In this post, I hope to share our experience with Kaikoura and her puppy biting. Since it’s such a common topic on the forum, I figured I’d share what worked for us, what did not and hope that it helps new owners when they’re frustrated and don’t feel like anything is working. Again, just my experience and every dog is different, but I feel there are some valuable lessons to share. Kai is only 4 months old now, so she’s still a baby, but her biting has improved dramatically. I’ll share if it gets bad again, but she’s so much better than she was.

We picked Kai up at 7 weeks and it was about a week after having her home that she got quite nippy. Her teeth (as all puppy teeth are) were razor sharp, so it hurt when she would play bite or nip you while you were walking or sitting. Visiting the Forum, I found possible solutions and causes. She was definitely teething (still doing that), and learning what was OK to bite and what was not OK. Just like a child, they have to be taught (babies bite too!)

Our goal was to teach her in a positive way and not use any aggressive techniques.

Does this sound familiar? Your husky not being receptive to the recommended techniques, the biting is getting worse, your husky will nip at your ankles or arms when you’re just sitting around, your husky will chase you when you try to leave the room and bite you when you leave, your arms look terrible as your husky keeps nipping at them. Kai did all of these and we were prepared for a long puppy biting period. Again, she’s only 4 months so she could very well regress again, but she has improved so much that I feel comfortable sharing our story. Here are my recommendations for new owners who experience this:

Be patient because it (eventually) gets better (with consistent training)
I think knowing this is a great help. It might seem completely hopeless at certain points, but just know that with consistent techniques, your husky will improve dramatically. Puppy biting is normal, all breeds do it and it’s just something to work through. Time is your best trainer, but your puppy will be a puppy for a while so you need to teach them that skin is not OK to bite or chew

Try your hardest not to push your husky off of you
This is one of the most important and difficult. When your puppy is biting, it’s such a natural reaction to push them off. This has the opposite reaction, though, and they think it’s a game; it will only make it worse. My fiancee would do this when Kai would bite and she would only run back for more because she thought she was playing with her

Consistency with biting techniques
We used and tried a variety since she wasn’t receptive to them, but we kept trying. We left the room (only worked some of the time), yelped (again some of the time), hooked her to a time-out leash (recommended by trainer and did NOT work. She just laid down and ate the leash ), gently held her lower jaw, with the thumb gently on or underneath her tongue and pointer finger underneath the jaw. They can’t bite and you can tell them no from there (this was somewhat effective). Redirection (worked very well and more on the next line:)

Have lots of chew toys readily available
This has been mentioned a lot throughout the forum, but have toys, bully sticks, etc available. Your puppy is teething so he/she will have to chew something and it’s perfectly fine for them to chew on these things. When they come after you, stick something in their mouth and continue to redirect. I always ensured that I had a toy or bully stick near my side in case she sprang out of nowhere suddenly in a biting mood

Teach your husky the kisses command early
I believe this helped a lot with Kai’s development. To teach them kisses is tough and be prepared for some torn up arms, but it’s a great command to know at an early age. Once she knew kisses, I would make her give me kisses for most treats and even sometimes for her water/food. When I left the room when she was bitey, I would come down the stairs, make her sit and give me kisses before I joined her again. I also would make her sit when she was biting (if she listened) and then make her kiss me. Of course any kisses should be followed by a lot of positive reinforcement. Your husky wants to please you and have fun. If they discover that giving you kisses is what makes you happy, they’ll want to keep doing that

Socialization with other dogs
Dogs learn from other dogs and socializing them early can have a hugely positive effect on their development. Now of course you don’t want to take them to dog parks too early out of fear of getting them sick, but dogs that you know are vaccinated and puppy-friendly as well as obedience classes (which can start early) are helpful. Kai would routinely wrestle a chocolate lab puppy for 15 minutes prior to class starting and then at the end. Daycare is another great option, though most won’t take them until after 3 months. Kai goes a couple days a week now and it’s been so good for her.

This has been our experience thus far. We are new husky owners and knew training could only come with consistency. This forum has been so good for information and knowledge that it made me want to share back what worked and what didn’t with others to help them with their new husky. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

This is good, i am going though all of this currently myself. We have had most improvements with time outs (a small bathroom with nothing in it and shutting the light off untill she is calm) and along with redirecting while playing with rikku, I also added bitter spray to my arms and hands. The bitter spray has been very effective but only works while its wet, but in a weeks time of the bitter spray she has been thinking twice about biting. Just wanted to add to this good information

This is good information, thank you for the tips. I know someone who needs this advice for their adopted puppy right now, I'll pass it along.

Appreciate the experience sharing. I think I can put it together myself based on the general training procedures I've read, but since I'm a newb, can you describe how you trained your pup to perform kisses?

riggaberto wrote:

Appreciate the experience sharing. I think I can put it together myself based on the general training procedures I've read, but since I'm a newb, can you describe how you trained your pup to perform kisses?  

Sure! I grabbed a couple of her favorite treats, knelt down and made my hand limp, which I then put in front of her face. I said kisses. She naturally bit it instead. I said "no teeth" kisses with my hand still limp. I never changed it from its limp position and kept saying kisses and showing her the treat until she kissed me. When she did, I made a big deal out of it. She got a treat and a whole lot of praise. We repeated that a while and then worked in it every day. She sometimes tried and still tries occasionally to just tap my hand with her nose instead of licking, but then she doesn't get a treat

I made sure to have her give me kisses as often as possible. Like I said above, if she wanted her food/water bowl, sit and give kisses. Even one lick and it would be fine. It was the process of making her associate kisses as a good thing was important.

Hope this helps!