Following on from my 'intro' thread about my new puppy Nero...

Although I have read as much as I can, one can always learn more

Bringing your puppy home

I found this resource useful. Any other suggestions and ideas?

You want to start out on the right foot with your pup. Although he's cute and young, make sure you set ground rules right away! Huskies NEED discipline. They are too smart and will walk all over you if you do not set boundaries from the start.

Read up on "Nothing In Life Is Free" training (just google it ). This is a very simple and easy training method to practice and it sets you and your dog up for success

Think about where you are going to have your dog sleep. Is he going to sleep in his crate? On the bed? In the bedroom? In another room? Whatever the answer is, make sure you're prepared for it. He's going to be uneasy in a new home. My suggestion would be in his crate in your bedroom.

Remember that puppies can only "hold it" for the number of hours per month old he is. If he's 2 months old, he can only hold it in for 2 hours! That means someone is going to have to wake up in the middle of the night to take him out to the bathroom. To help with this, CUT OFF his water supply at around 8pm. Then make sure letting him out is the last thing you do before bed and the first thing you do in the morning.

Read up on the Potty Training and Crate Training threads. They will definitely help.

If you live with others, make sure they are on the same page with his rules and YOUR rules. Your pup will never learn if people are telling him different things.

Bringing a puppy home shouldn't be much different than keeping the puppy. Start with all the same rules from day 1 and continue and you shouldn't have a problem

Ok so I picked him up! He's such a great dog, the ride was about 2 and a half hours, never once did he squeal, bark, howl or get rowdy. When he started moving around I sat him in my lap and he went straight to sleep! When we got home he was a little apprehensive to get out but after a couple of mins did his business after finding a quiet corner.

We got home, I put him on his leash and he didn't like it whatsoever. He whines when I try and walk him anywhere but he follows me everywhere on his own accord without the lead. Ive left his collar on but lead off in the house purely because hes soo relaxed. I'll keep him on his leash when outside but will start inside if he becomes rowdy.

He's not really active at all. He seems afraid of his new surroundings i think. He had a little wonder around but tends to just sit down alone. When he is up and lively he 'comes' & 'sits' on command, didn't take him long to learn that! Right now he's sleeping on my 5 yo nephews lap

One thing he does do is when we are playing and I call him, he will immediately come so I will reward him with hugs etc. But he snuggled up in between my legs on such and lies down, then won't move until I do...

All in all I'm very happy with him, he's very well manoured even at 8 weeks but I am a little worried about his lack of enthusiasm.

He's also getting on well with the kids even though there are more excited than he is!

He's just a baby and he's going to be timid for a while. I wouldn't worry. He'll be more than you can handle soon! Leave him hooked to the leash for a few mins- an hour a day to get him used to the leash if he whines when you put it on.

Remember not to walk him in public areas until he has all his shots. Take him to the vet soon for a check up

How did his first night go (I assume you won't read this until tomorrow morning your time)?

He seems to have gotten a little more used to the idea of the leash and runs a little alongside me with a little whining. He's not loud but it's just like a small childs mmmm mmmmm hhhhmmmmmm.

Its still quite early for me being only 11:30pm. Nero is sleeping next to me right now and just went potty outside, so hoping he should be ok for another few hours. I'll get some photos & vids of him uploaded tmrw, good night all.

How many hours in general does the average puppy sleep? How frequently?

They'll sleep a while, but they'll have to go out to potty every few hours. Your 2 month old puppy can only be expected to last 2 hours before having to go again. I would set the alarm for the middle of the night.

A restless first night, I mean for me, not him :p

He went for a No.1 again at 1:30am after waking me 30 mins before my alarm was due to go. He then slept the entire night without waking up. He was a little restless at around 4am but I think he just wanted to be cooler because he went and slept on the wooden floor. I hardly slept during the night as I was waking every 30-40 mins to check on him.

He managed to hold his bizniz until we woke up at 7am. Will post more later. Meantime here are some pics













How often should he do a No.2? He went yesterday at around 4pm and has not been since. Is it just once daily?

Depends on how often you feed him. As long as he's going at least once a day, I wouldn't worry. It takes about 12 hours to process kibble though, so if you feed him twice a day, he most likely will go twice a day. Each dog is different, but again- as long as he's going on average once a day, I wouldn't be concerned

HE'S GORGEOUS!

EDIT: Start a Scrapbook for him!!

Nero seems to be settling now. He still whines when we attempt to walk on the lead (even in the garden) but still happily follows me everywhere on our property without it. I usually walk him after breakfast up and down the street. I'm trying to teach him to sit when he gets to the crossing, we will then turn back and walk past the house the other way. He's happy walking back towards the house but doesn't like walking away from it. I'm also trying to get him used to the idea of traffic by just standing out front for a few mins before and after walks. It not a busy road with maybe one car passing every few mins but Nero sorta sits and hides between my legs rather than standing next to me. Hopefully he will get used to it soon.

During the night, if he needs to, he asks when he needs to potty by getting up and sitting on my feet. Right now instead of walking him out, I'll pick him up and carry him to his 'area' because it's very wet outside, and about 50m walk. Once he's done, he'll clean himself and then I'll carry him back inside. I know this isn't the ideal situation but until I get a crate for him to sleep in I don't really want muddy paws on the bed! If this is going to cause problems though then I will walk him out instead...but I only do this at night because he usually doesn't want to follow me after waking up, be it day or night.

When playing in the garden, he (usually 80%) comes when I call him but is becoming a little cheeky, I'll call him 'Nero come (with a clap or clicking my fingers)' and if he decides not to come he'll stand there looking at me, then jump back and run a couple of steps in the opposite direction, turn and look again. If I approach he will do the same again. So from now on I'm gonna just ignore him and walk away if he doesn't respond on 3rd call. However Nero will 100% of the time come if I call him while indoors.

One thing I have noticed is that he's taken to chewing on his blanky or towel for a few mins between naps. He's not tearing or shredding (yet), he just knaws at it for a while then goes back to sleep. Should I stop him or let him be?

Forgot to mention, while knawing, he would much rather chew on my fingers if they are available, infact he does this every chance he gets. He's happy to even sleep with my fingers in his mouth,

I would stop him from chewing on your fingers asap. If you let this go on it can become a real problem. Huskies a generally very mouthy so its a good idea to teach him what to chew on etc.....

I bought him a rope toy to chew on, which he does if I hand it to him but after waking in the middle of the night he just doesn't listen. Last night he was actually really pushy and wanted to sleep right next to me I.e on the pillow, with his head on mine...everytime I would say no and put him lower down he would clamber back up and chew on my fingers or his blanky. We went through this for a good 10 mins.

How would you guys suggest I handle this? I tried the four fingers across the tongue and push under the chin but it doesn't seem to have much effect.

HA! Puppies sound so scary. When I started watching my friend's 10 wk Bernese and she would start biting me, I would shove as much of my hand into her mouth/throat as possible then walk away. After a week it never happened again. Kind of a messy/slobbery way to go about it though. Also keep in mind I've never had a pup of my own, so I don't really know what I'm talking about here.

Yeah, I agree that you should nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

What we did with Koda was a firm "No!" whenever his mouth came into contact with our hands and then STOPPED all contact/communication with him for a couple of minutes. Huskies HATE to be ignored. What that does is also mimicking what they would naturally get from their pack. A dog would give a sharp bark and/or nip back and then turn their backs on the offending dog and ignore them. Speaking their language helps, I find

I took Nero to the vet today, to get him registered and get his 2nd lot of vaccinations. The vet actually said neros mouthing is a challenge for top dog status...

He actually recommended another method of tackling this;

Using one hand, firmly hold his mouth closed and grab the scruff of his neck with the other saying NO!

Iv been doi g this over the last few hours and it's having the complete opposite effect. Nero gets more aggressive and nips back after I let go. He's also started barking/yelping a little. Not often but if I neglect his treat or toy using the NILIF method (ignoring if he jumps or gets rowdy) he will bark once or yelp and jump around. I'm going to ignore the vets advice and use the yelp/ignore method instead, Nero seems to respond well using that.

Today he has actually been quite mouthy and cheeky. This could be down to the above or because I left him alone this morning for a few hours. He was sleeping when I came home but immediately started crying when I giving him affection.

I tried leading him to potty using his leash but he simply would not go, he was happy to walk to his area but just wouldn't potty. As soon as I took him off the lead he sniffed around and did his bizniz.

One thing I will say is his leash manner has much improved, he walks very nicely now without much hesitance. At least we are progressing in some areas, even if it's just a little.

No offense, I would change vets. That has to be one of the dumbest things I've heard come from a vet's mouth in a while. It's CLEAR he knows nothing about huskies, and I would question his knowledge of puppies honestly

I think the yelping method is definitely the way to go, especially if he was responding to that.

He's going to start teething soon as well, so in addition to the yelp/ignore method, you can also give a firm "No!" and after you ignore him for a minute, give him a toy or something that IS okay to chew on and praise him. Redirecting his behavior with a positive thing he can do is helpful as well

Haha no offence taken, I already changed as soon as I walked out of this one! A shame really because it's only 200m away lol

I am and have been using the exact method you just posted

I just got back from my brothers, nero can now play fetch, tug and then release without much hassle while playing with the kids. YAY! He's still a little more aggressive with me but never with the kids!!!!

Good! Glad it's working out then

welcome! your pup is ognna have a thick and beautiful coat! so not gonna enjoy blowing his coat!! i believe in what koda says about the nipping. our sniper still does it some and she will be 1 2months this month! i try and ignore her as much as possible when she nips. Persitance is key with huskies! he is a great looking dog!

Here is Nero's first escapade...Probably not the last but hey we can hope

Before:








After:

Look at those eyes! I am so in love

Any luck on the cat situation yet?

No not yet, I moved into another house yesterday so not doing anything as of yet. I'm still not 100% about moving back yet, it really depends on my job situation but it's only about 30% chance I'll be going back permanently.

So over the last day or so I have become much more assertive with Nero. If he starts misbehaving I'll SHOUT No rather than saying it. He seems to respond really well now compared to before. He will stop what he's doing almost immediately and wimper for a minute or so while I ignore him.

He knows when he's doing wrong because all I have to do is stare at him and he kinda freezes, he might continue what hes doing until I shout but he's getting the idea I reckon! Even though he still doesnt know his name

The pics above was after I left him in my brothers back yard. Fully fenced (we only built it the day before we brought Nero home) I left him there before work ~8am. My bro the lazy ass woke up at 10:35am. He rang me at 11ish and said your dog aint white anymore...He's red!

By that time it was POURING with rain and Nero had dug under 3 fences and worked his way to the front of the house!!

When I got home I wasa confronted by a crying Husky and a sh!tload of dirt on my jeans LOL. The only solution was to give him a bath outside to get the majority of grit off and then go in the shower with him.

He came out allllll fluffy and soft!