I hope that this is the right forum for the big problem that I have with Yukon. She is just a little over 2yrs old and maybe I did not correct the problem soon enough. She is food aggresive, I can't touch her food or her when she is eating. When we got her home I thought that it was just a puppy thing, because she was one of four and maybe she had to fight for her share of food because I saw only one food dish in their run.
She lays on her belly with her two front paws around her food dish and she will snawl, growl and I have got bitten more than once.

The cat knocked over her box of cat food, of course Yukon heard this I went to scoop up the dry cat food and she bite me thru my hand.
She likes to steal paper towels, kleenex anything and you are not getting it out of her mouth without a wound. I worry if she gets something that is poison I know that I will get my hand taken off, to get it out of her mouth. Before I feed her I take my hand and touch all of her food so it will have my scent on it, make her sit and wait, but this is not working.
Have I waited too long to try and correct this, all suggestions are welcome.

Hm. Well it seems that you're already using NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) training. What I did with Kale since the day I got him at 5 weeks, was hand feed him till he was 6 months old. After that I put it in the bowl, made him sit and wait, and then hold the bowl while he ate, putting my fingers in and taking out food and adding yummy morsels to it as he ate. He is 16 months now and I can open his mouth to look at his throat, pill him easily, brush his teeth and sit right next to him, pet him, and put my hands in his bowl without any problems.

What I suggest you start with is the hand feeding. If she starts to get rough, if you feel her teeth touch your skin AT ALL, or if she growls, move your hand upwards (not away from) until she cannot reach it anymore. make her sit and wait, then try again. If she does it more than 2-3 times, stop the feeding and wait an hour or so to try again. If this method does not work I'd contact a professional trainer and get some one-on-one sessions. Hope this helped

This sounds JUST like Mya! I feel your pain I can't take anything out of her mouth either! Nothing...not a bone, a toy that she really likes, something that she picked up, etc.

She used to do the same thing with her food as well. I started hand feeding her for months until it got better. Now I make her sit and wait for her food and I can touch her while she eats, but I still can't touch her food. She'll let me touch her snout with she's eating. She bares teeth a little, but won't bite me. It's so frustrating!!!

hypers987 wrote:

What I did with Kale since the day I got him at 5 weeks, was hand feed him till he was 6 months old. After that I put it in the bowl, made him sit and wait, and then hold the bowl while he ate, putting my fingers in and taking out food and adding yummy morsels to it as he ate. He is 16 months now and I can open his mouth to look at his throat, pill him easily, brush his teeth and sit right next to him, pet him, and put my hands in his bowl without any problems.

I did the same with Kody! No way I was letting him turn out like Mya. He lets me do anything to him. He's such a sweet boy!

Once aggression, food or otherwise, gets to this level (where she's actually biting you and drawing blood) I can only recommend you speak to a professional. I would hate to give advise that leads to you getting hurt.

It would have been easier (and less dangerous) to correct when she was just a puppy. Please consult a professional as soon as possible and keep us updated on your situation.

yeah, if she's actually bite you I would contact a trainer. Mya never bitten me...just growled and bared teeth

I contacted the only dog trainer service here locally and this is what I was told and no way would I let this happen to Yukon.
You leave them there for 4wks before you can see them, he uses a cattle prog to shock the dog to correct the problem. This sounds more like animal abuse to me than training. Nobody is going to shock my dog to submission, I want her to learn better I will take the bites and try this on my own rather than this person's method. I don't want to break my dog's spirit I just want to teach her not to bite over food, and like I said I would rather take the bite that have this person have my dog with the fee of $2000.00
My husband is the one who feed her now and he just pours the cup of dry food in her bowl and walks away. Tomorrow she is going to eat at Mom's will, one piece at a time. She obey's me over him, he will tell me to tell Yukon to do something because he is not the pack leader. (Ceasar M) wish that I could afford him. I did send him an email about this and waiting for an answer, he never uses shocking a dog with a cattle prog. To think that this is legal to shock a dog at a dog training school.

I raise orphan squirrels and suffered my share of bite, it is wildlife and I know what I'm getting into. Right now I'm raising 2 sisters, one I think has a mental issue and the other is too human imprinted to me right now. I hope to release them in the spring but will see. You should see my hands looks like I took a knife and cut myself. I have a non-releasable squirrel henri who is 8yrs old, blind and has MBD, which is a bone disorder. Yukon understands that she can't stand in front of his cage, he doesn't care for her, and she moves if she stops in front of his cage which is in the front room right in front of me, I tell her move away from henri, you have the whole house and she moves. She is not stupid.

Tomorrow Yukon's world will change just a little, and she is going to starting eating at the will of Mom not at the will of Yukon, and yes she may draw blood, but that is why they make gauge, and surgical tape. I will try this and let ya'll know after awhile how this is working, I know this is not a one day deal. The odd thing is if I give her a dog treat and hold it in my hand, she will only take the amount that I let her get, than I give her the rest...there is no growling, snarling, and showing of teeth. Call me just confused over this, but by all that is holy nobody is going to shock my dog!!!!!

I would make her meals into training treats and feed her a few pieces at a time for completing a desired behavior. Do this for all of her meals.

This sounds just like Odin honestly. Paper towels, cat food dishes, anything... he would guard and snap. When I feed he eats last and must sit and "wait" while I place the food on the floor and he must continue to sit until I release him. He has never drawn blood however- nor has he ever made contact with my skin. I would really continue to seek out a trainer in your area that can assist.

Teaching the commands "gentle" "leave it" "give" and "drop it" have been essential to the work i've done with Odin. He truly is a different dog from a year ago.

I live in a very small country one mule town, and the mule died yesterday. We are holding a town meeting in the open field up the road to decide if we want another mule or cow!!!!

I have talked to my vet and there is nothing like a training school in this area, except for the one I mentioned before and noway will I put Yukon in that guy's hands. Well you know it would not hurt to check with my vet again, and also check with the no kill shelter and see if they know of a training program. I do apprecate all of the suggestions. Thank you all for your kindness.

I'm a believer in stern discipline, but damn if anyone EVER put a cattle prod to Adobo or Biko, they better be bigger and meaner then I am cuz they'll be pulling it out of their butt.

yukonblue wrote:

I contacted the only dog trainer service here locally and this is what I was told and no way would I let this happen to Yukon.
You leave them there for 4wks before you can see them, he uses a cattle prog to shock the dog to correct the problem. This sounds more like animal abuse to me than training. Nobody is going to shock my dog to submission, I want her to learn better I will take the bites and try this on my own rather than this person's method. I don't want to break my dog's spirit I just want to teach her not to bite over food, and like I said I would rather take the bite that have this person have my dog with the fee of $2000.00
My husband is the one who feed her now and he just pours the cup of dry food in her bowl and walks away. Tomorrow she is going to eat at Mom's will, one piece at a time. She obey's me over him, he will tell me to tell Yukon to do something because he is not the pack leader. (Ceasar M) wish that I could afford him. I did send him an email about this and waiting for an answer, he never uses shocking a dog with a cattle prog. To think that this is legal to shock a dog at a dog training school.

I raise orphan squirrels and suffered my share of bite, it is wildlife and I know what I'm getting into. Right now I'm raising 2 sisters, one I think has a mental issue and the other is too human imprinted to me right now. I hope to release them in the spring but will see. You should see my hands looks like I took a knife and cut myself. I have a non-releasable squirrel henri who is 8yrs old, blind and has MBD, which is a bone disorder. Yukon understands that she can't stand in front of his cage, he doesn't care for her, and she moves if she stops in front of his cage which is in the front room right in front of me, I tell her move away from henri, you have the whole house and she moves. She is not stupid.

Tomorrow Yukon's world will change just a little, and she is going to starting eating at the will of Mom not at the will of Yukon, and yes she may draw blood, but that is why they make gauge, and surgical tape. I will try this and let ya'll know after awhile how this is working, I know this is not a one day deal. The odd thing is if I give her a dog treat and hold it in my hand, she will only take the amount that I let her get, than I give her the rest...there is no growling, snarling, and showing of teeth. Call me just confused over this, but by all that is holy nobody is going to shock my dog!!!!!

Maybe you can try wearing a leather gloves when your feeding her until you gain some trust. If you truly want to do this without professional help I suggest that at least. ( If ANYONE came at my Kale or any of my furbabies with a cattle prod- Hell would be unleashed, and I don't believe in hell ) It will protect your hands from a potential bite. If she takes treats out of your hand nicely, she just might respond to the hand-feeding. This would be a great period of time to teach gentle as well. Wishing you all the best wishes and sending them your way!!

arooroomom wrote:

This sounds just like Odin honestly. Paper towels, cat food dishes, anything... he would guard and snap. When I feed he eats last and must sit and "wait" while I place the food on the floor and he must continue to sit until I release him. He has never drawn blood however- nor has he ever made contact with my skin. I would really continue to seek out a trainer in your area that can assist.

Teaching the commands "gentle" "leave it" "give" and "drop it" have been essential to the work i've done with Odin. He truly is a different dog from a year ago.

Wow, I can't even picture Odin being that way. He's so sweet! That's crazy how you can mold them to be how you want them to be. I need your doggie powers Kristina..lol

It's unbelievable. He used to be that dog that would eat your entire hand when you fed him treats or who would attack other dogs over food... Now I rarely even need to tell him to be gentle... Even with high value items.

Do you have a Petsmart or Petco near you? They hold training programs, that's where Embry went, it's not the best training, but they definitely helped me a ton.

No, we have pet stores and business that never came back after Katrina, it's like a dead town. If I need any pet items I have to go on line to buy something, a thing I would never do before. I deal with Foster and Smith. Two weeks ago I went to ebay land (never again) and I'm disputing a $200 charge on my Credit Card for no product, what a mess it was fraud.

Well this morning I did the feeding of Yukon, I made her sit and wait gave her one piece of food at a time and she took it gently but would drop the food so I put her food in her dish and made her sit and wait until I was ready to provide the food. When I put the dish down she went back to laying on her belly with her front paws guarding her dish. I did pet her head tried to touch her food, she snawled, growled, beared her teeth and I healed her mouth shut, she tried to bite got a nip on my thumb but no blood and thought that was enought for day one. I kept petting her head and telling her she was a good dog, I think you can get more with a little stern warning and kindness. I would never hit my dog.

I did call that one training service again yesterday and the price is now $4000.00 to $6000.00 and he still uses the cattle prog, I told him dude can I use that cattle prog on you and pick the place? That phone call didn't end good. My goodness we live on SS and for $4000.00-$6000.00 I could rebuild my dog runs that Katrina took to someones elses house and take huskies that are throw aways, pay for food and vet care, and you can be sure that my dogs don't live in their own mess, I was always cleaning out those runs, provideing fresh bedding in their own house. There was AC for the summer months and heat for the winter and now that is all gone, thanks to Katrina. We were both working at the time and we bulit these runs at our pace.

Yukon has other odd traits for a husky (I think) my other two were just laid back. I read in one of my husky books, don't get a husky is you are looking for a watch dog, they will let the thief in and show them where you keep the good jewerly.

Ya'll seem to have a lot more knowledge about huskies than I do. Yukon will bark if a strange knocks at the door, I have never had a husky that barks. She knows my Mom and I know it's my Mom because her tail wags. She is very protective, especially of me, my husband can't even touch me, she is ready to attack (now that really has to stop, but she is the pack leader with him). At night she checkes the house like she is on guard duty then she will get in the bed with us, right next to me. If my husband gets up to use the bathroom at night, he has to be careful that he doesn't put a hand near me, she is watching. I find this odd, this she was never taught this, do any of you have a husky that acts like this?

I have my plate full, we are all three people, my husband, me and I take care of my 86yr old Mother. I have Yukon, the cat (Sage) henri the 8yr old blind squirrel, and 2 female sisters squirrels that I hope to release in the Spring, but I wouldn't change a thing in my life, except learning how to put pictures up here. My Mom wants me to leave here, because all she hears is I can't do pictures and she doesn't understand that I like talking to other husky people. I try to go with the flow, sometimes it gets hard.

She's treating you like a possession. She's isn't protective of you, she's possessive of you. That really needs to end and I think this is also where her resource guarding behavior is stemming from.

I wouldn't put the food in the bowl. If you hand it to her for doing a behavior and she spits it out- end the feeding. Try again in an hour. She needs to understand things run on your time and when you say so. I think the way things are run in the house need to be stepped up and she seriously needs to be knocked down a few pegs. Ignore her unless she does something positive and then reward with attention. Don't allow her on to the couch uninvited. If she has an issue with being pulled off the couch put a leash on her at all times so you can control her more safely.

If you have a crate I would being to reincorporate that into her routine. Try to prevent her from guarding/posessing over anything. So that means no feeding in the bowl if she's just going to lay down and guard it. And go over all of her behavior quirks and find out how you can avoid them. Don't provide her with any attention unless she has earned it. And be sure that she must work for everything. It sounds mean but she needs to get the message- and get it quick.

I'm sorry to disgree that she is mean, she may be possessive and that most likely is my fault. If I tell her to get off of the sofa, she gets off no problem. If I tell her out of the bed she lays on the floor. I have a crate for her and if I tell her get in your house in she goes, no dragging her to it, she goes straight in.

I know that she is not mean, because of the cat Sage. Sage is another victim of Katrina (she is part feral) I said I can overcome this, well it is now 5yrs and I can finally pet her and hold her for a little while, which I think is progress. Sage is a full grown cat that weight about 2lbs, she will meow for Yukon to bite her neck, Yukon is glad to do this, she just puts her mouth around Sage's neck, no bite no blood, just a cat with a wet neck who is happy. So I don't consider Yukon mean.

I may of messed up the feeding thing this morning, but I will not give up. I'm here to learn, but Yukon being mean, I have to disagree with that statement, sorry. You can call me old and hardheaded, and you may think so, but I live with this dog and possessive "yes" mean "no". I'm not here to start any trouble but like I said I live with this dog and she does obey.

If you want me to leave this forum I will, but I don't agree that Yukon is mean. Thank you for your help.

I didn't call her mean... at all? I said she is possessive and that's a dangerous behavior as i'm sure your husband has experienced.

arooroomom wrote:

It sounds mean but she needs to get the message- and get it quick.

I'm talking about ignoring her and giving positive attention only when she has earned it. She doesn't respect you or your husband. Again, I never said she's mean. I said she's possessive.

arooroomom wrote:

She's treating you like a possession. She's isn't protective of you, she's possessive of you. That really needs to end and I think this is also where her resource guarding behavior is stemming from.

I wouldn't put the food in the bowl. If you hand it to her for doing a behavior and she spits it out- end the feeding. Try again in an hour. She needs to understand things run on your time and when you say so. I think the way things are run in the house need to be stepped up and she seriously needs to be knocked down a few pegs. Ignore her unless she does something positive and then reward with attention. Don't allow her on to the couch uninvited. If she has an issue with being pulled off the couch put a leash on her at all times so you can control her more safely.

If you have a crate I would being to reincorporate that into her routine. Try to prevent her from guarding/posessing over anything. So that means no feeding in the bowl if she's just going to lay down and guard it. And go over all of her behavior quirks and find out how you can avoid them. Don't provide her with any attention unless she has earned it. And be sure that she must work for everything. It sounds mean but she needs to get the message- and get it quick.

Agree with everything. She is the pack leader over everyone in the house. Sounds like she always gets her way. If Kale ever did that to my boyfriend, Kale would be dragged off the bed and put in his crate outside for the night (and possibly all the next day. I'd be PISSED). That is unacceptable behavior and needs to be ended ASAP. I recommend reading up on NILIF training. Keeping a leash on her at all times is great advice.

One thing I would like to know, how does she treat the cat? If she is more cautious around her, watch how they interact. My cats Tabitha and Dusty are both higher in the hierarchy than Kale and I didn't do anything, it was all the cats. lol If Kale does anything that pisses Tabitha off, she'll go after him.

(also I forgot to mention- while she's growling and baring teeth, don't pet her and tell her she's being a good girl. She's not being one, and she needs to know it, not be rewarded. Also by hand feeding I meant open handed with food in your hands, not one kernel at a time. If she doesn't eat out of your hands then she doesn't eat. Nothing wrong with tough love. All dogs need rules and boundaries that are enforced. )

As I posted earlier, her and the cat have an odd friendship. Sage is a full grown cat that weight 2lbs and meow for Yukon to bite her neck. Yukon is more that happy to do this, no bite, no blood, no dead cat, just a happy cat with a wet neck.

I have hurt a member here by misreading and I am so sorry. I try not to hurt anyone and I can't forgive myself for hurting a member and misreading her post. Please forgive me, I don't know if I will return to this board, because I have hurt someone.

yukonblue wrote:

As I posted earlier, her and the cat have an odd friendship. Sage is a full grown cat that weight 2lbs and meow for Yukon to bite her neck. Yukon is more that happy to do this, no bite, no blood, no dead cat, just a happy cat with a wet neck.

I have hurt a member here by misreading and I am so sorry. I try not to hurt anyone and I can't forgive myself for hurting a member and misreading her post. Please forgive me, I don't know if I will return to this board, because I have hurt someone.

o no no!! There are misunderstandings here all the time. Since we can't hear what others are saying with any inflections, it's easy to misunderstand. We're all here to help each other.

Agreed! No hurt feelings here!

I'm just so upset, can I tell you a little about myself so maybe you can understand me better. Like I said before I rescue wifelife, mostly squirrels. I have two females that were brought to me near death as pinky's with no mother. I feed those babies every two hours and sleep in my chair until they were off of formula. One is mean the other wants to be held...I don't wear gloves with them, that shows fear. Don't think that I have not suffered my share of squirrel bites (it comes with the territory) they have an orange coating on their teeth and if a squirrel bites you, you bleed like a stuck pig. I just get a handy towel wrap my finger, which is where they ususally get you and have my husband get the box of bandaids. Should I throw the squirrel that bite me in the yard, NO I took on this. I know about raising squirrels and their very special diet not to get MBD. I'm not a quiter and if I take in an animal, I have taken on that care.

Now Juneau was a huksy that was loving and loved car rides and was such a joy. Kodiak on the other hand was very aloof, never wanted to be loved on and stayed somewhere laying on the floor in her world. Two different huskies, so should I have gotten rid of Kodiak because she was aloof, but she would let henri run thru her fur, they were friends and I have a great picture of that, but can't do pictures.

Yukon is a different husky, now should I get rid of her and look for a more gentle nature husky, that won't happen. She has never killed the cat, which I sure she could do, she has never gone after the squirrels. She understands that she is not allowed around the squirrels, especially henri my 8yr old blind squirrel. So I don't think she feels like she is the pack leader with me, she obey's me, my husband needs to set his pack leadership with her. When I walk her we don't take a walk on the 5acres she know it's not allowed with me, he on the other hand lets her ramble at her will.
So I guess that I'm the problem with Yukon, but I will not break her spirit. The food thing I will work on, but if this is her only bad habit I can live with it, she is mine no matter what.

I will protect my animals to the point that my "preacher" neighbor let his bitbulls on my property while I had Red out for a run. I had Fluffy my American Eskimo in the house and didn't want him to get chewed up by 5 pitbulls. I got the 357magum and told him, I have hollow point bullets in this gun and by god get your dogs off my property or I will kill them. Fluffy got pass me and ran all 5 pitbulls off of the property and I just laughed. I got Red inside and called my Uncle his brother and told him that I almost killed Jimmy's dogs, he drove over there and it turned into a blowout. I won!!!

Yukon has her problem and yes I will follow the instructions given so far, if she drops the food, I will stop and wait and start again. I will do this everyday until I see some progress and not stop. As far as my husband he needs to deal with his issues with Yukon. I can't solve everyone problems, I will tell him again, that you let her have her way too often, and you should not have to ask me to tell her to get in her crate, she should obey you also.

I found my Mother on her floor and she could not walk the other day, and it was 8hrs in the ER and they just sent her home. We now either need to move in with her, because my trailer was almost totally destroyed by Katrina and her trailer is in better condition. She has a little blind dog, and here I go again, teaching Yukon you can't eat Zach.

Again I pose the question to the members here, if you think that I am a problem member I will leave. No hard feelings, seems like I'm just set in my way, but like I said I'm here to learn and Yukon is here to stay. Thank You all

No one wants you to leave, Pat

But the issue IS Youkon and her misunderstanding of how things are supposed to work. She's guarding you like she guards her food. You are not food! You are not a possession of hers to be guarded! It's not your husbands fault she's guarding you, because not only is she showing disrespect by snapping at him she's also showing you disrespect by claiming you as her own. You both need to work together to put Youkon back in her rightful place. As for your husband though he needs to understand the Huskies will take a mile if you give them an inch. The both of you need to work together and provide consistent and clear rules and boundaries so pet parenthood can be both enjoyable and safe for all involved

Some Huskies are very aloof other are more affectionate. The breed really ranges both from the individual dog to however the Husky is feeling for that day.

Thank you, I got it it's my fault for Yukon's problems. But my husband is not into training like I am so what am I to do? He wanted another lab, and maybe I should of gone with the lab, the gentle breed. Labs out here are a dime a dozen, but Oh NO, I wanted another husky. I'm so confused right now.

Right now I wish I had the $6000.00 to send her to that animal abuse training center, and get back a broken husky spirit, where I know he uses a cattle prog....maybe I would get back a submissive husky.