Hello,

I just got a husky puppy three days ago. She is 9 weeks old. She's a darling and I love her, but her behavior has been downright exhausting. She wants to play all the time, only her version of playing is biting so hard that she draws blood. I have tried all kind of tactics to redirect her from biting, and she just thinks I am playing with her and bites harder.

Her potty training had been going great, until I went back to work today. She was no longer having night time accidents, she was going back to sleep right after going potty in the middle of the night. Things were starting to seem good. Then I went to work, and it's like we are right back to the beginning, only worse. She is back to biting like crazy, pottying in the house left and right, and she won't sit still. I walked her, I have taken her outside every 30 minutes since I got home. She will go outside, and then as soon as I bring her into the house, she pees on our bed or on the floor. She is even back to pooping in the house after not doing so since her first day here.

What can I do to train her? She won't eat treats, so I can't use those to train her. I've tried multiple different kinds. She takes stern tones and no's as a form of play and starts biting. I put her in her crate and she screams and cries, and does not stop. I have roommates, and I can't let her scream all night long. And she will if I don't find some way to calm her.

What can I do to make training easier? How do I avoid these big set backs after a day at work? I love this puppy, but her behavior is so stressful, and I am exhausted.

Thanks guys!

Purchase this video: http://leerburg.com/ellispuppydvd.htm.

It is a long video, so watch this video on the weekend and take notes. I wish I would have watched before I brought my pup home.

Wow. You have a lot going on.
First off, huskies are notoriously hard to train. They do what they want and when they want to. To that end, you have to train them harder than most breeds. They are smart though, so once they figure out what is best for them, they'll follow through.

Do NOT deviate from your training. Do NOT deviate from your schedule.

Biting. Huskies are pretty mouthy. If they didn't get the proper training from other dogs in this matter, you're going to have to step in. Yell ouch, pull away, look disappointed, put in time out. Wait until she calms down, then go back to having fun. Repeat every time she bites.

Training. Find a treat that works. Find something that is high quality, no grain. Be creative. Maybe the treat is an ice cube, or a carrot, or peanut butter. Maybe raw is the way to go for treats. Get some cheap cuts of beef. Cube or cut into thin strips, cook it up, use for training. I think I could seriously train my husky to re-shingle my roof if I trained him using steak/chicken/pork trimmings that I used to just throw away.

As for bed time/kennel time. You're going to need to talk to your roommates and apologize a lot. Offer to do some extra cleaning around the apartment to make up for the noise. The dog will learn that she doesn't get rewarded for bad behavior. If you show up after 15 minutes of crying to 'comfort' her, you just trained her to cry more.
Start with some kennel training. Put her in and when she's calm, or behaving well, reward her, but leave her in. Continue to reward her over time and increase the intervals of the reward time. If she cries, ignore her.

Getting a puppy is very much like having a new born child. It takes a ton of work, and you will have sleepless nights, and you will piss off neighbors and roommates, and you have to just suck it up and deal with it.

Hey,

So I am in the same boat as you, my boy has his first day home without me today. He has been sleeping great at night (has not had a single accident in his kennel) and is too smart for his own good. He is also quite mouthy, no real bites but a bit harder than welcomed.

I hope to follow this thread closely because i have noticed a lot of people give very sound advice. Good luck and we're all in this together.

I currently work second shift, 2:00pm to 10:00pm. I think that that shift is going to cause problems when it comes to training her. I would be away from home the majority of her waking hours. Meaning she will be pottying in her crate, and will lose progress on house training. I talked to my boss, and I think I will be switching to a first shift schedule. Hopefully that will make my being gone easier on her.

She is at that teething stage where she wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. Including hands, feet, ankles, arms, even hair! Ouch! I have tried hollering "Ouch!" And putting her in the timeout. I've even tried rewarding her with little pieces of bologna when she stops biting. She thinks it's all fun and games.

Hopefully things will get better with some time. This is only her 5th day at home. We'll see.

Thank you for the replies!

Junebug I suspect you will find puppy sleeps while you're away and wakes up to play when you get home. Particularly if you make her area dark.

Feel your pain.. Biting goes away or gets a lot better after 12 weeks, potty training is gonna get better too. Stay strict and reward her for good. The only thing i have trouble with is her running after my children around the house, but it's fun to watch

Junebug wrote:

Hello,

I just got a husky puppy three days ago. She is 9 weeks old. She's a darling and I love her, but her behavior has been downright exhausting. She wants to play all the time, only her version of playing is biting so hard that she draws blood. I have tried all kind of tactics to redirect her from biting, and she just thinks I am playing with her and bites harder.

Her potty training had been going great, until I went back to work today. She was no longer having night time accidents, she was going back to sleep right after going potty in the middle of the night. Things were starting to seem good. Then I went to work, and it's like we are right back to the beginning, only worse. She is back to biting like crazy, pottying in the house left and right, and she won't sit still. I walked her, I have taken her outside every 30 minutes since I got home. She will go outside, and then as soon as I bring her into the house, she pees on our bed or on the floor. She is even back to pooping in the house after not doing so since her first day here.

What can I do to train her? She won't eat treats, so I can't use those to train her. I've tried multiple different kinds. She takes stern tones and no's as a form of play and starts biting. I put her in her crate and she screams and cries, and does not stop. I have roommates, and I can't let her scream all night long. And she will if I don't find some way to calm her.

What can I do to make training easier? How do I avoid these big set backs after a day at work? I love this puppy, but her behavior is so stressful, and I am exhausted.

Thanks guys!

I've got a 9 week old too I'm in the same boat. The potty training is not too bad. Remember everytime your pup has done an action put him in the garden eg: had a sleep then put him out. Played then put him out. I use a puppy pad through the night next to back door. The biting I'm distracting with a toy and telling him "enough". I found he likes the pedigree chum puppy treats. It won't happen over night but I'm persisting as he sits, already gives his paw and goes down when told. The puppy biting is an issue and it's hurts! He's laying of me but biting my other dogs hard.

I've had Bohdi a week now, so he's officially 7 weeks old and got his first Parvo yesterday thank goodness.
He's a handful and has similar stuff going on as the above. But everyday is different. Sometimes he's more gentle than others, or eats more, etc. One day he'll do any business he needs to in the house right in "the spot." The next day won't go there at all. He's pretty easy to read and get outside when he needs to go, it's just hard to watch him 24/7 LOL, work and human life get in the way!
I sure hope he figures it out as he grows, we work constantly on everything just because we're always together. Sometimes he gets something for a minute or two, but then chooses to forget the next minute. Probably just puppy brain, He sure is a good boy when he wants to be.
Oh yeah, he HATES being left alone also, but is always happy to see me and give me kisses.
What glorious puppies these dogs are. A lot of work, but anything worthwhile is a lot of work IMHO.
Bohdi & Harv

Harvey, just keep in mind Bohdi's age. He is extremely young. You won't see consistency in his retaining information you've taught him for a little while yet. However, things like potty training, for example, are very important you be consistent on while he is young, it will be one of the first things he retains and will stick too for the rest of his life.

Junebug wrote:

What can I do to train her? She won't eat treats, so I can't use those to train her. I've tried multiple different kinds.

hmmm, here is a list of Rumo's High-value treats?
all people food...these worked in obedience class, and they work when out on walks...

- rotisserie chicken or broiled chicken, cut into pea-sized bits
- Kraft singles American cheese, cut into thin little pieces (I aim for 16-20 out of one slice)
- white cheddar cheese, cut into pea-sized cubes

I find this more efficient than stocking dog treats, because the Humans in our family like to eat them too...:-)

& for some reason, he's just not interested in the premade dog treats! When we first got him, I put dog treats (cute little bone-shaped biscuits) in his crate and they laid there untouched for 3 days...until I gave up. Also not much success with hot dog, he was spitting it out. I guess every dog is different, because they say Hot Dog is the best training treat...

Ami is not that into dog treats either. Though he loves Wegmans chicken and sweet potato strips and full moon chicken jerky...but both of those are predominantly real chicken. I use cheese sticks...The mozzarella string cheese kind, cut one stick onto 4 sticks lengthwise and then crosswise tho he a whole bunch of pea sized bits.