Becoming The Boss

[skuzy]

Hi All

Just received a new husky yesterday as a gift.

Been doing some reading on the www, and im getting abit worried that ive got more than ive bargained for. With the other dogs that ive had before (rotties,dobermans,german sheps, mutts), it wasnt too hard becoming the boss when teaching / keeping the pets. However reading this stuff on the web, its saying that huskies will often push their boundaries to establish themselves as the leader ('alpha').

Questions:

1) My pup is about 7 weeks old, what technques should i be using with this pup? does the low growling voice, 'No" & subsitute action command work?

2) What do to do when the dog is being naughty or doing somethign wrong to establish itself as alpha?

3) The fight for alpha - is this something temporary? ie starts and stops at early age - or just something part of the dog?

4) is dog training school worth while for huskies - they seem to be stubborn. Ive been able to teach all dogs that ive owned, how to sit. Stay and liedown were abit tricky. I dont know if i can do it with the husky after reading about some of their characteristics. I usually put them in isolated environment ( no distractions ) and reward/appraisal when done correctly.

Thanks in advance.

Pete.

[skuzy]

Sorry - just another question:

The pup is so darn cute, is cuddling it patting it etc at this early age considered as 'spoiling' the pup and wll this make things difficult in the future when trying to teach them?

Thanks again.

[Jefe's owners]

Triangle of temptation

[Jefe's owners]

Sorry - just another question:

The pup is so darn cute, is cuddling it patting it etc at this early age considered as 'spoiling' the pup and wll this make things difficult in the future when trying to teach them?

Thanks again.

As long as all the pats etc comes from you... and you use NILIF...( and the triangle of temptation) no, I think is not spoiling... and you will be all it matters to the dog!

[skuzy]

Triangle of temptation? hm..ok i will have to look that up. Anyhelp with the alpha questions?

Thanks in advance!

[Kiera-Blue]

?

4) is dog training school worth while for huskies - they seem to be stubborn. Ive been able to teach all dogs that ive owned, how to sit. Stay and liedown were abit tricky. I dont know if i can do it with the husky after reading about some of their characteristics. I usually put them in isolated environment ( no distractions ) and reward/appraisal when done correctly.

Pete.

Hi there,

I have a gorgeous 18 month old Sibe, & I really would recomend taking them to group training, Start as soon a possiable by enrolling in a puppy pre- school.

I will pre warn you, the group training is HARD, they are very clever & very stubborn dogs, & are very easily distracted, which is why I have found them invaluable, as she has learnt to concentrate on her comands, even in the presance of hundreds of dogs. you do need the patiance of a saint, but it is well worth it, You will also need to do a fair bit of work on the training every day though,

Being a pack dog, they tend to determine who their 'Pack Leader' is from a very early age, so I would recomend that you involve all members of your household with the pups training, this will help establish the pup's place in the 'pack' & should help to elimimate some alpha issues.

Good Luck

Edited May 15, 2006 by Kiera-Blue

[Annie Oakley]

It is in a husky's nature to be the leader if you are not. If you don't take on the role immediately it can be hard to enforce in the future. That said, my older girl (now 6) did not get the right training as a pup but I have enrolled her in an obedience school and she is thriving on it. She used to challenge me as the boss but now she respects the boundaries and all through positive training techniques. She also loves the mental stimulation the training is giving her, huskies need mental and physical exercise.

My experience with huskies shows that if you are not constant with your role as a leader, and start letting them get away with things regularly then they will not outgrow challenging you for the role of leader. Challenging may not be them attacking you or anything but a husky has a mind of its own and will do what it wants if it thinks it can get away with it (you call it stubborn, I call it strong willed )

Like mentioned in your other thread you really need to assess if this is the breed for you because it is frightening how many huskies go through rescue because people had no idea what that cute ball of fluff represented, or the damage they can cause if left to their own devices.

[petmezz]

hi

the advice allredy given is great, use it and you whon't have a problem. some more info for you.

make training fun, and start now...... my huskys think they have won the lotto if i howl with them, chase them or they chase me, allow them to jump on me. these are good rewords that tend to work well with huskies but make shour you don't over use these. also food treets, some toys and verbal praise are good.

training sessions should be short as well as fun..... stop the training when the pup still want's to perform and end on a super positive note. three 3 to 5 min sessions and general life traning a day is great. no time?? what about when you are wating for the kettel, or when adds come on whill watching tv. don't do repotitions of the same action break it up, so in one session do come - sit- drop and in another one sit - stay - come mix all the comands so the dog lerns the word association not the pattern order the commands are.

domanance can be a problem, and it is usually with the dog for life. what people have mentioned is so true with the husky. if you are not on the ball with this breed you will find your self lower in the pack and you may not realise how or why you are their. they don't do it through direct threts, just general disobediance and become a real handfull to manage by the time of direct threts you are allredy lower then the dog and need serious profecional help.

to establish your self as alfa, you must act as alfa other wise the dog will take this role on. to do this you need to train the dog, and be strong that cute face will always be their learn to say no to it. if the pup is playing to hard, growl at it and if the pup still plays to hard growl again and ignore the pup. if the pup starts creating trubble (playing with items not to be played with) place the dog out of site into a safe area, and leave it their ignore the cryes, let him out or in after 2 min or after he is quiet for 1 min. don't make a fuss over him for a few minets then start paying attention to him. this works well for the breed and is a great way to teach the dog what you say go's.

[Pink Panther]

If your dog is trying to dominate you, aka become the alpha in the pack, each day, you should tell the dog to drop, and them, without any physical contact, just stand over the dog.

This is different to the alpha roll, where the dog is physically pushed onto its back and dominated, because this approach can lead to agressive behaviour later in life. The standing over method induces no physical threat, and builds a natural authority over your dog.

Edited May 16, 2006 by Pink Panther

[peibe]

I would also recommend returning her to her litter mates for another 1-2 weeks if possible, she is too young to have left home yet.

Good luck

[skuzy]

Man-o-man is this dog naughty. You guys are right, the dog is stubborn as a mule.

I took the day off work yestrday to spend time wth the pup. Unfortunately there are no litter mates (its the only pup) so returning it wasnt really an option.

Almost everything i learnt about training dogs from previous experience (with my old dogs) is out the window lol!

Pink Panther i will use that trick you mentioned.. sounds really good to me and reminds me of the NILF principles. Thanks for the tip!

So far, ive had the dog for 3 days.

The main problem im having is that he likes to bite peoples legs/feet and hands when they pat him. I dont want him getting used to biting people so when he does this i say "ow" really loudly like im hurting so so bad then take it to its room and leave him in their for 10 mins and come back play with him again later.

Ive also started some of the NILF principles.

This is working SLOWLY, but iam struggling to find ways to 'punish' the dog so when he does something wrong , eg chewing on shoes, i can use this tool to teach him.

Questions:

- How else do u folks 'punish' the dog (and therefore est. yourself as an alpha) when the dog is acting up? Do you just turn your back on him/her and walk away, ignoring them for a while? Does the 'NO' & growling principle work with sibes? (ive had to growl once already)

- I also have been taking the pup to a friends house who owns a 'mutt terrior' a touch bigger than the pup so he can learn socialising skills - Is this ok?

-because ive visted my friends place (they have 5 sons/daughters youngest aged 16). will interaction with this many different people send mixed messages to the pup about 'where he stands in the pack'.

-lastly, re: toilet training? Ive researched methods for sibe's and am adopting the 'paper' method. Also im findig he will only p00p when we take him outside which is good). The problem i have is that when he pee's elsewhere (eg in the kitchen) - how do you teach/correct him?

So sorry to bombard everyone with these silly questions, but everything i once knew, now seemed like 'junk knowledge'.

Thanks so much for the help, i really appreciate it!.

-pete

[skuzy]

Man-o-man is this dog naughty. You guys are right, the dog is stubborn as a mule.

I took the day off work yestrday to spend time wth the pup. Unfortunately there are no litter mates (its the only pup) so returning it wasnt really an option.

Almost everything i learnt about training dogs from previous experience (with my old dogs) is out the window lol!

Pink Panther i will use that trick you mentioned.. sounds really good to me and reminds me of the NILF principles. Thanks for the tip!

So far, ive had the dog for 3 days.

The main problem im having is that he likes to bite peoples legs/feet and hands when they pat him. I dont want him getting used to biting people so when he does this i say "ow" really loudly like im hurting so so bad then take it to its room and leave him in their for 10 mins and come back play with him again later.

Ive also started some of the NILF principles.

This is working SLOWLY, but iam struggling to find ways to 'punish' the dog so when he does something wrong , eg chewing on shoes,

Questions:

- How else do u folks 'punish' the dog (and therefore est. yourself as an alpha) when the dog is acting up? Do you just turn your back on him/her and walk away, ignoring them for a while? Does the 'NO' & growling principle work with sibes? (ive had to growl once already)

- I also have been taking the pup to a friends house who owns a 'mutt terrior' a touch bigger than the pup so he can learn socialising skills - Is this ok?

-because ive visted my friends place (they have 5 sons/daughters youngest aged 16). will interaction with this many different people send mixed messages to the pup about 'where he stands in the pack'.

-lastly, re: toilet training? Ive researched methods for sibe's and am adopting the 'paper' method. Also im findig he will only p00p when we take him outside which is good). The problem i have is that when he pee's elsewhere (eg in the kitchen) - how do you teach/correct him?

So sorry to bombard everyone with these silly questions, but everything i once knew, now seemed like 'junk knowledge'.

Thanks so much for the help, i really appreciate it!.

-pete

Edited May 17, 2006 by skuzy

[skuzy]

Im enrolling the pup into puppy preschool.. are there any that you folks recommend? Or are they all the same.

i live in NSW Wakely/fairfield area.

Cheers

[Rusky]

to stop the dog chewing on shoes or whatever don't leave them lying around. Make sure your pup has lots of nice chewy things of his own. Enrol in a puppy pre school now for socialisation, ask your vet. If the friends dog is vaccinated it is ok.

google and read as much as you can about the breed.

I have never growled at my dogs so can't help you with that.

toilet training is the same for all dogs.

[~Myschafis~]

The main problem im having is that he likes to bite peoples legs/feet and hands when they pat him. I dont want him getting used to biting people so when he does this i say "ow" really loudly like im hurting so so bad then take it to its room and leave him in their for 10 mins and come back play with him again later.

Another option is put your hand over his muzzle say no and give him something else to play with.

This is working SLOWLY, but iam struggling to find ways to 'punish' the dog so when he does something wrong , eg chewing on shoes,

He is a puppy so a little bit of common sense needs to be established here, if you dont want things chewed don't leave them lying about for him to chew on them, he doesn't know that its wrong, as he gets older he will grow out of this.

Questions:

- How else do u folks 'punish' the dog (and therefore est. yourself as an alpha) when the dog is acting up? Do you just turn your back on him/her and walk away, ignoring them for a while? Does the 'NO' & growling principle work with sibes? (ive had to growl once already)

The NO does work, everything takes time and you have to be patient, its like trying to teach a baby dropping food on the floor isnt ok, you just cant do it over night, and they arent mentally ready for that sort of punishment, they just don't understand. Puppies mature quickly and he will understand soon enough, just keep up with the 'NO', and he will uderstand.

- I also have been taking the pup to a friends house who owns a 'mutt terrior' a touch bigger than the pup so he can learn socialising skills - Is this ok?

The only thing about this that worries me is he has only just had his vaccination and is still very succetible to parvo etc, personally I wouldn't have them out and about till after their second vaccination. And after that socialising is a must and is a great way to establish better behavior.

-because ive visted my friends place (they have 5 sons/daughters youngest aged 16). will interaction with this many different people send mixed messages to the pup about 'where he stands in the pack'.

Getting him used to a lot of people is a good thing, but again with his vaccinations, its better to be safe than sorry. As for mixed messages as long as they aren't hurting him or being too rough this is all fine, he will love the attention.

-lastly, re: toilet training? Ive researched methods for sibe's and am adopting the 'paper' method. Also im findig he will only p00p when we take him outside which is good). The problem i have is that when he pee's elsewhere (eg in the kitchen) - how do you teach/correct him?

Never ever rub his nose in it!!!!...he will only find other places to do it when you aren't looking and normally in places you cant easily get to either.

The way to tackle this one is take him out for frequent toilet breaks, and when he goes out side praise him a lot, when he has to be inside (nighttime etc) put newspaper down, and when he goeso n the newspaper BIG PRAISE, then don't clean it up just put a few sheets of paper over it, he will smell where he has gone before and go there again. If he misses and "go's" somewhere else say no, pick him up and put him down where he was meant to go (newspaper), if you catch him midstream and he finishes on the newspaper HUGE PRAISE, if not dont reprimand just repeat the process till he understands.

So sorry to bombard everyone with these silly questions, but everything i once knew, now seemed like 'junk knowledge'.

Thanks so much for the help, i really appreciate it!.

-pete

Those quetions are definatly not silly, and you have to start learning somewhere, once again if you need any mor advice feel free to ask

[Guest KOJAK]

Hi All

Just received a new husky yesterday as a gift.

hhI Skuzy

To help you with your puppy go into Puppy Problems

and look at pinned section training tips.

love my german shepherds

kojak