We have always had German Shepherds. Ours have always been overly praise oriented. They wanted to please at any cost, making them extremely easy to train.

I have always wanted a husky. My children fell in the love with the breed last winter and hounded me ever since. I started doing research last spring. I read they were extremely intelligent dogs, but very independent. We found a breeder and met the dogs. They were lovely. Got a lot of advice on fencing, escape artistry, vocals, etc. Learned I probably needed to rely on my GSD for alerting to strangers and not the husky.

So we brought our bundle of fur home this past weekend. He has learned very quickly the things he wants to learn. I honestly have never met a pup with this much confidence. It doesn't seem to be confidence in a dominate type of way. It is just such an amazing personality already!

I am assuming this is the typical husky personality? So, how do you motive them to do something they really do not want to do yet. I have never done true obedience with my GSDs. But I taught enough to challenge them a little and to have manners. Praise doesn't really seem to effect him much. What are some ways you motivate or have motivated yours to learn new things? I really do not want to resort to food as a motivational tool.

What he has learned in the 5 days we have had him; walk on leash, the word toy, only cried the first night in kennel, to leave the cat alone.

Currently working on and he has no interest in learning; sit and potty training.

Part of the potty training problem is that we have to rely on my children (ages 14, 10 and 10) from 3-6p and I know it is also a developmental thing.

So if you can give me tips on motivation, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Mine are very food motivated.

Mine was not food motivated, but was toy motivated. Try a squeaky ball, play fetch, or a tugs and try using the tug game as a reward. The tugs worked best for my girl, so it was Miya sit, she did we played a round of tugs, then did the command again, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Thank you both for replying. I think we will try the toy way first. Last night was the first he had acted as if he is part of our pack/family, excited to see all of us, wanting to play with us and of course kisses when picked up.

Food above all else. My husky will do anything for food. If I go near the area where his treats are kept, he will follow me around and sit like a good dog for 30 minutes or so on the off chance that I got a snack for him.

The only time food doesn't work is when he decides he needs freedom. He's usually very well behaved and listens well, but sometimes when leashing him up, or getting fresh water, or whatever, he will make a break for it and go nuts running around the neighbors yards. He will not respond to calls and turns running away into a game. Food does not work in this situation. But opening the back of the Forester will get him to come running. The forester is how he gets to all the fun places around town, so if that door opens, he thinks it will be something more fun that freedom.

My boy is motivated by one and only one thing and that's food. He could care less about "pleasing" anyone (he only cares about himself) and toys are really dependent on his mood. He likes certain toys if that's what he cares to do at the time but if he doesn't want to do something then a toy is certainly not a big enough reward to get him to do it. But FOOD works 100% of the time with my guy.

So far, Misty is motivated mostly by food -- ANY food, it seems. She's also motivated by a toy. Thank goodness, we've found a favorite toy for her. She seems to think hard-rubber ChuckIt balls are the greatest things in the world. As long as she has a ChuckIt ball, she is one happy and relatively obedient camper.

Food, but reward your husky dynamically i.e. don't just pop treats in their mouth. Make them work for the treats, have them chase the treat in your hand just like a rabbit or squirrel. Huskies love anything that can be turned into a chase game.

Mishasmom wrote:

We have always had German Shepherds. Ours have always been overly praise oriented.  They wanted to please at any cost, making them extremely easy to train. 

So if you can give me tips on motivation, I would really appreciate it.  Thanks!

I think the fact that you have a GSD may have helped with your husky's obedience. Dogs learn a lot from social facilitation. I have noticed that my husky responds more to touch or being petted as a reward than just verbal praise, maybe this is breed specific.

My foster, a total snuggle bug, would do anything for an ear scratch. My resident boy is the original independent SOB who would sell his soul food a piece of kibble. I've found that once a behavior is shaped and they know the command, an ecollar is invaluable in getting compliance on those husky "I know what you want, just not feeling it" moments. Right now, your pup is too young for ecollar training but later you may find one useful.

Our husky seems to only be motivated with food when learning new commands or tricks. I personally prefer the small Zuke's training treats because they fit in a jacket pocket so easily, which is perfect for taking on walks, hikes, etc. Another motivator that might be good to pair with treats, would be praise ("good boy", "good job", etc.) and physical touch, such as a scratch on the neck or head.

Thanks all for replying. Sorry, it took me so long to come back and respond. Food is working amazingly. He has learned sit and go to bed. Yes, having the other dogs has helped him learn what I want him to do. Misha is definitely independent and kind of a clown.