So, my boyfriend and I had gotten a Siberian husky from the Humane Society, but he was already 1 year and 4 months old.

My boyfriend didnt know anything about Huskys, and Jack (the dog) had TORN up the house and what he says 'ruined his life'

hes torn up the floor in the bathroom
torn all the shoes up in the house
keeps getting into the trash can
tearing up the toilet paper whenever he can
tearing up the matress

and the worst of it is, he keeps using the bathroom on our livingroom carpet. Ive been told to use Amonia, but that doesnt work at all, we dont have a fenced in place, but we do have a leash for him outside. The only problem is we cant keep him outside, he has very bad abandonment issues, he barks and whines whenever hes left alone, he really freaks out when we leave the house, my boyfriend is seriously thinking of giving him up.

im not sure what to do

If your boyfriend has already given up and is not just fustrated, then keeping the dog would not be right. However, I feel it could just be fustration, every dog owner has gone though it. Getting a dog like a husky without first understanding the breed can be a big shock, they are not recommended for first time dog owners.

I have some questions for you. Is your dog crate trained or have you tried at all? Is he tearing things up when you are home or when you leave? Does he have plenty of toys? Do you rotate and change toys to make them more interesting? (this is something I have just started doing, and it really works wonders to get them to enjoy old toys, and leave my stuff alone.) How long have you had him? And does he pee where he sleeps?

I ask the last question because of his age. It sounds like he might never have been potty trained, and even though he is older, as long as he doesn't have dirty dog syndrome, he can still be potty trained with a little patience. If he does pee where he sleeps, it will be much harder, and you will probably need a proffesional to help. I used an enzyme cleaner, like Nature's Miracle to clean up the pee and poo. The enzymes break down everything so there are no traces left. If the dog can still smell traces of pee somewhere he is more likely to go back to that spot.

well, he spends alot of money on toys for Jack, so we have alot.

Jack was a stray before he came to the humane society, but he doesnt pee where he sleeps, hes starting to get better at it, but we do know he has major problems when we leave him, we've seen him go nuts in the car, with someone there with him. Although he does still try to destroy things when we're still there, he does it more so when we leave.

he hasnt been trained at all, we try to teach him things, which he does fine when one of us is there. We've only had it for about 2 months or so

I would try to crate train him, or atleast restrict his area so he can't get into things. When you are home, keep an eye on him. When we are home, if I leave the bathroom door open, my 2 will be in there digging in the garabage, stealing socks, and their favorit toilet paper. I don't mean to sound rude, but when you are home, it is not his fault if he eats something or goes potty in the house. You need to be one him like a hawk. That is why the crate is nice because when you can't watch him, he goes in his crate. Give him a few special crate only toys, and go do what you need to do.

The thing with the crate or a restricted space, is that it should be small enough where he will consider the whole area his sleeping area, and therefore won't potty in it. I never really did the proper crate introduction so others might have better advice for how to train him to get used to it, but I just always started using it at night. I would put it by my bed where I could stick my fingers in it so they would know I was still there. And I never took them out if they were barking or whining, even if I knew they had to go potty, I would wait for a quiet period.

We learned the hard way, but if the crate is by the bed, be sure to move it, or move all the blankets to the other side of the bed, Sirmiq would grab them off the bed while in his crate and chew them when we are gone.

We got Sirmiq at 3 mo, and it wasn't until he was like 10 mo old until I felt comfortable saying he was potty trained. We got Kiwi at 8 wks and she was potty trained in like a month. Some dogs learn at a slower pace, the key is to be consistant. Everytime the dog goes potty in the house, and you do not see it, it is a step backwards. So watch him, watch for signs that he needs to go, like sniffing, pacing, going to the door, and take him out right away. Everytime I would take my dogs out, as we were going though the door I would say "outside". When I caught them in the act, going in the house, I would say in a firm voice, "outside" and the would go to the door. When they would finish going outside I would give them lots of praise. There were a few times at the begining when Sirmiq would not stop peeing, so I gently touched him and repeated "outside" and that seemed to work.

But the key is really just patience and watching.

First of all, as someone who helps run a Husky Rescue organisation, I am really surprised that the Humane Society allowed someone without a securely fenced garden to rehome a Siberian Husky - especially a 16 month old who is right in the middle of his ultra-challenging "teenage" stage. A securely fenced garden is one of the things we insist upon.

Quote :

hes torn up the floor in the bathroom
torn all the shoes up in the house
keeps getting into the trash can
tearing up the toilet paper whenever he can
tearing up the matress

These are pretty normal activities for a young husky and there are only two ways to deal with it. Firstly train your dog that some things are totally unacceptable; and secondly (and this is sometimes more difficult) train all the humans in your household not to put temptation into your dog's way. Leaving shoes/remote controls/books/trashcans/toilet paper etc where the dog can get at them is an invitation to disaster.
Our dogs are pretty good and compared with most huskies do very little damage in/around the house. When they do, it is 100% always the fault of the human who lost focus for a moment and left something where they shouldn't. In the same way that new parents have to "toddler-proof" their house, husky owners need to "husky-proof" theirs.

Good Luck

Mick

Yeah it is usually their fault for leaving doors and things open for him to get into, he has this whole den area to himself where the doors are, and the only way to get into the living area is by a few steps, I keep telling them to get a little dog fence since they refuse to pick anything up or close their bedroom doors.

he doesnt have a fenced in yard, the people at the society didnt say anything about it, but we do have this long leash attached to this metal screw in the ground (he lives in a mobile home kind of place, hes got his own space but its not that big) hes fine to run around out there, but when we LEAVE him to play around outside he goes insane and starts to howl and whine, so its like we have to be around him all the time, which we cant do.

Jen wrote:

I would try to crate train him, or atleast restrict his area so he can't get into things.

are those like..those dog houses? Where do I find one of those?

Wait... so do you live with your boyfriend or does he live with other people? I only ask because in the beginning you say "our living room carpet" and then in your later posts you say "their fault for leaving doors open" and then say that "he lives in a mobile home kind of place".

Not to nit-pick, but you can't expect to be a part of the training process unless the dog looks at you as his/her master. If the dog realizes that you're a visitor than you're not going to be successful.

Alright- it's been a while, so bear with me now.

Chad is right. Your dog is not going to listen to you unless you (or someone else) asserts him/herself as the leader/authority. You adopted your husky at probably the most difficult time for him and for you. Without a fenced in yard, and as a first time dog owner (or previous husky experience) I am a bit surprised that the humane society adopted out to you, but that is no matter now. What matters is that you take up the proper methods to train him. (For the record, John and I don't have a fenced in yard and Koda is our first dog although he had a husky growing up. It can be done, it's just a lot harder without having researched the breed. We looked and researched for MONTHS before deciding on a husky and searched for another two months before we found Koda-- ie, the right husky for us.)

Look into NILIF training. It's WONDERFUL and very easy to do on a day-to-day basis. You want him to see you as the boss. Just google NILIF. Here is the first page that pops up: NILIF Training Website

Crate training is really going to help here as well. This is a crate:
You may need to buy extra locks to reinforce the crate itself. I would advise NOT putting a bed or anything soft/destructive in there. Save a special bone (you can buy real marrow bones from the grocery store meat section that he'll go nuts for and they're VERY cheap and quite good for him) or another HARD toy (peanut butter in a kong (freezing them make them last longer) or an Everlasting Treat Ball). Anything hard that he can't chew up and swallow to hurt himself. Once you buy the crate, set it up and leave it open. Toss treats in it when he's not looking so he can wander in and find them there. Leave him it for a couple of minutes at a time when you are home and give him praise when he does not whine. ONLY let him out if he's quiet-- otherwise you'll reinforce the bad behavior like Jen said.

Lastly- for the potty training I recommend two things. One, FEED him on a schedule and schedule your potty breaks. This will REALLY help you understand his body. Take him out every half hour if you can until you know when he naturally needs to go. Two, TETHER him to you when you are home. Then there is no chance for him to make a potty mistake without you seeing and being able to correct it. If you combine these two methods, you are not allowing him to fail. Like Jen said, if you set him up for disaster, he's going to end in disaster. Huskies need CLEAR boundaries. They need structure, especially at this crucial time.

Sorry this was so long. I really hope you don't give him up. It takes a lot of work, but huskies are wonderful companions. I will say that if you do feel the need to give him up PLEASE don't bring him back to the humane society. Surrender him to a local rescue so that they can find a proper home for him with a family who understands huskies or has the time to devote to training him. I'm not sure where you're located, but even someone on this board might be able to help.

Good luck!

Koda wrote:

NILIF

This is definitely NOT what I read the first time. I had to scratch my head and re-read it to realize that I'd read it wrong.

Dirty mind

jbealer wrote:

Dirty mind

*shrugs shoulders*

...YouKnowWho wrote:

jbealer wrote:

Dirty mind

*shrugs shoulders*

More like wishful thinking. Chad has a thing for cougars

get rid of the boyfriend and keep the husky.... lol

Tell your boyfriend if the dog goes you'll cut him off. Problem solved.