Food for Your Husky or Sled Dog
Huskies and sled dogs often have very sensitive digestive systems.
They can react badly to many of the common ingredients in cheaper brands of dog food, and often suffer from upset tummies.
There are several types of dog food which tend to be better suited to huskies and sled dogs. Listed below are some brands that husky owners tend to favor.
- Burns Dog Food
- Burns produce a range of high quality kibble that seems to suit sled dogs and huskies well.
The range offers kibbles free from wheat, gluten, dairy and soya, and the various flavors contain fish oils and seaweed, and other vitamins and minerals that may be beneficial for huskies and sled dogs.
The Burns range has been developed by a veterinary surgeon who believes in simple, natural foods to promote health.
Their kibble is highly digestible and specifically recommended for dogs with digestion issues.
It is also suitable for senior dogs.
- Burn's Venison & Brown Rice is useful options for dogs sensitive to certain meat proteins (for example those found in chicken).
- Burn's Pork & Potato is free from rice as well as chicken, wheat, gluten, dairy and soya. This is a good option for extremely sensitive dogs.
- James Wellbeloved
- This range of kibble is promoted as completely hypoallergenic, and contains no beef, pork, wheat, gluten, dairy or eggs.
- Fish For Dogs
- This company produces a range of fish-based kibble.
Many owners feel huskies do especially well on fish-based foods, as they would have a lot of fish and fish oils in their natural diet in the Arctic regions where they originated.
Fish4Dogs Finest Complete Dry Food
contains 55% fish.
For this reason, it may be a good choice for many huskies and sled dogs who need extra zinc in their diet.
The other main ingredient is potato. It also has added brewers' yeast, which provides a good source of B Vitamins.
It contains no wheat or gluten which can cause allergies, and no additives or preservatives.
Also available from the same company is a Complete Kibble with Salmon. This also contains 55% fish, and specifically 34% salmon, including salmon oil. This is great for huskies' coats and health in general, proving omega 3 amongst other things.
Huskies tend to do better on 'Kibble' type foods that wet, tinned foods. Tinned dog food tends to be made of cheap ingredients such as wheat, that don't agree with husky tummies. The only tinned food we would suggest is 'Chappie', which is made of very simple ingredients (chicken and rice). Although not commonly fed as a main food source, tinned Chappie can be useful for sick dogs or those with extremely sensitive tummies - It can be used for puppies having bad food reactions until a long term food plan is sorted out.
AVOIDING UPSET TUMMIES
Upset tummies are common in huskies and sled dogs, particularly in husky puppies. The first course of action if your dog or puppy is showing any signs of illness should be to consult a vet. Upset tummies may be the first sign of serious illnesses, and should not be left to chance. However, if there is no obvious reason for your husky puppy or dog to have an ongoing tummy upset, or they experience problems on a regular basis, the cause may well be their diet.
The main diet-related reasons huskies and other sled dogs get upset tummies are listed below:
CHANGING FOODS
Changing food too quickly is a common cause of tummy upsets.
If you want to change the type of food you give your husky, malamute or sled dog, you must make sure you change foods slowly.
Changes should be made over the course of a week or more.
Start by substituting a very small amount of their old food for the new kind.
If you feed your husky on kibble, swap just a few biscuits at first, gradually adding more and more until you have switched completely.
FOOD ALLERGIES
Many huskies and sled dogs are sensitive to ingredients found in some dog foods. The main ingredients that cause problems are:
- Wheat
- Gluten
- Dairy
- Soya
This is not to say that every husky or sled dog will react badly to these ingredients, but many do, particularly to wheat.
In a few rare cases, huskies have been known to suffer other food allergies, including chicken, rice, egg and beef.
Though uncommon, such allergies do exist, and may be worth keeping in mind if your dog has long term digestive issues with no obvious cause.
If you suspect your husky has a food allergy, the standard course of action is to simplify the dog's diet until its system has stabilized, and then gradually reintroduce foods one by one.
Plain boiled rice with boiled chicken breast or scrambled eggs (made without milk), are a good simple starting point for a dog with tummy troubles.
After a few days on such a diet, if the dog's tummy has settled, you can start GRADUALLY introducing kibble or other food.
*If your dog still as an upset tummy after a few days on rice and chicken, and your vet can find no obvious explanation, your husky may have an allergy to one of these foods.
In this case, you could try porridge oats soaked overnight in water, with some tinned salmon.
Boiled potatoes are another alternative instead of rice, and can also be mashed up with tinned salmon.*
Stick to one type of food, and aim to gradually switch from rice and chicken/eggs over two weeks (so after 3 days each meal would be about 25% kibble, after 1 week 50% kibble, and 100% kibble at the end of 2 weeks).
If your husky gets an upset tummy as you introduce the kibble, go back to the rice diet, give it a couple of days to settle, and start again with a different type of kibble, i.e. one with different ingredients.
If a rice-based kibble doesn't agree with your dog, try one of the varieties based on oats or potatoes, such as Burn's Pork & Potato.
TREATS
Treats are often the cause of sudden cases of upset tummies.
Many owners feed their huskies and sled dogs with suitable kibble or other main foods, but forget that treats are often just as bad, if not worse for huskies than the regular foods that cause them problems.
The problem is really common for new owners, who will usually be trying to train their new husky puppy or dog, and feeding them lots of treats.
It is important to make sure that you find some treats that your dog or puppy is not sensitive to, otherwise, no matter whether or not you find a good kibble to feed them, they are still likely to get upset tummies.
It is also worth bearing in mind that if you go to a puppy training class, the other dog owners may try and reward your husky with their own treats.
As an owner you have to be really strict with other people - don't let them feed your dog with their treats
Like many other new owners, we were woken up in the middle of the night after the first puppy-class we went to, by our husky who was not feeling well at all.
She had been fed a whole range of treats by the other owners at the class, and it made her sick all night and the next day.
The lesson is: don't let other people feed your dog - this goes for old ladies in the park with pockets full of dog biscuits too.
As sweet as their intentions are, it does not do your husky any favors if it means that they get sick afterwards. For young pups it may only take a couple of cheap dog biscuits to cause tummy upsets.
FOOD AND WATER BOWLS
As far as food bowls go, there is no need to spend too much money.
We use simple stainless steel bowls to feed our huskies, which we wash after each meal.
For huskies who eat very fast and 'bolt' their food, it is worth finding a way to prevent this.
One method is to feed the dog from a specially designed feeding bowl, such as the Brake-fast Dog Bowl
Older dogs may be more comfortable eating from raised dishes that reduce te strain on their neck, back and shoulders.
Adjustable bowls such as the ones found here