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About Marcus Doyle
Expertise
Questions about the general breed and temperament of Siberian Huskies. Also, I have had great experience in training them to be, well, a little less crazy. Nothing is a substitute for good research and training, but Husky owners are a special breed, and I can help in passing along some of that information. I do not breed my dogs, they are just companion animals. I encourage that breeding be left to professionals and members of the SHCA. The SHCA can provide great information in helping fellow breeders and I am unable to answer all but the most basic of questions regarding breeding.

Experience
Own two pure-bred Siberian Huskies (Karnovanda). Casual owner, but a love and understanding of the breed can be helpful in getting to the right resources.

Organizations
Sibernet

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Dog Breeds > Husky (Huskies) > growth and grain-free food

Husky (Huskies) - growth and grain-free food

Expert: Marcus Doyle - 10/20/2009

Question
Hi,
Our husky boy came from a show breeder, and boy, is he beautiful! He is, however, a lot stockier than other huskies I've had, very broad chested, and has a heavy walk and huge paws. He grew super fast, and at 9 months old, he is 62lbs, and 21.5 inches at the withers. (He is neutered.) Not fat, though, just heavyset and broad. Is this common? In terms of height he is well within the breed standard, but his weight seems to be too high already, and I don't think he is totally done growing yet.
When he was a puppy, we were struggling with his constant diarrhea, and I finally discovered that he did much better on grain free food, so he grew up on very high protein, high fat food. Do you think that might have made him stocky and heavyset? He is very healthy and active, and really packs it away (no appetite problems on this boy!) but I wonder if the food he was eating, which was about 40% protein, made him grow too fast? He is on another food now, also grain free, but with a more standard 25% protein, and it doesn't seem to slow him down any, though.

Answer
Keep in mind that some dogs are just "outside" of the standard. While the standard is a pretty good indication of what to expect, genetics don't always cooperate and sometimes you end up with a dog that pushes things a bit. My guess is that the food didn't necessarily contribute, but it is possible. If the dog is doing well and doesn't seem to have an GI issues with the food and is at a healthy weight for his size, by all means keep things going.

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