Loki can't get it through his head that biting (even though it's just playful, and never breaks skin) is just unacceptable. We're also not housebroken yet. Today he finally learned a signal to go outside to potty. I was so happy and he got super extra praises; and he was good ALL DAY, until around 8pm. Then he peed three times in a row even though we yelled NO, OUTSIDE, dragged him outside and then went potty outside (with praises/treats). WTF you little asshole.

Well then just now he was chewing on my hand and I lifted it, saying "no" and he lunged forward, cone edge going straight into my eye. It hurt so I yelped, and then half in pain half in frustration started crying. I think he knew I was in pain because he laid down calmly with his ears back and a guilty look and stayed there while I cried and pet him.

So yeah, now I have a cut and swelling eyelid and a dog that KNOWS "no bite/no chew" but ignores it.

I know he's only been home for 5 days, but this adjustment period has be an hard on me as it has been for him. Encouragement/advice/personal experiences super appreciated.

Is Loki still a puppy? If he is, you can't really expect him to not have any accidents in the house or to not test the limits of what he can get away with. Raising a puppy is nothing if not frustrating. If you've only had him for 5 days, he's still adjusting to his new environment as well.

We raised 2 at the same time. I (more than my hubby) had a month or so of sleepless nights as we were house raining them. I've been bit, scratched, annoyed, angry, frustrated and exhausted all at the same time. It takes patience, even when you think you've run out of it.

Do you know how old Loki was when he was removed from his mother? If he was less than 8 weeks old, I understand bite inhibition and mouthiness can be more pronounced as he wasn't taught by littermates or his mom what is acceptable.

It sounds like you're doing everything right, it's just going to take some time and patience.

He's a rescue, and they estimate he's around 18months. He just got fixed recently as well. So I really have no idea what his background is; how old he was when he was taken from his mom, if he was breeder bred for show vs sledding, from a BYB, or what. Apparently he did spend a significant time in shelters, so not super socialized with other dogs.

I know it's gonna take time and patience. It's just been a long week for all of us.

My dog is such a DUMBASS!! Usually he doesn't like his crate and he whines when he's in it. We just rotated it 90degrees and now hes just laying in there and playing with a squeaky toy.

This is after he walked in the crate and left the toy inside, walked out, and THEN tried to get the squeaker toy out from inside, THROUGH THE OUTSIDE of the cage.

My dog's defective.

lol Too funny.

Sounds like Loki just needs some time to realize that he's home. After spending the majority of his "childhood" in shelters, he may just be insecure. He's probably has minimal training and he's at the age where he's going to test you. You've heard of the terrible twos for human kids....yeah they get it too, only they're "teenagers". lol My two are 4 and are finally listening to us.

I remember those long weeks with 2 puppies. The one time I rescued (a samoyed, 13 years ago), she just made herself at home and fit right in. But she was horrible around other dogs and we never did get her adjusted to that.

Hang in there. It will get easier. Just give him love, patience and security.

Thing is I know he's comfortable at least. He sleeps with all his legs up in the air. But yeah, one of the trainers at PetSmart when we met her said he's "very immature for his age" and acts like a puppy, probably due to being in the shelter so much. Thankfully my friend has 2 pitbulls who are beginning to put him in his place. Hah!

I'll wait for the day he listens to us... it'll be a while. lol

Thanks for the help

You have to remember, you have a husky lol. They don't mature until like 7.

Yeaaaaah I knew logically what I was getting into. Actual thing + sleep deprivation (from his cone rattling his crate all night) is a different story. ^^;

I am actually going through the same stress right now with my JAX. As soon as we think we are a tight schedule ----> he poops in his area or on the deck. There’s that one accident that makes us feel we are pushed right back to the start. I don’t crate my puppy (did when we first got him but he soiled in side the crate and we had to give him multiple baths) JAX had food issues but now that we've settled on a good brand and his stool is solid, we’re working on his schedule. I understand when everyone says it’s the humans fault when a. we don’t pick up on signals b. the puppy has to go and can’t hold it too long.

However at night I let him out at 11:30 pm before going to sleep, then at 3 am and then at 6 am. I've slowly moved to 4 am and then eliminated the 3 am puppy nature call. He sleeps at 9:30 pm and still always needs to be taken out at 11:30 pm and then right at 6 am. However, here is where I am going crazy. In the morning I take him for a walk from 5:45 am to 6:45 am as soon as he’s out he poops and pees. Yet he holds some of his poop until 6:50 am (almost always) if I take him out to the area he should be pooping he does this in the air 180 twist jump, eats twigs, grass, rocks….UGH! BUT here it is; We have a small deck when he was at 2 -3 months he soiled on there a few times and now this is his “go to spot” we can’t seem to stop him from soiling on the bloody deck. Even thought of getting the fake grass box, but afraid he will destroy it. I am glad to see others are having schedule/ pupping biting nipping problems I thought I was going Looney last night.

Also he’s only turned 6 on March 10th so I am expecting accidents, however I wish I can get him to poop outside and not on the deck.

sorry vented out one of the 2 problems... JAX also play bites especially when he is tired and does not know when to stop, we've turned away, spray bottled, yelled, (NOT HITTING) ignored, etc... FRUSTRATED for sure.


@KCheshire hang in there I can't tell you the hell I went through for the first 2 months. Actually I will not tell you since i'll scare many off. let's just say between pooping in crate, on him self, peeing on carpet, nipping, jumping, running, etc... yes I felt like a character from movies where the dog puts there owner through pure utter craziness. I felt that (but wifey says it's exaggerated ) NEVER the less, just be consistent, keeping saying "no biting" and ignore him for 10-15 mins, what actually worked for us and still does sometimes since JAXY is getting smarter. Is we hand signal for a sit and say "NO BITTING" loud and he stops.

Just remember we have all had days where we just wanted to cry out of frustration. IT DOES GET BETTER!!! I promise. And even though you probably don't feel like it right now, YOU CAN DO THIS!

That said, I understand that Loki is a rescue but since you know nothing of his background and you have been told he is immature, it might not hurt to look at some of the puppy training threads and start as though he was an 8 to 10 week old puppy. Especially with the potty training! Every time Saphire had an accident we would start over like it was day one taking her out every 30 minutes and gradually increasing the time between breaks. It worked like a charm.

Sophie was really mouthy as a puppy (still can be when she is realllly hyper now) and to try and curb this we worked on the "Gentle" command.

I know this sounds weird... but hear me out
Smear your hand with cream cheese- front/back/fingers. A light coat will do. Give the sit command, gently put your hand by them and let them sniff. Go ahead let them lick, as long as they aren't nibbling or biting- say "Gentle, good Gentle", be sure to pet them with your other hand. If they get bitey at ALL, remove your hand, look away and give the "ahh ahh!" Once they calm a little, make them sit again, bring your hand back and repeat. You can say things like "Nice Loki! Gentle Loki" while affirming and petting. We did this for a week, short little sessions with fantastic success. Even now if Sophie gets a little riled up or wants a treat, we just say "Gentle" and she gently takes it with her little front teeth- its pretty cute! (and obviously saves your fingers!) You can use this as well when playing with toys, she will take it nicely vs snatching from us.


Hang in there, he is still new and adjusting. Biggest thing we HAD to focus on was being calm, consistant and in control even when we were tired, annoyed and frustrated. Dogs pick up on our tones and volume and it can have the total opposite effect of what we want. Its much like the language barrier dilemma some people fall into: Just because you are yelling or speaking louder doesn't mean they will understand English suddenly!

Good Luck!

I got JAX on he gentle command when giving him a treat. But like the cream cheese on hand idea..! Very interesting.

KCheshire wrote:

So yeah, now I have a cut and swelling eyelid and a dog that KNOWS "no bite/no chew" but ignores it.

A thought too.... what is it that he does that you know he knows "no bite/no chew"? I would say maybe introduce that command that you know he listens to as behavior/situation into a daily training (even 5-10 mins a say) and really begin to 'work' that so it can be proofed to play situations or whenever he does this. Setting him up for that success and making that connection may make all the difference!

KCheshire wrote:

My dog is such a DUMBASS!! Usually he doesn't like his crate and he whines when he's in it. We just rotated it 90degrees and now hes just laying in there and playing with a squeaky toy.

This is after he walked in the crate and left the toy inside, walked out, and THEN tried to get the squeaker toy out from inside, THROUGH THE OUTSIDE of the cage.

My dog's defective.

Sorry I keep replying to this I really should have just wrote all in one!

Have you tried feeding him in his crate?? This can create a whole different view for the dog on what it is meant to be for them. If he spent a lot of time in shelters he may be having a hard time feeling settled and like its really his to call his own.

KCheshire wrote:

My dog is such a DUMBASS!! Usually he doesn't like his crate and he whines when he's in it. We just rotated it 90degrees and now hes just laying in there and playing with a squeaky toy.

This is after he walked in the crate and left the toy inside, walked out, and THEN tried to get the squeaker toy out from inside, THROUGH THE OUTSIDE of the cage.

My dog's defective.

What type of crate are you using? When we got Onyx, my dad gave us a PetMate crate that is like an oversized cat carrier. He adjusted to it really well, though we couldn't put a bed in there or a mat because he had fun chewing it all up. Our friends who have Onyx's brother had the cage like crate, where their dog could see everything around him. He did not adjust well and would howl and whine all night long. They moved to the type of crate that we have, and he quit altogether. I know that crates are cheap, but it might be something to look into also.

dieseldude- have you used a pet spot cleaner on that area where he pooped on the deck? If he can still smell where he went, he'll keep going there. The kind I use breaks down the enzymes in the pee and covers the scent with lavender. He's never had a problem going in the same spot twice, so I'm assuming it works due to his not having a "preferred go-to spot".

carabou82- That is interesting! Maybe we can try "Gentle". I don't want him to be so scared of biting me and getting yelled at for accidentally putting a tooth on my hand during playtime that he stops being playful. (Because I do understand that accidents will happen)

I think he knows the command because he is good at following that command when he's relaxed and calm, and we praise him for not chewing during those times. It's when he's really hyper and energetic that he has a harder time stopping when we say "no chew/bite". We do feed him in the crate and leave little surprise treats in there randomly too.

In the past couple days since my initial post he's already making small but steady improvements.

Onyx_Blitz - I was more mentioning the crate thing as a lol cause it was just silly. He seems fine with his crate overall. We constantly joke about Loki being "defective" when he's being a dork.

I think perhaps I should share Panzer's story. A lot of you are new enough to not know about it, and I think it will help you be more patient with your own pets.

Panzer is an Alaskan Husky. She was never meant to be a pet. Her parents were working sled dogs, and their parents, and their parents before them too. There was no point in the selective breeding process that they bred for a good companion animal. Panzer was also the runt of the newest litter, and the smallest, weakest among more than 20 large, sled-bred, wild ass dogs. Its strongly suspected that she either had no human socialization, or was abused by her owner as well. I picked Panzer up in September. She was 10 months old, underweight, dirty, terrified, and had never been on a leash, in a car, or in a house, wasnt house broken at all, and i was told she was dog aggressive.

It took 30 minutes, and shitting herself, screeching, and biting me to go from putting on a lead, to the car.

When she first came home, and i finished letting her roam on leash, she became a stress case for 2 weeks. She would growl and snap at the dogs and people, except Mixie. She would run full speed for any escape chance, and hid in every hole, refusing to.come out, fighting, biting, shitting and pissing when you finally forced her.

Freaking.out on a leash, or outside and makinf me chase her until she cornered herself.and blew ass all over was weekly until January. Finally, we got her to some level of a comfort zone, and now in March, finally, she is fully housebroken, to where she will hold it when alone, she knows sit, come, and wait, but has difficulty with come. She doesnt run away as fast outside, and she finally solicits attention. Its been a road that has made me literally walk away and cry, and im a professional dog trainer.

Mind you, by the time Soshanna was 6 months old she was able to pass a CGC test, walk off leash, etc.

All dogs.come around. We, as owners just need to do our best to remember dog language is completely different from human language. If your dog isnt learning.something, the first thing to evaluate is how youre behavior and leadership is influencing your dog.