Weird complaint, yeah? But when it comes to training our new Cara (1 week with us today!!!) We are astonished how quickly she learns. Yes she's stubborn and I have taught her "really?" (first stage of 'why are you doing it? just..just do it Cara") and "All the way" (actually do what I asked you you silly dog! Hovering your arse in a 1/2 sit is NOT sitting) and "Do it" (I said sit for a reason, do it!). I use positive techniques like marking correct actions with an enthusiastic "YES! Good girl!" And of course delicious freeze dried liver (yuck yuck yuck, even when I ate meat liver never was something I went near BLEH!) She's very food motivated and I use it to my advantage.

She's even starting to learn some of the support things I need for her to be a service dog like 'brace' Where she stands strong and lets me lean a bit of my weight on her. Mostly when I'm getting over the gate that separates her and the cats. I don't even need to tell her much to do her dinner routine which includes sitting politely and staring at me before being released to eat. No I don't make her wait too long, simply because its too adorable how she will happily plop her butt down tail going as fast as it can, big bright brown eyes melting my heart asking me "Please mom may I eat?"

Like heeling. She is a very VERY pully puppy. She's sent me into ditches on my chair. Ow yes owwww. But the other day I didn't have to remind her too many times to 'heel' I was over joyed, and had to reign in my excitement because me getting excited=her excited=oh god NOT THE DITCH. So what gives?! Where's the challenge?! I was expecting her to not be so...so...eager to please? But rather blasie about it? Did I read into huskies wrong?!

We still have a long way to go before Canine good citizen and ultimately certified service dog stage, but we're getting there! Tell me are your huskies easy to train? Hard to train?

Some dogs are just easy to work with. My girl is similar. She picks up on things fast and does a good job. I call her the anti-husky. I think the older dogs just have more maturity to settle down and actually do what you want than pups. Pups are a real pain. I know why people prefer to have them young to start training and in the long run I think a pup trained from a young age can be made a lot more solid in that training but their youth and energy make them harder to train in general. Older dogs have lost that puppy ADHD that can make some so difficult to train. Also dogs that are having their exercise needs met are better to work with. I got my girl with she was in the 4 range and she has always been a training dream in most things. Reactivity is hard to get over at her age and has really been the only thing that I haven't been able to train out of her. That was something that should have been nailed down when she was young.

We haven't been able to go for many walks do to the torrential down pour and the fact that cold+wet=worse pain from my disease, but on those days I work her mentally, and challenge her brain as MUCH as I can. We also play with her and let her run around silly in the back yard, and in the house. Today looks much better so we'll be going for a nice walk!

She did have bone aggression but it went away so quickly on Nothing in life is free, that it literally went away in less than a day. Otherwise she's a joy. Since she was born in May (though the date is unclear so we dubbed her a May the 4th doggie, because Star Wars yo!) so she's just about four. She feels like she's always been here, and it can be seen with the way she interacts with us. We've noticed she's headshy, like I can't boop her on the head with a toy because it freaks her out. Which makes me angry to think that someone hurt her! She's too sweet to deserve that. Usually she gets a "rough" scratch in the belly and hearty pats on the side, with a great brushing...and plucking as I see hair falling out lol. We haven't got her to talk yet though, and we've trained different siren noises, dogs howling, us sounding ridiculous etc. So we'll wait and see.

Ahhh...the ditches! I know the ditches thing with Ami oh so well Brings back many memories from the first few months

I thought Ami was easy to train at first, too. We got him at 1 yr of age from a shelter. Now, he is much more husky like...as in "yeah, I know what YOU want...it's just not what I want at the moment." I suspect your girl possibly may, once she's over the newness of her home, become more...selective in her responses. Just be admant about what you want from her. And about those ditches - if you watch her carefully, you should be able to learn her "tell" as to when she's going to pounce or run and you can interrupt that with a warning "uh uh" or "No" or even just her name to attend to you.

I want Ami to be my service dog, too - mostly to carry things when I'm out and about (I call him my pocketbook!), to support my back when I need to bend over (I place my hand on his withers and he stands still) and, for when we travel, I get really stiff, to pull me up from sitting and when my legs don't work really well, his pulling helps normalize my gait. Except for the pull me up from sitting, he does all these things well, naturally. It's the sitting quietly in public places that he's less than stellar Shopping, he's marvelous next to the shopping cart but everyone and their mother wants to stop and pet him..."oh, he's so beautiful...and so well behaved (huh? Ami? well-behaved )

I'm happy to hear you are doing so well with your new pup!

Kayliyth wrote:

We've noticed she's headshy, like I can't boop her on the head with a toy because it freaks her out. Which makes me angry to think that someone hurt her! She's too sweet to deserve that. Usually she gets a "rough" scratch in the belly and hearty pats on the side, with a great brushing...and plucking as I see hair falling out lol. We haven't got her to talk yet though, and we've trained different siren noises, dogs howling, us sounding ridiculous etc. So we'll wait and see.

THe head shy may not be from abuse - I think most dogs don't like a direct top of the head touch - supposedly a thing of dominance from another dog...I dunno, but I do know, Ami does not like it at all, but my hand approaching from the side to scratch his ears...heaven to him.

Mine is not a husky, but a Samoyed, which is similar in independence and stubbornness to Samoyeds. Everyone told me, especially because we got her when she's older, that she would be impossible to train. But she's incredibly eager to please and learned remarkably fast--she's now reliable off-leash and is a certified canine good citizen and therapy dog

In her case, she came from a not very good home, where she was crated for 23 hours a day, neglected, and hit. She did shy violently away when someone would try to pet her head...she's been with us 3 years, and it's only been in the last month or so where she doesn't flinch when we raise our hands. She's caught on she gets nothing but snuggles from us!

But I think being neglected for so long meant she was pretty starved for affection. Huskies and Sammys NEED to be with their pack, so when she did have a family to interact with, she was desperate to please us and be with us, so training was really easy.

Thankfully she doesn't flinch we can pet the top of her head, and I found just the absolute SPOT on her ears that make her eyes close and a small groan of delight appear.

Amy its worse for me because of my wheelchair, I go spiralling into a ditch and I have to pull myself out, (and hitting the ditch hurt so so much) then slowly push the chair onto the grass and give her a meaningful glare like "really that hurt". She looks kinda sheepish because I will yelp out an 'ow!' which seems to have her avoiding ditches a bit more, but grass is still very super interesting.

I'm looking at putting on a back pack for her and a vest. So a vest-pack lol so she can carry some things that I just don't have room for on my chair. Such as water for both of us (bottled), extra meds, contact information, treats, poop bags (you can carry your own darn poop disposal doggeh!) and variety of small light things, nothing to over work her, just things we need when we're out. She's still too excited so I need to work on calming her down a bit, and so I don't have her in training vest on, plus my province makes it VERY hard for handler/owner trainers. Like, you have to be part of a specific accredited school (ADI or IGDF) to be able to go into public places with her. You need a special 'in training' certificate that you can get from an accredited trainer/school. BUT and the huge catch! All schools in Canada seem to focus on training their OWN puppies dogs that they've gotten from shelters/bred/etc. Which is troublesome because the reason I want to be my owner/handler trainer, is because we made a connection, and she understands that I'm not 100% physically and tries to help already.

So I'm searching for that, plus following guidlines. I can get her certified, after I get her CGC and very strict guidelines on the provincial test (we have no federal guidelines for Guide and Service dogs, this surprises me) which demands we pass 100% in order to be certified.

Which is difficult because some of it is, things to do with shopping carts, restaurants, and public transit. All of which if you can't enter a public place with them legally (though many stores won't care if they are in a vest, they won't even ask), unless you are part of an accredited school. VERY VERY FRUSTRATING.

She would be used for things like, helping me in and out of my chair, picking up things on the floor that I simply can't reach or have a hard time picking up because I can't squat to bend down, being a barrier against people touching certain body parts (such as my feet and legs which have very serious hypersensitivity. Like..wind blowing on them is excruciating), being there when I have a PTSD episode due to angry people, men especially, and a variety of other things that I need help with. She would be essentially an extension of me and my personal space. Ugh. Stupid rules.

The head shy thing - in part I think Ami is right and in not.  I'll agree that having something over them brings out 'dominance' issues.  But I also know that if a dog's been hit in the chops (slapped in the face) enough, they're real apt to be very head shy.

Sasha and I went round and round for the first year to year and a half that she was here.  She was going to do what she wanted and 'forget you!'  Considering everything I've been through with her though she's become an amazingly laid back girl.

I've been giving her Dasuquin since she sometimes limps and I'm suspecting joint problems;  when I did though, Avalanche was always there with "where's mine?"  I picked up a jar of Milk Bone Maro Snacks and worked with her so she's stay in place when I'd toss one to her, one to Avalanche, then toss her the Dasuquin and toss Avalanche the other snack.  I'm guessing it took about a week before she'd look at them go over her head before she wasn't trying to grab them before Avalanche got to them.  Now she's just looking for the ones that come to her and letting Avalanche have whatever goes his way - no problem.  This from a VERY food aggressive / possessive dog ... yeh, it eventually works out.  Sometimes quicker and sometimes not so quick.

Fortunately, here in the states, federal law supersedes state law and service dogs are not required to be certified. They are, however expected to be well behaved and any establishment has the right to ask a disruptive service dog to leave.

Only 2 questions can be asked... is the dog a service dog required because ofthe a disability and what is/are his tasks. People were asking me if Ami was a service dog way before i thought I would need him for such.

Ami has no compassion regarding the ditches... one notable time he jumped across a rather wide one, I attempted to follow and did a faceplant n the grass. As i laid there, taking inventory of parts and catching my breath, he looked back at me, sniffed, then, a few feet from my face, lifted his leg and peed.

aljones wrote:

The head shy thing - in part I think Ami is right and in not.  I'll agree that having something over them brings out 'dominance' issues.  But I also know that if a dog's been hit in the chops (slapped in the face) enough, they're real apt to be very head shy.

We know that she is the alpha female (she tried to be at the kennel), so maybe in frustration someone clonked her on the noggin, or she is just one of those dogs who are unsure of intent until you show you're okay. She's getting better at it, and thankfully after immediately nipping the bone growlies in the butt, she is absolutely fine. We can put our hands down on the bone, take it away, the cats can smell it (though at that point she IS more interested in the kitties lol). So I'm glad we got it fast.

amymeme wrote:

Fortunately, here in the states, federal law supersedes state law and service dogs are not required to be certified.  They are, however expected to be well behaved and any establishment has the right to ask a disruptive service dog to leave.

Only 2 questions can be asked... is the dog a service dog required because ofthe a disability and what is/are his tasks.  People were asking me if Ami was a service dog way before i thought I would need him for such.

Ami has no compassion regarding the ditches... one notable time he jumped across a rather wide one, I attempted to follow and did a faceplant n the grass.  As i laid there, taking inventory of parts and catching my breath, he looked back at me, sniffed,  then, a few feet from my face, lifted his leg and peed.

Oh she's can be a devil! I think its because I yelp because it actually causes me so much pain that she's like "whoa". Wife my wife there is no f's given, poor wife. Some provinces are like the states Amy, that's why its so frustrating. Its like they WANT you to go to these schools, and while they are usually cost covered (usually charitable schools), its still frustrating, because its not like she has to be a dog that senses sugar lows, or seizures. Plus the fact that some schools use rescues means that she is right up that ally! What the heck right?

I am currently training one of my huskies to be a SD. He's 7 months old and also very food motivated.  This has been a blessing since he'll do pretty much anything for that nasty liver!! My girl on the other hand isn't food motivated at all, or toy motivated...or really motivated by anything other than her own agenda. She knows sit and wait at the gate, that's it. Anything else is just not in her interest.

Luckily, I live in California which gives Public Access rights to dogs still in training so its a little easier on us. I can imagine how frustrating having to go through an accredited school must be. If you can't train in normal stores, have you thought about exposing her to shopping carts in pet stores? Also I dont know the health codes in Canada but, could you maybe order food in a restaurant then take it and eat in the patio area? Cafes near me allow this. and then the dog can at least get used to doing a down stay under a table with food present. Public transit would be the trickiest, I'm sorry I don't know how you could get around that.

Thankfully yes, we are a beach town so there are plenty of out door areas to train up her food manners. I don't even TAKE public transport, so we'll figure something out there.

She has started to hump my wife. Me thinks wife needs to do a bit of training with her lol

Do they require she pass public transport even if you don't use it?

Lol Alucard discovered humping the other day at the dog park, thankfully he isn't doing it to humans yet!!

I believe so. The thing is it only would be noticed if someone asked for her ID and stuff. Which...is why the province is having a hard time with illegal service dogs.

Are too many people faking, and walking around without ID? Are stores starting to ask for it more often?

Well I don't know. On both accounts, I don't see many stores asking for it mind you I don't see many service dogs on the island. I think it would become a problem if the dog was acting up while you know wearing the vest and such, but if it acted as a service dog should, friendly, calm, not jumping at everyone etc etc. I don't think they'd ask.

Heck I worked retail all my life, and I was told to never question really, unless there was serious cause for pause (such as an unruly dog)

Places around me are starting to ask more because there's so many badly behaved dogs being passed off. Maybe Canada has the right idea with the official ID'S.