soupydoopy

He spends from 8AM until noon in his crate, then I come home and let him out for lunch, then he goes back into the kennel from 12:30 to 4PM. He's been well-behaved at night so he sleeps outside of the kennel in my room during the night. It definitely concerned me. I tried leaving and coming back to the crate multiple times after the initial growling episode and he kept making that same posture and doing the growling thing.

I'm just heartbroken though. Like last night I sat right up next to the door of his kennel and patted him and talked to him a while and he was just as happy as could be. Today, every time I would even get close to the door his ears would go back, he'd hunch over and his head would droop down and he would just grumble. Maybe having the blanket over the kennel made it feel more like a confined space for him, so he just felt trapped? I just don't want him to be aggressive. It's really upsetting me that he's acting like this.

Hello again, everyone. It just seems like it's always something with my Aries. He's 4 months old now and just graduated his puppy class last Saturday with flying colors (well, except for the loose leash walking part which is pretty much a nightmare). But anyway. Aries usually howls a lot in his kennel when I leave for work in the morning. I live within walking distance of my apartment so I come home during lunch to feed him and let him pee and whatnot. To keep him from howling so much, I read to throw a blanket over a part of the kennel so he feels more secure. I did that this morning and was happy to discover that he hadn't made a peep at all during the morning. When I went to leave after lunch, I put Aries in his kennel and leaned into the cage to give him a pet and a kiss as usual. He growled at me. Straight up angry growled at me. He has NEVER done this before when it comes to his kennel. The lady that taught the puppy class told us to never back away from a growling dog because it will re-enforce that behavior, so I grabbed him by the scruff and gave him a stern "NO" and he started trying to snap at me. This has never ever happened before. I don't understand what caused it or what I should do about it.

It's getting there, slowly but surely. He does great in puppy class but is totally different out in the real world. He walks on loose leash around the house and everything, but pulls like crazy when we're outside. It's not bad normally, but if he hears a dog barking in the distance, he FREAKS OUT and tries to run away in fear. Pulls terribly, nothing I do can calm him down, so I had to pick him up and carry him up the street to keep him from hurting himself with the pulling. :\ I'm also trying to deal with some food aggression issues. If I get close to the bowl he gobbles up all his food in light speed, or barks/growls at me. **sigh** It's always something, I guess....

He's been overall really well behaved this weekend. But his walking is just plain horrendous. I've tried everything and he just keeps pulling. I've tried regular leash, harness clipped on the back, headcollar, front-leading harness..... NOTHING STOPS THIS DOG FROM PULLING. I've tried stopping in my tracks when he pulls to give him the message that "hey, pulling gets you nowhere" but he just keeps on pulling. I don't know what else to do. Getting this dog to walk at my side seems impossible at this point. I know he's only 12 weeks but still.... you'd think SOMETHING would've helped.

I stepped back for a moment since it hurt, and then I was so mad that I just plain picked him up and carried him inside and put him in his time out spot for a few minutes. He fell asleep almost immediately after that, so I wasn't sure if he was just cranky or what.

Well, the other day I had him out on his tie-out to go potty. I called him to come, he didn't, so I grabbed the rope and gave a slight tug to get his attention. He laid down on the ground and wouldn't budge, so I walked over and reached for his collar..... and he snarled and bit my hand! I've only got two small little punctures from it, but I was naturally really upset about it. He's not biting as bad, but when he bites too hard and he knows it.... he gets up and runs out of the room before I can say "NO BITE!" or put a punishment down on him (bitter spray, my penny can, etc).... it's a little frustrating, because then we play the "chase the dog around the coffee table for 5 minutes" game. **sighs** He's been socializing a lot at the puppy classes. He is very shy at first, and will usually hide behind me, but he did manage to find some friends to play with: Here's hoping puppy class helps. He is really terrible at paying attention, the teacher is going to think I'm a terrible dog owner.

I swear I replied but I can't see that it posted. Hmm. That video is SO HELPFUL. I have a harness for him, but I never thought to clip the leash to the FRONT of the harness rather than the ring on the back. That might potentially help with the pulling (or at least hurt him LESS when he DOES pull). Upon further inspection of the trainer's website, I see in her class requirements she (in very small print) mentions that she will allow standard collar/leashes if not the headcollar (though it's what she prefers--probably because she sells them). We'll probably make a try with the harness tonight then before we go to puppy playtime (the trainer offers a meet-up three times a week for puppies to socialize, which I appreciate). I am a little more optimistic now.... I sat and cried for about a half an hour yesterday because I couldn't even get Aries to do a basic sit/stay long enough for me to open the door to go outside. Thanks again for the video, that's just great.

You don't know how badly this puppy pulls. I put him on a headcollar because he was constantly choking himself on the normal leash. And he's not any better on a harness. He fights me during every single walk, biting the leash, biting my legs, running in the opposite direction. It's so depressing. But more than that, the puppy class I enrolled in REQUIRED that I buy a headcollar for him. It said, in her words, that it was "the most humane way to control/walk a dog." Since she is an AKC certified dog trainer I didn't press the issue.

He is 12 weeks old. I make him sit/stay for his meals, sit/stay before going outside, and I typically make him do a series of tricks for playtime, etc. He has drawn blood. The one time he bit down on me hard, so I pulled my hand away and his teeth dragged through my skin and gave me quite a scratch.

I've had my new husky puppy Aries for just about a month now. Overall, I love the little bugger, but there's a few things that are giving me some concern, specifically as it relates to biting and being "alpha" in the house. My boyfriend doesn't live with me, but he spends a good amount of time at my apartment (he stays on weekends and hangs out every other day or so). I am the primary caregiver of the dog. Feeding him, letting him outside, playing with him, training him, etc... When I first brought him home, Aries was all eyes for me. He wouldn't really go near my boyfriend a lot. He would follow me everywhere. He was really affectionate and would come and lay down in my lap and overall be a big sweetie. A month later, he's like a nightmare. He's quite the biter--and I don't mean his chewtoys. He is really bad about biting hands, mine in particular. Every time I go to pet him he's turning around with his mouth open ready to bite. I say "no bite!" sternly and pull my hand away, but it just doesn't get through to him. I've tried yelping, I've tried ignoring, I've tried bitter spray.... NOTHING seems to help. If I yelp, he just bites me harder. If I turn my back to him, he just bites on my legs/shirt/feet/etc. With the bitter spray, he'll back off for a minute or two and then come right back to it. I've even tried short 1-minute time outs in his kennel which were sort of helping, and now it does next to nothing. Worst of all, now when I tell him "No bite!" his lips curl up and it looks as if he's snarling at me (though he never actually growls). And here's the thing--Aries is all sugar and honey for my boyfriend now. He still bites him, but not NEARLY as bad as what I have to endure when he's not around. My boyfriend can actually pet and show affection to the dog without him going ballistic. My boyfriend took the dog for a walk yesterday on the standard leash and said he walked with a loose leash the entire time. I can't even keep the dog walking on a loose leash with a head collar! He is all over the place when I walk him. I was (and am) enamored to this dog. I love him so much, but I feel as if he hates me or something and I don't know why or what to do. I have tried so hard to be a leader figure to him but I don't think my dog respects me whatsoever. We just got signed up for puppy class but I can't help but be less than optimistic about it. He doesn't listen well at all, and I worry that we're not going to "graduate" the class. I just need someone to tell me that this gets better. Because it's so depressing.

Hello! I'm new here, this is my first post..... I'm going to be a first-time husky owner in about 2 more weeks--he's a little boy I've named Aries. I'm very excited, but a lot of the little details make me a little nervous. I'm hoping that I can get a lot of help/advice on this forum to put me more at ease. My question is about male huskies marking their territory. I have two guinea pigs. I am not terribly concerned about Aries with them since he's going to be young enough that I can get them accustomed to one another. That and my guinea pigs are a bit older, so they've only got about a year or maybe two left in them (so this might not be an issue shortly down the road...). Here's my concern: I usually get my guinea pigs out for a playtime in a fenced-in area, on a rubber-backed rug. Since guinea pigs typically can't be potty trained, they do urinate on it with some frequency. I know that dogs tend to mark over top of the urine of other dogs, but do they also mark over the scent of other animal's urine? If he does, it will become problematic in regards to his potty training. I'm just trying to come up with an easy solution in advance of bringing him home. I was just hoping someone else here had a similar situation with which they could give me some insight. Thank you so much, everyone.