Hey guys I just got a Alaskan Siberian husky he's 7 months old. I'm looking for some tips so hopefully you guys can help. He's very hyper which I don't mind it's the constant play biting and out ragious humping lol, Will neutering him stop him and calm him down alittle? I left him alone for 4 hours and he rip down 2 blinds, should I cage him when no ones home or will he calm down after he gets use to us.... How long do u think it will take for him to get use to a new family at the age of 7 months.... And do u consider training? I've benn looking at local dog training company's just want to hear other opinions on experience, other than that he's an awesome dogs Thanks :-)

Crates are your friend. Yes, crate him when you're not around. Time outs when he gets too rough. How often do you walk him? Training should help as well.

Welcome.

Crate him: yes, for his safety and your sanity.

Neutering: I would go for it, that will most likely curb the humping behavior if not stop it.

Training: definitely go for it. Huskies are very intelligent dogs and will get into trouble and entertain themselves if they don't get proper mental and physical exercise. Plus, it will help with bonding and building a relationship.

Biting: there is a stickie on play biting and I followed a lot of the suggestions on there that really helped, but honestly what helped my pup the most was doggie daycare. He's learned how hard is too hard, and also to back off when another dog (or me) yelps.

Exercise: you didn't mention this one, but I thought I'd bring it up. Getting him proper exercise is going to change your life lol. As you've seen, he has a lot of energy to burn and will get himself in trouble if he doesn't have an outlet. What do you do for him to get exercise? You're at that tricky age where you can't run him too much because of his joints, but at the same time he needs lots of physical exercise.

thanks guy for the feed back, going to get a crate asap, it seems like he starts acting up when we are about to lay down and go to sleep... Exercise: i let him go loose in the back yard and play tug a war with him and throw the ball around for like a half hour then i walk him for about an hour, but it seems like when we get inside the house just constant play biting and humping. im definately looking into the neutering and training for him. Something i noticed last night while walking him, he was walking right next to me and i would reach down to pet him and he would flinch like i was gonna hit him. Starting to think previous owner use to hit him, but not sure!

Also guy whats ur suggestion on a pinch collar the orginal owner gave me one but i read not to use on huskys, just wanna know if u guys use them?

No pinch collar please.

Just curious why you don't like them? I use one occasionally with Dizzy, but much prefer my rolled leather martingale.

I prefer a no pull harness over any collar for walking but I have seen damage from a pinch collar when used incorrectly. If used correctly they are fine but the general public does not know how to use them correctly.

What about the play biting constantly... Would a muzzle help him, or just use a muzzle when kids are around or when around other people... i read on here to use a water spray bottle but im asking if we are out and around kids and strangers

Work on redirection. When Loki was a puppy and now with my Django, We would redirect them to a toy instead of our hands and yelp when he would bit too hard.  If he got too spun up we would put him in the bathroom as a form of time out. If you are crate training don't use your crate as a time-out place. That is his comfy place not a punishment place.  Also we worked on the gentle command by letting him mouth us and if he was soft we would give him a treat and praise. I would work on this so you can take him out without a muzzle because a muzzle is more like a bandaid IMO it doesn't fix the issue it just covers it up for the moment.

And here are some photos of what using a pinch collar can do if not used correctly.  Some worse case I know but still

Thanks so you suggest a spray bottle tho for at the house like i said before he gets really bad when its about time to lay down and sleep, i started the bathroom time thing last night he would start biting then humping i would stand up and yell NO then he did it again i took him to the bathroom and closed the door for about 15 min

Thanks everyone for the input and suggestions really appricate it also gotta say i gotta have the patience with Lucky but im gonna get him to where he will be a great dog, makes me wanna do it more cause i rescued him so i kinda knew it was gonna be a challenge Thanks again

I hear that the spray bottle works for some but it didn't with my older one. So haven't even tried it with the pup. My pup is 14 weeks old and teething badly so he just wants to chew on everything and everyone. Anytime he starts to chew on us we have a Nylabone we give him and it saves our fingers. Note that your dog is only 7 months and still very much a puppy about to enter the teenage phase in a few months. More then likely he has had no training and was hit for his bad behavior by his past owners from what you say about his finching. It will take time to resolve the puppy biting it doesn't happen overnight or over a week just stick to it and it will get better. The humping should get better if you plan on neutering.

Suggestions on should i neuter him first then start the dog training from petsmart or start the training asap

Depends on the training facility. They might ask you to have him neutered before. Find a school that prescribes to positive reinforcement training. I find they are the best to work with for all breeds.

I would highly suggest you start training at home if you are going to wait until after he is neutered. Check out Kikopup on Youtube. She is excellent!

If you are going to use a prong, ask a trainer how to put it on and how to use it. In your avatar, his prong is on WAY too low. It needs to be high up under the chin to provide the correct correction. I would avoid using one until you go to class. See what your trainer thinks. You may not have to use one at all!

Prove lots of chewies for him in the crate when you aren't home. This will help curb boredom. He is a little young right now but you will probably have to start running with him to get the edge off that energy. The days my dog is happiest are the days we go for 5K runs.

I wouldn't use a squirt bottle for nipping and definitely not a muzzle (as thats not really what they are designed for). Mine would find it a game and despise the muzzle! Better to redirect him to a toy or up and leave when he gets too rough. It helps to add a noise, "Ouch!", so he is cued into the fact that he is biting too hard and the game will soon end.

Training ASAP at home. If you can get him a class that takes unneutered dog do that as well. Not only will it teach you the tools you need to reel in his undesired behaviors but it will help with bond building between the 2 of you. Depending on if he stopped growing is when you should neuter him talk to your vet. There are many schools of thought on when to neuter. Some do it at 6 months (me) other wait until a year to year and a half.

eander83 wrote:

Work on redirection. When Loki was a puppy and now with my Django, We would redirect them to a toy instead of our hands and yelp when he would bit too hard.  If he got too spun up we would put him in the bathroom as a form of time out. If you are crate training don't use your crate as a time-out place. That is his comfy place not a punishment place.  Also we worked on the gentle command by letting him mouth us and if he was soft we would give him a treat and praise. I would work on this so you can take him out without a muzzle because a muzzle is more like a bandaid IMO it doesn't fix the issue it just covers it up for the moment.

And here are some photos of what using a pinch collar can do if not used correctly.  Some worse case I know but still

But what about pinch collars do you actually not like, other than there being the possibility that something can go wrong if used improperly?

Technically a normal collar and a leash can break a dog's neck if used improperly or abusively.

Luckymikey wrote:

thanks guy for the feed back, going to get a crate asap, it seems like he starts acting up when we are about to lay down and go to sleep... Exercise: i let him go loose in the back yard and play tug a war with him and throw the ball around for like a half hour then i walk him for about an hour, but it seems like when we get inside the house just constant play biting and humping. im definately looking into the neutering and training for him. Something i noticed last night while walking him, he was walking right next to me and i would reach down to pet him and he would flinch like i was gonna hit him. Starting to think previous owner use to hit him, but not sure!

One suggestion here: letting him run around loose in the yard is not exercise, it's free time. Try to incorporate focused, structured exercise where you are actively engaged with him and showing him that you are a source of good things like bonding, treats, guidance, structure, praise, and energy release. These are all things that he needs from you specifically.

Your main mission right now is building trust and respect. Not only will this settle him down and bring his bond to you further along, but it will put you in a position to start hacking away at the behavioral problems you are seeing.

Without the bond first, you're really swimming upstream.

seattlesibe wrote:

But what about pinch collars do you actually not like, other than there being the possibility that something can go wrong if used improperly?  

Technically a normal collar and a leash can break a dog's neck if used improperly or abusively.  

The worst part about prongs (if you ask me) is that nobody knows how to put them on correctly. If it isn't high up on their neck, its not doing its job. The tag says to seek professional assistance for usage. Many, many people do not and still have a dog who pulls. Because it isn't put on right.

I worked at a pet store and whenever someone bought one I would tell them how to take the links out and where the collar should actually rest.

No pull harnesses are a good option but I want my dog to pull me when he is in harness. I scraped that idea. The head collar was ok. I have used one before on Pepper and it worked marvelously. Except Bae lunges when he sees other dogs. He could snap his own neck!

I use a prong on Bae when we walk with Pepper because walking two 50lb dogs is pushing it. They both walk nicely but what if... Squirrel! or Dog!. I don't want to be on my butt with a loose dog.

Right, so once they are on properly and used correctly....

I agree, it has to be properly fit and used, but I don't think they are any worse than regular chain choke collars, in fact those seem worse to me. I had one dog I couldn't use a pinch collar on, it just didn't work for him and he would have hurt himself pulling like crazy (golden ret). It works well for Dizzy and worked for my first sibe too.

They definitely have a higher margin for error, that's for sure.  But when used properly they seem to be a great choice in the right circumstances.

I didn't know you used one for Dizzy.

I don't like how people use them like a choke collar and do damage. A lot of people think that is what they are used for. And what you say is true anything used improperly can cause damage but with a pinch collar there is a lot of uncertainty on how it should be used. Just how people have the misconception that huskies are huge dogs and great guard dogs I would like for those who plan on doing something (getting a husky, using a pinch collar, or jumping out of plane) need to learn about it before they jump right it and doing harm to themselves or those around them. I'll get off my soap box now.
I also don't walk mine on regular collars but on harnesses. Their collars are just for tags and so they aren't naked .

Better stated.

Cheers.

eander83 wrote:

I don't like how people use them like a choke collar and do damage. A lot of people think that is what they are used for. And what you say is true anything used improperly can cause damage but with a pinch collar there is a lot of uncertainty on how it should be used. Just how people have the misconception that huskies are huge dogs and great guard dogs I would like for those who plan on doing something (getting a husky, using a pinch collar, or jumping out of plane)  need to learn about it before they jump right it and doing harm to themselves or those around them. I'll get off my soap box now.
I also don't walk mine on regular collars but on harnesses. Their collars are just for tags and so they aren't naked .

Ah, I think I know what you mean now. You mean using it to do leash corrections right? The old school leash jerking thing? I don't do that with Dizzy at all anyway, so it took me a few minutes to figure out what you meant. I can see how injury could easily happen that way.