Hello Everyone!

My wife and I both work full time and are looking for ways to help exercise/tire out our husky who is currently 13 weeks old.

We take her on 2 walks a day ranging from 20mins-1 hour and do training sessions in the morning and after work, but it doesn't seem to tire her out on most days.

When we leave her to her own doings in the backyard she tends to dig so we are looking for ways to tire her out to help avoid this and other energy related issues.

Thanks!

Doggie daycare is often a great option, allowing the dogs to get energy out and socialize with other pups? Are there any good doggie daycare facilities where you live? Is this a viable option?

Do you have any kind of daycares around where you live? They can get expensive, but they have been awesome for my two. They go once to twice a week, and it gets out a lot of their energy, plus it gives them a day that they aren't in their crates.

Also, if the training isn't tiring out your husky, you can try puzzles or something that you can buy and see if that helps. Kongs will also help when you aren't home because she can concentrate on getting the yummy food that its stuffed with rather than digging.

When they are younger it is tougher to tire them out but it can be done. I, too, am a very busy person. I'm in grad school, I teach mineralogy labs and various other things I am involved- I find the best way to tire mine out are taking them to the dog park to be social. At 13 weeks she might still be a little too young for that. Really at her age I wouldn't think she would be that wound up- Shaqua was such a sleepy girl until she got a little older.

Chew toys and toys that will mentally stimulate her will help. Toys that you can hide treats in are great. Make sure that when you are at work and she is in her crate you leave chew toys or something to keep her occupied when she is not sleeping. I would also suggest designating a place in the back yard (perhaps make a small sandbox?) that she is allowed to dig in. Huskies love to dig and if they have a place that it is ok to dig in then they might leave the other places alone.

Stuffed animals work under supervision. It's easy to casually toss them around with her while you are cooking, cleaning or doing other household duties. I live alone with my huskies so I honestly include her in almost every task. I talk to her, dance around with her, just anything to keep her engaged as long as she wants to. She usually gets tired and goes to lay on the couch and look at me like I am a crazy person. Ha ha.

Your pup is still too young to run. Instead of taking her on long walks it would be a good idea to take her on more shorter walks. I understand you work, but taking her on a walk in the am, as soon as you get home and right after dinner would be better. If you can fit more walks in do so. Even a short 10 min walk can help. You could do a short walk right when you wake up, another walk right before you head out the door in the AM. The little things help.

I recommend the Kong Genius toys or the puzzle toys for huskies. They are really smart dogs and nothing keeps their mind active like something they have to work for to get a treat. I would say try to play fetch in the backyard too but I know some dogs, like my Shaqua, don't really care to repeatedly bring something back to you that you keep throwing away. She will look at me like I'm an idiot for throwing it and just let me go get it. Ha ha!

Good luck! Oh, and pictures! WE LOVE pictures!

We send her to day care about once every 1-2 weeks. Not sure how long that will be an option though. They may not let her return in the future...She seems to play rough with the other puppies/dogs and has been put on time out.

I would try to send her 2-3 days a week at this age. I did that for my pup from the age of 3.5/4 months to 6 months. The regular interaction really improved his social skills and now I can get away with sending him once a week or less. I couldn't take him to the dog park at that age because he was always getting in trouble. He would fixate on one dog and relentlessly play way too rough. I noticed a big difference about 3-4 weeks after I started sending him.

Edit - the other benefit of this is that they aren't built back up to 'full' husky mode yet, so they play a little nicer since they are still tired from the day before.

CavingSiberian wrote:

When they are younger it is tougher to tire them out but it can be done. I, too, am a very busy person. I'm in grad school, I teach mineralogy labs and various other things I am involved- I find the best way to tire mine out are taking them to the dog park to be social. At 13 weeks she might still be a little too young for that. Really at her age I wouldn't think she would be that wound up- Shaqua was such a sleepy girl until she got a little older.

Chew toys and toys that will mentally stimulate her will help. Toys that you can hide treats in are great. Make sure that when you are at work and she is in her crate you leave chew toys or something to keep her occupied when she is not sleeping. I would also suggest designating a place in the back yard (perhaps make a small sandbox?) that she is allowed to dig in. Huskies love to dig and if they have a place that it is ok to dig in then they might leave the other places alone.

Stuffed animals work under supervision. It's easy to casually toss them around with her while you are cooking, cleaning or doing other household duties. I live alone with my huskies so I honestly include her in almost every task. I talk to her, dance around with her, just anything to keep her engaged as long as she wants to. She usually gets tired and goes to lay on the couch and look at me like I am a crazy person. Ha ha.

Your pup is still too young to run. Instead of taking her on long walks it would be a good idea to take her on more shorter walks. I understand you work, but taking her on a walk in the am, as soon as you get home and right after dinner would be better. If you can fit more walks in do so. Even a short 10 min walk can help. You could do a short walk right when you wake up, another walk right before you head out the door in the AM. The little things help.

I recommend the Kong Genius toys or the puzzle toys for huskies. They are really smart dogs and nothing keeps their mind active like something they have to work for to get a treat. :)I would say try to play fetch in the backyard too but I know some dogs, like my Shaqua, don't really care to repeatedly bring something back to you that you keep throwing away. She will look at me like I'm an idiot for throwing it and just let me go get it. Ha ha!

Good luck! :)Oh, and pictures! :)WE LOVE pictures!

Nymeria will only fetch a few times before she gives us the same look.

We do include her in almost everything when we're home. Even if we decide to eat out we look for places that will accommodate us bringing her.

I'll try the shorter, but more walks and look into the kong toy/sandbox.

Thanks for the tips! I'll upload a few pictures in a moment.

Here she is wearing her seatbelt for the first time.


Here she is with her free set of Yoda ears.


And here is her daycare photo!

She is SO adorable.

When my sibe was younger and both the hubby and I worked full time I always came home on my lunch break to walk my boy. So he got 4 walks a day (before work, on my lunch break, after work, and before bed).

Really cute! Did the staff at your daycare express concern about playing too rough? I know that when Kai has been too rough at daycare, they give her a short timeout, but that's pretty common with younger pups (especially huskies). She's fine after that and is one of the happiest at daycare because she loves playing with other dogs so much.

Awww, she's soo cute. Look at how big her ears are right now.

She is a ham! I love the daycare information: high, high, high, low. Lol.

CavingSiberian wrote:

I recommend the Kong Genius toys or the puzzle toys for huskies.

What are some examples of puzzle toys?

I don't crate Chuck when I'm gone because my sister works at home (but cant do anything but feed him and take him out). We have him pinned in a room sized area and I'm wondering if there is some sort of play structure I can get for him. I have some cardboard boxes in there I put treats in (until he destroys them) and a bed, but that's it. When I let him around the house when I'm home I can tell he loves being able to get in the couch or a wooden chest we have. Any thoughts?

riggaberto wrote:

CavingSiberian wrote:

I recommend the Kong Genius toys or the puzzle toys for huskies.

What are some examples of puzzle toys?  

I don't crate Chuck when I'm gone because my sister works at home (but cant do anything but feed him and take him out). We have him pinned in a room sized area and I'm wondering if there is some sort of play structure I can get for him. I have some cardboard boxes in there I put treats in (until he destroys them) and a bed, but that's it. When I let him around the house when I'm home I can tell he loves being able to get in the couch or a wooden chest we have.  Any thoughts?  

I just ordered this one: http://www.wag.com/dog/p/nina-ottosson-dog-twister-120060

Once we receive it and try it out, I'll let you know if it's puzzling and if Kai has taken to it. Am looking for good suggestions as well.

seanbrunett wrote:

Really cute! Did the staff at your daycare express concern about playing too rough? I know that when Kai has been too rough at daycare, they give her a short timeout, but that's pretty common with younger pups (especially huskies). She's fine after that and is one of the happiest at daycare because she loves playing with other dogs so much.

The first few times she did great at daycare, but this last Friday they called and said they'd have to move her to the big dog area because she was being too rough. Even after being moved, she still got put on a timeout. Though I'm assuming was fine after that.

Going to take her again this week and see how it goes =).

I have been thinking of seeing how my two do with a homemade treat dispensing toy made from PVC pipe maybe because my budgets none existance, you can also google homemade puzzle toys for dogs and get some ideas like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1msXwQz4f4

That one looks neat Sean! I found this too: http://www.entirelypets.com/kyjen-dog-games-jigsaw-glider.html

There are soo many different kinds. Just type in "puzzle toy" on any pet store website, or even in Amazon, and you'll find all sorts of options. My breeder makes her own puzzle toys out of PVC pipes too so I'm sure there are lots of different ways to make them if you look up some pinterest stuff.

Just to add a little, I've noticed my puppy is a lot easier to tire out now that he's 7 months, I started to notice that trend around 5.5-6 months old. Before that I felt like it was never ending, now, 30-45 min in the dog park is enough to wear him out. I would also recommend looking into calming training. I realized that part of his relentless energy was being fueled by me and my need to wear him out. Once I realized this and switched my vibe around with him that helped a lot. He still needs physical exercise of course, but I try to accomplish that without getting him mentally wound up.

CavingSiberian wrote:

I would say try to play fetch in the backyard too but I know some dogs, like my Shaqua, don't really care to repeatedly bring something back to you that you keep throwing away. She will look at me like I'm an idiot for throwing it and just let me go get it. Ha ha!

I get the same look from Jasper, he actually sits and waits for it to bounce of the fence and roll back to him. Sometimes I think they`re too smart.

wpskier222 wrote:

Just to add a little, I've noticed my puppy is a lot easier to tire out now that he's 7 months, I started to notice that trend around 5.5-6 months old. Before that I felt like it was never ending, now, 30-45 min in the dog park is enough to wear him out. 

I`m starting to notice this now too. Jasper used to get so hyper that a 20 min walk was basically pointless. Thankfully a good friend of mine who lives very close has two dogs so I could bring him there until he was old enough to go to the dog park, maybe you could consider play dates with dogs you know are vaccinated?

wpskier222 wrote:

I would also recommend looking into calming training. I realized that part of his relentless energy was being fueled by me and my need to wear him out. Once I realized this and switched my vibe around with him that helped a lot. He still needs physical exercise of course, but I try to accomplish that without getting him mentally wound up.  

Interesting, I strongly suspect I could improve in this area - any recommended reading?

Like him or hate him overall, Cesar Millan's writing on calmness and energy exchange is really good and probably his strongest, most irrefutable aspects of his entire system. You don't need to believe anything he says about dominance or wolf pack analogies to benefit from his ideas here. This was virtue #1 for me raising Link. Jen is describing one his best ideas perfectly about Dizzy.

If you come over this weekend you can borrow my books.

I like:

On Talking Terms with Dogs - Calming Signals, by Turid Rugass (my favorite!)

Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz (recommended by Jeff)

Click to Calm by Emma Parsons - this one talks about aggression mainly, but I have found it interesting and helpful even though Dizzy does not have aggression issues, arooroomom recommended this one to me when I was asking about teaching my puppy to settle.

Do you guys think doggie daycare for $15 for half day and $20 for full day is a decent rate? This also includes socializing with other pups as well.

IMO $15 for a half day seems a bit pricey, but $20 for a full day sounds reasonable. The daycare I use just raised their rates and it's now $17/day if you buy a package. They sell 30 day packages that just need to be used within the year so it's really reasonable. It did take me a lot of shopping around to find a daycare with a rate this cheap, though. Although I live in California and it seems EVERYTHING here is expensive!