I am sorry this is so long. Such a handful.
When Hanzo and Rambo are playing, Hanzo will stop whatever he is doing a pee right on the spot. He likes to wait till he is on the dining room run. Before I take a shower I take him out, doesn't go potty at all. When I am in the shower, he is in the bathroom so he cant go all over the house or cause trouble with Rambo. He will whine, bark, and howl constantly, I'll have the sliding shower door kinda open so he can see me and he will try and jump in. Then when I get out I will open the door and he will poop or pee on the nearest rug, its only happened twice but I really don't want it to happen again. Then when he is asleep by the food and water bowls, he will knock the water bowl over and lay in the water. He chews on wires, the coffee table, the dining room table, all of our rugs, the dog beds, the couch, pecans, grass (just for the fun of it), the blankets and the water gallons that we buy at the store (because the water in this town is full of chemicals and very unhealthy). He loves to dig, dig in the rugs, the couch, the dog bed, the water bowl, our bed, and outside (which I know is normal for huskies but my boyfriend doesn't want him to dig in the yard because it is a rental house). And I know it might be normal for them to dig in the beds and on the couch if they are trying to get comfortable, but we don't want him to ruin the couch or the beds. When I catch him pottying or pooping in the house I run outside and he doesn't poop or pee at all. We could be waiting out there for 2 hours before he goes again. He gets very distracted while we are outside when I am trying to get him to potty. Then as soon as we go back inside he will start squatting again. When he does pee it is maybe one or two tablespoons of pee, not very much, and he only poops twice a day, sometimes 3, but very rarely. When we are eating, we eat at the coffee table where the TV is and we sit on the floor, he will step all over me to try and get my food, even though he has already eaten, he will try and bite at my fork to get my food, climb on the table, and when he is on the table he will try and get into my bowl or my plate. He has done amazing at night for pottying, we will take him outside before bed and he will wake up at around 3 or 4 in the morning to go potty. But the only problem is when we come back inside he gets really hyper and starts chewing on the blankets, wakes up my boyfriend by chewing and jumping all over him, chews on my hair, then after 30 minutes he is back to sleep.
Does anyone have any tips or training techniques or something that could help me?
Sydney, Hanzo, and Rambo

My suggestion would be to keep him tethered to you at all times. How old is he? General rule of thumb, when potty training take him out every two hours, and right after and every 30 minutes after drinking water. Keeping him leashed to you will take away his ability to go pee or poop out of sight line from you, so you will catch him in the act. A quick stomp on the floor and a firm, "NO!" gets your point across, then immediately go outside to your potty spot (still tethered.)

Maybe he is marking? Get an enzyme cleaner to clean any potty spots in the house... and that should keep him from peeing in the same spots.

Also there is a product you can get to "Make" a designated potty spot... you just spray it in the grass and they pee where you spray. It is weird but it works lol.

As for the digging... do you think you might be able to construct some kind of sand box? If you give them a place to dig, they don't normally try to dig anywhere else... I know this is going to sound odd, but fill the holes with poop. He should stop digging in any already dug up holes.

Night time energy.. I would ask how much do you play with him? Like training for tricks, throwing toys, how many squeaky toys do you have? Different textures. Do you crate him? I would start with crate training if you haven't (many threads here with plenty of advice on how to do so.) so then you can crate while you are eating... Also mine sleeps in the crate. They think of it as a safe zone when trained properly. But depending on his age, I would start walking him a little longer a couple of times a day to burn that extra energy out... but depending on age sometimes it can be too far so there are threads here that you can search for that can give you proper age= walking distance/time

How socialized with other dogs is he? Have you taken him to any sort of obedience/pup kindergarten classes? I know they can sometimes be costly, but they are worth it for the manners, the listening, and the socialization.

Great advice Lucy,

Sydney, Hanzo is being a husky puppy. Miya at almost 2 still digs, does the crazies. Even when you follow the potty steps, we leave out the most important step.....play. You have to play a little then they will potty, that's why after he is playing he goes and does it in the house. I'm guessing , but I think he's too young to mark per say. Even now, Miya let's me know she has to go potty, but she still has to run around a little before she does, and that's 90% of the time. You have to be aware, so if he has been playing inside, you need to take him out. Tethering like Lucy said is helpful.

Get a sandbox and next summer a kiddie pool. They love to dig and most love to swim. Teach "that's mine" for anything you don't want destroyed. Catching him in the act and say "that's mine" has worked for me, it does take time. Destructiveness is because he's bored and has too much energy. You need lots of safe toys, play time with you and your other dog and it's never too early to train, you must exercise the brain and body. A tired husky is a well behaved husky. Although it may be tiring, have a quiet play time at his 4 am potty break, then teach"shhh....bed time".

Rule of thumb.....potty breaks 1 hour per month of age until 6-8 months then they should be able to hold it that long so say at 3 months every three hours. Structured walking never on concrete/asphalt until 1.5-2 years of age, 5 minutes of structured walk per month of age, so at 3 months 15 minutes max.

Hope that helps as well.

Renee

He is 8 weeks old, he will be 9 weeks old on the 26th. I don't thing tethering would be a good idea for me because I am always sitting doing my college homework online. Where could I get an enzyme cleaner and what is one called so we can order some online. We live about 45 minutes to the nearest town and about 1 hour to the nearest city. So in the sense of going to classes we would have to pay about 500 for classes then who knows how much for gas. And what is that peeing spray called? We could get some of that too. And I will try that for the digging, and I would have to ask the landlord if that would be okay. I was thinking of getting a kiddy pool for him, and my other dog for next summer, so we might just do that. The bad part about that is that when they come inside the house from being in the kiddy pool, they have to get through a bunch of loose dirt that they would track into the house and get all muddy. I do not want to crate train him because he will scream and cry for hours on end when he is in the crate, also our crate is I think an extra large so it wouldn't really work with crate training. For both dogs we have 5 toys, only one is a squeaky toy, when we squeak it he will run and claw at it and whine at it, I don't understand it. Three of them are Kong's, and the other one is a chewy ring. We used to have like a squeaky fabric Frisbee but the 2 year old dog chewed it up, completely. For tricks and all that stuff, we have only had him for about two weeks, and I wanted to start as soon as possible to train him and teach him tricks. I guess we would have to crate him when we are eating though. We have the other dog, Rambo. We think he is a Kerr mix. They play all the time, we play with Hanzo sometimes, but he is more interested in playing with Rambo. My dad has a little Chihuahua looking dog that Hanzo has been around, Charlie's dad has a tiny dog, not sure what kind, but he has been around her, and Charlie's grandma has a cat, the cat does not like either of our dogs, but Hanzo has been around him a couple of times. For teaching him tricks, I was teaching him to sit yesterday, and he got the hang of it, but as soon as Charlie got home, he did not want to sit. I taught him with some bison meat with beans and rice. ( the inside of my burrito that I didn't finish) Charlie had Rambo before I moved in, and when he taught Rambo to sit lay down, and shake, he used sweet tarts. What do y'all use? There was a class about an hour from where we live that they come to our home, not sure if they would drive that far, but it would end up being around 500 dollars. Probably more with them driving here. How I learned to teach dogs to go potty outside is to say good boy when they go potty outside and pet them, I didn't know that playing with them would do anything. I don't really think he marks because he pees in different spots, in the house, and outside. But there are two spots where he peed the first couple times, but doesn't anymore. Most of the time he will sniff around when he is looking for a place to go potty, so I know. but there are times where he just stops what he is doing and pees or poops. He hates baths, he is better in showers, but we haven't had the chance to get him to swim. NEXT SUMMER! how would I teach him that's mine and to shh.. bed time? And what do you mean by structured walking? Thank y'all for the help!

He is just a puppy being a puppy, he has to be taught his doggie manners. Heavy romping and intent play can go a long way to your own peace of mind, and it builds a bond between you and puppy just make sure you take him right out after heavy play. Or to make it easy, just romp in the grass! Gets you outside, gets puppy outside. Win win.

In the house I keep mine tethered to a coffee table in my living room (where I spend most of my day) and I am beginning bell training with him. Basically I hang a long chain of bells by the door, take his paw, have him hit it, and then take him outside to do his potty. That way he has a way to letting me know he has to go.

I know it sucks, but puppy training classes are worth the money spent. I know, I have to go through it myself, but my poor broke butt knows it will be worth it for a respectable adult dog. But the one I found is cheap compared to yours 109 for six weeks of clicker training classes.

We should start a puppy support group on this forum where we can rant and rave about our favorite little monsters and how they drive us crazy. LOL. It gets better with training, I swear it does, my 10 1/2 week old is leaps and bounds ahead of how he was when I first got him, and he improves daily, you just have to give it time and a lot of patience and love. Is ok to be stressed, and upset, and even to cry a little. Remember to take a time out to calm down before you interact with puppy in this state because they respond to that stress in a negative way.

And also remember you are not in this alone, a lot of us here have pups and are going through the same problems, go through the threads for training tips and puppy tips, they are worth their weight in gold.

And one last thing, get him more toys, and rotate them out, and heavy heavy play before bed. Exhaust him, make him work out until he is ready to pass out from excitement. Most pups are more interested in everything but you till they are older. Just keep working with him.

Thank you for your help. I will have to try that, and I will have to talk to my boyfriend on training classes. Try and find one cheaper, and maybe closer, hopefully.

Sydney, I live about 100 miles west of you, I know how it is out in the middle of no where. I did all my training. However if you've never trained it may be worth looking at a petsmart training, it's cheaper and they do it on Saturdays. It will give you a foundation for better training, and they have 3 levels, I do believe, by the time I discovered the classes, Miya was way beyond those that were her age.

Ok the training aspect of things........"That's Mine" what ever you see him messing with your things immediately get his attention, use his name, huskies are stubborn and always think you are speaking to the husky behind them, I use Miya's name for all commands, so messing up a pillow say "Hanzo that's mine" give him an appropriate item and tell him that's his. It will take time. Treat when he does it right, or a good boy rub his shoulders. The shhhh part say shhh with finger on your lips, this is a challenging one, I do also say daddy is sleeping, you may try and gently close his mouth with your hand and say shh at the same time. "bed time" take him to his bed tell him to lay down, stay, then good boy bed time. All of these training tips take a long time, be repetitive, consistent and positive reward him.

Structured walks are training/exercise. I recommend a fifteen minutes to a half hour 3-6 times a day, teach leash manners, walking commands, and your basic commands, sit, his name, come, lay down, stay, get a pocket of treats and have fun. You can also do a structured play.......play fetch after a few tosses and a sit, then toss a ball few more times then do a stay, throw ball and keep at a stay then tell him to go get it, the ball is a built in reward that way. You can also teach leave it and drop it with the toy. The four most important commands beyond name recognition that will keep him safe "Lets go", "stay" "leave it" and "drop it". Remember that the lay position is more difficult for them to take off vs a sit. Doing short walks around your property and throwing in command training will tire him.

All dogs, puppies to adults need to loosen things up, so after any type of play they will have to go potty, after 15-20 minutes of play take him out and tell him to potty, reward when he goes out.

Training, walking will build a bond, make this an alone time with just you two, you need to build trust and respect. You need to get in a schedule format with him. He may be teething as well you need to invest in soft chewy type toys, as well as some light chews he can eat, maybe a cow ear or pig ear, give it to him when you are eating, so he knows he's included at meal time.

If tethering doesn't work for you, maybe you can put up baby gates for the room you are in, so then he can't sneak off too far while you are working on college stuff. But I do suggest the tethering while you are not doing school work.

Petco had the enzyme stuff that I cleaned with...

Simple Solutions


I think that brand also makes the potty spot maker spray that we used...

Bell training for potty time is also excellent

I am not trying to sound pushy or anything, but I really urge you to reconsider your decision about not crate training. The whining only goes on while you are training... once trained a husky relaxes and enjoys a crate... Much like a wolf, a husky needs a "den" a safe place to be them selves. For your current crate being too large, they make separators for most crate so you can make it smaller inside. Also you will appreciate having it while you are gone from the house so your intrinsic objects do not become destroyed when he is older. (Huskies are very destructive when bored. Sometimes even with proper exercise.)

Petsmart and Petco usually have good deals and bonus discounts for their training classes if you watch out for them... I remember I got a coupon from Petsmart last year for a class and it would have only cost me 50 bucks for 3 months.

I really suggest highly socializing him right now. You did get him at around 6 weeks if I am not mistaken by your above time frame. Most dogs shouldn't be removed from the litter until a minimum of 8 weeks of age. Even though it may not seem like it, those two weeks are very crucial to development in socialization and behavior, and can also cause some behavioral issues later in life if pulled away too soon.

You have the people on this forum to support you, and the search tab at the top, you can find several discussions of thousands of different help topics to answer many questions. Everyone here will always stick by your side, and help you get through whatever it may be.

I'm the flip side of Lucy and yet I whole heartily agree with her on crate training and tethering, I did neither, but my circumstances were slightly different, she was in the garage until our house was built, so she was almost a year old before she was allowed in the house. I wished that I had crate trained, because I do not trust her alone in the house for more than 2 hours at a time. So if we ever want to do something dogless we have to be quick and it takes 20 minutes one way to get to our little town. Even my husband suggested to a friend of ours who is getting a puppy to crate train, this shocked me since he was so against it with Miya. He now understands why I suggested it in the first place.

I also agree with Lucy on the age factor, we got Miya at almost 6 weeks, and it was a challenge. You have to be on your toes and be very persistent, patient, repetitive and consistent at every aspect of your little guys life, or you will be very stressed and being stressed will make a very stressed puppy.

We are definitely here to help.

Take a deep breath and focus on the worse issues. Having a puppy can be very stressful and overwelming. I personally would focus on potty training and crate training. My crates are a godsend for ensuring my house is intact when I come home. The whining will stop if you work on it. I assume your puppy is not fully vacinated yet, so be careful with where you take him to socialize until the vet gives the all clear.

Okay, *curmudgeon warning*

Sydney, you seem to have a "I can't do that ..." answer for many of the suggestions offered. We've been where you are, we really do know what we're talking about ( or maybe I should say "they" do since this is my first post in this thread (I think).)

Tethering is done for several purposes. If you don't want to be wiping up wet spots then tethering him (her?) will let you know when the little one thinks they need to go out. If you're intent on school work and puppy is running between you and the back door ... he's got a problem 'cause you aren't paying attention! Tethering him also lets you know what he's up to. If he's right next to you chewing on a schoolbook - as opposed to across the room or in the next room - you have a chance to correct him *now*!

Crates, okay, I'll admit I'm not fond of crates, but I've never had to use them with any of my dogs. It doesn't take any of mine long to figure out that "No!" means "Don't do that!". For example, I have a garbage can sans cover in the kitchen and their dog food in a bag beside the closet between the living room and the kitchen. Avalanche got into the trash one time! I took him into the kitchen and as I was picking up his mess, I kept saying "No! Bad dog!" He's kinda bright, he may walk over and sniff the trash but hasn't gotten into it again. (( Oops, side tracked ... )) I don't need crates 'cause my dogs don't do things that require I use them --- However, they are an excellent tool when you take the time to introduce them and use them properly.
You said that you have a large crate, too big for your puppy - GREAT!! Take a piece of cardboard, stick it between the slats of the crate and make it puppy sized! If you take the time to let him learn the crate is a good thing, he won't howl, he'll go into it because it's his home, his den.

And as Jessica said, take a deep breath and relax, enjoy his puppyhood 'cause he won't be a puppy for long!

I Didn't think it would be a good idea to tether him to my pants when he is just going to play with my other dog. And I didn't even think to tether him to the table. He would just chew the cardboard up. Plus, I watch him more than I do my homework. He doesn't go to the back door and walk back. He just sniffs around like I said above. And I catch it. The accidents have gotten a lot better *knock on wood*. If I tether him he will just chew on the couch or rug or leash. Even when I correct him. I give him his toy in place of the other stuff and he will go back to what he was doing.

Sydney, we are trying to help you, we are not trying to gang up on you. Please keep an open mind, you have a lot of situations going on as per your very first post of this thread. I can assure you that what we are suggesting is merely trying to keep your sanity and house intact. We are not talking about a dachshund or beagle here, he will be a 50 pound monster in 6 months and you're going to ask why he's out of control, or worse you send him to the pound because he's uncontrollable.

There are very few breeds as smart, stubborn and destructive as a husky. Likewise, there are very few breeds who are as loving, and funny as a husky. I know for a fact that there are many of us who were brought to tears by our little fur ball of joy , because we didn't know what to do, I learned quick, she was all of 8-10 weeks old when i had had enough of this little terror and trained my a** off with her. My world stopped 6 times a day, at least, for around 30 minutes each time, starting with putting leash on and ending with taking leash off and me being a drill sergeant. I'm telling you this, because you haven't, but I assure you, you will encounter the mouthing, the back talking, the pure destructiveness, that a husky puppy will do, without being proactive now. I did not have a second dog to tire my little one, so you are lucky with this, he should sleep a ton with having a buddy to play with.

Now as everyone has mentioned, you need to start a routine, my routine has never wavered, ever, even when it's 15 degrees out, or right now with a head cold and rather sleep. I do the same thing with my girl day in, day out, 24/7/365, it's the same routine for her, she will be 2 in November. You need to work on potty training, tethering, crate training. There are several threads on here for each. Beyond and including that, you need to start training him, you need to tire him out physically and mentally. Like I said earlier, if he's not outside with you training and playing he should be too tired to do anything inside but sleep.

Yeah, puppies suck. They are lucky they are cute, because they can be real holy a-holes. I would recommend crate training, it will make the potty training so much easier. I live on the third floor of an apartment building with no elevator, and when I was potty training he couldn't make it down the stairs without having an accident, so I just carried him. I would recommend crating him while you are in the shower, then when you are ready to go outside, take him out of the crate and carry him to the area you want to use as his potty spot, don't let those little paws touch the ground between the crate and the potty spot. Set him down, say "go potty" and ignore him. If he doesn't go, pick him back up and put him back in the crate for about 5-10 min, then carry him out to the potty spot, repeat until he goes, then make a BFD out of it and give him treats and some playtime. After he goes, spend some time outside playing and interacting with him. They are just super ADD and any leaf/bug/blade of grass/shadow is going to catch his attention and make him forget to potty. This will get better with age, but it is what it is, Diz still has this problem at 18 months and sometimes I just have to give up, head back inside for a while and then go back out later and try again. You can't change it, you just have to accept it and learn how to work with it.

Something that really helped me was having a "go bag." When he started to show signs of understanding he needed to potty outside, sometimes the signals were so subtle and brief, I'd miss them. Or the amount of time between him asking, and him having an accident was like .03 seconds. So, I got a little cross body messenger bag and loaded it up with everything I would need for a potty run, extra set of keys, poop bags, treats, even a set of cheapo flip flops in case I couldn't find my shoes. There's nothing worse than carrying around a squirming husky puppy that has to pee while frantically trying to find everything you need for a pitstop. I kept it hanging on the door knob so I could pick him up, slip on my shoes and head out the door.

Just remember that everyone, at one time or another, hates their puppy, or hates themselves because they can't handle the little devil, or thinks they got a 'defective' menage of a pup. You also have to remember that its your job to teach him what is okay and part of that means limiting his exposure to things (meaning tethering and crate training). Would you expect an alcoholic with two days sober to be able to go to a wedding with an open bar? The same concept applies to puppies. You can't leave a puppy with a stuffed plush toy tied to a couch and expect him to understand the difference between one soft fluffy thing and another, and for that matter, the soft fluffy rug he's laying on. One of the kindest things you can do for your puppy is crate train. You may think it's cruel to lock him in a cage when you can't pay attention to him, but it is actually very healthy for them, especially in the context of learning the rules and understanding the family dynamic.

Don't worry though, as he grows and matures things will change and cognitively he will be able to handle more so you won't always have to rely on the crate or the routines you put in place at this age. You are setting the stage now for the kind of dog you want two years from now. Also, pay no attention to the people that say, "well, at 9 weeks my puppy could do a, b, and c." That's awesome for them, but your pup is different, there is no rule that says he has to know sit by a certain age, or be potty trained. Be patient and accept that his pace of development might not match your expectations. When you do that, your life will be a lot easier.

Thank ya'll for the help. And Renee, I wasn't saying that ya'll were ganging up on me, it was that Al Jones was saying that I don't watch Hanzo, because if I didn't watch him, then I wouldn't have been so descriptive in my posts. And if I didn't watch him, then I would know that he sniffs around when he is trying to find a place to potty, most times. He also sniffs around trying to find stuff to chew on or eat, even though he would have already ate his food.
Also some help in this department. When we first got him we had dry puppy food mixed in with wet puppy food, he loved it. We weren't sure on if he was able to eat dry food or not. So then we switched to just dry food and he sticks his nose up to it. He would also rather eat the adult food that is for Rambo, as well as Rambo would rather eat the puppy food. Either that or have some bacon put into their food bowls, for the both of them.

Sydney_rain wrote:

He would also rather eat the adult food that is for Rambo, as well as Rambo would rather eat the puppy food. Either that or have some bacon put into their food bowls, for the both of them.

Here's the deal with these critters:  a variation of which I posted in https://www.itsahuskything.com/t13390-we-have-a-new-game?highlight=new+game+2+bones+2+dogs  

Another variation we have going at our house:  The dog snatches the cat food.  The birds snitch the cat food.  The cat snitches the dog food..."If its yours, it must be good.  If its mine, oh well..."

If he liked the dry with the we mixed in and you want to not buy canned - have you tried heating a little water to warmish, pouring it on his food and letting it sit 5 minutes or so?  Makes a "broth" that he may like better?

And everything's better with bacon

I love Bacon.

Sydney_rain wrote:

Thank ya'll for the help. And Renee, I wasn't saying that ya'll were ganging up on me, it was that Al Jones was saying that I don't watch Hanzo, because if I didn't watch him, then I wouldn't have been so descriptive in my posts.

I did not say that. What I said was

Quote :

If you're intent on school work and puppy is running between you and the back door ... he's got a problem 'cause you aren't paying attention!

I had my last comment when I said that you seem to have a "yes but ..." for every suggestion (it seems) that's been made.  I have nothing further to add to this conversation.

techigirl78 wrote:

Take a deep breath and focus on the worse issues.  Having a puppy can be very stressful and overwelming.  I personally would focus on potty training and crate training.  My crates are a godsend for ensuring my house is intact when I come home.  The whining will stop if you work on it.  I assume your puppy is not fully vacinated yet, so be careful with where you take him to socialize until the vet gives the all clear.

I agree whole-heartedly with Lucy.  I don't have a puppy and haven't in a long, long time - but my son acquired a 4 mo old earlier this summer.  He rapidly became overwhelmed, swore he made a mistake and was beating his breast and wailing at all opportunities.  Finally, I said "pick a problem - what's bothering you the most..."  He chews everything (tether him to you when he's in the house, substitute something he can chew for something he can't.  Make it short periods of time, then put him on his outside tether or crate him.

Next it was "he gets in the litter box and eats the cat poop"  simple - "get a gate to the bathroom that has a kitty access to it while keeping the dog out"

Next it was...he pulls on the line, all the time.  "Get a prong collar - I'll fit it to him"

Since potty is your main problem at the moment - I would really recommend the crate (with a divider, if its big.  Others on here have given you excellent suggestions.  Though, in my experience, different dogs have different patterns (Ami, for instance, once I get him off his line for play or walk, always, stops and goes pee then.  Makes me wonder if he ever pees on his own.  Archer waits until he gets into deep grass, does a rapid circling, then abruptly squats.)

Just remember..."This too, shall pass..."

Amy- you quoted Jessica and said you agreed with me hehe... I know our dogs are white but.... lol Just playing.

Our dogs are both white and amazingly we both love bacon.  

You do really have to pick your battles with a puppy.  Eventually you will find harmony with the puppy, yourself, and your house.

My dogs and puppy both eat the same food, though one is formulated for puppies. That helps with the curious nature of my huskies caring about why someone else gets something special. At year and half, Loki still seemed to care at first why Ichigo got something else. I know TOTW offers same formulas in puppy and adult food, but I would imagine other brands do as well.

lillith87 wrote:

Amy- you quoted Jessica and said you agreed with me hehe... I know our dogs are white but.... lol Just playing.

wellll - poop on me

You should hear me at home...Archer, no Ira, wait I mean Ami...too many "Ah's"!

I do that too Rambo.. I mean Hanzo! And I used to call Rambo Charlie, that's my boyfriends name. But seriously guys, thank you so much for the help! I really appreciate it and I will try these things out!