We recently added a new member to our family. Thinking she would be a family dog but so far that’s not the case. She is 17 weeks old. We have had her for 2 weeks. She wants nothing to do with my fiancé and I. She won’t come to us, if we approach her she walks or runs away. We can barely touch her and she acts afraid of us so we try to give her her space but she is attached to my 10 year old daughter. She constantly wants to be with her and is always wanting to be in her room with her and sleeps with her. We have allowed this to go on for over a week. She actually slept in her bed the first few nights. I think because she was too scared to go down the hallway where my daughters bedroom is. Then she got braver and followed her in there one day and hasn’t wanted to be anywhere else since. We want her to get used to us too and feel comfortable in the house plus we don’t know if we are making the problem worse by letting it go on. Tonight we have a gate up in front of the hallway and she is in a room with my fiancé and I. Right now she gave up and is laying down but she has been whining at the gate and trying to climb it and break through it but the gates held up so far. I feel really bad and want to just let her go be with my daughter but I my fiancé says we have do this and it’s the right thing to do. He thinks it’s bad letting it go on and that she will never like us or settle in to the family if we keep just letting her be with my daughter 24/7. I read that they have a critical socialization stage between 5 or 8 weeks until 16 weeks. I feel like she was never really around people during that time besides the breeder and her son so now I feel like she hates all humans besides my daughter. I have two other kids as well and she likes them but doesn’t follow them around. She is scared of my step daughter though who is 11 and comes over a couple times a week. I don’t know what to do to make her like us and not just want to be with my daughter. We have thought about even maybe having to return her to the breeder but I don’t want to break my daughters heart. Is what I’m doing with the gate the right thing to do? Please help!

Who walks her, feeds her, plays with her? All you have to do is put spend some time with her, either you or your partner be in a room just them and your dog, sit in the centre of the room so you’re level with the dog so you are not chasing her or leaning over her, so now you are sat in the room get some chicken and through it in front of you Let her eat that then hold some in your hand then when she is eating out of your hand then slowly pet her while she’s eating the chicken out of your hand, once she’s comfortable with that then try a ball or a squeaky toy and play with her, also if she’s attached to your daughter play with her when your daughter does walk her with your daughter. Huskies are very pack orientated by the sound of it the kids are her pack, so she needs to see you and your partner are part of that. Also you could set a hour a day of playing outside with your kids and her and she gets to sees that you are apart of the pack,
I hope this is helpful! It does sound like she’s only been socialised with kids but don’t worry any dog at any age can be socialised!
I’m a gun dog trainer and a few years back we had a Spaniel come to us and when my husband first went to put her on the lead she tried to bite he’s ankles she was showing her teeth and very aggressive to people and the strategy I told you about the chicken and toy was how I built a bond with the spaniel, now she’s the most friendliest dogs out there and is a very good gun dog this is her playing with my pups a few weeks ago,

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it!! My fiancé and I try to be the ones to put the food in her bowl so she can see that we are feeding her in hopes that would make her more comfortable with us. We have held the bowl too while she ate out of it to try to get her more comfortable but we haven’t actually tried to have her eat out of our hand. I am going to try the chicken today! We have tried playing with her but it might not be enough so I will play more with her and with the kids so hopefully she lets me join her pack! Thanks again! Your dogs are so cute and look like they are having so much fun! I’m trying to post a couple pictures tires of her and my daughter playing but I’m new to this and not sure if I am doing it right.

I'm not a dog trainer, but I've had a few puppies in my life. It sounds like your puppy has separation anxiety and is in need of trust building exercises like Liv_Skye suggested. I don't see any flags that indicate this is a bad puppy with abnormal puppy problems. She sounds a lot like my puppy! She is totally workable, it will just take patience and persistence.

She's 3 months old and you've only had her two weeks? The puppy still has a lot of adjusting to do. The first month is usually the most challenging as the puppy is learning about you, their boundaries, their environment, and is adjusting to not being around their litter mates. They are hardwired at this age to not want to be alone because in their instinct brain being alone = starvation.

For anxiety and general safety, I think kennel training is really helpful. My current 4 month old came with horrendous separation anxiety and would scream and monkey climbed out of his playpen so he could get to me whenever I left the room. He used to scream through the night, but he adapted and now puts himself in the kennel at his scheduled times if I don't put him up. Letting the puppy be around a person 24/7 tends to create insecurity when left alone, which leads to destructive behaviors when they are older. I would advise against letting the puppy sleep on the bed with anyone until she has learned that being alone is okay.

You can play games in and around the crate and give the puppy scheduled "time out" hours in the crate. There are a lot of videos and books on crate training out there that can be helpful to you if you want to try this.

For trust, really, just spend time with the puppy. Train it. Feed it. Praise it. Play with it. If the puppy associates you with good things, then she'll like you. Huskies come around to other people really easily. It's in their genes to be friendly and sociable.

Another good thing for create training is feeding the puppy in the create put her favourite toys in the create, so she associates the create pen with fun things and doesn’t see it as a punishment.

Work on training. Make her work for food. Don't just sit around feeding her chicken to get her to like you. Make her work for that treat. Make her work for her kibble. Huskies can become very picky about food if they get too many treats or toppers to try to bribe them. They can and will take advantage of you. You just have to spend time with her and show her that fun might come from the kids, but all the things she needs in life comes from you such as structure, food, and care. You haven't had her very long. She will come around with time and age. It's not uncommon for them to have a "person" that they prefer, but that person can change with needs. They are social dogs. They want to be with someone. crate training is a god send in the long run. Just make sure the crate is with someone and not all alone out in the living room.

Spider was a neurotic puppy. Didnt really like anyone but splinter. Food was only interesting if it was a game and literally ate her way out of the house. Oh and every sqeak and noise scared her. The other thing she would do was hide and ambush my ankles. I was on a different socialization timeline but spider came around. And she expects different things from me and my husband. With jerry she is very attached and a great seizure alert animal. But she doesnt see him as above her on the totem pole. Some of that is training and some is just bad manners. When shes home or in public familiar places for me she is very well trained. If jerry told spider to sit he would get a paw to the face.

Time is on your side. I would integrate yourself into the puppy/child bond. You are still in the getting to know you and new place and new boundaries phase.

Congrats on the new addition to your family! what a cutie! When I adopted my husky she was already six years old and came with awful isolation anxiety. She became attached to me very quickly, but wanted nothing to do with my fiance. I agree with letting your pup see that you are part of the pack and that the essentials come from you. This was something my fiance worked on with our husky (taking over feeding at night, being a part of play time, getting down on her level and rewarding good behavior, etc.) slowly but surely she came around and now she loves and respects him. Also crate training for a pup with social anxiety is very beneficial because like mentioned, the goal is to get them comfortable with being alone. we were able to crate train our husky and she was already six years old, so I think with your pups age you have time on your side. There are multiple articles and sites that give tips and tricks on how to properly crate train and make it a fun experience for your pup. I wouldnt get rid of her just yet, as you could be missing out on an amazing family dog that just isnt properly socialized. Hope my experience helps and shows that getting your pup where you need her to be IS possible!

Not exactly the same but - Duck had confidence issues when we brought him home, tended to stay close to me, afraid or at least very cautious about anything that looked different or new on walks (like painted rocks), very afraid of other dogs. We took him to puppy socialization and obedience classes. That and time and consistency (exposing him to new things routinely etc.) worked the problem out. He seems perfectly fine now - except for a certain prejudice against strange objects which have blown into our yard which he still tries to scare away with barking before he approaches them.

@dogpaddle if my truck is backed in or not in the correct spot spider wont walk past it or get in and ive had the truck more then half her life