Hi everyone!

My name's Amber and I recently lost my all-white Siberian in February 2021 due to stomach cancer. Following his death, we lost his mate to another kind of cancer eight months later. They were beautiful animals, loved as kids and it was a very difficult year without them.

I just welcomed a new red pup home in November and named him Bo! We'll be welcoming another one in late January too. I'm hoping to get some much needed advice with training him because he's a lot more stubborn than our last two were - all animals are different beings with their own quirks!

I also want to be a better owner to him because I know first hand that I have a lot of personal growth in-store. I want to be the best owner I can be for him and give him a long, happy life filled with love.

He is super cute. Welcome to the forum

He's gorgeous!

Welcome to the forum. Two pups to deal with at once will be a trip. Biggest thing when dealing with pups simultaneously is to make sure they have their individual time separate from each other. So train, walk, and play together, but also make sure they have those things separate from each other too. Too much time together can sometimes lead to one pup being too dependent on the other. This is an issue for the lesser pup's maturity and if something were to ever happen to the other pup the one remaining could have an even more difficult time with the loss if overly attached and dependent upon the one that was lost. Huskies are stubborn but they are smart. Consistency and routine are key and we like to promote a nothing in life is free training attitude. Make them earn everything and use positive reinforcement to let them know when they've done good. Any specific questions feel free to ask!

TwisterII wrote:

Consistency and routine are key and we like to promote a nothing in life is free training attitude. Make them earn everything and use positive reinforcement to let them know when they've done good. Any specific questions feel free to ask!

Hey Twister, thanks for the advice - it's greatly appreciated. I just wanted to focus in on this bit of your comment. When it comes to training Bo, he caught on to things pretty quick but then he started not wanting to do anything if no treats were involved. We got past this and he was doing great but now he's regressed again now at 5 months old.

When I call him, he actively ignores me sometimes. He absolutely understands the command/recall but chooses not to listen. He will sit down and stare at me across the yard before going about his business (Even after calling him 5 times).

The other thing is biting. He's absolutely only play biting with us but he's very rough. I can't seem to break it from him. I've tried teaching him "gently" because he responds really well to physical contact when playing but he's just way too rough. Any tips with this? He's drawn blood because puppy teeth are like little razor blades and he doesn't understand his bite force. I've tried the "yelping trick" when he does it and then leaving the room but he just resumes when we start playing again later.

He's also got a very bad problem with chasing cats. Our other huskies absolutely loved the cats in the past and would groom them often but Bo chases them no matter how we deal with the situation. We are consistent with reprimanding, feed the cats higher than him where he can't reach, and have taught him the "leave" command. He understands it when it comes to food and will hold onto the command for up to 10-12 seconds until I release with "okay" command, but with cats he just won't listen.

I'm very anxious about his predatory drive with the cats when he's older and we're not home, so I've had to resort to negative reinforcement with this. I try and avoid it as much as possible but there are times he just refuses to listen. I feel awful about this and I admit I lose my patience after a few times. I'm not a perfect owner and want to do better but I also want to make sure our cats won't get hurt or worse.

When it comes to cats some huskies never become trustworthy. You have to do what you have to do to protect the cat's lives. Make sure they always have an escape route, if you have to be gone it can be worth closing the cats in another part of the house if possible. Reward calm behavior around the cats and ignoring them. Get onto him for showing any attention toward the cats, even if it isn't chasing. Basically you want him to ignore their existence.

Rough play = no play. He gets too rough then the fun is over. He has to learn the line. It can take a while. Placing in a sit/stay and making him hold it to try and get his excitement levels down can sometimes help trying to break the overexcitement that leads to the roughness.

They go through a teen phase where all training goes out the window and you just have to do your best to hang onto the routine and make him earn everything that much harder. Don't give in. Eventually he'll mature and that attention span will dial back in. Change up how you reward. Sometimes reward with treats, sometimes praise, sometimes toy play if he is a dog that goes for that sort of thing. Give him some kind of reward for good deeds but he doesn't necessarily need to know what he's working toward.

They will be frustrating and seem like you are getting nowhere with them and that all things are for naught and then one day their hormones will change and things will start clicking again and you will see the less of a bratty dog you knew was inside there all along. Note: less of a brat. Huskies never fully grow out of being brats. My 13 year old female still has tantrums if she doesn't get her way. She stomps her feet on the ground, punches people if they are in her spot, and yells at me if I'm too slow getting her food ready.

I agree about not trusting huskies (or husky mixes) around cats. I miss my cats.

Also the periodic tantrums never end.. squirt is 9 and still has them. Squirt also had the biting too hard during play and bit jerry in the chin. He bit her back, hard enough she yelped and it never happend again.

Dont you love that "i know what you want, and im just not doing it" it happens so often in my house we have termed it "protesting"

Now, I've heard about Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Huskies ... is a South African Husky a new breed?

Someone please close the door as I leave ....