Hi all, I have been reading your forum for a bit now in anticipation of getting my own husky. My puppy is only 6 weeks old. I have been continually reading how taking the dog away before 8 weeks can be disastrous for the pups manners. I have been talking to an obedience trainer, and will be registering into their class, but this isn't held until September 19th. I love my puppy already, and have begun to try house training, but don't want to take it too fast since he is still young. I'm wondering if you all had any suggestions for me on training him since he is losing the vital last 2 weeks.

Help is greatly appreciated, and look forward to reading your responses!

I got my puppy when she was only 6 1/2 weeks old. She could sit, give paw, other paw, and roll over within four days of having her. So I personally believe that it depends on how you train your husky. If you are patient and consistent with your husky than I am sure you will be fine! Make sure that you take your puppy out every 1-2 hours no matter what and then right after waking up, playing, running around, eating/drinking and you should be fine! Good luck with your pup!

That's good to hear! The puppy hasn't made messes, but I've been taking him out more often than I'm used to with other breeds because he always wants to drink water.

There are a few habits I've noticed that I've been trying to work on, and I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask on the forum.

He seems to like to nip and chew on your hand, which is normal for a pup i believe. However, the phrase "no" hasn't seem to really gotten through with him, so I'm wondering what other techniques there are with this.

Another is the hysterical howls at night when he is crated. When I first got him, he would whine, and then do an occasional howl or two, for the past 2 nights, he has wanted to continually howl for hours on end. Is this normal?

These are a few things I've noticed, and I'm sure with him being a younger pup it may be normal. But it also makes me a bit concerned seeing as he is 6 weeks rather than the 8 most will end up saying is the correct time to bring the pup home. I also haven't owned the breed before, so I'm not sure if it is to be expected with the breed or not. I've been reading up on articles on the internet for different ways and techniques to teach commands and such, and have been working with him multiple times a day, for 10-15 minute intervals.

I am signed up for obedience training with an instructor who has owned the breed, so I'm hoping that will help too. This isn't until September 19th though, so I don't want to end up falling behind.

Good on you for taking your puppy out often. They tend to need to go out after eating/drinking, running around, sleeping, playing, and other than that around every 1-2 hours. If you keep this up you will hopefully avoid accidents and it will make training that much easier.

The nipping is most definitely normal and a lot of people on here will talk about "bite inhibition" which I'm sure someone will pipe up and give advice on. I personally found that saying no and then replacing my hand with a toy worked. There are others methods too such as "time outs" or saying no and ignoring the puppy, they will eventually learn that when they get too rough, they don't get to play. As I said, I'm sure someone else will shed some more light on this as I didn't really have this problem with my pup.

The howling is normal for your puppy. It happens with puppies of all ages and because your puppy is still very young, it is bound to happen. Just be patient and consistent and remember make the crate something that is a happy place for your puppy! Lots of toys, treat, praise etc. even if your pup just walks into the crate! Work on it very slowly, don't just throw your pup in and expect him to be perfect. Do 10 minutes at a time and then slowly increase the times!! Patience and consistency is key!!

I'm probably thinking much too into the the puppies obedience, with him being so young.

I'm curious though, what did you find that worked the best with you training your pup those commands so quickly? Did you say the command, then show pup what you are saying, give treat? I'd love to start getting the basics (sit, come, lay down) down while hes so young so that it'll be easier in the long run.

Lastly, as far as telling the pup "no", how do you go about telling him no and making sure he has the real understanding of the word?

For me when training Cally, I did exactly what you just said. For the first couple of times, I used treats and then as she started getting used to what I was asking I would start to only use treats every other time or every third time. That way your pup is never sure of when to expect a treat and when not too so they will always do as you ask

As for the "no" part, there are several different ways people tell their dog no. For biting, I gave Cally a firm but gentle hold on the snout and said no. For other bad stuff, some people use the crate as a timeout or you leaving the room and the puppy have a timeout. I personally have not done any of these, I was constantly on Cally, so when she was chewing something bad I would take it away, tell her no and give her a toy instead. Eventually they get the idea, positive reinforcement works way better with huskies then negative reinforcement