Hello, I'm Helen!
I'm from Orange County, California.
I have a 3 month old black and white siberian husky whom i've had for about 6 weeks.Her name is Maxine. She is very sweet, but very hyper. I know a lot of husky pups are like this, but what is normal as opposed to abnormal?
She used to be quite nippy when we got her. She did not like strange people or strange dogs. someone told me she needed to be socialized as much as possible, so I take her to the local dog beach and dog parks and if somebody wants to touch her i have them give her a treat.
because of this she is pretty good with people wether they give her a treat or not. She now allows people to touch her and she even licks them..or goes up to people and basically demands being pet. she is also good around kids, doesnt bite them..just sniffs and licks. however the problem is that whenever she goes to the vet and the vet tech takes her to the back they claim she gets nippy in an aggressive way. they say she needs behavioral training classes..but this is the only place she acts like this. Ive also noticed that if i am in the exam room with her and the vet, she is very calm, and not at all nippy, and she lets the vet handle her, give her the vaccinations etc without hassle.
so my question is, do you think she just gets scared of the vet techs when they take her in the back room and im not there? maybe she thinks theyre trying to hurt her?
I'm not giving up on her because she is already my baby..but any advice would help a lot.
BTW she also has a chewing problem..and likes to try and chew on everything including fingers..not hard but her puppy teeth are sharp and that sometimes bothers us...we've gotten her to cool that down a little by saying a firm "NO! biting" and if she doesnt listen we give her a soft tap on the nose with a rolled up news paper...she doesnt like that so she stops..but yes...enough with my ranting..how should i go about things with her?

thank you in advance!

Kale and I welcome you from California

I'm a vet tech and there are certain ways to handle dogs and cats based on behavior and certain signals that they give us. From what you are describing, it seems that she is a bit fearful, and a very confident, and assertive person can easily intimidate young puppies. That's why when dealing with fearful dogs I always take note of approaching lower and to the side and to be a bit more submissive with my actions and voice even, that way it gives them a chance to come out of their shell and trust me and what I am doing. I'm still firm with them if they act up, a simple no and shhh usually works. It's okay to tell a tech that they are being to rough and scaring your pup. I've seen busy techs approach fearful dogs too quickly or are not aware of their actions, and when the dog lashes out they blame the dog; I quickly correct the other person and let them know they need to be more aware of there "energy" and movements.

As for the biting, I don't recommend tapping the nose. It can make a dog head shy quickly, and possibly lash out later on. Either a yelping sound or a gentle grip of the muzzle and ending play for a while usually does the trick. I'm also an advocate for eye contact. Saying no with a low voice while keeping direct eye contact worked with Kale and his puppy bites.

Hope some of that helped!

okay, thanks for the great advice! it definitely eases my mind a bit that some of her actions are normal and still correctable. thank you so much!

Same thing happened with my boy try getting more people to hold her and pick her up. When the vet first held him, like literally a baby boy haha he yelped louder than imagined because he was only comphy with me doing it. So have other hold her, i tell him settle when he acts up if others are grabbing him. He has to know that hes not the boss.

+1 for brookes advice. I don't usually advocate negative reinforcement, but I use grabbing the muzzle as means to distract not to hurt. It should be form but not painful.

Socialize! Get the puppy meeting people, even if its just family until she has all shots. Let them touch her and pick her up. We did this with cato and he still likes being held like a baby and is great with the vet