Behavior Questions

[Odin's Beard]

Hi everyone, its been awhile since I've last posted. I've read and searched for some posts about little problems and everything I've read have been great so far. I just wanted to gather up the more important questions as Odin grows up.

Its really crazy how big he has grown the last couple weeks. He doesn't fit under my couch anymore (which is a good thing because I didn't want him there lol) and training has been exceedingly well. Maybe its a husky thing? but he learns really fast

(he's actually learned fetch by accident and I know how hard it us to teach some huskies to play fetch o.0)

Anyways, lets get down to the questions

Are puppies usually very vocal? I knew some huskies who never "spoke" at all, but Odin seems to bark everytime he's impatient about something (ie., wants to play, toys, food or treats) Is there a way to teach him how to be more patient? Or that barking wont make it come by any faster?

He knows how to go potty outside and that he should go outside, but we don't know how to teach him to give us a sign. He thinks the sign to take him out is to crouch in front of us in the poop position..lol >_> The only signal he really gives is when he is in his pen and he paws the door. Is there a way to teach him how to signal us? My last dog used to pace back and fourth, whine and stare at us until we took her out.

My major problem with him is that..

He is very greedy and aggressive with his treats. His regular food/kibble I can take away from him fine, but I've already been bit by him trying to take away a toy that wasn't his. When people are around him and he has a treat, his lips curl, his ears are cocked back and growls lowly.

Of course, I don't want him doing this when there are children around and/or when his adult teeth grow in...Is this something I should get a behaviorist to see?

Anyway, I hope that wasn't too much to read (i think i get carried away) or too many questions in one post lol

Thanks everyone

[Mollys_mum]

May I ask how old Odin is?

[Mollys_mum]

Just asking because Molly didn't get wees/poos under control properly until she was about 6 months old - she was generally ok, but there were some accidents all the same.

[HuskyMom09]

Denali is and always has been a screamer...to the point I can't leave him in the grooming area crated at dog shows he sounds like he's being murdered...but he's always been a talker. From the moment we met him! Yet Dakota (my oldest) rarely ever made a peep until the sound of kibble hit the bowl. With Denali squirt guns and ignoring have made the screaming more manageable....it's taking time but I have faith it will stop, as he is maturing it's lessening as well.

With the potty training, keep him on lead and about every hour walk to the same door, exit, and give a "go potty" type command. When successful potty happens special treat that he only gets outside...eventually he will associate that door with having to potty and go there when he needs out.

Aggressive/Possessive needs to be taught Drop It or Leave It...that will save your hands and when he starts getting edgy with others around his treats/toys giving that command will let him know that he is out of line. An appropriate training program should be enough to correct this issue.

Good luck with everything! And most importantly be patient and consistent

[Kara]

Hi Melissa, I sent you a personal message as I am in Marin County.

I did want to add though to make sure your kids are not teasing with the keep away games or taking things away. They are smart

and don't like it and will catch on that they are being teased.

If he knows some commands and tricks you could use this to your advantage. Lately Grace has been in thief mode, and plays keep away.

I call her and say sit (which is what she needs to do to get a treat normally, or at least its the beginning of the game treat getting) Then I ask her to drop it, and typically she does, but also once I hold out the treat for her to eat she naturally drops what she stole and takes the treat instead. So far it has not back fired

and there have been at 30% of the time she is not getting a treat she just thinks she might.

[Mollys_mum]

I agree with Husky mom. Additionally, I watched Victoria Stilwell do some interesting things in the ‘precious resources’ area recently:

1. Treats – use only for training purposes and focus on one particular area of training for now…the LEAVE IT command. Get him to sit nicely and put a treat in your hand. Let him see the treat but then close your hand. Then open it flat and when he goes for it, close it and say ‘leave it.’ Repeat until he does actually leave it when your hand is open. Then reward him with the treat. Repeat this exercise several times a day. After a few days, try the same thing with a toy. (Don’t let him have more than one at a time.)

2. Food bowl. Early morning feed, put the food bowl on the floor – empty. Hopefully he’ll give you a confused look. Then pick up the food bowl and put in just one piece of kibble. Let him eat it then wait until he looks to you for more. Then pick up the bowl and give him 3 or 4 pieces and wait for him to eat it. Then lift up his bowl and fill it with his normal amount and let him have it. The rationale is that he associates you with being the provider of food, not the ‘taker away’. While he is eating, sit on a chair close to him but don’t touch him. Do this every time he eats so that he gets used to you being around his food. After a week try briefly touching/stroking him. Go back to the beginning if he acts out.

[persephona]

Ours used to be very vocal as a puppy - he used to bark a lot at everything. But our response to this was completely ignoring him and if he persisted, he was removed from the room, given some time to calm down and then let back in. This really reduced the frequency of his barking, as a matter of fact, the last time he started barking was a couple of days ago when he wanted some food (he had diarrhea so we hadn't fed him for a day).

On the other hand, he howls a lot and "talks" to us, which to be fair, we actually encouraged. I quite like being able to make him talk.

I don't really know what to say about teaching him to signal, if ours really needs to go, he starts whining and crying. He doesn't do it very often, because he is taken out regularly, but when he had diarrhea he let us know he wanted to go.

As for the aggression issues, I strongly encourage playing patience games like this one

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and practicing trading games as well, like swapping toys for other valuable items. You could also teach him the "drop it" command. This is a great one and very useful.

Unfortunately I couldn't find nice videos on trading items with him, but it really is good practice for resource guarding.

For mild resource guarding, these methods should be enough, because they should get the dog used to giving up items and make it a positive experience for him. It's not going to get better overnight, but you should definitely see an improvement.