenMom]

OK it's been over a month since you adopted them and we haven't seen pictures yet?!? Shame on you! :nono:

Are they good eaters? How often do you offer food? I'd give them all they will eat 3 times a day (give them 10-15 minutes at each meal). If they don't really want to eat you can mix in canned food or broth or whatever to encourage eating.

 

[farmergirl]

As for encouraging puppies to eat, our new pup is VERY hyper and gets distracted at meal time unless I crack a raw egg over the kibbles to entice her to stay focused on the meal. She was a little underweight and the egg has helped alot.

 

[Ravenlost]

We're already doing most of the suggestions! They're fed three meals a day with all they want dry food during the night. Breakfast is dry kibble with puppy milk supplement mixed in (the stuff you use for newborn puppies who lost their mom). Lunch is usually canned puppy food and supper is canned food or homemade gravy mixed with dry kibble. They get treats twice a day, plus leftovers.

They've been treated for worms by the vet and have had no problems since then.

I do apologize for not posting photos yet. They are hard to photograph as they're always in motion!

You know, I'm beginning to think their dad was a whippet or greyhound!

 

[mare]

try satinballs--they worked for my dog. you can get the recipes on google

 

[Bearfootfarm]

Theyre young and growing. Their weight will catch up with their frames in a while. It sounds perfectly normal to me

 

[cricket]

Remember that Huskies are considered "giants"...In this I mean several things. First, no more puppy milk replacer. It causes the bones to grow too fast and will cause issues later in life. They grow too fast as it is...You want slow steady even growth over 3 yrs for optimum bone density. Second, giants tend to get lanky during growth spurts. Third, your food can be contributing largely to the overall issue but I don't know what you're feeding so... But whatever it is, NO PUPPY FOOD EVER. Also, if they're already on a good food then do not supplement with cottage cheese or any other "pure" protien source. This can actually cause serious issues in bone and joint developement. I would suggest fish oil and garlic and probiotics. You can try black walnut but be sure to get them tested once a year until you can determin eit's working for you.

I would not use satin balls unless they are literally starving. Canned food is only going to worsen the problem...And it contains some nasty chemicals.

 

[Oregon Julie]

Remember that Huskies are considered "giants"...

No, actually Siberian Huskies are not giants, you might be thinking of Alaskan Malamutes. Siberians are, per the AKC breed standard:

"Size, Proportion, Substance
Height--Dogs, 21 to 23½ inches at the withers. Bitches, 20 to 22 inches at the withers. Weight--Dogs, 45 to 60 pounds. Bitches, 35 to 50 pounds. Weight is in proportion to height. The measurements mentioned above represent the extreme height and weight limits with no preference given to either extreme. Any appearance of excessive bone or weight should be penalized. In profile, the length of the body from the point of the shoulder to the rear point of the croup is slightly longer than the height of the body from the ground to the top of the withers. Disqualification--Dogs over 23½ inches and bitches over 22 inches."

I realize that dad was a Sneaky Dog In The Night type, but if they take after mom at least a bit this might explain why they seem so lanky. I have a good friend who breeds, shows, and both sand and snow mushes with her dogs and none of them weight much even as adults. The breed is one of the smallest dogs in the AKC Working group in fact, most of the rest do tower over the Sibes and out weight them by a lot. Lots of hair, not a lot of body under it.

My feeling is that if they passed their vet checks ok and are healthy in the way they look and act (aside from being lean) I would not worry too much about it.

 

[BusyBees2]

I have a young Siberian husky who is what I would call 'lanky'. He's 1 1/2 years old, full of motion and eats well (except in the heat) and has really long legs and a long lean body. He's definitely not 'fat looking'. Both his mom & dad were siberian huskies of different builds.

I'd say if they are eating well, and the vet says they're growing, I'd accept that as being their build and go with it.

(I'll try a picture) This was Koda at 10 months
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y262/Busybees2/Dogs/000_1694.jpg

 

[jen74145]

Yeah, here too.
Coal is just like what you describe, poor fella looks neglected half the time, though he eats plenty of high quality kibble with the occasional egg thrown in. I know pups should be a bit on the lean side, but he had us worried for awhile... he's now about eight months old and the past month he's finally started looking like a lab instead of the skeleton of one. Just hang in there, if they are growing and doing normal "puppy stuff" it'll be fine.

 

[celadon]

I have a 1 year old sib. husky. She is just now starting to put some weight on. They are very active dogs. At least mine is. She has a large fenced in yard with three other dogs. She plays them to death and runs completely around the fence line is not busy playing. Kiind of hard to keep weight on her. I hope she slows down as she ages.

 

[alpacamom]

Having 3 pups right now, a 1 year old dog, and 2 children, I've made an observation. I don't know how "scientific" or accurate it is, but I've found that they go through phases. Sometimes they're long and lanky and sometimes they fatten up until they hit a growth spurt again. Could it be that they're just in a growth spurt and will fatten up again when they slow down?

We feed our pups a controlled growth kibble (Nutro) for large dogs (2 maremmas that are 6 mo old and a bernese mountain dog that is 12 weeks). The maremmas get fed 3x/day...1.5 cups for breakfast, 1.5 cups for lunch and 2 cups for dinner, and the BMD has kibble available all day. They all go through periods when they feel skinny and we find that they've grown again, then they chunk up again and before we know it, they're growing again. Our boys have been the same way.

Just an idea for you!

 

[Ravenlost]

Thanks everyone! They are growing like weeds! And they play with everything they have...it's like two little tornadoes set loose in the house from morning to night. I guess I'm just a worry wart...I've never had such lanky pups before.

 

[cozyhollow-gal]

I think the nature of the Sib. Husky is to be on the thin side. But pups should have some baby fat on them. However, all puppies go thru a lanky stage, (like teen agers) And later on they begin to "get it all together" and look better. Even their fur may get thin for awhile. And like it has been brought out, they are very active and energetic. So that would keep them thinner.
Just a suggestion: You could try putting a tsp of molasses 2 X a day mixed in a meal. For a couple weeks and see if there is a difference.
The best to you and your pups..Patsy

 

[cricket]

Sorry...I didn't mean that they WERE giants...But their growth patterns are almost identical to giants. They have the same delayed growth plate closure and are prone to almost all of the same joint issues brought on by early developement/nutrition. I should have clarified...

And I also should have added that any large or giant puppy should not be on any food containing more than 24% protien with 18% being ideal. However!!!! And this is critical!!! You have to look at the overall picture because any food that uses grain gives the TOTAL protien for that food - Which includes that protien contained in grain....And is subsequently unusable for dogs. So a premium kibble that lists 20% protien and grain is "low" on the list, chances are it actually contains about 18-19% from meat. A grade food that lists 24% with grain being very high on the ingredient list may actually contain less than 12% that originates in meat product. Confused yet???? Me too....

 

[Willowynd]

I have seen very lean pups in collies during certain growth stages before- especially when I fed kibble. Feeding raw they do not get as thin. Huskies- I used to raise them years ago and do not remember them going through this- but I had a ***** with heavier bone- not like most of the huskies you see today that have are light in bone. Actually, part of the reason I got out of huskies is that I had an impossible time finding males with enough bone (the main reason though was the shortage of correct homes for this breed). Back then there was no internet to assist in finding studs and what I could find locally was in IMO lacking. There was lots of BYB breeders in my area and amish who bred them- a Husky pup could be found any day of the week from $75 to free. The 2 times I bred her to a male with lacking bone though- we still did not get lanky pups. Even when my pet collie climbed her kennel fence before he was neutered- the pups were not lanky. But her bone density was enough to put better bone on those pups. My concern was the second generation- knew I would see loss of bone at that point and had no desire to breed that.

 

[Ravenlost]

I've seen a photo of their mom and she's on the light side...rather lanky and thin. She's also pretty young. I'm just going to keep feeding these a varied and full diet and see how they turn out. Like I said, they have TONS of energy. Today was a "pull your hair out" day. Days like this I honestly wonder if they're going to tear the house down!