So, after much thought and many months of turmoil I'm considering finding Mila a new home. My stomach turns a little just thinking about it but I feel like we may just not be a good fit for each other. I've done all I can for her and I just feel that there's someone out there that would be better suited to her and her needs than I am. I know this breed is stubborn, but I feel like she exceeds stubborn and is actually defiant. She has a great demeanor, is very calm and loving, and obedient when she wants to be. She's like a 14 year old girl that's on crack but still wants Mommy's approval. Sometimes she comes and just puts her head in my lap for rubs, and others she's just like f*ck you, I'm going to do what I want and I don't care what you say or do about it bitch. Don't you tell me no because that just makes me want it more. And although she's gotten better in her crate I still hate leaving her because I know she's miserable in there all day. I keep thinking that another dog will help her, but I'm just scared it will double my problems. I really hate to do it because I believe that once you get an animal you have them for life, you don't just dump them off because they are an inconvenience. But I feel like she's been nothing but problems since we got her and that it would be best for her to go to someone who can deal with her problems better than I can. It really hurts my feelings a little bit but I'm starting to think it would be best for her to find a home more suited for her.  

Oh I have been there before more so with my cats when I had 4. How old is she?

Probably about a year and a half. She was at the pound, paws picked her up and another couple had her before us. Which is why I hate to do it but also why I'm going to be very picky about who takes her. I'd prefer a home with huskies already and she must be raw fed. I also want whoever takes her to be well aware of what a bratty defiant little jerk she can be. I want to find someone that knows what they're getting into because I don't want her to bounce around from home to home to shelter to pound to home. She's already done that enough, she needs someone that can stay in her life longer than a few months.

First of all, I'm sorry you feel this way. I really am and I know it's probably breaking your heart, but I'm going to be a little brutally honest here.

Going back and reading your post about how you got Milla, it sounds like you knew she had some problems when you got her. Honestly, I see nothing in this post that would be a good reason in my opinion to rehome her. I know you've dealt with some health issues recently, but really what else has there been? What have you done to try to correct it/deal with it? Or is it just plain husky stubbornness that comes with the breed? If so, that is on you for not expecting a strong willed dog when you got a husky, and it's not really fair to Milla to get tossed around again.

If you could give us some more detail about the issues, maybe you could get some positive suggestions on how to deal with what is going on?

PS. I'm not trying to attack you here, just trying to better understand the situation.

Your in those stubborn teen. Yrs and all huskies act that way, give her time. A new home is not what she needs. Im not sure I have followed any of ur issue post but it would be helpful if u link to them so we know what all the problems are

You're dealing with a typical Husky. My advice is try to just roll with it. Enjoy them for their idiosyncrasies. I don't quest understand exactly what is the problem? Just because she's disobedient?

Look, that's a husky for you. They have their own ways of doing whatever they want. What I do with my dogs is I play into that. At the park ill crouch down and creep up in them and chase them off. They get to be dumb and run away from me and they think its a big game- because it is. And then when I do need them to go its easier. Because they get to play around and be goofy Huskies but we can head back home and have it be a very easy thing.

Constantly battling who this breed is (and I know there is a certain someone who doesn't believe that ) is a losing battle. Enjoy it! Live it! Love it! But you can do all of those things and still have a dog who listens when you mean it.

Are you posting here to find her a good home or get advice?  With my cats they started to fight and pee.  I worked through it all and it was worth it for me looking back.  Yet at times it did feel helpless years ago.  Your dog is young, most dogs act up till 2-3 at times. It will get better you just need to work through it and post your frustrations here to vent. It is fine and I am sure everyone here understands.

As for a new dog, I do not know all your issues with your dog.  However if it is behavior issues, they may effect the new dog even more so if you got a puppy.  I would not get a new one as it will add more stress.  There will be some issues and adjustments even if the new dog is close to perfect.

Sorry you feel this way. A large percent of the time a husky won't calm down and be the dog that is calm 80/20 until they are around 2-2/12 years old. If you are at a year and a half, then just stick it out for a year, and do what you normally do to take care of your Mila. I agree with Sara and Jennifer. That it is just typical husky behavior. We all deal with this if we get our huskies before they are 2-3 years old, they are teenagers at this point and are very extra stubborn, so you have to just push through it since it is about as hard to take care of them as if they were still 8 month old puppies, since they technically are still pups at that age. Just do Mila and yourself a favor and give her another chance and keep in mind that you need to have a little patience with how she can be at times. You'll get through it and eventually get the benefit of the dog that you really want in the future.

If after you do some more thinking about it and you still end up feeling like Mila is not the dog you want or you don't want to wait until she is through teeny bopper years, then that is your choice in the end. Just give it some more thought, and I hope that you and Mila can still be together.

I think really I just feel a little defeated. I feel kind of like it's me against her against the world. All she's been since we got her was one issue after another and I don't feel like I've done her justice in getting them resolved. Or that she's so defiant she doesn't want them to be resolved. She definitely has her attributes and she actually really isn't disobedient. There's times that she's great and I just have to look at her and she knows what I want and she does it. And then there's just times when she's downright defiant and I swear I could literally beat her in the face with a baseball bat (obviously I haven't done anything of the sort) for doing something and she would get right back up and do it again. I understand that's the breed. That's fine. I just feel like she takes bratty and stubborn to a whole new level. But that's not even really it. I just haven't even had time to even breathe long enough to enjoy her at all because it's one issue after another after another.

She can't be left alone. Okay fine, put her in her crate.
She goes bat shit insane in her crate. Okay. Take her everywhere with me or I'll just not go and I'll stay at home with the dog because Miss Priss can't be left alone.
Put her in her crate anyway because I don't have a choice, she still tries to chew her way out. But there's nothing I can do about it because I don't have a choice.
She won't eat kibble. Okay fine.
Feed her raw. Well now she has chronic diarrhea on raw and what HOPEFULLY is only a bad batch of meat but possibly something else that is making her uncontrollably pee out of her butt. Spend $500 at the vet to find nothing and be chastised on my dog's diet and my efforts to get her to eat kibble, by 2 different vets. Now I get to clean up butt pee off the floor when I get home every day and I can't afford to take her back to the vet and figure out what else could be wrong, even though there's not a whole lot left to do besides exploratory surgery. Especially since no one can get past the fact that I'm a dimwit and didn't try hard enough to get her to eat kibble, and that since they're god's gift to everything green and holy in this world they can do it in one night. Also raw is terrible for her, it's unbalanced and she's going to die from salmonella and ecoli. So no one even wants to help me find the issue (hell, if there even is one) they just want to berate me for having a defiant brat dog with health issues. Cause that's super helpful.

I'm not really sure what I'm trying to do. I guess whichever one presents itself first. Honestly I hate having a dog that I can't take my eyes or leash off of for a millisecond. That I did not know about Huskies until after I got her. I knew she'd be stubborn and smart (aka get bored easily) and get into things, get lonely, have high energy and such. I honestly didn't want a Husky for all of those reasons. But here I am anyway. She's honestly not too high energy, she doesn't get into anything, and I still don't know if she would do better or worse with another dog. In theory and her demeanor and everything she's honestly great. It's just all the other bs. I just really don't know what to do with or about this dog.

MGoBlue wrote:

it's not really fair to Milla to get tossed around again.

Believe me I know. That's why I hate myself a little for even considering it.


I'm just to the point where I can't even look at her without being frustrated about something. Which isn't doing anybody any good and I know I'm an ass hole for it and have no business owning a Husky and everything else, I know. But it doesn't change how I feel. I just have alot of resentment for her because of all the problems she's caused and what lengths I've gone to fix them for her. And I have alot of disappointment in myself for not being able to fix them. Shit, I just wanted a dog and instead I got all of this.

A couple of suggestions to perhaps improve the behavior. Is doggie day care a viable option? Huskies are a high energy breed that need an incredible amount of exercise and when they act up, it's usually when they don't get enough. Doggie day care is great because they get worn out, get to play with a bunch of other dogs and they really enjoy it.

As for the crate, it seems from the information provided that she sees it as a negative. For us, we always treated it as a positive for Kai to get her used to it. Never force her in there or give her timeouts in there. We lured her with high value treats and even put a fan in front, which she loves. Music also helped because she would get distracted with a lot of noises and music seemed to soothe her. Her crate still isn't her favorite place, but she's a lot more tolerant of it now. I'd try to give her high value treats every time she goes in and lure her in.

Just a couple of suggestions.

I personally think you should rehome her. You don't sound like you even like her and 90% of the time the way you discribe her makes me so sad.

Don't take it the wrong way, but that's just what I think.

When you say you can't even enjoy your dog, that dog deserves better then that.

Yeah, my dogs drive me crazy and make me want scream at the top of my lungs, but I love my dogs. I wouldn't trade their asshole, bratty, bitchy, stubborn, obnoxious, devilish ways for ANYTHING. I know what it is like to have a dog that has issues that you can't figure out what is wrong. It may not be the same issue, but I know what's its like to go to vet after vet and nobody has answers. It SUCKS when you don't know how to help...but you don't give up on the dog.

Just my opinion, take it or leave it, as always.

I have a suggestion for you about trying to eat kibble. If you want to try, it may take a couple of days.

So I made the stupid decision (seemed like a great idea at the time) to put her parasite medicine in her food to get her to eat it, because she was spitting them out. And then she went on a "I am not eating my food!" Strike.

So I was just as stubborn as she was about the matter. I still gave her the food that she is supposed to eat, at what times she needed to eat. She wouldn't budge for 2 days about the matter. She would go up to her bowl, sniff the food and walk away. Then low and behold on the second day for the last feeding she gave in and ate. A husky will not starve themselves. Simple as that. She still gave me a hard time about it for the next few days, but I didn't step down. And now she gives me no problems about eating ever, unless if she is sick, but that is a different matter.

Also another tip that I found that works, is drop a few pieces on the floor, they will more then likely eat it off the floor ... no idea why.

I am sorry that you are feeling like this with Mila. On the brighter side of things, there is always the people on this forum to give you advice when you need it for specific things that you may need help with.

IMO, and ill probably be chastised for this, you are doing the dog a disservice by keeping her d all you do is get mad at her and stress. Dogs can read that. I have had a lot of issues with my dogs and never felt I wanted to "hit them in the face with a bat" or blames them for things I could be fixing.

Perhaps the best option is returning her to the rescue where they can find someone who can provide her with the care she needs.

I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think the dog is solely at fault here.

If you're that frustrated with her, it's only going to make all the issues you have a hundred times worse.

There are plenty of things you can do with her issue being left alone, have you looked into herbal calmers? Valerian works amazingly on me and I've seen it being used on dogs at work who came in for the non-anesthetic dental. My BC is also on that in conjunction with traditional medication for CCD. It works.

As for her diet, I know how frustrating that can be. We did it for months with Rodeo. It's trial and error. You just have to keep trying to get her tummy stable, the more she has runs the more inflamed and irritated her insides are going to be.

Yes, you can't take them off lead. But there are a million things you CAN do with them. My dogs love to run with me, pull on the rollerblades, hike ect. You don't need an off leash dog to enjoy things with them.

In the end- if you're not into it, you need to find her someone who is because its only making you frustrated and her confused.

I'm sorry about the frustrations you're going through. Shibas have the tendency to be jerks as well, so I can relate in some aspects.

heather.jane19 wrote:

And then there's just times when she's downright defiant and I swear I could literally beat her in the face with a baseball bat (obviously I haven't done anything of the sort)

This is admittedly frightening to read.

heather.jane19 wrote:

She can't be left alone. Okay fine, put her in her crate.
She goes bat shit insane in her crate. Okay. Take her everywhere with me or I'll just not go and I'll stay at home with the dog because Miss Priss can't be left alone.
Put her in her crate anyway because I don't have a choice, she still tries to chew her way out. But there's nothing I can do about it because I don't have a choice.
She won't eat kibble. Okay fine.
Feed her raw. Well now she has chronic diarrhea on raw and what HOPEFULLY is only a bad batch of meat but possibly something else that is making her uncontrollably pee out of her butt. Spend $500 at the vet to find nothing and be chastised on my dog's diet and my efforts to get her to eat kibble, by 2 different vets.

My advice: look into a daycare. Seriously. It will be worth it. It also sounds like Milla has separation anxiety, not necessarily being "prissy." And... look into a new hospital entirely. If they're seriously chastising you and pushing you into kibble over raw, they're not worth your time, energy, or money.

My personal opinion is that you should probably invest in someone, or looking into a rescue, who will take better care of her. It's obvious you're not happy and I'm sure Milla isn't, either.

The fact that you can't even look at her without getting upset at her says a lot. Separation anxiety is a pretty common thing and it sounds like you're blaming her for wanting to be with you. Have you tried thunder shirts or any of the other techniques they have out there for separation anxiety? It can be managed and her crate can become an positive experience. Have you thought about training classes? Huskies are stubborn, but not untrainable. Training classes would also help with your bond with her and make it stronger. It would be a positive experience for the both of you, which right now it sounds like you haven't had any of those. No dog is too old for classes (mythbuster proved this!!!)

Have you put her on a bland diet to reset her system? It sounds like she really needs it, for a couple days at least. Having a dog that is sick and wont eat what you want them to is very frustrating. And it can be disheartening, which is what it sounds like you are right now. Huskies are not labs and you can't expect the same things from a husky that you would from a lab, that's not fair to her. I really think that the training classes would be a good place to start. At least give it a shot first, before making any other decisions.

Coda could be a real butthead at that age. He tore stuff up in the house when we were gone, Ate a crate and chewed up the bottom of all my kitchen cabinets lol. So then we started putting him outside more. That resulted in calls from the doggie popo "Hello Mrs Murphy are you missing your dog" He snapped a metal tie out cable while we were constructing his dog run. Made him a nice 15 foot wide by 150 foot long run on the side of the yard. He had his own sand box to dig in, tether ball pool to tie toys to to tug on and a awning type shelter for shade plus a dog house.Once the run was done he dug under the fence. so we put cement around the base. He dug it out so we made it thicker. He then chewed and ripped through the chain link at one point. I was at my wits end. I didn't know what to do with him. So we started exercising him more and just dealt with his moody counter surfing self and as he got a little older he really mellowed. He is no longer destructive. He doesn't escape the dog run any more. Other than trying to sneak up on the couch when no one is looking and still counter surfing when he gets a change he is very different from how he was during that adolescent period. He is a great dog. Amazing with our kids and he lets our cats beat him up or sleep with him depending on their fickle moods lol. I hope you give your husky time and are just saying the things you are out of frustration. Side note if you think another dog might help but don't want to commit till you know maybe consider offering to be a short term foster and see how it goes?

She sounds like a typical husky. My vet tech said something to me a few weeks ago: "It takes a certain special personality to really enjoy owning a husky". I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing - it just is. Perhaps huskies aren't a good breed for you?

If only I had my own place I would totally take her!! Reading your post breaks my heart and I feel so sorry for your poor baby and hate to hear things like that. Daisy drives me nuts too and she can be bitchy too but I would never give her up for anything! She is my baby now, but before her I was all about me, me, me but now everything revolves around her, just like a human baby.

If you can't find a better home for her and if you are thinking about "literally beat her in the face with a baseball bat" please take her back or get professional help from a trainer. I'm sorry you feel like that but I pray that you either find the patience to give Mila the love she deserves or find a better loving home for her.

Honestly, I think you just described a teenage husky in need of positive reinforcement training. If you want to go down that road, you two may have a bright future together. However, if you're past the point of no return I almost think finding her a new home may be a good option. It's not fair to her to be punished for being a typical husky and if you are no longer interested in investing that time then I'm sure the right owner is out there. Please don't take what I said personally, it's just my opinion.

Heather, I just want to say that I've been where you are now and I know how you're feeling. Believe me, there was a time when I was thinking and feeling the same things you are now. I promise you that if you do stick with it it DOES get better. As has been said, she's a teenager and she's acting like a typical husky teen would. We all have to go through it and yes, it's really hard. I almost gave up on my boy too when he was a teen and I swear to you I was ready to load him up and take him back to the shelter we adopted him from. My hubby was the one who gently reminded me that pets are for life and that we needed to give him another chance. Boy am I glad I changed my mind and decided to stick it out with Dakota because he went on to be one of the best behaved and most amazing dogs I have ever known. People comment on him all the time and how well behaved and what a wonderful dog he is but little do they know about the struggle we had to go through to get him to that point and how absolutely insane and difficult he used to be. I know it's hard to hear people saying that he's just a teenager and that it will get better and easier with time when you're feeling like shit with a problem dog but we're saying these things because it's true, it does get better and if I'd known then what I know now about how different my dog would be because I stuck it out I wouldn't have ever considered sending him away. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't keep your dog, that's entirely your decision, but bear in mind that this troublesome period really doesn't last long in the grand scheme of things if you stick it out and work with her.

heather.jane19 wrote:

MGoBlue wrote:

it's not really fair to Milla to get tossed around again.

Believe me I know. That's why I hate myself a little for even considering it.


I'm just to the point where I can't even look at her without being frustrated about something. Which isn't doing anybody any good and I know I'm an ass hole for it and have no business owning a Husky and everything else, I know. But it doesn't change how I feel. I just have alot of resentment for her because of all the problems she's caused and what lengths I've gone to fix them for her. And I have alot of disappointment in myself for not being able to fix them. Shit, I just wanted a dog and instead I got all of this.

Don't hate yourself, I know she has been a huge challenge since the day you brought her home. 2 things though, 1 - get over your resentment, just remember you're the adult in the situation lol, just think of her as a pita preteen and roll your eyes at her silly teenage bitchiness. She's not doing it on purpose, even the stuff that seems defiant, as others have said, that's just part of the husky personality, also consider she might actually just feel crappy from the constant water poop so she acts out. 2 - start having fun with her every day. Get a long line and take her to an open space and play. Get her attention and run away from her, then chase her, play with toys, play fetch, play tug, whatever she likes, go hiking, anything fun the two of you can do together. Dogs are supposed to be fun right? Lol.

I honestly think that you are the best home for her, your commitment to her has really been nothing short of amazing so far and I honestly can't imagine someone taking her in that would show the same dedication to her. I can totally understand your frustration and building resentment, but I think you just need to take a step back and try and distance yourself emotionally a little bit. Yes, she's a princess, yes she has extremely specific dietary needs, yes she's difficult. I agree with Val that the most challenging and difficult dogs often turn out to be your heart dog. My first husky was like this and I love that dog more than anything, there were times though... Val is right, it will get better. A relationship with a husky is very different than any other dog. They don't show affection to everyone, or sometimes, it seems they show affection to everyone but their owner lol. But a truly deep bond with a husky is earned, you've earned it, and she'll give it to you, but it takes time. I'm sure she has trust issues from being bounced around. If you decide that you can't deal with her, I know you won't do it lightly. Focus on the health issues, get her poop solid, start having fun together, and go from there.

Based on your last description, I went through the exact same thing with Gus. He had, and still has, separation anxiety. It was REALLY bad when we first rescued him at 4mths old (he's now 7mths). Couldn't even walk out the door without a crying fit. We started daycare because we had to go back to work, and we live in a condo, so letting him cry all day just wasn't an option. But every day after work, we would practice separation anxiety training. i.e. desensitizing him to our departures, coming in and out of the house several times a night (sometimes for short periods, sometimes for longer). Then we also had a bad case of diarrhea, turns out he has giardia (still does!). So no daycare! It has been a really rough couple weeks of having to keep Gus at home, but with a lot of persistence, he is slowly getting better. He has his good days, and he has his bad days. Yesterday was a good day! Today... not so good!

Gus ALSO hates his crate! We tried crate training with no luck. We feed him every meal in there, and give him toys and treats when he goes in. Still cries his head off if we leave the house though. So now, we have set up an area with a VERY TALL gate to keep him in. And we put him in his kennel to sleep. Sleeping in his kennel was not easy at first, and he still has some bad days. We placed his kennel where he could see us, then eventually slowly moved it away. Every meal we feed him is handfed while doing commands to practice training and to prevent resource guarding from me.

He just spent a couple days at a boarding facility when we were out of town, and every time he comes back, i swear he's like a WILD DOG!!! He jumps, nips, howls, steals things RIGHT in front of me, a terror on his leash, etc. But all he needed was a quick training session with me to refocus him. But it's like we're back at square one with sleeping in his crate again. So we start back at square one!

I was in your shoes just a couple months ago when we brought Gus home. There were a lot of tears, and a lot of omg-what-are-we-going-to-do's. But we told him when we brought him home that he would always have a home with us, so I'm not going to give up. I know there is a good dog in there! I know he WANTS to be a good dog, but he just needs some confidence first. I may not be the best person to talk to about separation anxiety because CLEARLY my dog still has it. But what we are dealing with now is a vast improvement from what we were dealing with before! Message me if you want to chat!

Hello Heather,
I think you are doing great and wonderful thing by posting your issues on here. I understand where you are coming from, I have had 3 of these beautiful kids and have dealt with the same issues you have been facing.

Maya, my 3 year old was chained to a tree for several months from her previous owner before I brought her home with me. She was definitely the defiant one because she had new rules and boundaries to deal with. Plus my girlfriend has 3 cats and a pomeranian / shih tzu 1 year old his name is Ralph.

Maya was a terror on poor Ralph, we thought she was going to kill him at first. We soon realized that this was just playing and we had to let them play. When you see your new Husky wrap Ralph's entire neck and head in her mouth, it is a little frightening...

She started with her bullying to Ralph, and started taking things right put of his mouth. Ralph retaliates but to no avail.

I purchased a set of rollerskates and started around the block a few times. This helps tremendously!

If all you can do is get rid of her, send me a PM I will be happy to drive down to SC and see if I can take her. I have been very successful with Huskys.