Hi all, so simba is now 7 months old and wow do they grow fast. Anyway, he's neutured and he has been to puppy kindergarden. Its been an interesting journey but lately Simba has been getting pretty tough to handle. We also excercise him twice a day at least 4 miles a day or 2 miles + dog park.

1) His biting, he's been biting us a lot more recently, grabbing our legs as well walk away our arms when we reach for the leash, our clothes, he's ripped a few and I have no idea how to stop him, they say to whine or yelp really loudly and walk away. Whenever I yelp though it never works on him, he just keeps going, no acknowledgement. But at the dog park on the other hand he's very respectful. It's not just us that he's biting he bites all the furniture so I thought maybe he's teething again but this time full swing? Anything to mitigate?

2) Crying/ barking: In the mornings after we wakes up at 7:30 and we let him out to go to the bathroom... he will sit there outside Barking/ Crying till someone comes and takes him for a walk when someone comes out he'll quiet up and become calm. Is there a way we can stop this? the same happens at 4ish when its time for his second walk. Our neighbors have begun complaining to us, its only a matter of time before they go to the police. When we walk away or leave the house he'll whine for a bit unless we stay with him till he sleeps.

3) Paper: Simba LOVES to eat anything paper related. He'll eat normal paper, he'll rip up cardboard boxes, cigarette butts off the street, receipts, napkins, anything. I've been trying to teach him with the leave it method and it works in the house right after we train but then its gone. Also he is starting to only listen when i have a treat. His diet consists of Orijen, natural balance duck and potatoes treats, old fashioned baked treats, boiled chicken and brown rice.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

There are some threads that deal specifically with bite inhibition. It is a difficult thing to break them of, Nikko was pretty bad at biting until I got another husky LOL.
I tried spraying the bitter apple stuff, and that seemed to work a little. Also if you sprinkle some cayenne pepper on whatever he his biting that might get him to stop. When he does bite, make sure you say NO loud, and replace it with a toy, or if you are playing with him, immediately get up and ignore him when he bites.

The crying/backing problem, It sounds like he is training you guys! When he cries or barks, what is your reaction? You might be rewarding him for doing those things. If he knows that if he cries he gets to go on a walk, that is what he is going to do. I don’t give into them if they are being bad, for example if we are going to go for a walk and Nikko starts running away from me, I won’t try and catch him because he thinks it’s a game. If he wants a walk he will have to sit and behave while I put his leash on. If he starts crying, I would bring him in and wait until he is calm, and then go for a walk.

Besides the “leave it” command I don’t know what to tell you about the paper. Nikko LOVES paper towels, Kleenex, anything he can get to he will shred in a hundred pieces! I just learned to put things where he can’t get to them.

The key to anything is consistency. You can’t expect him to understand what you want him to do if you aren’t consistent. By doing the same things over and over they will eventually get it. He is only 7 months old so don’t be discouraged if he doesn’t listen to you all the time. Nikko just turned 1 and he still has his moments.

Hello,

My two huskies, especially the male, had the same issues. I am happy to report a year later, none of these except 3 are an issue.

1. This is a hard one. Check the other threads here. For me, the solution was to firmly tell my dog no and lightly tap him on the snout. Not hard. He does not like any negative attention and quickly got the picture, after a few months the behavior was gone. Also, you need to find his/her favorite toy. Find a toy they like. Kong, rubber tire, knot rope, etc. The SECOND the dog nips you, put the toy in their mouth and play, and reinforce with positive words.

This is what really solved my issue. My dogs, they will grab their toys when they have a desire to nip now, if they can't find it, they will nip the air but not me.

2. This is common when they want attention. For me the solution was training. I would put them outside, leave them, let them whine, and come back only when they stopped. I would reward them when quiet. Did this for days and days and days. it is a gradual fix.

A faster fix is find a place where they can't see you... never respond to their whining. One time you do, they will associate whining with attention = walks = win. Huskies are very smart and not very forgetful.

3. My male loves to do this. He is OBSESSED with paper. It's cute and annoying. I just tell him no and give him his toy. If he leaves paper alone, I reward him. I am not sure of a fix here because I managed to get my male to stop with everything EXCEPT toilet paper and paper towels. He goes nuts over both.

Great advice above, I don't have much to add since I haven't had these problems but for him only listening when you have a treat. I would start (when doing training sessions) giving him a treat one time when he does it and then the next time you ask him to do something don't give him one and then give him one for the next two tricks but not the third and so on. This way he will come to never expect when he is getting a treat so he will always do it This worked for Cally at least, keeps her on her best behaviour!

Thank you so much for your replies
A tap to the nose doesn't work for him =\ but i found today walking away for a moment or so where he can't see me seems to be working, now its just a matter of consistency with my parents as well. It gets difficult when he's not tied up though cause he starts going after our legs.

To the crying yea it could be he's training us its just that i'll leave him for like 15-20 minutes and he'll still be crying and barking and hollering, as soon as he sees me he stops. I want to leave him till he stops but the neighbors started complaining which is why I guess i'm a little more sensitive about it. I'll definitely try to reward him when he's quiet only.

Yea paper is just a problem, he's so fast, on walks he jsut gobbles them up I can't even distinguish it between a leaf at night then its one bite and swallow, they usually come out a week or so later, he vomits them out. Our trainer suggested maybe a vitamin deficiency, and i remember back in the day the vet said to get him started on vitamins but I really haven't been able to find any that arent for senior dogs. has anyone had any experience with vitamins?

Awesome advice about the treats yea i've been trying to just do that leave it command, reinforcing it but he only listens half the time, when there's food i'll try constantly reinforcing it so he doesn't expect a treat after every trick.