I can't remember where I saw it on here but I know I saw someone talk about using a "baby" or "soft"/ "easy" command when training or directing their husky(ies) and I was wondering how you go about training your husky to understand that command? I know this sounds really silly, and my husband and I aren't planning on having children anytime soon, but I am kind of concerned about my husky understanding when we do have a baby, our child being "one of the pack" if you will. I want him to understand these kinds of commands so that I can use them if we take him over to other people's houses and are around other animals (which I know to always keep him on a leash and not to let leave him alone with small animals ever) or to a training appointment that is with other dogs, but I'd like him to understand this kind of command for when we have a child and I need him to be gentle around the child. Has anyone else ever had experience with having children grow up around huskies? Just some thoughts swimming around in my head and since I'm getting the puppy soon, I would like to go ahead and know what to do instead of wishing I'd known and done it a year from now. Help please :/

I will be following this thread as we just had 2 nieces born into our family this summer. Onyx understands the "gentle" command when taking food or treats but how does this translate to treating another animal or people. This is a excellent question!

guess you could try teaching it with someone else kids, or get one of those super lifelike baby dolls and treat it like a baby and teach the commands. but you can always start with doing it with taking treats from your hand and picking toys up off the ground.

We taught Tika Gentle when taking treats and she takes them with the very tip of her lips.
We associated that with kids when they came over, but she has always been very gentle around them, she has unintentionally knocked them over, but that will happen.

She plays with our nephew all the time and knows instinctively that she has to play easy with him. My neice gets kisses from her all the time too and thats all she ever does, lick their feet or hands when they reach for her. She has never even playfully nipped like she does with us.

Kelly, did you just speak "gentle" to Tika when kids came over for her to learn/associate it with them? I'm guessing repetition is the key here? Never trained a dog before so this will be interesting

Oh yes, plenty of repetition was used, but she really wasnt rough with them. We just said it over and over even if we saw she was only sniffing toes. Just so that she sort of took that approach, even when my neice screams she didnt relly react. For some reason she thinks diaper changes are fascinating though.

Ripley just ignores babies. little kids she LOVES though. Our friends daughter was grabbing her neck fat and squishing her face into her and hugging and Rip just sat there taking the love.

dragonthewhitedread wrote:

Never trained a dog before so this will be interesting

you dont train huskies, they train you better you find out now....


but yes you do speak it to them, first with treats then when the kids come over you can have the kids hand him treats and tell the kids to say gentle and then when dragon and the kids start to interact more you just keep repeating play gentle during the interaction and he should pick it up.

My sibe has never needed instruction on how to behave with children or babies. He seems to instinctively know. He is always very gentle with babies and toddlers, yet with older children he plays a bit more roughly. Who knows, maybe yours will be the same.

Kellyb wrote:

We taught Tika Gentle when taking treats and she takes them with the very tip of her lips.

Can you explain exactly how you did this? Aspen is like Tika but she came that way. . Willow likes to bite half my hand to get to the treat and I just can't figure out how to relay to her to not do that.

Anytime we saw her trying to snatch, we took it back and made her sit back down (keep in mind this was from when she was a baby so I can imagine you might have a harder time)
Once she calmed down, we would offer it back saying Gentle and kept that process until she eased up in taking it, at first it was just taking it moderatly gently, now, if we say gentle, she really just takes it with her lips.
If she gets overexcited tell her NO firmly and let her relax, then work with her when she is calm, that is the best state to teach this is since its ultimatly the state you want her taking things in. Then when she does take it gently praise her a lot.

It might take a while, but its SO worth it, especially if you have little kids that want to feed them treats. We have had vets who kept feeding her treats since they were delighted in how gently she took them, they said they normally get they fingers bit.

Tika is by no means the perfect dog, but for this, shes awesome. It also helps that she is very food motivated, so she will work for what we are giving her.

I found having a parent or someone else the child listens to helps a lot too.

Your focusing on the pup so much you don't tend to notice the mistakes the child is making during the encounter because you are so scared the pup might do something wrong.

Having a voice of reason from the child's point of view is a huge training tool that shouldn't be over looked... After all, people need to understand how to interact with dogs as well, it's not just a one way street.


Quick example. We met a mother and son in a pet supply store and I had Tika with me who had never met these two before.

The son was a bit nervous of the intensity and energy level that is Tika... She is very respectful of children and very gentle with them, but it isn't uncommon for her to rush up to them full speed and stop just short of them so they can give her affection.

The son took a step back during her approach as he wasn't sure which prompted her to advance further and more excited. It had now turned into a game because of his retreat. I noticed the increase in her intensity and bent down to calm and correct her.

His mother however pushed her son forward and explain to him he had done something wrong.

"Don't back up. Stand proud and strong. Puff yourself up and make yourself big like a balloon. Tell the dog to Stop. See it's Ok. It's a good Doggy."

The mother smiled at me and Tika stopped dead in her tracks and sat down in from of the boy to be pet and lick his hands.

This obviously doesn't work with Babies... but they should always be supervised 100% when the encounter takes place anyways.

Teaching GENTLE and BABY are great ways to relate how to be calm and that their way of thinking should be altered to a more respectful and calm state. Jenn's and Kelly's advice on the matter is spot on and are/is exactly what I would do to reinforce the behavior.

Teaching a human how to properly interact with a dog however is the the best way to limit accidents.

It probably however is the hardest thing in the world to do.... The amount of times I've have had people just straight out pet my pups without asking, or walking up to me while I have the two heeling and bend down and call them over is MIND BLOWING.....

~Chris~

Tika wrote:

The amount of times I've have had people just straight out pet my pups without asking, or walking up to me while I have the two heeling and bend down and call them over is MIND BLOWING..... ~Chris~

this drives me crazy! but since we do so many rescue events with S&J and we run into so many kids on our walk i started the command "say Hi" most of the time kids and people ask to see them and when they do i bring S&J in close and tell them to "say Hi" to the kids/people. it has really worked in letting them know they will be touched and that its ok. repetition is always key in training.

Thank you everyone for all of your help and encouragement on the subject. I am going to try teaching him "Gentle" with treats and then associating that with children and babies whenever I can. I really appreciate all the advice guys!!

I'm so glad you posted this! My husband and I have a 7 month old Sibe named Koopa. This is our first dog together and the first time either of us has trained a dog without the help of parents and siblings. But I have several small nieces and another to be born in December, and Koopa (being a puppy) doesn't have the natural instant to calm down around them. He also has no idea how big he has gotten. A command like "gentle" would be HUGE for us since he doesn't know how to play soft. Thanks so much for the tips!

Kellyb wrote:

Anytime we saw her trying to snatch, we took it back and made her sit back down (keep in mind this was from when she was a baby so I can imagine you might have a harder time)
Once she calmed down, we would offer it back saying Gentle and kept that process until she eased up in taking it, at first it was just taking it moderatly gently, now, if we say gentle, she really just takes it with her lips.
If she gets overexcited tell her NO firmly and let her relax, then work with her when she is calm, that is the best state to teach this is since its ultimatly the state you want her taking things in. Then when she does take it gently praise her a lot.

Thank you. I tried this a few minutes ago and it took the fourth time of taking the treat back before she hesitated to get it vs chomping on my hand. i then gave Aspen a treat and then went back to Willow again. It took another 3 or 4 tries again but I didn't think that was bad. I don't think she truly gets it yet but I will continue on this path until she does. I think Dakota spoiled me...he was born well behaved and Aspen seems to be following his paw prints. Willow challenges me at every turn.

I've always had good results exposing only a small part of the treat in my hand and then telling the pooch, eaasssyyyy. After a few days of treating they realize that going slow and easy is rewarding. They are to the point now that if I put the biscuit in my mouth they are oh so gentle on taking it, not once have I had a mishap.

Seems to me the more of the treat they can see the harder they lunge for it.

I'm so glad I came across this when I did! I started working with Koopa immediately and now I don't even have to tell him "soft" when I give him a treat, he just knows. So now he uses just his lips to take it. With him the main thing was just my tone... The first time I told him "soft" I just said it in a soft, quiet voice and drug the word out.. "Sooofftt... Sooofftttt.." And he stood there trying to decide if I was giving him the treat or not. Lol which was perfect because he was looking me in the eyes and just kinda opened his mouth & I put the treat in & praised him. Lol so it didn't take long. He hasn't figured out how to apply it to people yet, but he's still a puppy.