Hi my husky Miley is 7 months old and I find it weird that she doesn't like running. Whenever I would walk her she would walk on her own pace and would not run. The only exercise she gets is when she is running around playing with my dogs at my backyard but when I really take her out for a run she would not. Any way to train this? And also, she is afraid of stairs, of going down and going up, and she's already 7 months old. The breeder I got her from did not have stairs in their house, it was a bungalow. Thanks!

I would not be running a 7 month old husky, maybe Miley is telling you something. Hips and joints are still vulnerable to excessive and hard running. Rule of thumb is 5 minutes for every month old for walks on soft surfaces, such as grass, so in Miley's case a 35 minutes walk, which can be done several times a day. But no heavy exercise or running until at least a year, and better yet, a year and a half. Also, every dog is different, some huskies are content and do fine with minimal exercise, also if I remember correctly you live in a warm and humid climate, it may be just too warm for her to exercise a lot.

Have never encountered stairs, so I will be no help to you with that.

So that explains it. Thank you very much MiyasMomma!

Stairs:  both Ami and Archer had to be taught to use stairs and we're quite so hesident at first.  I used treats and a leash to get them to run up and down.  Ditto with Ami and elevator.

I second what Renee said--your pup is too young for running and may be telling you she isn't ready!

My pup was afraid if stairs at first--her breeder lived in a ranch-style house, so she had no idea what to do with them. I got a big wooden spoon, ladled some peanut butter on it, gave her a lick, then took 2 steps up on the stairs and held it out to her. At first, she very hesitantly took a step forward to get a lick, and i would keep going up one stair at a time until she was all the way up. It worked amazingly well-she learned stairs are FUN and was bounding up and down them within 10 minutes.

I think peanut butter is the magic cure for a lot of dog fears

Progress report she can finally... sometimes... do 2 steps going up and going down!