hey just want some advice please.... brought home my little bear on sunday and im new to the whole dog thing as always had cats!!! my other half has had dogs in his past and he has always loved and wanted a husky so we decided to take the plunge and adopt one!!

well my partner works 5am-3pm 6 days a week so im going to be the main owner, bear is 13weeks old all white full breed husky... ive met both his parents plus two older sisters from a previous litter and his sisters he was born with!!! he comes from a home with small children and other pets so we decided he was best suited to us as i have a 4yr old and other pets!!!

so the advice i need... he is toilet trained to a mat inside the house and only pee's and poos on there.... he wee's outside but wont poo!!! only poo's at night when we are in bed... he is fed twice a day morning and evening but i take away his food around 5pm and he is let out in the garden for half hour after eating to encourage a poo!!! he has only just had his first jab and got another 10days until his second so not going out on walks yet!! whats the best way to encourage a poo?


my son has a lot of energy and runs around most of the time and i was hoping they would wear each other out playing but the puppy seems to be scared of him and will back away and doesn't like my son going near him in general.... obviously this is a massive worry for myself and wanted to know of some training or exercises that i can do with them both to encourage trust between them

and finally how to get him and the cats to bond??? they aren't used to dogs so have been petrified of him but are slowly getting interested in him and will slowly approach him but im guessing him being a puppy gets excited and will bound up to them or chase them in the garden!! he isn't aggressive or biting but obviously they are scared when being chased so best ways to stop him and get them to get along!!!

sorry this is such a long post but i'm guessing you guys are going to have the best advice rather than sitting on Google reading a million information sites so please any advice would be fantastic!!! thank you

Starting with the toilet training... I personally think that training pads inside of the house makes set backs happen because the fact that they learn that going inside of the house is okay- not to say it doesn't work though because some people have had success! But my suggestion would be to get rid of the pads and start taking your pup outside to do his business. That means even throughout the night- every two hours. This way he will take his poop outside at night and when he does you can give him lots of praise/treats so that he knows outside is the right place to go. I'm not sure how to encourage poo lol. How much is he being fed?

I would say you could start to teach your son to do things with the pup that don't necessarily involve him chasing him. Get him to throw a ball for the pup or kick a ball around the backyard. This being said he is a young boy- so he is going to want to play with the pup. But until your pup is more comfortable, try to allow them to do something like that while supervising. Or have your son give treats (with your assistance of course) to the pup. Eventually they will (hopefully) bond on their own time. Remember the pup is in a new surrounding as well and needs time to adjust! Also, he could have been picked on by the children at the other home and that is why he is intimidated.

Ahh that's a big one lol. My husky has been around my cat since she came home but they didn't live together until recently (October) and they have just started to get along. It's something that will either happen or it won't. What you can do is correct the behaviour that you don't want. So when he chases them- put him on a leash and make him walk back over to them calmly. They may never coexist together happily- but you can get it so they tolerate eachother lol. Or they may come around and love eachother in the end

That's my advice- I'm not a professional but it's a start and hopefully someone else will chime in! Good luck with your pup!

I agree with Robin. Having them paper trained just makes it harder to train them to go outside. You could start by moving the pads closer to the door, then take them outside. Hopefully he will use it outside. Make sure to give a treat, and plenty of praise for going outside.
It may take him a little while to get used to your son. But like Robin said, have them interact calmly together.
As for cats I think that really depends on the cat. Like Robin has already said let him know what behaviors aren't appropriate with the cat, like chasing it. I have 2 cats. My calico has no fear when it comes to Lucian. She will still wander about the entire house. Lucian does occasionally chase her, but she has a safe place to go where he can't get her. I don't let him on the second floor of my house, so that's where the cats go. My other cat was simply terrified of him when we brought him home at 8 weeks old, and she's was at least twice his weight, lol. I had to move the litter box and food to my bedroom for her, she wouldn't come down the stairs. We've had Lucian for 8 months now, and she's gotten much better, but will still hiss at him, and watch his every move. But she does walk around the house much more freely now.