Hey, what's up guys!

So I'm a little disappointed in myself as I feel I have not trained my husky well and have set him up for failure, even though I did everything I researched and studied, he just turned, 14 months.

Here's the thing;
I went over to my friends house who has a golden-doodle who is roughly the same age as my husky, and I was blown away by the difference in behavior between mine and his.

Soon as I entered the dog seemed happy to see me but nothing jumpy or too crazy, then went to lay around in the living room. While at his place, the dog minded his own business and rarely came to bother me. Then, when we were eating, there was pizza, drinks, and paper napkins on the coffee table, and this dog did not one bit try to eat the food, or take the paper napkins and left it alone.

If it were my home, my husky would be going crazy to meet them, constantly going near them, and the thought of food or paper napkins on the coffee table would mean he would try to take and shred them.



What has he done that I didn't do? I would say I know more about training than he does. I gave my husky structure from day 1, meaning crate time, training etc. But the golden doodle still acts way more behaved.

Have I failed my dog?

The main thing that he did that you didn't do was get a dog that is eager to please and easy to train. Certain breeds are just easier to work with and more willing to do as asked. They also have different triggers and energy levels.

He's probably also specifically worked on those things with his dog to prevent them and may have also taken his dog for a long walk before you showed up to assist in better behavior as well. Creating structure and respect is a bit different than training a direct behavior or reaction. Work on things like wait and just in general socialization. He may also socialize that dog a ton while simultaneously working on manners so the dog doesn't over stimulate when meeting someone.

Huskies just aren't robot dogs and they are very difficult to turn into robot dogs because they have a lot of free will and are head strong. It's really apples and oranges when comparing doodles to huskies. They may both be fruit but they grow completely differently. It's not a failure. Huskies just have different requirements.

TwisterII wrote:

The main thing that he did that you didn't do was get a dog that is eager to please and easy to train. Certain breeds are just easier to work with and more willing to do as asked. They also have different triggers and energy levels.

He's probably also specifically worked on those things with his dog to prevent them and may have also taken his dog for a long walk before you showed up to assist in better behavior as well. Creating structure and respect is a bit different than training a direct behavior or reaction. Work on things like wait and just in general socialization. He may also socialize that dog a ton while simultaneously working on manners so the dog doesn't over stimulate when meeting someone.

Huskies just aren't robot dogs and they are very difficult to turn into robot dogs because they have a lot of free will and are head strong. It's really apples and oranges when comparing doodles to huskies. They may both be fruit but they grow completely differently. It's not a failure. Huskies just have different requirements.

Thanks for the advice, will definitely keep training.

Also see that you have three beautiful dogs, and one of them looks to be a rottweiler. How does the rottweiler act compared to your other two huskies?

I now for sure Keno is not a rottweiller, just not sure exactly what he is, maybe some some gsd if I remember correctly.

The most important thing for training, just as Jenn said, is too directly address the behavior you want to work on. I would train the "place" command as well. Also work on a calmness exercise called "sit on your dog," both are searchable online.

That being said, a 14 month old husky is a bundle of teenager, full of bounce. Yes, do the training, but know that he's still an impulsive bunch of joy.

@dinf22 if it makes you feel better, my little terrier took 4 years to master sit. I got mine ignoring things in counters but it only lasts if someone is in the room. And it didnt happen at 14 months more like around 3ish

dinf22 wrote:

Also see that you have three beautiful dogs, and one of them looks to be a rottweiler. How does the rottweiler act compared to your other two huskies?

Nope, no Rottweiler in him. He is a strange compilation of stuff.



He acts more like the Spaniel. Scared of everything and not well adapted to handling excitement. He got the junk hips of the GSD though and he's about as block headed about learning as a Lab. Very vocal like some people say northern breeds are. My two purebred huskies are very quiet so I'm leaning toward his incessant barking being more GSD as well.

Yep, I have been there.

Somebody with a pure GSD was walking him offleash. When he started over to meet Rumo, he said, "King! Come" and like an autoreflex, the dog aborted in midstep and ran back to him.

I could train till I'm blue in the face, but Rumo will never have an "auto-come" like that dog...he always takes a second to think!

Labradoodle = lab x poodle, two of the smartest and most trainable breeds ever bred specifically to work with humans...

That said, my dog will also not touch food on tables and will lay quietly for visitors.

This was not positive training - this was me saying "eh eh eh!" disapprovingly when he went to go sniff something on the counter or table, and keeping him on leash when clients came so that I could discourage him if he tried to sniff/get too close/bother them. He got the idea to leave the food and not oversniff the clients, and has abided by that mostly. He may need a little verbal reminder now and then, but hasn't needed one for a long time.
Keep consistent rules and stick with 'em!

( Also, if you think your dog is really a young husky hellion and are frustrated with him, a few sessions with a good trainer or obedience class will help! I'm sure you've heard this a lot, but training should be mostly training You to communicate clearly with your dog - your timing, use of cause/effect and conditioning, etc. )