Hey there everyone! My name is Stephanie and I am the proud mama of my first Siberian Husky, Taquita, but we all call her Taki. My fiancee and I got her one week before Christmas last year, and boy has she changed us!

Taki and I have an almost star-crossed back story... through the process of trying to find homes for two of my foster-kitties, Taki found me. She had moved to Cleveland, Ohio last June with her prior family from Guatemala! The family had two kids and loved to baby her, but she wasn't really getting the kind of consistent training that husky's need. Then the winter came and the kids would not take her outside. They hated the snow, and let's be honest, you can't have a husky and not want to go play in the snow! In the end I found a great home for my two kitties, and adopted my first Siberian Husky. I could not have been more excited, because I work from home, and I could not wait to start training with her!

Taki almost didn't stay with us. When I adopted her, I was told she was house-broken, and very quickly I discovered she was not. I first thought, she's probably just nervous, but after two days of accidents inside, I decided it was likely more than that, and decided I needed to watch her, constantly. I took her out every hour (of course we had to get her after 1 foot of snow had melted, it rained all week, and the whole neighborhood turned into a swamp), but she would NOT go to the bathroom outside. The second night my fiancee stayed out in the rain with her for almost two hours! The third day I had her she must have held her pee all day long, because I only took my eyes off of her for one minute! And then I found a huge puddle in the middle of the kitchen. Those first few days were stressful... I was thinking how can I house train a dog if she won't even go pee outside?? I had gone so far as to contact the local Siberian Husky rescue and beg for a foster; I didn't think I could handle it.

Finally on the fourth day I decided to tether her to me. I thought, even she won't pee tied to a five foot leash next to me, right?? Finally... she peed outside. I practically threw her a party (side note by now all my neighbors think I'm crazy, but I think that just means you're doing it right!). We house broke her in three days... I can't believe how smart she is.

So anyway, sorry for the long story, I am just so happy that I fought through and Taki is with us for good now. She's definitely more than I'm used to, but I'm looking forward to all of it

Hi there and welcome!   

House training dogs can always be a bit frustrating but it's nice to see you stuck to it.

i had the same problem so glad you conquered it!! and congrats huskies are a blessing Nala has helped me through a lot she is my child!

Welcome from a fellow Ohioan. Glad you stuck with Taki, I'm sure she appreciates it.

And if you've got time, we've got a meet-up group for Ohio that you're welcome to join Unfortunately our Cleveland member base isn't too large right now but we're trying to grow it. Our next meet will be in Akron, which is actually the closest to Cleveland I believe we've been yet.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/510780442274114/

And lastly, welcome to the forum! Can't wait to see more pictures and learn more about Taki and her husky antics ^-^

Thank you guys, this is great! Taki is teaching me as much about myself as I am about her!! We call her "weekend at Bernie's" sometimes because it seems like all she does is sleep when she's inside! I guess she's still a puppy... Once I figure out how to put pictures up here I'll post some

Welcome! Im from youngstown!! When is the akron meet up?!?! My fiance only live about 20 min fron akron! I could probably finaly do a meet up!!!

I'm looking forward to the gathering myself!! Here is Megan's post from FB:
"I'm going to wait to make the actual event until we are actually in February, so that I don't make the event and everyone forgets about it, but our next meet is SET Akron BARC dog park SATURDAY February 22nd, 2014 at 2pm ish! Time I'm still deciding on but I'm feeling in the 2-3pm range! Hope you can all make it and REMEMBER not everyone is expected to drive to every meet, some will be closer, some will be farther, the point is to rotate around the state to make it fair for other members and I have a feeling Akron is going to be a GREAT turnout! Hope to see ya'll there!"

Ericobeasto wrote:

Welcome! Im from youngstown!! When is the akron meet up?!?! My fiance only live about 20 min fron akron! I could probably finaly do a meet up!!!

Stephanie nailed it!! I think I'm gonna set it for 2pm, I've decided on Saturday February 22nd at the BARC park It's the farthest north we've gone!

I am totally new to this process. I live in Texas and have a sweet female Siberian named Mishka. Got it from the Micky Mouse Club and thought is sound pretty original and then I saw a Youtube video of another Mishka. My dog is about a year and a half old and recently started a weird behavior for which I'm trying to find answers. Like most Siberians, she follows you everywhere and stays pretty close. She will sleep anywhere in our house but recently started sleeping in a pile of pillows next to our bed. My wife decided to drag her bed into that spot and she has been sleeping there everynight. She starting going in there to sleep during the day which is not like her. Sunday night, she began to whimper and howl for no obvious reason. I brought her to where I was and she would sit there and whimper. Took her to the vet. yesterday and he finds nothing wrong with her. Her appetite and drinking are normal. Has anyone experienced this problem? Randy

Hey Randy! I'm new to Husky ownership as well, but I would recommend you start crate training Mishka; having a safe and cozy place for your dog to retreat to that is there own space is very healthy and comforting for all dogs, especially husky's. (I must recommend that you do not use a crate as a place for punishment as this can have the opposite effect, i.e. they won't want to go in there on their own, and it's just plain mean!) My dog Taki likes to sleep under tables and whatnot, I think it reminds her of a den, so I put a blanket over her crate to make it more den-like.

I'm working on crate training with Taki now, and she's getting used to it, but keep in mind it doesn't happen overnight! There is a lot of helpful info on this forum, if you search "crate training" or even just "crate", lots of results should come up, so read around, take in others advice and see what could work for you