Hey all! Sorry about my inactivity as of late, I've been unwell and frankly still am, but have a couple of quick questions for you wonderful people here at IAHT!

First question is about other dogs. Our husky is gorgeous, people love her and she loves people. She also loves other dogs and thoroughly enjoys playing with them, however other dogs seem to be very scared of her. They pull towards her and as soon as they get within 3-4 meters, the other dog will start yelping and hiding behind their owner. This has been the case with every single dog that we've passed, with the exception of one Labrador puppy who was climbing all over her.

Have any of you experienced anything like this? And if so do you know why this might be? Is there some kind of signal that she's giving off to other dogs about her personal space or something like that? It seems weird, because if the dogs get close, she's as playful as anything, and certainly doesn't seem to be warning them off.

Second question is about toys. We got Saska as a 3 year old and she didn't seem to have any toys in the previous house that we got her from. She has one little rope thing that she has destroyed; it's like a tug of war toy that our old German Shepherd had. We're not really sure what toys are best for huskies, as I've been advised that she'll destroy them more than most other breeds of dog, and I've certainly seen that with this tug of war toy! We try to keep the indoors as a quiet place, but since we don't have a garden/yard with a high fence that we can let her out in, we occasionally play with her on the landing. She gets 2-hourly walks so she's not full of energy too often, but when it's too hot outside we try and keep her inside where it's cool as much as we can.

Which toys would you recommend for a 3 year old husky, and not specifically which toys, but more which type of toys.

Third question is regarding training. She pulls a lot on the lead and we know that It's a husky thing so we're not too worried about this. She calms down after about 5 minutes anyway, I think it's the overall excitement that she has to get out of her system each time, and then she's a delight to walk, however there's the issue of how much she totally ignores us outside. Our process for taking her outside is: We go to the landing and make her sit. She stays there while we walk down to the door, and then she is called down to us. We put her harness (which she hates), collar and lead on and then make her sit again. We leave the house first and then she's called to follow us outside. The second she leaves the door, she ignores us until she's back inside. This is even the case when we reach the front door and get her to sit down so that we enter the house before us. She'll sit if we push her butt down to the floor, but the vocal command goes completely ignored. She then follows us in, has her lead etc. taken off, will sit when told, and waits downstairs until we get up and call her up after us.

She ignores treats outside too, and when she doesn't want to go anywhere she lies down and will absolutely not move an inch. This happens if a dog is walking past and the owner clearly doesn't want their dog to come near ours.

Are there any guides that I should take a look at in order to change her attitude outside? Are there any types of treats that would be best for outside training? We've yet to find ourselves an enclosed field or anything to let her loose in, so there's no "loose" environment that we can train her in.

Thanks all, I'll be more active once I'm better. I hope you're all well, hello from Saska too!

Bumping this to get it back to the main page.

As far as other dogs....Does your dog get excited and talk when other dogs approach? My girl does best with other huskies, most dogs are afraid of her, yet she loves all dogs. She has tried and played with a pitt and a boxer and both were quite afraid of her, even though she didn't act excited at all when she first met them, when she did start to play she would talk to them and that's when they were like nope she is too big and scary, lol. Maybe others have had the same problem, I just try and search for other huskies, so they understand her better, it could be lack of socialization for the other dogs, I don't believe she would through off something that makes other dogs afraid or see her as different, except in the vocal of huskies. What does her body language say when she meets new dogs?

Toys, hmmm, good question, my girl loves tugs, however, never leave a tug toy alone with your girl, If ate can lead to an obstruction and a very large vet bill. So yes tuggies are a great game/toy to play with your girl. Miya also loves real tennis balls(not the kind made for dogs, she can break those types in seconds), rubber balls that are larger than her mouth and can still be inflated after punctures. She only plays with these two types of toys, she does have a rubber bone treat dispenser that we will play with when weather is bad, and I'll toss it around for her as well as a kong bouncy thing, but she doesn't really care for those either, unless I play with her. Her go to things really are chews of some sort, like a raw meaty bone, a cow ear, that will occupy her for a while.

Your last question, I would need to know if you have any space at your house that you can work with her on leash? Since she is so good once you are walking, I would spend the first 15 minutes of your walk outside at your house, practice heeling, since you will already be out and have distractions. Two of the most important things that I have learned since having my girl is to use her name always, since you clearly are talking to the husky behind her and not really her, lol, and my go to command "let's go", I use this as her recall to come back to me, but also I use it when she decides to sniff the daisies and I do not want to stay in that place. Always have a firm, authoritative, controlled voice, nothing high pitched or stressed sounding. Miya has never been big on treats, and treats for training. I personally prefer the good girl and the rubbing of shoulder to let her know she was good. Perhaps try some string cheese, I know many people here use cheese to train, and only to train, since they don't get that treat on a regular basis, she may respond better with it.

Good luck, hope others will chime in, and get well soon!!

What kind of harness are you using?