ElisaM Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and this is my first post. Hopefully I can get some help here... My boyfriend and I acquired a 4 month old husky puppy, Alice, about a week ago. She is so smart, and as sweet as she can be MOST of the time. Occasionally she shows aggression towards us usually regarding any random item that she is not supposed to have; lets say for now, a sock. If you get the sock from her when she's just running around the room, she will usually relinquish the sock with little dissension. However, if she makes it to, say, under the bed, or really any small space, she will snarl, snap and bite. What confuses me is that she isn't really confrontational when it comes to food. I have trained her to lay down and stay while I make her food every day and she doesn't go for it until I say "ok". Some details that may be important: Alice has changed hands several times in her brief 4 months on this earth. She went from the breeder to a friend of my sister's. He lives in an apartment and soon realized that he would not be able to give her the life she needs. He decided to give her away and wanted to give her to my sister as she already owns a husky mix. She is in college and doesn't have the time to raise a puppy, but she knew that my boyfriend and i were looking to get a dog like hers so he told him that the puppy would have a good home with us. So Alice temporarily moved in with my sister (who lives in south carolina) for a few weeks before we could meet her at our parent's house in Maryland where we stayed for the weekend. We then brought her to her forever home in Philadelphia. I have a feeling that she is confused about who is in charge since in such a short time she has lived so many places... And I'm kind of at a loss as to how to fix this... Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'll post pictures of her soon. She is absolutely beautiful. All white, pink nose, blue eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyra Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I would also suggest consulting a professional if it seems to be getting out of hand. One thing you could try in the meantime, if you haven't already, is NILIF (Nothing in life is free) training. It sounds like you're already doing that with her food by making her sit and wait for it. The same principle applies to toys. Make her do something for you before you give her anything. When Lyra occasionally gets a little too uppity during playtime (sometimes it's almost like she demands to be played with and can get a little rough), we proceed to take away all of her toys and ignore her for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Definitely train her a give command. Cornering her when she's got something in a more confined space (i.e. under the bed) can definitely make her behaviour worse. I'd also look at how you are behaving when she gets something she's not supposed to have, do you yell at her? Chase her? Raise your voice or growl at her? The way YOU behave can impact hugely on her behaviour. And I definitely recommend NOT hitting her in the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tan J P Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 i'd try and treat train her to give up whatever she has,with consistancy you and she will get there. please dont for 1 minute consider Calin's advice.........i am gob-smacked you would do that and even more so admit it,you do not give a dog a backhander and send it sprawling away let alone a puppy, I'm sorry but i wish she'd come right back at you and bit back harder,that is disgusting behaviour and i'm appalled. Would also like to add thats its people like you that make our jobs as re-home/rescuers a damn sight harder,have you ever tried reassuring a dog that has previously been abused??!! P.S sorry Elisa for ranting on your thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L*100 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Please, please do NOT hit your puppy. Not only is it very mean but it could have a very adverse effect and could end up being very dangerous for yourself and those around you. The pup could retaliate (as it will see it's self being in danger) and could cause a lot of damage - puppy teeth are nasty but imagine if it were fully grown...they have amazingly strong jaws and having seen what an 'little nip' can do, I can't even begin to imagine what a full blown chomp would do. If your puppy has switched homes a lot, chances are it's still very unsettled and confused and probably doesn't know whether it's coming or going - still very young. Training to drop/give is probably your best bet at the moment - if you have a tasty enough treat, in my experience, they'll do it. If it does continue, or indeed becomes worse, talk to your vet who will be able to recommend further things to do. Good luck x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenArcher Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Hi, Elisa. I to have a 4 month old pup! He's a brilliant a beautiful dog. As far as aggression goes, he has non, "The most aggressive he gets is when he's play fighting with our Collie" I agree with Tania, you shouldn't hit you pup, no matter what the circumstances. When Hero doesn't listen to me or try's to be "The man of the yard" All I do is gently but firmly put my hand over his muzzle, in a firm voice say "No" or "Stop" Remember consistency is the key when training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BladesBird Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I completely agree with Becs... Please do not ever hit your puppy or dog Instead use positive reinforcement training Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanya-Meika&Keeva Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Siberian huskies are not stupid. If they feel threatened they will fight back. Hitting a dog is wrong. Just by being calm assertive shows them you are in control. With our Meika we just ask her to give up whatever she has in exchange for a treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 please do NOT hit ur puppy! , there are so much better ways to go about this - she deffinately is confused about whos in charge having so many homes/owners in such a short period of time - she deffo needs time to learn that u are the boss but like i said that will take time but she will eventually realise she can trust you i would start by making sure she cant get any socks or anything else that could harm her if she swallows them - we are very lucky when my boy stole a sock and ate it he threw it back up - i was sooo scared that he was going to end up in surgery for it - normally i give him a firm no and remove the item - praise them for letting me take it away and give them something they can chew - or a treat - to make them realise hey if i dont steal the socks i get treats you could also teach her to trade - so basically she has ur sock - and you want it back - get something that is higher value then the sock ( a piece of cheese or something) and as to trade she her the treat n put it across from the sock so she has to get up and move to get the treat (not too far away she needs to see you taking the sock) say trade and take the sock - she gets the treat and she has learnt giving up the sock means a specially treat she doesnt normally get - keep doing that and you should eventually be able to say trade without the treat hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I like using the NILF method. (Nothing in Life is Free). Not only is it very effective, but it also isn't violent. She needs to know you're the boss of the 'pack' through assertiveness and confidence - dogs do not understand violence and hitting and it'll only make your dog more likely to bite out of fear when they are older. And you should not directly compare wolf packs to dog 'packs'. A wolf pack in the wild is made up of family members, anyways, so they rarely fight for dominance to avoid incest. Dogs, like wolves, understand their place in the pack by body language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirbysowner Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 it takes 4-6 weeks min for a puppy to get used to a new home. in the meantime the best you can do is show her who's the boss by doing training and always make her do something for food and toys. Once i had a husky rescuer tell me that it is wise to hand feed your puppy for the first few days to show where the food comes from, since food is the most important aspect of survival in doggy world. We did that and whenever we introduce food we always make sure our puppy learns WE are giving him the food and can take it away at any time. the best advice I can give you is to enroll her in puppy training classes, or do the training yourself and keep it consistent. Also, remember that the puppy doesnt know you are the owners, so she won't listen to you right off the bat. give the puppy time and make sure she learns you are the boss and she will come around soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marley & Lumikkis Mummy Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I will just echo what everyone else has said and say DONT hit your puppy. I would say the swapping for a tastier treat is a very good idea. As they drop the sock say, 'leave' or 'drop' (whichever word you want) then good boy and give the treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephona Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Hitting a puppy is really not a solution and will only make it worse because she will think that she has more reason to be aggressive - in her mind, not only is somebody trying to take something away from her, but also potentially hitting her so she will start to associate the item being taken from her with something very bad => aggressive behaviour. I think it is really important to teach her the commands "Leave it" and "Drop it", these are extremely useful when you are dealing with resource guarding. With leave it, you can stop her from grabbing stuff she is not supposed to reach and drop it, well, is pretty much self explanatory. Be sure to always reward drop it with very tasty treats. My dog will drop anything we ask him to just because he knows he will get an awesome treat afterwards. You can also practice drop it with toys, for example when playing tug of war. After she drops the toy, then you can start playing again and this will practically be her reward. This is a very good way of enforcing this command. By the way, I second not allowing her around socks - my dog swallowed a few pairs of socks when he was a puppy and it's really annoying since you have to either take him to the vet or induce vomiting. We practiced a lot leave it with socks and now he won't grab them anymore, but still, whenever I can't find a sock or something like this, I am worried he might have swallowed it. Very bad for nerves You can also try to use little games to teach her that it's alright for you to take her stuff. Just make this fun for her and use something that motivates her. This doesn't have to be food, you can also use play and other incentives. And practice drop it and leave it a lot, especially with items she is fussy about (e.g socks). Trade a sock for a treat and stuff like that. Lastly, ask everybody in the household to practice this stuff with her, especially children, since it's very important that she learns that everybody in the house can take stuff from her, not just the person training her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElisaM Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Thanks everyone for your responses! We have been trying trading up with her and it works for the most part. I never would have even though to hit her, so don't worry. I know it only makes them up the ante with aggression. I just hope that it gets to the point that she doesn't snow her teeth when i try to take things from her. Only time will tell, i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 she will get better with time my girl used to be a nightmare too shes an angel now tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElisaM Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 well that's comforting. she's such a sweet girl most of the time... she just gets really possessive when she's "cornered" with something she isn't' supposed to have. BUT she learns quickly, so hopefully once she realizes that she's not going to be shipped off somewhere else in another week or so, she'll calm down a little. I love her so much. it makes me sad to think that she probably just doesn't know which way is up right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katlove Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 everyones saying do not hit the puppy i cant see where elisa has said that dog been hit....unless im just reading it all wrong my 5 month has some nastiest issues we found if she grabs something i dont want her to have like my shoes etc i offer her a treat as to me a treat to her is more better than my shoe and if i dotn run atound chasing her she be bored and think we this isnt fun as i always say if she nips my kids they scream and run she thinks its a game like the other day i went to groom her and she snapped at me and i made sure i didnt jerk my hand backwards and just said no ans boy she has some sharpe teeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephona Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Another tip - when you see her with something she is not supposed to have, especially something dangerous, try to be relaxed and have a good body language. If you tense up, even slightly, she will notice it and she probably learned by now that this is followed by the removal of the toy. Naturally, she will run under the bed or get defensive. If you try to approach her in a relaxed way, it will be a bit better. Don't chase her when she has something she doesn't want to give up, it's best to just call her from under the bed (or wherever she hides) and give her a treat. Just keep working on this and she will get much better in a few months. Besides, she is almost 5 months old and in my opinion, this one of the worst periods of puppy-hood . I know they say that it's worse when they hit one year (teenage and all that) but really, I think that between 5 and 9 months old, we had the worst time ever with Kremlin. By comparison, he was an angel when he was 1 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElisaM Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 everyones saying do not hit the puppy i cant see where elisa has said that dog been hit....unless im just reading it all wrong my 5 month has some nastiest issues we found if she grabs something i dont want her to have like my shoes etc i offer her a treat as to me a treat to her is more better than my shoe and if i dotn run atound chasing her she be bored and think we this isnt fun as i always say if she nips my kids they scream and run she thinks its a game like the other day i went to groom her and she snapped at me and i made sure i didnt jerk my hand backwards and just said no ans boy she has some sharpe teeth i think that everyone saying not to hit her was in regard to the first poster who said he had once used negative reinforcement when he was bit hard. Also, i agree with what you said about not jerking your hand back. She's smart, and if i hesitate when i am trying to take something from her if i dont have a treat, she does get more aggressive. I guess she senses that I'm afraid that she is going to bite me and takes that as her having the upper hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staceybob Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Katlove - Someone else recommended hitting their puppy. Please take all the advice above apart from the part about hitting your puppy. A pack leader is respected - You don't gain respect by being a bully - That's called submission through fear. Stacey xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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