Hey all, I'm making a lot of threads lately but I'm now a nervous expecting father of sorts - bringing home my puppy this weekend!

The breeder will take me through everything as well, but I also wanted to solicit feedback on 'puppy proofing' the house, general best practices, things you've learned that you'd do differently, tips - really anything.

Beyond those basic, also interested to hear what people have had success with as far as an order of obedience commands to learn (i.e what can I start doing right away, what can I do a month from now, etc).

Feel free to link me to other threads too, I didn't find what I was looking for via search but that doesn't mean it isnt there!

I've done a lot of research and I feel ready in theory...but my heart is telling me "oh god what am I going to do with this thing?"   

There's a post on the sticky thread in the top right that is really helpful

Huskies 101

About 7 posts down, you'll see some topics such as "So you're bringing home a husky". Check those ones out - a LOT of information in those threads.

I started training Karli commands right away. Of course all she did the first day was sleep because she cried in her kennel all night after we got home, but when I would feed her I would make her sit before I gave her the food. So she learned sit pretty quickly. The crying in the kennel stopped after the first night, feeding her meals in the kennel really helped with that. You may not have any accidents for like the first week then all of a sudden have an accident every time you turn around, this is normal. Once they settle in, puppies will feel more free to do their business. Expect to loose some sleep too for the first couple of months because you have to get up to let them out in the middle of the night. To help with potty training, you can tether the puppy to you so that you can keep an eye on it and rush it outside the minute an accident starts. Good luck!!!

Don't let them out of your sight. .. expect them to sleep quite a bit don't be upset if they don't take to you right away they're adjusting. Sleep when they sleep other wise prepare to be a walking zombie I think the first week was probably the hardest. Start nilf training right away. I waited a week and then started basic commands

Crack down on the biting right away. I wish i was more strict with it. It didnt hurt to bad as a puppy and it was kind of cute. But its a pain now even though it is getting a little better

Imagine what it would be like to have a wild, rabid, racoon running around your house/apartment and then be happy if your husky is in the least bit more domesticated.

In all seriousness, don't have your expectations too high, and don't doubt yourself. A lot of the stuff that makes the first week hellish is stuff they will learn and grow out of very quickly.

wpskier222 wrote:

Imagine what it would be like to have a wild, rabid, racoon running around your house/apartment and then be happy if your husky is in the least bit more domesticated.

 





Pretty much what everyone said. Be stern from the get go and don't let the pup get away with anything because now is the time to establish you mean business. Lol.

Great advise from everyone so far. I have a suggestion from personal experience which may seem a bit mean but it has really helped my pup to see me as mom or "pack leader" and to trust the decisions I make for her.
Don't ever let your puppy on the couch or anywhere where humans sit from day one. Give him/her a special bed or mat to lay on. Teach puppy to sit and wait for the release word "okay" before he can eat his bowl of food. When puppy gets a bit older (12 weeks) start to teach him to politely wait for you to go through the door first before a walk. This will take a while and is something we still have to reinforce from time to time. This will teach self control, prevent door dashing and will reinforce that YOU are the leader. This may seem a bit ridged but if you start training self control from day one it will make training easier down the road.

wpskier222 wrote:

Imagine what it would be like to have a wild, rabid, racoon running around your house/apartment and then be happy if your husky is in the least bit more domesticated.

Made me LOL IRL... although it would have definitely come in handy with Stark for a little bit of his puppy-hood...  

simplify wrote:

Pretty much what everyone said. Be stern from the get go and don't let the pup get away with anything because now is the time to establish you mean business. Lol.

Can you be more specific about be stern? Most of what I read indicates that one shouldn't use 'corrections' unless the behavior is quite bad, and otherwise ignore undesirable behaviors and positively reinforce good ones.

Thanks all!

Ha ha. A lot of the suggestions everyone has given are very helpful. My pup is kind of a goofy monster and a lot of the stuff Erica suggested was way over his head when I first brought him home. Basically for about the first 4-6 weeks, the only thing I was teaching him was potty training, calming behavior and socialization. The other thing that was really important was establishing his trust, it sounds odd, but it was probably what I focused on the most. Once he got used to our lifestyle, I was able to start incorporating some of the other things. Only recently I taught him to wait for his food, he's never been a door rusher so thankfully I haven't had to deal with that. If your pup can learn all the stuff suggested at 8 weeks great, if not don't worry. I think its more important to work on building a relationship at that young age. Don't get discouraged, he/she will grow out of the crazy for a brief period before adolescence hits. Let the pup be a pup, don't be too concerned about training and commands.

Instead of correcting him, set him up for success and limit his access to everything, as he grows and becomes more mature, you can let his world expand a bit. The best advice I've heard is to think about your puppy as if it were a human infant. Would you yell at a baby for putting something in her mouth? Hopefully not, you would just take it away, give her a toy, and do a better job baby proofing the house. If a baby smacks you in the face, would you discipline her? Probably not since she's still learning how to use her hands, just remember your puppy is an innocent soul, doing what comes naturally and you need to teach him/her with love and patience.

Also, get some ear plugs, it will make crate training a little more bearable.

Ha, yep, earplugs and or relaxing music on headphones. By the end of week 1 you are to be lacking sleep and maniacal, then it just gets better rapidly everyday.

I think the biggest life lesson in week 1 is calmness, so not reinforcing and promoting excitement and hyperactivity.

Absolute strict consistency with house training and trusting you around his food are right up there of course. Make sure he sees you as the person in charge, meaning all good things come from you and through you at your pace and from your expectations. This is huge for bonding .

Best of luck. Let us know if you wanna meet up with some Seattle folks sometime for anything, even just encouragement.

Are you raising him alone or with family, partner, roommates??

I definitely agree with the not getting enough sleep part. I remember the first couple of weeks after bringing Luna home falling asleep on the floor a lot. I would wait until she took a nap and just slept right next to her so that I would wake up if she woke up so I could rush her outside to pee. I don't have any of my own but from what I've heard, it's a lot like having a human baby. Sleep when they sleep, follow them around, adjust to their schedule, etc.

wpskier222 wrote:

The other thing that was really important was establishing his trust, it sounds odd, but it was probably what I focused on the most.

I really agree with this a lot too. Puppy proofing, training, socialization,.. these are all important things too but if you don't have that bond with your puppy then it's going to be a lot harder to teach them anything. When I took Luna to "kindergarten" last summer the trainer commented on how good it was that she was so focused on me. I attribute that to all the time I've spent with her and the positive reinforcement training I've really tried to be consistent with. It seems that Sibes are especially sensitive, so if they know you love them they will bond to you in return. That's the basis for your relationship, and the foundation of all future training you're going to do.

Thanks everyone! He's home now. He had a rough first day going from vancouver island to washington on the ferry, but he was potty trained very very well already so no accidents! This leads me to three topics I wanna bring up for feedback though:

-He was previously on a schedule going potty right after meals, however, his schedule got messed up due to the travel stress (I still fed him at the normal times). He lets me know when he needs to go but it's not on schedule. After he settles in should I insist he goes right after meals? Like stand there and wait as he howls at me?

-Water - again no accidents so far, but should he have access to water at all times? Or just with meals/after heavy exercise? I guess my concern is it will screw up his existing potty training.

-He lets me touch his bowl while eating no problem. I can comfortably say there's no guarding issues. Sometimes he doesn't like to be touched on his tummy or neck area while eating or chewing. To me this makes sense - that would be real annoying to be touched there while eating, I lean towards this being not a big deal, however, at the same time, there's always the potential for something to happen with a stranger. Thoughts on working on that versus ignoring with him?

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate everyones opinions.

Our first week with Kodi wasn't so bad.

The first three days were actually the worst. But that's because the careless breeder had left Kodi unattended, he got a hold of a sock and ingested it. We brought him home, without knowing this. The anxiety from the car ride triggered a rough cough from him and I thought it was Kennel Cough. We decided to wait a couple of days to see if he would recover or not. My poor baby coughed all night long the first day, but he was still really energetic and hyper. By the second day I woke up really early in the morning to hear him whimpering and I immediately rushed to him. He's fine with sleeping in his kennel. I had laid down a pillow for him to sleep on. He vommited up something AWFUL looking and he was so upset he was trying to nose it out of the kennel. I let him out and cleaned up the mess. When I took it to the kitchen it was a sock... I unfolded the sock...it was an ADULT sock.

Needless to say, I panicked Kodi's very first vet visit was going to be an emergency. I was afraid that he might have had another sock in him... Took him to the vet and they xrayed him and did checkups. They found shards of bone in his belly which they gave me medicine for to help him pass it. I was pretty furious, I informed the breeder of what had happened.

I rambled on...

But anyway, for the pottying when Kodi I took Kodi out every hour until he was 4-5 months. He eventually began to inform me of when he had to potty by jumping up and high-fiving the back of my head while I would be doing work. (Yes, I'm pretty serious about that)

On thing that I've done with Kodi to get him in the habit was saying "Potty" just as he went to the bathroom, and then rewarding him graciously for doing it in a timely manner. This has been a huge help because when it starts to downpour and Kodi has to use the bathroom I can say "Go Potty!" and he will eliminate quickly.

Feed him from your hands too at times while rubbing him. Get him used to being handled. Especially when you take him to the vet and they need to examine him. Dogs can develop issue especially with their paws being touched. With Kodi I would roll him onto his back in between my legs and sort of hand feed him like a baby while my husband rubbed him and played with his feet. Kodi at first protested as a young pup, but now he really loves it. He now always wants to sit in my lap and be rubbed.

I would also try to start him early on games. Fetch is a good one, and Kodi picked it up the first week that we had him. Fetch is his favorite past time, hence he's always sticking toys in my lap. Oh and as far as chewing goes, spend some time with him letting him chew while you hold the toy for him and petting him. It's good bonding. It also teaches him that if he wants to chew, that you are not the chew toy, his chew toy is his chew toy.