All through the winter we feed twice a day. In the morning the dogs get a rich meat "soup". It starts out as a 50 pounds block of either a mix of meats or chicken. This block just happens to be chicken.
We score the meat with a circular saw:
and then cut it into chunks with an ax.
This we keep frozen until we want to use it. Each night we pull out 2 blocks (10 pounds) and thaw it over night. In the morning we add boiling water to make a nice meaty warm broth for the dogs. This keeps them well hydrated all winter. As the weather gets warmer we cut down to 5 pounds each morning and as summer comes on we switch over to some soaked kibble as it is hard to find frozen meat blocks up here through the summer. We do like to broth in the morning year round and feed in the afternoon. In the summer fresh water is available every day. Some people use large bowls or coffee cans on the sides of dog houses but we like to dump the water every day and make sure they have fresh each day. Since our dogs are mostly either in the house or in large fenced in yards, we put single large bowls of water in each area. We have never had a dog turn up its nose at their beverage in the morning.
Social time is very very important in a huskies life (or any dog for that matter). Even on the coldest of days when many of our dogs stay in the house or the dog barn, we let them out all together in a huge play group. Dogs are very social animals and love to play and interact. Some dogs only like 1 or 2 friends. Other dogs love to play in a large group. In our kennel there always seems to be one or 2 dogs that are the play instigators. Shaman and Jenny are probably the hardest players. They are both from the Fairbanks animal shelter and have been with us for several years. Shaman is the cream colored boy in the video and Jenny is the black pointer mix. They can always get the other dogs to join in and run around the yard at top speed.
People have often talked to me about shoulder and wrist injuries in sled dogs. I rarely have that problem and I think it is because I let my dogs free run most of the time. A dog on a chain often runs around in its circle in the same direction. This makes muscles that are not balanced. Too, with the chain pulling down on the dogs collar, many sled dogs can develop chiropractic problems. With a free run kennel, the dogs turn, jump, run and are able to stretch out their bodies and their muscles on a daily basis. Even after a summer of not running in a team or skijoring, our dogs are all in great shape and start off the winter training able to do more miles without any injuries.
Many people are worried about fights. We have had a few and they are very scary. All of the dogs are neutered and spayed so that definitely helps. But we also respect the hierarchy of the dogs themselves and the dogs have great respect for us as the ultimate last word in the kennel. I don't suggest that people just let their chained up dogs loose if they haven't done a lot of research on pack mentality and hierarchy. I hate to see dogs chained up all of the time and try to suggest starting with just a couple of dogs at a time. The rewards that come back from having a free run kennel are great and the bond that you have with your dogs can't be described.