Hello all!! My boyfriend and I recently have welcomed a husky pup into our home. We got him from a breeder at 8 weeks old. He is almost 10 weeks. He has made our home complete!! I grew up around huskies and have had a love for them ever since I was 6. This is our first husky and our first dog together. I have grown up with MANY dogs in my home and in family members homes. I knew what to expect with getting a husky and I am not expecting a miracle overnight. So far he sits and stays really well, when he is in the mood. I do have a couple concerns. There are a few things that he does that seem a little dominant. 1) he jumps/nips/barks at us all the time. I know that he telling us he wants to play. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to break him of this? I have been ignoring it recently and he seems to calm down rather quickly. Is this something I should keep up with and/or is there something else I can do? 2) If I sit on the floor with him to play (he loves fetch) he will bring his toy to me and sit in my lap or go between my legs and play with the toy. He did this from day one. I thought of it as a comfort thing but my boyfriend thinks its dominance. Is this something I should break right away? He is going to get big soon and I don't have any more lap to spare!! :-) 3) He isn't super affectionate, which is fine, but he always licks my face like crazy when he comes out of his crate or wakes up from one of his many naps. Someone told me that he is trying to be dominant and someone else said that it is submissive. I know that things are different with a husky but all the ones I grew up around were affectionate and submissive. Can someone clarify that for me?



He doesn't seem to have a guarding issue at all. He has no problem with me sticking my hand in his food or feeding by hand and willingly gives away his bone if I take it (to which he gets a treat). Toys are just a little different. He does not mind if I pick them up or hold them. He just needs to learn to drop the toy when told. He is very playful but I do not want to get in to rough games and it seems he wants to. We have a lot of little kids in our family - 9 total, 5 of which are under 6, the rest range from 10-13. We want to find the best way to stop his rough play and nipping and make play time safer for all. I know it will take time since he is just a pup but any suggestions would be great. We always say 'no bite' and started from day one but it seems to make him want to nip more.



Other than that he is great. He is stubborn and interested in everything. And when he is paying attention to me, he listens and does what is told. He has no fear. He gets excited when he sees anyone and so far gets along well with dogs and people of all shapes and sizes.



Oh and does anyone have ideas on how to get his attention? Inside he is very food motivated. He is doing well with a clicker but outside is different. He will not take any treats outside and doesn't seem to care about the clicker. The world is just too interesting for him!!!



I just want to make sure I do right by my boy. I don't want to make any mistakes. I have been dreaming about him for years and want only the best for all of us.



Thanks ahead for all of your time, help and suggestions!!!!

I'm sure others will jump in with advice here shortly, just wanted to say welcome to the forum! I may have missed it (but I read twice but then again its 12am and I'm tired) but what's his name? He's a real cutie! <3

Ha! I didn't put it down! Its Blitzen

Welcome!  Blitzen is absolutely adorable

Take a look at our puppy biting threads, we have quite a bit on that subject because it's so common with Husky puppies.  Also, Huskies can be a bit aloof sometimes, they aren't always the most affectionate and when they are it's usually on their terms.  Good luck with puppyhood, we were crazy enough to dive in again and have a 14 week old.

I'm not in Illinois anymore, but I grew up in Urbana.  I really do find that I miss my cornfields

raynae03 wrote:

Hello all!! My boyfriend and I recently have welcomed a husky pup into our home.  We got him from a breeder at 8 weeks old.  He is almost 10 weeks.  He has made our home complete!!  I grew up around huskies and have had a love for them ever since I was 6.  This is our first husky and our first dog together.  I have grown up with MANY dogs in my home and in family members homes.  I knew what to expect with getting a husky and I am not expecting a miracle overnight.  So far he sits and stays really well, when he is in the mood.  I do have a couple concerns.  There are a few things that he does that seem a little dominant.  1) he jumps/nips/barks at us all the time.  I know that he telling us he wants to play.  Does anyone have a suggestion on how to break him of this?  I have been ignoring it recently and he seems to calm down rather quickly.  Is this something I should keep up with and/or is there something else I can do? 2) If I sit on the floor with him to play (he loves fetch) he will bring his toy to me and sit in my lap or go between my legs and play with the toy.  He did this from day one.  I thought of it as a comfort thing but my boyfriend thinks its dominance. Is this something I should break right away? He is going to get big soon and I don't have any more lap to spare!! :-)  3)  He isn't super affectionate, which is fine, but he always licks my face like crazy when he comes out of his crate or wakes up from one of his many naps.  Someone told me that he is trying to be dominant and someone else said that it is submissive.  I know that things are different with a husky but all the ones I grew up around were affectionate and submissive.  Can someone clarify that for me?



He doesn't seem to have a guarding issue at all.  He has no problem with me sticking my hand in his food or feeding by hand and willingly gives away his bone if I take it (to which he gets a treat).  Toys are just a little different.  He does not mind if I pick them up or hold them.  He just needs to learn to drop the toy when told.  He is very playful but I do not want to get in to rough games and it seems he wants to.  We have a lot of little kids in our family - 9 total, 5 of which are under 6, the rest range from 10-13.  We want to find the best way to stop his rough play and nipping and make play time safer for all.  I know it will take time since he is just a pup but any suggestions would be great. We always say 'no bite' and started from day one but it seems to make him want to nip more.  



Oh and does anyone have ideas on how to get his attention?  Inside he is very food motivated.  He is doing well with a clicker but outside is different.  He will not take any treats outside and doesn't seem to care about the clicker.  The world is just too interesting for him!!!

Welcome to IAHT!  Blitzen is beautiful and congrats! I, too, have wanted a Husky since I was 8 years old and I finally got Juneau when I was 20.

Now to address your concerns:  

1) Yes, he wants to play.  He is only 10 weeks old!  He has a lot of energy.  You can't really break him from trying to get your attention, he is such a young puppy and learning.  If you want him to stop, just keep ignoring him until he does what you want him to (sit or lay calmly).  When he does that, praise and give him attention for doing so.  To wear down his energy, try the following:
*Teach him commands (keep in mind you will only have about 5 minutes of his attention, if that).  Sit, lay down, shake, and speak were the easiest for Juneau to learn.  Try to teach him 'stay' at a young age- it gets really hard to teach them if they're older lol.  Mental stimulation is tiring as taking him for walks.
*Play with him around the house.  Chase him around, let him chase you.  Play tug-of-war with a rope toy.  Throw a ball to make him chase it.  He'll get tired in about 15-20 minutes and take a nap!  
*Be sure to let him outside to go potty EVERY hour.  Praise him when he pees outside.  Until Juneau was about 4-5 months, I had my eye on her EVERY second. I barely watched TV or played video games so I could pay attention to her and keep her occupied.  
***You can also take him for walks, but only 5 minutes per month of age. So 10 minute walks.  1-2 walks a day is pretty normal.  A tired husky is a happy husky!
*Take him to the dog park after he has all of his shots.  He can chase all the dogs and sniff around!


2) That is NOT a dominance thing.  He is just a puppy, so he'll be clumsy.  When he's older, he won't be crawling in your lap anymore (well, I would hope).  It gets better with age.

3) Also not a dominance thing. lol.  Juneau isn't very affectionate either, but he is just excited to see you after being in his crate for a while.  I get greeted with Juneau every day when I come home from work.  They're just happy!

Like you said, if he's not aggressive with his food or toys, then he most likely isn't dominant.  If he starts growling when you get close to his food or keeps a toy from you, he is starting to get dominant and you need to show him that you're the pack leader.


There are plenty of threads on these topics, but I hope I helped you in the meantime.

Welcome! Cute pup!


I think the wandering/ not listening when outside is just a husky trait. It will get better when your pup gets older, but sibes are very independent. Expect occasional ignorance when running around outside (hence why a leash and securely-fenced yard at all times are VERY important when owning a husky)

I want to thank everyone for their advise!!!  I took a look at the biting threads which were very helpful!! 

I hope I don't seem crazy.  I just want to make sure that I have a well-adjusted boy!! Its funny how soon I forget what puppies are like!!

He is very good and does sit/stay quite well.  We are working on down now.  So far he is doing ok with it.  Other than that he is doing very well.  We couldn't love him more!!!!

Again, I appreciate everything from everyone!!!!!

Here is my favorite picture of my boy.  He spent the day playing with my 4 year old nephew.

raynae03 wrote:

I hope I don't seem crazy.  I just want to make sure that I have a well-adjusted boy!! Its funny how soon I forget what puppies are like!!

Well, we're all sort of crazy here...

I think you'll be fine, and that you will get a super well adjusted boy.  I'm laughing, because we went through the whole puppy thing with Ghost 2 years ago, and were like "what the hell were we thinking?!" at the time.  Apparently we forgot too, because now we're doing it again.  Aaron said last night though, "let's never do a puppy without a good older dog around to help ever again"

Welcome, Blitzen is adorable.
What part of IL? We're in Lake County!