So, we have been doing our best to train Kingsley consistently and patiently. He's been doing great up until last week or so.

We've been successful in teaching several obedience commands, but now, all of a sudden, he's barking back at us when we say NO or DOWN when he's biting, jumping, or grabbing things he's not supposed to. Before he would immediately stop whatever it was he was doing and sit. Now though, he's stopping, but barking back at us like a low "F!@k you!".

Even on our walks, he's started to bite at the leash. I'll very quickly jerk it out of his mouth and say "NO BITE!" then he'll start to growl at me. What the crap?

When he starts to get like this, we'll put him in time out for about 5 minutes, and then he quickly forgets his bad mood. But it's starting to become commonplace with him to talk back to us.

Its awkward because we've always made our training sessions a positive experience for him, providing happy excited voices, petting, and yummy treats.

Is this common with other husky pups? Does it ever end? Do you have any advice to deter this crappy attitude?

Help! My dog is an asshole!

Sophie sassed me all the time when she was a puppy, that's why she only knows sit, lay down, leave it, and come so far...

Kay does this when she gets frustrated with training or when my family yells at her for jumping on them. Also she does it when she wants something.

Balon always talks back, but I don't think he does it meanly, he just likes to do this low growly sounding "talk" when he wants something. It's actually funny to hear....

Sheba talks back as well. A LOT! When she starts to take it a little too far, I correct her. If she is doing her low grumbly thing and tries to bite me, that isn't okay. If she is just howling and making her other silly noises at me, then that is perfectly acceptable. But hey, huskies talk. That just comes with the breed. I wouldn't worry about it.

As for the leash thing, Kennedy had a REALLY big problem with that when I first adopted her from the shelter. I thought it was cute until I realized that she was trying to chew through the leash, not "walking" herself like I though. Nip that in that butt!! Just correct him and he'll learn that's not okay.

Kiba doesn't bite but when she's frustrated with me she will chomp the air lol. She talks a TON. Especially when she wants to get her way. Seems normal. If I don't like the particular behavior I ignore it

Don't worry, your puppy is normal

Huskies are very intelligent and have a sassy independent streak running very deep inside them. The more your force back, raise your voice, and just generally become frustrated, the more they enjoy it. For me the easiest and most effective has been isolation and ignoring them. If they're chewing on the leash take it out of their mouth, they'll probably dive bomb it to get to it but just keep calmly taking it away being as boring as possible. They hate boring.

What you don't want is to keep repeating and repeating yourself because then you just become white noise.

What your going through is normal, don't worry

Thanks, guys.

One thing is true. A tired husky is a well-behaved husky.

Since Kingsley is 3 months old now, my husband started taking him on 1 mile walks/runs. One in the morning and one in the evening. They finish in about 15 minutes. He comes home and is the best behaved puppy in the world.

You shouldn't run him yet, at least on concrete. Romping around on grass is fine, but structured runs on hard surfaces before a year can really damage their joints.

I have to agree, especially that young. You should consult with your vet before running a young puppy. In my opinion, you should just stick to walks this early. Like stated above, playing chase in the yard is okay, but forced runs aren't usually recommended for young puppies.

DanielleCortez wrote:

We've been successful in teaching several obedience commands, but now, all of a sudden, he's barking back at us when we say NO or DOWN when he's biting, jumping, or grabbing things he's not supposed to. Before he would immediately stop whatever it was he was doing and sit. Now though, he's stopping, but barking back at us like a low "F!@k you!".

Kristina has a good point, boring is the way to go sometimes! Mine was doing this with "off," she was enjoying testing her limits, especially in the kitchen. She'd either just inch down a little, or jump off and bark and do it again 2 feet away.... Now in our house, she's not allowed in the kitchen at all, but it's a bit more difficult to do that in my parents'.
A reccomendation from a friend was to just push her off gently without acknowledging her at all, no speaking, looking, etc. She stopped after just a bit of this, because we weren't making keep-off-the-counters an interesting game anymore. Plus, since she's not tall enough to grab anything, the behavior isn't self-rewarding. Yet. Good time to nip it in the bud I guess.

DanielleCortez wrote:

Help! My dog is an asshole!

I believe this holds true of all puppies.

blueeyedghost wrote:

You shouldn't run him yet, at least on concrete. Romping around on grass is fine, but structured runs on hard surfaces before a year can really damage their joints.

But I've read on this forum that they can handle 5 minutes per month of age. He's 3 months, so 15 minutes run/walks are ok. Am I misinformed?

It's not the distance per say, it's the forced running for that distance. Forced exercise means that the pup is doing something he wouldn't normally be doing at his age. Concrete is already an unfavorable surface to be running on, but most of us really don't have a choice. But at such a young age, running on concrete can be really detrimental to his growing plates. Ideally, you should probably stick to the 15 minutes walks and leave running for playing time, at least until he's older.

Right, but like I said, it's 15 minutes of combined running (light jogging really) AND walking. And we don't take him on concrete or pavement, it's a trail, so it's not as hard as concrete or pavement. It's not forced running or forced exercising, he enjoys it and is eager.

Am I to understand that I shouldn't take him on 15 minutes of combined walk/runs at all until he is over a year old?

Dogs don't always realize that they're hurting themselves or working too hard, so he may enjoy it even though it is possibly damaging his joints. If he's just romping around he can stop whenever he wants, but even if you're combining the walking and running he may wind up running more than his body can handle. The big issue on this one is the possibility of damaging the growth plates, and damage isn't always readily apparent. I would avoid the walk/runs altogether for the time being, and then maybe start very slowly start working into it around the 10-ish month timeframe.

Oh man, now I feel like the a-hole. I swear I've read something about 5 minutes per month of age, I thought I was ON TOP OF IT!

This blows. I'm a bad furmom.

But, I have a 30ft leash attached to one of those ground cork screw things. Is it ok for me to tie him to that and play around outside with him? Like fetch, letting him explore, etc.

Yep because then it's not structured, it's just him playing. Five minutts of structured walking per month, no running to a year at least on lead.

Oh no, no noo!! You aren't a bad furmommy!! You ARE right on the 15 minutes! It's just the running/jogging or what have you, that isn't okay. 15 minutes of walking is perfectly acceptable! You just don't want to push your baby, because no matter what you ask of him, he will do it. He wouldn't stop if he was hurting because he wants to please you!

As far as the leash, yes that is perfectly acceptable. I have a tie out for both my girls. It's a life safer for those of us who aren't lucky enough to not have fenced in yards. Kennedy knows how far she can go out before being whipped back, but Sheba has absolutely NOO idea. I had to put a shock absorber in it and she wears a harness while she's out there.

As far as the tie out goes, I recommend using a harness when using the tie out. That way - if they get to the end of the line, they dont break their necks while whipping back....... the tie out attaches to the loop on their back - on top of the harness......

just my $.02

I have a harness for him but he's just a TAD too small for it! I've been wanting him to use it for a few weeks now, though I know he's growing like a weed. I think I'm just gonna spend the $20 anyway. I'll donate it to the SPCA when he grows out of it in a couple weeks.

Are those corkscrew tie outs good? I'd like to get something like that for Bella but my uncle's husky was such a beast I'm concerned. He literally uprooted an old school clothes line post that was buried five feet in the ground.

Thanks for the post. I was actually wondering about that myself. Nanook is about the same age and doing the same stuff. I'll have to try the "boring" approach to see how that goes.

When we first got Q our vet told us not to run Q until he was a year, but that we could start walking him immediately, and that he would tell us when he was finished. We didn't walk him based on the 5 minute per month rule. We could always tell when he was tiring and ready to stop. In the early days, we didn't go far, but sometimes we just carried him home if he was too pooped out. We use a 30 foot tie out in our yard too. We have it secured to a cinderblock and fortunately for us, Q is very happy to just putter around and lay in the grass. Even when other dogs and people walk by the house (whom he can see from our back yard), he just sits there and watches them go by. He makes no attempt to chase any of them.

Also, after a year of trying to figure out what works and doesn't work, we've recently realized the less attention we bring to his bad behavior the better. Basically, ignoring him really does work. Obviously, there are certain behaviors where we have to redirect his attention, but generally speaking, I try not to make a big deal of things I don't want him to do, because the more attention I bring to the situation, the more he wants to do it, and the more intent he is. He's super smart, and really knows how to manipulate.

It's funny because after I made this post yesterday and got suggestions, I tried out the completely ignoring him thing once he got attitude-y. We usually hang out on the living room floor with something on the TV. When he started to get argumentative, I would just stop giving him attention. I would get off the floor, sit on the couch with my legs up. I wouldn't even make eye contact. He immediately switched from his low growling/back talking to a quieter howl that sounded more like a request for my attention. I would ask him to sit, then move to a down position from where I was sitting and make him wait quietly for a bit (about 20 seconds) before I moved back down the floor.

Worked like a charm.

Way to go, forum. Way to go.

Nice! Glad you found something that works with him

Sorry if I made you feel like an a-hole last night, wasn't my intention, just trying to educate. This is why I shouldn't post when I can barely keep my eyes open I promise, you aren't a bad fur-mom, we made the same mistake with Ghost too. We just backed off a bit and then started back in when she was around a year.

Lol, Meredith, it wasn't YOU who made me feel like an a-hole, it was just me feeling bad for not being as thorough as I thought I was. We'd only taken him on those walk/runs for about a week or so, so I didn't feel too bad about any possible long term damage.

I only want what's best for the pup, so I strive to go above and beyond when it comes to him (even if my friends think I'm crazy for setting an alarm every 3 hours in the middle of the night to take him out).

Educate on!