I have had Siberians before and am familiar with some of their idiosyncrasies. That being said I have never ran into the problems I am having and neither has the breeder I got him from. I took in Arty, he was a rehome from a reputable breeder here in Texas. He is 15mo old and his previous family had to give him up because he was to much for them. He is very sweet, but has some behaviors I need to address but I am not sure how. First off my family consists of me my wife and my 6 yr old son. I have experience with siberians, they do not. From what I can deduce his previous family probably let him rule the house and he is trying to do the same thing at mine. He has bonded to me and follows me around everywhere I go and has to keep me in his sight or he gets upset. He hates going outside alone and will only be fine outside if someone sits outside with him. My biggest concern is that he is showing dominant behavior towards my 6 yr old. If I am in the room he acts fine, but if it is just my wife and son he will tackle my son and pin him to the ground and nip at his back and legs. This has my son scared as well as my wife. If he does something wrong and you go to get his collar to get him to do what you want or put him outside or in his crate, he will mouth your hand and try to keep you away from his collar. This scares my wife. I am working on the behavior towards me by issuing a correction and making him sit and go into a more submissive state but I am not sure how to fix this for my family. He has almost perfect manners when on a leash though. It only took a few minor corrections to have him behaving well on leash. I really hope someone has some advice that will work. Thank you in advance.

Hey, howdy Jubal <?> a fellow Texan - and there are several of us from the Great State here.

Welcome to my world, I just (4 days ago) added a new Husky to my pack and I'm having some of the dominance issues here as well. I have a 6<?> year old female who knows she the Queen of the roost and has been dominating the new addition (a 3 year old female) ... okay, enough about my problems.

Yeh, I think a 6 year old should be able to handle this (with appropriate adult supervision)  Since you say he has good manners while on lead ( I presume you're meaning for them as well as yourself )  I think I'd get the youngster involved in some training.  With you present and with a hand on the leash, have your son tell Arty to set if he does, then have your son reward with a treat.  Repeat ad nauseum .... or at least until Arty gets the idea that your son isn't a puppy to play with (which I think is his real reason to jump and nip)

I'm going to strongly recommend that you use another of our cache of tools - keep a short leash on the pup, even when he's in the house.  This literally gives you and your wife a safe handle when the pups misbehaving.  

You don't say whether he attempts to dominate (your words) your wife, so I'll assume he doesn't which is part of the reason that I think it's just a rough attempt at play.  In either case, the sooner you can get them to participate in feeding - hand feeding is always a good tool - the sooner he'll see that they are also providers of the 'good stuff' and need to be respected.

I started my son with the rewards for preforming tasks like sit and lay down, that went okay. as far as my wife I think he is testing to see where she stands in the pack. he took a piece of mail off the counter yesterday and went into the living room right in front of her and started chewing it up. When she tried to take it away he growled and tried to nip. I believe the previous owners let him rule the roost when he was off leash. maybe it is just p[lay but all the things put together no respect for space taking things makes me think he is trying to dominate the house. I nip it in the bud when he tries it with me, but my wife gets scared when he nips at her and left some teeth mark bruises on my sons back. I do not think it is aggression.

Hey there, another Texan here, I agree with Al huskies like to play husky style and it always makes newcomers "afraid". Personally the leash in house is the most effective way to show pup boundaries, and to make quick corrections, which your wife needs to do. I also believe teaching drop it and leave it is a must. If your wife acts scared the dog will know, and not be aggressive, but, instead will take advantage of it. If you know proper obedience training then guide your wife into training obedience to your new dog, with emphasis on the drop it, leave it, sit, stay, and come here commands. If you don't I then suggest your wife and new dog go take a few obedience classes, so she understands how to effectively handle your new husky. Teaching boundaries is very important to this breed, without it they will rule your life, and not be a well behaved animal. And all of this has nothing to do with alpha or dominance, it has way more to do with a husky being a natural leader, and needing set rules, and routines.

I really appreciate all the responses. I am working on that with my wife. I have also brought in a trainer and he is giving some good tools to use like the compressed air tool to disrupt undesirable behavior. I think we are on the path now as it were.

Oh, @jubalmann, how much in common we have. I also am in Texas, just adopted a 1-2 male Husky from our local shelter.

He did just about everything you are describing. For my Lance, he was unsure of whether or not he could trust us, feared being alone again, and he needed WAY more exercise. For me, learning "drop it" was crucial. We try to go on two long walks a day, but obviously we can't all make that work. When he's being a raging brat, try making him sit and stay until you tell him to move. Make him sit in the middle of a room and walk away. Every time he breaks, make him do it again. Yes, it can take hours, but it also is showing him who the boss is. Once he's calmed down, take him outside for fetch or a game of chase, or talk him on a walk/jog.

Also, 15 minutes of basic training a day between your family and him would be a great way to keep his tricks fresh on the mind.

Mine had food aggressiveness that scared me to bits. I had never owned a husky and definitely jumped in over my head, but there were tricks that helped. Try feeding him out of your hand, like @aljones suggested. You cannot starve a dog. He will eventually eat the food out of your hand. Also try letting him watch YOUR HAND put HIS food in the bowl, and make him do 2-3 tricks before giving it to him. Start out my talking nicely to him and eventually, both with him getting used to being in your home and having you as alpha, things should decrease. Lance now shares water (and sometimes food, though we try to avoid this anyway lol) with my sister's SIX POUND Maltese.

Despite my efforts, my Sibe still cannot have any rawhide out of his crate unless my boyfriend and I are the only ones in the room. He gets very defensive and has tried to bite strangers for it. He becomes a completely different dog with rawhides, and this is true with a lot of dogs.

Best of luck, and welcome!