HIIIII friends, I'm back with more questions!

My (now!) 5 month old Husky Ghost is the best thing to ever happen to me. I love her so much. We have so much fun together, but being a first time dog owner (I had a dog when I was a kid, but I don't remember these sorts of things) I have some questions about what my girl should or shouldn't be doing at the five month mark.

For the most part, she's hitting all her 'marks'. She even passed the AKC star puppy test on her first shot! The only thing making me nervous is her aggression during walks, or other random times throughout the day. It's bizarre, sometimes she's so sweet and cuddly, other times she won't let you pet her without trying to bite. I don't think she's using full pressure, but she can definitely break the skin, and her teeth are SHARP. When she makes me bleed, it's usually due to a 'tooth scratch' rather than a pressure bite.

She's at her worst when we're walking. She'll be fine for so long, then at random will decide to stop walking, and start jumping and biting my clothes, hands, and whatever else she can get her teeth on. I cannot determine what is triggering her at all. It's completely random, and it basically lasts the rest of our walk. I can't get her out of 'that mode' until we get home and I put her in a little timeout. Then she will return to 'normal'.

She also gets extremely bitey when I first see her in the morning, or if I leave for a few hours and come back home. I know it's excitement, I just wish she didn't show it with her teeth

The other problem that is somewhat related is that she is a BIG TIME leash biter. I've had to use a chain leash since she was 10 weeks old. She doesn't bite the chain, but it's heavy and uncomfortable to use. I've tried going back to a fabric leash at least once a week, and it just doesn't work. She tries to bite it immediately.

This is my roundabout way of asking if this is normal behavior for a 5 month old. I was hoping she'd grow out of this by now, or it would at least reduce. If anything, it's gotten worse over the last 2 weeks which is why I came here to post. I should note she is teething (although she is almost done) and hasn't been fixed yet (she will be in three weeks).

As far as socializing her, I think I've done a pretty good job of that. She plays with another dog once or twice a week for at least an hour, and I walk her a long the beach just about every morning where we are constantly meeting 10-15 other dogs every single day. People come over and pet her all the time, and she usually handles all that ok!

It's all manageable right now, at 5 months, but she is getting bigger and stronger by the day! I won't be able to defend myself against the leash / walk jump biting if she gets much older.

Any advice would be excellent. Thanks!

Excuse me while I laugh - of course it's normal anything is normal for a Husky Puppy!!

Okay, seriously, it sounds to me as if the "walks" aren't enough exercise for her and she's getting bored so she does what she can to get a little more activity. Ditto the random biting in the house - I don't want you to pet me, I want to play!

Heaven forbid what it would be like if Huskies had hands, but since they don't, they use the next best thing they have to get your (our) attention - their mouth, which happens to have teeth in it.

As far as biting the leash - good luck! I have a 5 year old who's realized that she can bite through a nylon leash in about 15 second! If I don't use a chain lead with her, it's guaranteed that I'll be looking at the butt end of a butt head!

aljones wrote:

Excuse me while I laugh - of course it's normal anything is normal for a Husky Puppy!!

Okay, seriously, it sounds to me as if the "walks" aren't enough exercise for her and she's getting bored so she does what she can to get a little more activity.  Ditto the random biting in the house - I don't want you to pet me, I want to play!

Heaven forbid what it would be like if Huskies had hands, but since they don't, they use the next best thing they have to get your (our) attention - their mouth, which happens to have teeth in it.  

As far as biting the leash - good luck!  I have a 5 year old who's realized that she can bite through a nylon leash in about 15 second!  If I don't use a chain lead with her, it's guaranteed that I'll be looking at the butt end of a butt head!

Well that is reassuring! I feel like I'm burning enough of her energy. We've been doing a solid 30-45 minute walk in the morning, a bunch if play sessions throughout the day, and another long walk / park trip in the evening. I do mix up walk locations to try and curb the boredom, but it's obviously possible I'm not doing enough with her!

Regardless, as long as nothing is abnormal I am fine with her behavior right now. It's tolerable for me, and if it's nothing to be alarmed about, I will not be alarmed!

What age would something like this, something you could describe as 'husky puppy behavior' stop? Just curious.

Let's put "exercise" in perspective - as a breed, these dogs were used to haul loaded sleds, sometimes at speed, for - let's say - 25 miles in a day. The average man, in decent shape, can walk 4 miles an hour. You 30-45 minute walks suggest something like 2-3 miles of strenuous walking or 1-2 miles of strolling.

Now, do you really think you're burning enough of her energy? Dog parks or enclosed spaces where she can get out and run can help a lot. (( I have the advantage at my age, I do have an area where my dogs can run. Avalanche will run for a couple of hours a day, chasing rabbits. ))

Teething, puppies will lose their puppy teeth and gain adult teeth between 3-6 months and continue to chew as their adult teeth come in. At 5 months, she should have lost most of her razor sharp puppy teeth but maybe not all. I *think* you should see some of the biting go away shortly as long as you're not playing with her in a way that encourages biting - tug-of-war, for example.

chiming in, but at 5 months, her walks should be 25min, 5min pre month of age has always been the rule i follow. but that does not mean just once, you can do a hand full of those through out the day.
i now have a 9month at home still doing the same behavior as when we got him at 7months, damn those teeth are sharp!!!! i am marked like i have been at war. Finn is doing the same thing your girl is with the biting and walking, it sucks. even wrestling with Jack does not help him coming after me. i freeze and tell him to sit till he does it, or if we are outside ask him where his ball is so we can play fetch. it is starting to work to snap him out of the craziness. but still they are puppies......and puppies suck

Puppies can teeth as late as 8-12 months of age, typically their big back molars come in at that age. Once they are completely in, mysteriously they automatically know bite inhibition. I agree with jenn, teaching calmness, like working on commands will help a lot, helps refocus. I also have no issue playing tugs, did so with my girl, which really helped in giving what she wanted, to play and bite but teaching her to focus on the tugs and not me. Also, tethering her to you with the leash while at home may also help in teaching calmness and to be able to correct the chewing of the leash.