Hi! I'm new to this site, and I have a question. We recently adopted our dog Jax who is obviously a husky (mix?) he is perfect....except he treats me like I'm his dog, but my boyfriend and even e cat seem to have complete control over him. I'm very frustrated and I don't know what to do anymore. As some background, he is roughly 1.5-2, clearly abused (very head shy and scarred of tall thin men) and he is being walked everyday. Any advise is welcome! I have had dogs all my life, and I already love Jax, but I'm overwhelmed!

What do you mean he treats you like his dog?

Huskies and a lot of those mixes who wind up with a lot of Husky traits tend to be headstrung. They are independent animals which can often be seen as being disobedient or that they don't "respect" you.

What is it exactly that he is or isn't doing? A lot of Huskies who wind up in rescue/shelter do so because whomever had them prior didn't do any sort of training and the dog is not at all accustomed to taking any direction from their owner.

I find for newer dogs into the household it's best to increase exercise the first few weeks (beyond what you would normally do) to help the dog adjust and be more biddable to learn the rules of the new house.

He doesn't respect me at all unless I don't give hi a choice. He is very head strong. It has been about a month. He doesn't seem very food or praise motivated.

Can you elaborate on "unless I don't give him a choice" for me? What do you mean exactly?

For me, Sheba is my most hardheaded pup I've ever had. For us, it was about building trust and about her seeing that I *could* take care of her. She had been attacked by off leash dogs *three* times before she was 6 months old. That put a HUGE rut in our relationship. I had to take her to a professional behaviorist to show me how to make her feel confident in herself and confident in me as a leader. Now, we have a very strong bond.

Play games with him, spend some quality time with him. If you are frustrated when you are around him, he will sense those feelings and he will run with them. You have to be confident in yourself as a leader and as a dog owner. If you aren't confident in yourself, he will sense that, which will make him seeing you as his leader that much harder.

I mean like when I tell him sit and having to push his butt down. I try really hard to take a few seconds and not get frustrated with him. I grew up with a lot of hard headed rescues but man, this dog is a hard egg to crack. He is increadably smart and catches on quickly, but seems to be testing my commitment, which I understand since he was found as a stray, but between his not listening to me and his destructive behavior when he is alone I am really looking for some support and advice.

I have had Juno for 4 years and I have never felt I was in control.  She does what she wants, when she wants, if she wants, and where she wants.  It is up to me to go along with that.  

Thanks for the laugh I am happy to give him his freedom, but he needs some manners!

Have you thought about maybe doing a class or something with him that is just special you and him time? He might just need a little bit extra from you to start bonding with you the same, once you two have that bond the respect will be easier to earn

I was going to say the same thing as Olivia. If he's been abused by his previous owners, it's likely he hasn't been trained the way you would train him. Training classed with him would also give you some bonding time. Are you the primary person who feeds/walks him?

We have been looking into classes, and I honk that's a good place to start! He knows commands, he just doesn't always like to do them when they are given. My boyfriend and I both feed and walk him, he walks in the morning, I walk him at night

Classes will help the bond, but don't ever expect your husky to listen every time you tell him something. They just aren't really like that and have minds of their own! Definitely keep up the shared work load with your boyfriend because that is what really helps, so your doing great with that. Just have patience, you don't know what the dog went through before he came to you, so don't try to do to much to fast, it will all come with time. It might help to do your training after walks to so he is some what tired and can concentrate a little better without the excess energy.

Thank you everyone! It good to hear I'm on the right path with him. He's a wonderful loving dog with a big wall to break down. I will do my best to be more patient with him.