Hi everyone. We are new to this forum. We have had Kylo since he was 7 weeks and it has been a crazy ride! His latest challenge had us getting different advice everywhere and especially regarding general dogs vs. Huskies in particular. A few weeks ago Kylo started growling around his crate and within a day or so he did the same with food, toys and items he stole from bedrooms, etc (like socks and towels). It was around the time that he got very serious diarrhea and we gave him an antibiotic and stopped all treats and just gave him kibble (not his favorite, he prefers meat).

I read that resource guarding could be caused by the dog feeling unsure about getting food, so we started feeding him at exactly the same time every day. I also read that it can help to drop higher value food in the dog bowl while he eats so he will see it as a good thing that I am near his bowl. This I have done and had our three kids do as well. He now starts eating and then stops when the meat is gone and gives me puppy eyes waiting for his meat treats. He has stopped growling at me around his bowl, mostly but still growls around others and with toys and his rest spots.

When he growls, he looks pretty scared, not really dominant. But he is exhibiting other behaviors that seem dominant. He jumps from couch to couch when told "off". He growls if we try to take him off and he doesn't have a leash on. He has started grabbing onto a person's leg when he is like this and I was afraid this would turn into humping, which it did today with our 11 year old son. He is not super affectionate and keeps to himself even more since this started.

An acquaintance who had a husky for 11 years told me that they put their puppy on her back, grabbed her muzzle and lightly bopped her nose every time she growled and it stopped. I tried this a few times. The last time he kept growling the whole time and it seemed to escalate so now I'm afraid to do that. Although he does seem to listen to commands a little better since we have done that.

Also, he has lost 2 puppy teeth in this time. I don't know if that can be causing pain that leads to this behavior.

People keep telling us we need to get a trainer but we really don't have the money. We are in a very tough financial spot right now. I can use all the help we can get. Thanks in advance!

Oh, the miserable "teen years" of pupyhood.  First I'm going to suggest you take a look at this google search of the forum - aggression in puppies is one of the most often asked questions and rather than repeat everything we've said before, let me ask you to review what we've already written.

However with that said ... possessiveness (definitely NOT aggression!) isn't too uncommon a trait with puppies (just like a three or four year old child) and from what you wrote you've got a pretty good handle on it. Now to pass your learning curve on to the other members of the family, eh?

I can almost see a Husky say "Are you really telling me to get off the couch?" They're stubborn and independent and a few other things I can't type here. The easiest solution that I've heard of - and you'll see it often - is to use a house leash. It gives you a handle to move him when he doesn't agree without getting any hands in proximity of his teeth. It also lets him know that you're serious about his behaviour. You sound like you're a reasonable person, obviously you don't want to drag him around but when he's misbehaving just use it as a guide - enough pressure that he has to go your way.

Glance through the items on the search and please, feel free to ask away!

Thanks Al,

I looked through those posts and some things I found were to try hand feeding, (although it seems that some people have had bad results from this), trading up for a toy or treat of higher value, teaching "drop" or "give" and keeping a leash on and giving Kylo a "timeout" in his crate when he growls for being approached with no other reason. Also, I saw a lot of NILIF training. This one I have started and he seems to be getting more responsive to me but still growling.

On "trading up": Kylo doesn't really like treats unless it is meat or yogurt and he seems to prize "what I have right now" above everything else unless it is meat or a bone. So, I will try giving him toys or other things but I don't have a lot of hope for it.

On teaching "drop it" or "give": Is this taught by the trade off? So, I give the command and then wait, and then present the trade?

Thank you so much for all your help!!

We adopted a 3.5 month old Husky pup and went through the same thing you are going through. It was a long story, and one long year of frustration and scary moments. We spent $2500 for a professional trainer, which I think mainly changed his mindset on who's alpha and we had to change our own mindset and maintain it that way including using a "Place" exercise. After neutering he also got better and at 12 months, he was becoming more friendly. By then he knew special commands we taught him, which were the tools we had to get him to behave. So there is hope. At 5 months, we also sent him to daycare to learn to socialize and the handlers there also did some training. He went from "an aggressive dog" to "the best dog in our daycare" after 8 months and the handlers loved him! He was also bored for not getting 6 hours of exercise a day! and he was chewing things up like crazy, so we switched to a dog-hiker who took a group of dogs on daily hikes for 4-6 hrs a day! Expensive, but he was so happy, loved the handler and improved in personality.
There are good training tips online, including videos, and look for the TV program on CBS "Lucky dog" on dog training. Its every Sat. 7:00 or 7:30am in the San Francisco Area
Too much to type. PM me and I'd be glad to share via email or on the phone.

@aaseth6  What I didn't mention and should have is to look at this group of posts on NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) which I notice you've found. Sometimes just convincing a dog that he's not gonna get his next meal without working for it is a good start.

Best way for a pup to understand trade up is to first train leave it.

Leave it leads very well into drop it and give it. If your pup can't leave an item it won't drop something to begin with and it gives you the window you need to trade up.

Apart from that it sounds like you're dealing with a pup testing boundaries. You just need to keep at it and be a United front. Everyone in your household needs to address and train the pup in the same manner/tone. United goal.

Do it as a family. Pick something you can all train together so that your 11 y/o is also part of it and can be seen as an important member of your family that should be listened to, in hopes we gets treats.

If meat and yogurt is the Apex only use that as the end rewards.

I've ridden the line with positive and negative reinforcement in my life.... When I got my first husky I realized negative just didn't work as well. Every dog is different, but mine have NEVER react well to rolling, pinning, scruffing, ect. I'd advise against the roll and Boop.

If your pup is listening to you and no one else use that to help reinforce the fact you support others in your family. I stand behind Ryan while we train... So he can dish out the rewards and issues the commands. He's only 5 and the dogs love him.


In the end are you sure it's aggression or just noise? Making noise around food or crates are normal and if you're not used to Huskies it can sounds bad..... If there's no teeth, the pup isn't low, and the fur isn't up it might just be vocalization.

If it is aggression, and your are scared you do need to talk to a trainer for help or at least relax and take this one day/challenge at a time and work on them slowly.

Get the foundation down and everything works better... There's a reason we all start with the fundamentals and work from there. Even the trainers.

Anyways hope it helps. Sorry your having a hard time and I wish you the best of luck.

~Chris~