Hi,

We're new to the forum, three weeks ago we adopted Freyja from a rescue. Initially we were only going to foster her for a few weeks, but we fell in love and adopted her after two days! She's between 1 and 2 years old, and she was a stray dog before and she has some skin problems (will post about this in the Help section).

It is our first dog. We didn't realize the behavioral challenges huskies can throw at you, but we've been reading a lot and we're determined to make it work through positive reinforcement training and lots of love.

Inside the home she's the sweetest girl. Very affective, loves all humans, naps a lot. She had a couple pee/poo accidents the first two weeks (despite our frequent taking her outside). Funny thing is that she went to our bathroom to do it, haha, so at least the mess was contained. I guess she was acclimating. We cleaned it with an enzymatic cleaner and she's doing great now, no problems for the last week and a half.

Walks are a challenge. At the beginning she pulled a lot. I think she's slowly getting better but it depends on the day. Sometimes she also stops and refuses to come our way, or gets too excited chasing a crow/squirrel and pulls *a lot*. It takes a little while to calm her down. I think this is slowly getting better as well. I always carry treats, and reward her when she's not pulling for a while, and also when she is called and comes.

Inside the house she can reliably "sit" and "come", and she's learning "lay down". It's more of a challenge outside. We do small training stops during walks, and she is getting better at it.

What do you folks think?

I think she is a mighty pretty girl. Welcome to the forum. It can take a couple months to see what they will really be like so expect a lot of changing for the first while in how she behaves and reacts. You are on the right track. Set you boundaries and the rules of the house and hold to them, making sure that everyone in the house also holds her to those rules. Huskies need the routine and structure to make life with them a little more sane. Also, exercise, exercise, exercise. A tired husky is a happy and better behaved husky.

Definitely post your skin question to its own thread so it can get proper attention from members to help you out.

Love the smile