Hey All,



I am new to the husky world as my husband and I have just gotten our first Siberian husky pup, Umalu. (ooo-mah-loo) He is 4 months old. A few questions I had if anyone could shed some insight...

Malu, for short, loves to lick! He gives many puppy kisses which are great! However, is this normal? I love the attention and love, but just curious if this is a known trait of the breed.

He also wakes up around 6:00am each morning at which point I go into his room and take him out of the crate to go potty. I then let him sleep with my husband and I at the edge of the bed until we have to wake up, sometimes 1 to 2 hours later. He is sound and doesn't bother us at all. I know it's important to have Malu recognize us as the master of the pack, or the alpha's. I have heard that letting your husky sleep with you denotes this theory and makes it seem as though all 3 of you are on the same level of command, which I don't want. I always try to walk first into doors and other exercises to be sure Malu knows where he stands, but just curious if allowing him on the bed is "good" or "bad."

Any thoughts are appreciated, Thanks!

The kisses thing - normal puppy behavior, I doubt breed specific. Just guessing.

The sleeping with you in the morning? My opinion - if you enjoy it, puppy enjoys it, go for it - sounds like he recognizes "morning routine"

As for the "alpha" thing...I don't subscribe. Do not find it a useful construct for training a dog. Every little thing you do with your dog trains him. If you are confidant, consistent, and set clear boundaries, he will learn to behave as you expect him to behave.

Sounds like you three have a nice bond beginning - enjoy your puppy!

Well if you're a follower of dominance based dog training and it's credible,  then yes, what you are doing is bad. But you already know that, right?

So the real question is why are you allowing him in your bed if it goes against your training goals?

From my experience and observations, excessive licking is not a common breed characteristic.

This thing called dominance is, to me, really sort of an odd animal.  There are times and breeds where we want our dogs to respond exactly as we want them to.  Imagine a lab who jumps in the water as the ducks are landing - he's either going to get accidentally shot or cussed out royally;  not what we want.  Or imagine a sled dog who wants to go off hunting rabbits every time he gets the chance - someone isn't going to be very happy.

On the other hand, in my opinion, a dog who does everything we want, as we want, when we want - well, it seems as if they wouldn't have much of a personality.

My dogs, typically don't lick - but every once in a while, like they want out and daddies sound asleep, I get kisses and if I don't respond, I get pawed and if I don't respond I get barked at - and since my dogs also seldom bark, when one of them does I wake up quickly.  Do I like getting licked on my face - emphatically "No!"; do I like getting pawed - I'm reaching the point where my sklin is a little thin and getting pawed normally results in my bleeding, no, I don't like getting pawed.  But - and this is the important thing to me - in those situations, my dogs are acting a separate, unique individuals - with personalities of their own and I enjoy that (yes, even to getting slurped first thing in the morning!)

Dominance theory, to me, suggest that you expect your dog to behave in a certain way - and I agree, generally we do; I'd also like to think that we can have our dogs on our beds when it's comfortable for both of us - "Get down, silly! I'm trying to make the bed!" can be fun sometimes and a pain in the butt at others.  

You need to make the call whether absolute obedience is what you expect from your pup; that suggests, again to me, that you expect to be the absolute dominant person and to me that isn't realistic.  If you are consistently (and remember, dogs thrive on consistency) dominant expecting absolute, consistent obedience - well, for me that just wouldn't be enjoyable.  (( And considering most Husky's I've known and those who get written about here - it ain't agonna happen. ))

Thanks for the feedback, Malu and I appreciate it Yeah, it is a nice little routine we have going on and I do crate him nights and whenever else we are not home. He goes right in no problem and lays right down. No whining, or fussing. I have read about the attitudes around your dog, and I think being confident and consistent is a great way so far for the training! My husband and I are very committed and very patient with Malu as well. Also- I will just keep accepting the dog kisses because I love them anyway! Thanks All!

I meant to comment earlier, you have one unique looking red there. I don't think I've ever seen eyebrows like that one any dog!! Enjoy him, he looks like he could be quite a handful ...

I found his sire online

Barf was great.
As the owner of a licking dog I can say it's a blessing and a curse. The attention is nice but dogs do have a tendency to do it obsessively and that can get annoying real fast. No clue why the do it, I have heard tons of reasons all with possibilities. My self I have psoriasis and Maya seems to choose the bigger patches to lick at so maybe it's like wound cleaning.?. I don't know.
Maya sleeps with us. It's my wife's fault, she had surgery I was home alone and there is no heat upstairs and I was cold, dumb wife. Hasn't been a real problem but it has been made clear that the bed is ours and she is a guest, she is invited onto it, she does not get up on her own.
Don't get so caught up in what is "correct" that you forget to just enjoy your dog!

Yeah he is a full Siberian tan/brown husky-he's curious, playful and really a huge lovebug!! We originally wanted a red husky BUT we couldn't find one. He has quite the personality, but thankfully, in a good way haha We choose from a litter of 6 pups split right down the middle for male and female...Malu was the only one who was calm and slept in the corner everytime we went to visit the litter before we chose one/him.

I was going to post more pics but I can't figure out how haha