Thank you I'm quite proud of her!!

We are still suffering through the biting stage now even at 5 months old. And this week has been quite difficult. Q lost two teeth in two days and has been extemely bratty. In fact, I had just been telling my husband how it was the first week since we got him that I didn't have any bruises on my arms. Then before I could practically finish my words he bit me on the arm and now I not only have a bruise, but two little teeth puncture marks. You just need to keep showing her that your the boss, and it's your house and your rules. We've been resorting to many more time outs this week than we usually need. At this point it's just one day at a time.

Congratulations to Snow on her bell ringing! That is such a big deal!

When I got Mishka at 5 months old she straight up TORE up my arms. She had been taught ZERO bite inhibition. 5 month old Husky jaws are a little more powerful than 2 month old Husky jaws so we used the thumb on the bottom of the mouth way to get her to stop. It stopped within 2 weeks or so but it was a LONG 2 weeks. The mouthiness and biting is a very strong characteristic of Huskies. They love to explore with their mouths so we need to teach them how to do it properly.

arooroomom wrote:

so we used the thumb on the bottom of the mouth way to get her to stop.

How does that work?

LifeInSnowMotion wrote:

arooroomom wrote:

so we used the thumb on the bottom of the mouth way to get her to stop.

How does that work?

I would not recommend it for a young puppy as they are so small. There are better alternatives to use (such as walking away or redirecting) that are more efficient. When I say she was tearing up my arms I mean that quite literally. Essentially you take your thumb and clamp it on their bottom jaw with your hand. I would do that with the least pressure possible to get her to stop chewing me and say "no mouth."

Will stick with the walking away and redirection then

We've tried the thumb on the bottom jaw trick. Hasn't worked for us. He just thinks we're playing. It's very frustrating. Some weeks are better than others and there's little to no biting. This week happens to be a bad week. He's going in for his neuter tomorrow! Maybe there will be some reprieve soon!

One other ting that you might want to try is using a soft nylon muzzle. Give them the leave it warning and if they are biting hard you can put the muzzle on and say "no bite or leave it" Their whole demeanor will change. Leave it on a short time like 10 minutes or less. And then remove it. We used a muzzle on Raven and after a few times if she was too mouthy all we had to do was put it on the coffee table. She would stop immediately. We haven't had to use it for months now.

Personally, I'd prefer the gently closing the mouth for a good 10-15 seconds over the muzzle. From the perspective of someone that works in the animal medical field, we never want a patient muzzle shy if we ever have to use one if there's an injury that is extremely painful. I've been around patients were this method was used and they are head and muzzle restraint aggressive/shy.

arooroomom wrote:

LifeInSnowMotion wrote:

arooroomom wrote:

so we used the thumb on the bottom of the mouth way to get her to stop.

How does that work?

I would not recommend it for a young puppy as they are so small. There are better alternatives to use (such as walking away or redirecting) that are more efficient. When I say she was tearing up my arms I mean that quite literally. Essentially you take your thumb and clamp it on their bottom jaw with your hand. I would do that with the least pressure possible to get her to stop chewing me and say "no mouth."

I'm glad you suggested this - we just tried tis with Cato. he stopped right away.

Freya is so mouthy. I get that she is only 6 weeks old and is just a tiny baby, but my lord, she's ripped holes in my leggins and within 4 hours of me having her she tore a huge hole in my pyjamas, she's even eaten holes in my table cloths.

I'm using the 'leave it' strategy and redirecting her chewing to her toys, if she gets way too mouthy and over excited we leave the room. My sons (Ages 5 & 3) are slowly learning that she's just very excited to see them, but we have to teach her not to do it, so they too are telling her to 'leave it' and giving her a toy.

I feel bad, I got her because my eldest son is/was a very sick little boy (he has a brain tumor that has moved to his spine - he has just finished his relapse treatment 2 weeks ago) He wished on an eyelash for a dog after our old dog passed away from severe health issues. After he finished treatment I started looking and found Freya.

The boys love her but her biting and scratching when she jumps is really fruustrating for them, they only really want to be around her when she's sleeping lol, they pat her when she's resting, which in turn wakes her up nad she wants to play/bite/jump all over again. It's a vicious cycle.

Snow is seeming to respond to the time out room. I know you guys said some of your dogs thought of it as a game. But for me it's easier to put her in that room than to gather up the kids and take them over the gate. They can't get over the gate themselves so it's just easier We'll see how long it remains not a game to her.

Going to post in here instead of puppy biting. I'm almost in tears. Snow's biting has been so bad today even the neighbors commented on it. It also got to the point where my DH and I got into a fight over it. He got so angry he went to bed I just don't feel like anything I'm doing is getting the message to her. I'm beginning to doubt myself too. I won't give up on her of course, that's not even an issue. I just feel like I can't get this under control.
Even with all the advice which has been so good and I know takes time, I still feel like a failure at this point. It's not even getting a little better... just seems to be getting worse.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, you can always seek the advice of a trained professional in your area.

What I will say is that this won't work with YOU working on it. You need EVERYONE in the home to be consistent with EACH OTHER, not just themselves. If your husband and children aren't reinforcing what you are, you're doomed to fail.

Sorry it's so frustrating Keep working at it though. It DOES get better.

With the kids it is so hard to get them to do what I do. They're just too young to remember to do things every time. And they get to worked up and scared to remember it as well My husband does what I tell him I'm doing to correct her. Just nothing has been working for us.

LifeInSnowMotion wrote:

With the kids it is so hard to get them to do what I do. They're just too young to remember to do things every time. And they get to worked up and scared to remember it as well My husband does what I tell him I'm doing to correct her. Just nothing has been working for us.

Then your children need to be separated from her. If they aren't old enough to reinforce the training and behavior, they aren't old enough to be near her right now. All they are doing is contributing to Snow's confusion and setting back her training. Crate Snow when the kids are around.

Puppies are not easy, especially with kids. Sometimes the only solution is separation until both kids and dogs can be controlled.

If I crated her when the kids were around, she would always be in her crate, lol. I'm just going to have to not allow them in the diningroom/livingroom when she is out until I can make her understand that I will not allow her to bite. Does that sound like the right approach? As I've said before I NEVER leave her and the kids alone together.

LifeInSnowMotion wrote:

If I crated her when the kids were around, she would always be in her crate, lol. I'm just going to have to not allow them in the diningroom/livingroom when she is out until I can make her understand that I will not allow her to bite. Does that sound like the right approach? As I've said before I NEVER leave her and the kids alone together.

Yes. That's exactly what you need to do. If the kids can't reinforce the training, then they can't be around her, even supervised. It sucks, but you need to pull out all the stops if you aren't getting the results you need.

Once she is acting better with you and your husband, start allowing your kids into the room with Snow on a leash. If she acts up around the kids, IMMEDIATELY tell her no and take her from the room. She HAS to learn that she can't be around ANYONE if that's how she's going to act. So start small. Work on it with just you and your husband. When that is under control, reintroduce your children in a VERY CONTROLLED environment.

Thank you Tori. I feel a little more at ease. I honestly don't know what I would do without this forum I knew raising a puppy, let alone a husky puppy, was going to be hard. So it's so wonderful to have people here to fall back on when you need some advice. And I will be needing LOTS of it. She's in her crate for the night... before I put her in I was lying on the floor with her and hugging her, and I admit I cried a little. She's such a big part of our family already and when something is happening to where we can all feel the tension, I can't help but get upset. I just need to be reassured that I'm doing right by her. But I know with me feeling this way, she's going to feel it too. Hoping for a better day tomorrow. I will update.

LifeInSnowMotion wrote:

She's in her crate for the night... before I put her in I was lying on the floor with her and hugging her, and I admit I cried a little. S

I have SO been there. Koda is not, nor has he ever been, an easy dog. He spent the first several months of his life as a stray and learned some awful habits. When we got him, I was also living with my inlaws for the summer. Needless to say it wasn't easy for SEVERAL reasons. However, he would cry in his crate and we couldn't figure out why when he was supposedly crate trained. He kept my inlaws up at night and the situation got so bad that I took a few days off of work and took him to my parent's house 2.5 hours away just to give me some time to figure it out without the constant snotty remarks from my inlaws.

I was so distraught. I did the same thing. I laid down next to Koda and just held him and made him that forever promise. I told him that no matter what, I would never give up on him and we would figure it out somehow. Well, it took a little while, but we did. Turns out he hated anything in the crate with him. He was crying not because he was lonely, but because he didn't like his bed in there. Sometimes it's just the little things that we overlook.

But I've been there. So breathe. You will figure this out too. Puppies are NOT easy and there's a reason I tell most people that they are overrated

Koda wrote:

LifeInSnowMotion wrote:

She's in her crate for the night... before I put her in I was lying on the floor with her and hugging her, and I admit I cried a little. S

I have SO been there. Koda is not, nor has he ever been, an easy dog. He spent the first several months of his life as a stray and learned some awful habits. When we got him, I was also living with my inlaws for the summer. Needless to say it wasn't easy for SEVERAL reasons. However, he would cry in his crate and we couldn't figure out why when he was supposedly crate trained. He kept my inlaws up at night and the situation got so bad that I took a few days off of work and took him to my parent's house 2.5 hours away just to give me some time to figure it out without the constant snotty remarks from my inlaws.

I was so distraught. I did the same thing. I laid down next to Koda and just held him and made him that forever promise. I told him that no matter what, I would never give up on him and we would figure it out somehow. Well, it took a little while, but we did. Turns out he hated anything in the crate with him. He was crying not because he was lonely, but because he didn't like his bed in there. Sometimes it's just the little things that we overlook.

But I've been there. So breathe. You will figure this out too. Puppies are NOT easy and there's a reason I tell most people that they are overrated

Ah, Tori You just made me tear up. I must admit, I thought you were a hard ass at first. But, I think you are a very kind hearted person, and I'm sorry for judging you before I knew you. I think we ALL appreciate you more than you know.

BTW, don't take that the wrong way, as it was meant as a compliment.

What are you doing with her for exercise? Perhaps he needs more walks or some yard time. When Sabaka was younger, he would get terribly "wound up" and want a good play fight or wrestle (like he would do with his litter mates, I'm sure) but he would also be nippy and mouthy. He still enjoys a good "fight" with my husband but he know who in the house "fights" with him and who will not. I do not! And he knows it! We would send him to time out when he nipped. Bob teaches him "No Biting" and "Easy" commands for when they are wrestling. He also taught "All done". If he fails to listen, he goes to time out. First we will say, "Do you need to go to time out?" and he often changes his behavior just because of the threat. If he continues, I never grab him nor chase him to put him in time out. I do it all with my loud, low, commanding voice. He obeys and slinks in the bathroom by himself. At first I tried to grab him and put him in...that is when it became a fun chase game. We have learned that anything said in a low voice elicits a MUCH better response from him. Remember, huskies are incredibly smart. At just a year and a half, Sabaka's vocabulary is huge. They love sign language, too. So make some up! LOL! We made up our own for "All done" and "Quiet" plus he knows some of the standard sign language for "Down" and "Sit" and "Wait" and stuff like that.
Stay strong! Good luck!!

Great point, Lisa. Increasing the exercise could also be a huge factor. Unexpressed energy can result in unwanted behaviors.

Those are some great commands too