Hey so is it normal for a husky to not want to do the down command?
Jhera will be 8 weeks this Saturday and she knows 5 commands including down but she never really likes doing it. She does the others commands just fine, almost instantly... but when I tell her down she will bark at me, jump up at me, and go sniffing around. She doesn't even want to perform it for her plate of food lol. I know she knows what to do because she has done it before but she slowly started to dislike it for some reason. What is it about down that she doesn't like? Does anyone have any tips?

Hey Keyshia......please don't take this rude, but at 8 weeks old knowing 5 commands is awesome. I wouldn't worry so much and just keep practicing it. My gsd pup didn't get it until somewhere around 8 months, not sure would have to look at my scrapbook, but I know it took her forever, and she still refuses at times, and that's from a gsd not the typical stubborn husky. From reading here the down command seems to be the one command many huskies have issues with, lol, besides recall and stay.....if you haven't tried it, try a treat and place her in a sit and then down and slowly move the treat away and low so she sees a good thing for her accomplishment.....Unless you mean down, as in don't jump on me or don't jump on the couch...since many of us use different wordings for a command. If you mean don't jump, and I can give better ways to tackle that. Personally I use lay down, for my girls to lay down, and plain old down to not jump. Are you confused yet? anyways, don't stress it so much, at 8 weeks old most trainers feel simple things like learning to potty out side, learning their name and possibly come here as awesome goals to succeed with an 8 week old, and even the potty outside will be a work in progress for several months, so enjoy your puppy, play with your puppy, they grow so very fast, she will eventually get it. You maybe over stressing commands for such a short attention span, and that may be the reason she is jumping, sniffing, barking rather than laying down. For her meal, keep it simple for now teach sit and wait and get it, this is what I did with both of my girls, makes them calm, and trains impulse control, work on duration of the wait. I hope some of this helps.

Hi Renee, I guess I just read so much about huskies being very stubborn and training being so crucial when they're young that I started to focus on training a little too much. I do keep the sessions short and fun since I know pups are so easily distracted but I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much. The down I'm referring to is the one where she lays down, i start her off in sit and then lower the treat until her elbows touch the ground like you said. We play with her and love on her so much, she's our little baby. Thanks for your comments and advice, I'll take it easy with the down

My girl is 7 and hates to lay down. At this point as long as she will do it I don't care if she likes it. You have taught her a lot in a short period of time and that is great. Training is one of those things with huskies that will have days when it seems so easy, they pick up on anything and everything, and then there will be days where it's like they haven't learned anything. This is normal. It will frustrate you, but thems the joys of being owned by a husky.

TwisterII wrote:

My girl is 7 and hates to lay down. At this point as long as she will do it I don't care if she likes it. You have taught her a lot in a short period of time and that is great. Training is one of those things with huskies that will have days when it seems so easy, they pick up on anything and everything, and then there will be days where it's like they haven't learned anything. This is normal. It will frustrate you, but thems the joys of being owned by a husky.

Wow lol It's just a husky thing then. Whenever she does it I praise her like crazy and give her affection afterwards. When I noticed she would learn things so quickly I decided to teach her more stuff and so far so good, only trouble is that down but I'm not stressing it. This breed is so smart it's not even funny !

My three year old girl will do down, but only from a sit.

I'm jealous though, our 5 month old pup only really knows sit, stay, and ironically has really good recall (although he plays fetch like a retriever and guards the house well, so he's an oddball for a husky). Sounds like you got one smart cookie on your hands!

TigerCzarina wrote:

My three year old girl will do down, but only from a sit.

I'm jealous though, our 5 month old pup only really knows sit, stay, and ironically has really good recall (although he plays fetch like a retriever and guards the house well, so he's an oddball for a husky). Sounds like you got one smart cookie on your hands!

I want Jhera to learn how to fetch but I've read that most huskies don't, so we'll see how that goes. I haven't worked on recall with her, I really don't want to mess it up being that it's a really important one. Do you have any tips?

What I've done with two of mine (the third is new so not sure how that's gonna work) is to put them on increasingly longer leads. Start with a normal leash and have her come to heel (obviously first, teach her to heel), as she responds correctly, increase the length of the lead till you're on a 50 to 100 ft lead. Then depending on where you are / what you're doing try her in an enclosed environment off lead.

I'd like to emphasize that for a Husky, recall is an emergency maneuver - there are very few Huskies who can be trusted off leash. It's too easy for them to be distracted by a tern or seagull (since you're in Florida, a rabbit or squirrel, etc. elsewhere) and try to catch them. On a remote beach you might get lucky, on one by a roadway you might also be VERY unlucky. Remember it's your dogs life that you're taking in your hands when you allow her off lead - please be very careful!!

aljones wrote:

I'd like to emphasize that for a Husky, recall is an emergency maneuver - there are very few Huskies who can be trusted off leash.  It's too easy for them to be distracted by a tern or seagull (since you're in Florida, a rabbit or squirrel, etc. elsewhere) and try to catch them.  On a remote beach you might get lucky, on one by a roadway you might also be VERY unlucky.  Remember it's your dogs life that you're taking in your hands when you allow her off lead - please be very careful!!

This, this, this times a million. Even though our Luka KNOWS recall and KNOWS "when mama says Luka get your butt back here now" he's in trouble, he's still a husky and would bolt at the first bunny he sees.

That being said to get my pup to the point of reliable recall, it takes a LOT of time and patience, and lots of treats. We started real small with him-literally one end of the couch to the other. We keep up the training too, especially with the "teenage" months coming up. We'll see how that goes though haha.

This might help also. During our puppy training classes there was a hound dog that just did not like laying down. The trainer offered these items: some dogs just do not like it, it is an uncomfortable position with you towering over them, They could be uncomfortable with the surface you want them to lay there belly on (cold or rough surface) probably now a husky issue. She did offer the girl the idea to go back to the basics start her off in sit and then lower the treat with it tight off her nose down the front of her body to the floor the as she follows down to drag the treat forward. If you see she follow to a certain point say only halfway and then gets stubborn you can use you second hand o apply slight pressure to butt.

However you are at a point that practice is important as she is still so young. You are doing good to have all those items under your belt already. Vlad got it right away but with out efficiency and then regressed to stubbornness and then finally got it. We also use off and down however my husband say down and lay down which was what we believe threw him off besides stubborn husky syndrome.

Good job training commands keep it up!

Thanks, I'm gonna get her a long leash like the one Al Jones mentioned once she is able to go outside, in the meantime I'll keep practicing the down by guiding her with the treats. I read some recall training information on the Victoria Stillwell site and it was similar to what you said TigerZcarina (start out close and then create more distance). I hope to one day be able to trust her off leash.
We have a neighbor here who has a husky and sometimes I see them outside relaxing on a blanket while the husky is loose, just laying down a couple of feet away from them. That husky also goes and does his/her business while the owners wait for him/her by the staircase and the husky returns right back to them. Ah, I would love that!