Good day everyone.

Just picked my little Bundle of awesomeness from my Breeder Tuesday and we have been doing fairly well with crate and potty training but I am having trouble doing more training due to the fact that she does not seem very food driven. ( or I just have not found her right tasty treat yet.)

Any advice on getting an 8 weeks old attention?

Also is 3 10 minute walks a day plus play time and training time over doing it? I have her on two walks plus play and training and she is still a furry Bundle of energy.

So, I am no expert on the training field, but I noticed that Zhukov paid more attention the first half of the day than the later half. I also came to realize that he paid attention when he decided to. For example, sometimes, when I call his name, he responds perfectly. Other times, he might look at me, but then just turn away. Yet other times, I feel like I am talking to a brick wall. I have had all kinds of dogs before, but Zhukov is probably the hardest to train that I have ever had.

As far as treats, I use freeze dried beef liver. It comes in chunks that you can break up into bits and keep in your pocket. Some people use the kibble the dog normally eats, but my boy just wasn't that interested in that.

With the energy, I have found that he will just keep going all day if I let him. From what I have read on the forums here, Huskies don't seem to know how to stop so you have to limit them. Someone here said 5 minute walks for each month of age. I usually do a round of training in the morning, a 30 min walk 'round afternoon, a little bit of training, then play time.

Don't know if this helps, but I figured I would throw my 2 cents into the ring. Also, you are required, by Law, to post pics of your furry bundle of energy so that we can all "oooh" and "ahhh" over her.

Mine didn't like treats at first, but I found he liked these blueberry crunchy ones. I think they were nutro brand. Other than that, the whole "brick wall" thing...Welcome to the world of huskies

Some pups respond well to clicker training. You can use a regular clicker or use a squeaky toy to start. The high squeak or click is different for them and gathers their attention. As for treats, try something with a strong smell like liver bites or jerky treats.

At eight weeks, you're dealing with an animal who has an attention span that's - well, to be nice, it's non-existent.  If you can keep his attention on anything for more than a minute you're doing good - remember that everything is new to him and you just added fuel to the fire by moving him from the home he knew to a new one.

Yes, you want to start doing some training now; yes, you do want him to pay attention to you.  Reverse the situation here a bit - if he were really demanding of your attention, you'd put him in a time out or maybe crate him so you have some time to yourself.  If you're being too demanding of him, he may - in his own way - be asking you to back off some.  The best way that I've found to deal with a non-responsive dog is to leave them alone - of course there are limits, you take him out for his "duty calls", maybe crate him for bedtime, keep an eye on him so he doesn't get into anything harmful (electric cords, for example) but let him experience all the new things that are around him and let him come to you - as long as you're providing the food, I guarantee he will come to you.

For exercise time it's 10 minutes per month of age - for an eight week old pup that would mean about 20 minutes each time you go for organized exercise. (( I'm sorry, but for some reason that seems wrong - someone??? ))  On the other hand, free time in the back yard - as much as he wants.  The idea is that when it's organized training and you're controlling the clock, he may not have the knack of saying "Daddy, that's enough for now" (most pups will follow along until they're beyond exhausted); when he's in your back yard running and playing - on his own or with you - he can always plop down somewhere and recoup.

20 minutes is a long time for a structured walk for a 8 week old pup. You're right in it sounding off, al. As Mark mentioned, stick to 5 minutes per month, so at 8 weeks you're doing 10 minutes at a time of walking on grass. Stick to soft surfaces that keeps the impact on the joints lower while they are growing.

To get your pup to play attention to their name make sure they really know it! I teach this by sitting on the floor and saying "Cora" if she looks at my face I would click and treat! Once the name is down they will pay more attention as for treats use something high value like freeze dried anything. Good luck and please post some photos!

I was told the appropriate amount of exercise would be five minutes for every month old they are. So for an 8 week old, that'd be 10 minutes. This is in addition to their playtime. It doesn't necessarily have to be a walk. It could be throwing a ball for them to chase and bring back (assuming you can get them to bring it back).

The first two weeks I had Suka, I spent my time keeping him out of trouble and letting him settle in. After that, I started working on his manners and some basic commands.

Suka is very food-driven, so I haven't had problems finding something he likes. But I do have some suggestions for you to get your puppy more motivated.

1. Use her dog food.

Measure your puppy's daily ration of kibble in the morning (this is assuming you're feeding kibble), and put an appropriate amount into a treat bag you can attach to your pants, and leave the extra in a bowl on an elevated surface for later (like a counter). Use the kibble as treats whenever your puppy does something correctly. This can be done throughout the whole day without worrying about calories and gives you a LOT of "treats" to work with. Whatever kibble hasn't been used by the end of the day (say, 6 PM?) can be given to her in the bowl. This works great for many dogs, but not all, so that brings me to the next suggestion.

2. Use high-value food.

This would include items like boiled chicken that's been cooled off in the refrigerator, freeze-dried liver (you can purchase it in tubs from Amazon), pieces of hot dogs, marshmallows (my puppy's breeder uses these), or even pieces of cheese (assuming your puppy doesn't have a sensitivity to it).

These treats work great, but you'll want to watch her weight. If it goes up, you'll either need to use fewer treats for training or reduce the amount of kibble she receives.

3. Don't free-feed.

A dog that is free-fed always has food available and is therefore never hungry. So they may not be as motivated by treats. By feeding the puppy 2-3 times per day, they'll be really motivated to work for treats between meals.

I free-fed my dogs for years, and they've always been motivated by treats even though they weren't hungry. I noticed when I switched to feeding them meals at certain times throughout the day, their motivation to work for treats increased significantly. I've only been meal-feeding for a few weeks!

One other thing I want to mention is what others have already said; your puppy's attention span is going to be almost non-existent. As a result, you'll want to keep training sessions really short. My suggestion is to work with your puppy for about thirty seconds at a time, or about five repetitions of one command. Then take a break. You can do these mini training sessions several times throughout the day and it'll be more successful than if you did one 15-minute session in the morning.