Hi everone! Help needed with new puppy/owner or 8 week old Siberian named Ghost

[iammateo]

My brother and I have never had a dog before but have spent a lot of time around them, including helping to train GF's, and family members dogs, dog sitting/house sitting etc... We researched Siberians and decided that even though they sounded pretty tough to train. That we'd go for it cause they seem awesome.

We got Ghost, a purebred, at 8 weeks old from a breeder. We've had him for 3 days now. He mostly ignores us. We are making some progress with potty training in that we know to take him out right after he sleeps or drinks or he'll pee wherever he's standing. We give verbal positive responses when he pees or stops when we say NO but our opinion/responses doesn't seem to matter to this little guy. The problem is that he doesn't seem food oriented at all... Have tried many things to see what he likes (the smell of hotdogs actually made him gag) and so far there's nothing that he likes enough to be motivated by.

He wants very little to no iteration/play time with us

So how do we reward/train a puppy who couldn't care less? He has a few chew toys that occupy him for a short time but he mostly wants to eat electric cords, furniture etc... so I feel like we spend a lot of time telling him NO and being negative but have very little opportunity for positive reinforcement.

The crate... He was going in for a while to hang out/nap but the first time we closed the door on him and he woke up and we didn't let him out right away he went nuts. Now he won't go in unless we make him. He wont stay in unless door is shut in which case he goes crazy and wont stop howling and trying to find a way out until we let him out. Treats in the crate don't work, cause he doesn't care about treats... Last night he howled for 5 hours. Obviously no sleep for anyone... We thought he'd settle down eventually but he never did. (our clothes in crate don't work cause...who are we??? Today put him in for an hour and same result. In a few weeks he will have to be in the crate for up to 4 hours while we are at work and we can't trust him out of it at night. Too much pee/poop and destruction. (we also don't want him getting electrocuted)

He hardly eats...

We took him to vet for initial checkup and he's healthy.

I know I put a lot of info here for a forum post but I can tell my brother is getting a little despondent thinking we made a mistake. (Dog's usually LOVE him, its weird how much they take to him. He had his GF's puppy playing dead by 10 weeks old...)

Any advice or encouragement would be very appreciated.

Matt

[HuskyMom09]

Be patient, he sounds like a pup that didn't get much human contact at the breeders and is indifferent to people and not crate trained at all...not too uncommon really when you consider the caliber of far too many people who consider themselves breeders. He will eventually settle in to his new surroundings, often they won't eat much until they feel secure but he will associate you as protectors and people that love him as he becomes more adjusted. Instead of constantly yelling at him perhaps try bitter apple spray on things you don't want him chewing on, I can tell you it's already saved me my dining room chairs from my two girls (also 8 weeks).

[PoBD]

He's gorgeous. What kind of toys did you get him? Have you tried something he can chase? Or something rubber (Kong toys)? My boy was like that the first few days and we just had to find his niche.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[jmscott]

i definitely agree with Huskymom that it sounds like the "breeders" were not really invested in the pups

There are many Siberians that are not food motivated. This breed is designed to go for long distances on very little food. What breeds have you trained? This is not a biddable breed, and you need to respect them as much as you expect them to do for you. I would honestly recommend taking him to a professional positive trainer (no jerks for correcting, no "alpha rolls", and no shock collars). You will probably hear a lot of "he is trying to dominate you", but I promise there is a slim to none chance of that being the case.

Siberians are a very destructive breed, so you have to learn skills such as trading up to keep him out of trouble. Also, if he has only been with you three days then he is probably still adjusting.

With the crate you might try giving him his meals in there. And don't work with crating on such a long time scale. Start out with seconds. Even if he is in there for two seconds without howling, open the door and praise. Then try after 5 seconds. He is still a baby and isn't equipped to handle long stress periods.

[Paranormal Wolf]

Sounds very much like a typical pup, he's still very young and is still settling in with all the new things in his life. Potty training takes a lot of time and patience and some huskies can be stubborn about it. Just keep taking him outside often and give loads of praise when he potties outside. Make sure to clean any places he potties inside so that he can't smell where he had gone to help reduce his urge to go their again. Crate training helps loads with potty training and just comes in quite handy. He most likely will be very noisy and throw temper tantrums when he is in there until he realizes its his safe and quite place. There are tons of threads with tips and tricks for crate training. Don't use his crate for punishment either because you want to him associate it as a nice happy place to be. How big is his current crate? You don't want a large one unless it has a divider that can "grow" as he does. a smaller space makes it more like a den and makes him less likely to potty there. Once he settles in more you may find something that motivates him food wise, if not you'll find something may just take some time.

All in all welcome to husky ownership and to the forum Consistency, and patience will be major keys with training. With puppies as young as he is make sure to keep training sessions short and fun. If the are long and boring the puppy will just shut them out and not learn anything. Start with 5 minuet sessions and make them fun and interesting. You can repeat them throughout the day and as he gets older make them last longer.

Good luck with the little cutie!

[joshmp5]

It's just time bud. Give it another week or so and he'll be more comfy at your home. Storm didn't like the crate at first but he doesn't mind it now. he still complains when i put him in lol becase he know's i'm soft and will give him treats. just keep with positive stuff and sooner or later he'll come around. you have to give him time to get used to being in a new place and being away from his mom and litter mates

[WLDBC]

Sounds very much like a typical puppy. Potty training takes time and patience, and then more time and patience. With Lyra we hung bells on the door and trained her to ring those when she needed to go out. We have Cinna attached to a leash while she's in the house, and that limits the places she can get to before she's fully potty trained.

And don't worry, for a lot of dogs crate training is an absolute nightmare at first, but it does get better! I highly recommend investing in ear plugs. Until you figure out how long your pup can hold it at night, you may have to get up every couple of hours to let him outside. We got Cinna a week ago (she turns 8 weeks tomorrow), and she's already loads better in her crate. She now willingly naps in there, eats in her crate, and only cries for a couple of minutes during the night. A lot different from the first 3 nights when it was constant SCREAMING. One trick with the crate, as others have mentioned, is don't let him out when he cries. It just reinforces the behavior. If he's quiet even for a little bit, give a lot of praise and let him out. You can also try the warm water bottle/ticking clock trick to mimic his littermates. Hang in there!

[Its_A_Husky_Thing]

Like everyone said, its all time. No pup likes their crate at first, neither of ours did...but now they willing go in there when we have to leave and cant take them. Bitter spray does work great for not chewing on furniture. Potty training may take months. Our 8 month old caught on to ringing the bell to go out within 2 weeks...our 6 month old took about 1.5 months to catch on. That really tested our patience, but if kept at it, they will catch on. Once he gets adjusted he will begin to open up, eat, and catch onto potty training...patience is key.

[iammateo]

Thanks everyone for your responses! It definitely gives us hope. We are going to try some of your suggestions and stay patient!

[Stranger]

you've got to think of it like this

Your at home with your mum and litter mates, and then all of a sudden you in a new large place, no brothers or sisters and no mum, and worse of all there are all these strangers around.

its not that your pup isnt interested its just he hasnt found his feet yet, being away from his family is scary.

I would recommend a couple of things: -

kong toys are great, you can smire things inside it that smell amazing to the pup, like peanut butter, or tiny bit of honey. squeaky toys are good, rope/tug of war type of things are good, be gentle. chewable toys, and soft toys are also good. and toys you can put treats in are also good.

Lay them down on the floor and let him explore them, sometimes they dont know what they are or what to do with them, so when you start shaking it arund infront of them, because they are a little shy of you aswell it probably makes them a little nervous. let him figure them out and choose a toy he likes, sit on the floor with him after a while, maybe have some treats, have you tried real sauages rather than hot dogs, or cheese, maybe carrot? once he has chosen a toy try and interact with him. dont be shy we didnt leave ours alone for one minute he'll come out of his shell soon

as for the crate this could be painless or difficult. do it in short bursts, and try not to let him out if he is crying. but for this to work you must do very short burst, like previously said, shut it for seconds.

at night time, this is obviously going to be hard, and he will probably cry because he is alone, but remember not to leave him too long as he will need to be let out for the loo.

give it a few more weeks with the getting to know each other and you'll be supprised and wonder what you was worried out.

much luv xx

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

welcome to the pack gorgeous pup

its probably been mentioned but i didnt read the replies , but instead of treats have u tried praising him with a toy he likes? keep that toy just for training n not for other things so he doesnt get bored of it

[Masja]

He is beautiful!!!

I felt pretty much like this when i got my pup, ie she didnt care for me but it will come!!! Huskys are a breed of their own, and sometimes if im honest my puppy Masja would rather i was no where near her, yet I know she loves me when each morning i get a kiss!!!

Have you tried feeding carrots and cheese, these are Masjas fave and i recently discovered she loves mash with cheese mixed through too, that in a kong and she is the happiest dog in the world.

With the crate training as everyone above says do it for much shorter periods of time and the second he stops crying praise him, its sometimes hard when you want to tear your hair out, but the more praise the better!! I also found putting a blanket over the back so it was a 'den' for her definatley helped, now she runs in it in the morning to get her kong and some peace from me and my husband!!

Hope you guys get all sorted out soon, hang in there, he loves you but is just a bit unsettled now i would think xx

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

My brother and I have never had a dog before but have spent a lot of time around them, including helping to train GF's, and family members dogs, dog sitting/house sitting etc... We researched Siberians and decided that even though they sounded pretty tough to train. That we'd go for it cause they seem awesome.

We got Ghost, a purebred, at 8 weeks old from a breeder. We've had him for 3 days now. He mostly ignores us. We are making some progress with potty training in that we know to take him out right after he sleeps or drinks or he'll pee wherever he's standing. We give verbal positive responses when he pees or stops when we say NO but our opinion/responses doesn't seem to matter to this little guy. The problem is that he doesn't seem food oriented at all... Have tried many things to see what he likes (the smell of hotdogs actually made him gag) and so far there's nothing that he likes enough to be motivated by.

He wants very little to no iteration/play time with us

So how do we reward/train a puppy who couldn't care less? He has a few chew toys that occupy him for a short time but he mostly wants to eat electric cords, furniture etc... so I feel like we spend a lot of time telling him NO and being negative but have very little opportunity for positive reinforcement.

The crate... He was going in for a while to hang out/nap but the first time we closed the door on him and he woke up and we didn't let him out right away he went nuts. Now he won't go in unless we make him. He wont stay in unless door is shut in which case he goes crazy and wont stop howling and trying to find a way out until we let him out. Treats in the crate don't work, cause he doesn't care about treats... Last night he howled for 5 hours. Obviously no sleep for anyone... We thought he'd settle down eventually but he never did. (our clothes in crate don't work cause...who are we??? Today put him in for an hour and same result. In a few weeks he will have to be in the crate for up to 4 hours while we are at work and we can't trust him out of it at night. Too much pee/poop and destruction. (we also don't want him getting electrocuted)

He hardly eats...

We took him to vet for initial checkup and he's healthy.

I know I put a lot of info here for a forum post but I can tell my brother is getting a little despondent thinking we made a mistake. (Dog's usually LOVE him, its weird how much they take to him. He had his GF's puppy playing dead by 10 weeks old...)

Any advice or encouragement would be very appreciated.

Matt <img src="http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=52613"/><img src="http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=52614"/><img src="http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=52615"/>

Most of us who have raised a pup have felt like this on more than one occasion.

Have you tried covering 3 sides of the crate with blankets? It recreates a den atmosphere. (from experience blankets may be dragged in and chewed lol) .

Its not easy, they dont come ready trained unfourtunately

[Austinville]

You mention that he isn't food motivated and I wonder what treats you have tried. You need to have a high value treat. Our finicky sibes - of which mine isn't thankfully! - can confuse and bewilder us. While many sibes aren't food motivated, in most cases they can be enticed with a more 'valuable' treat.

I suggest using pieces of raw or dried chicken or liver which are some of my girls favorites. Other high value treats for Ryn include apple, asparagus (though watch the amount of this - urine can become very 'strong') cauliflower, broccoli and even small bits of tomato and frozen pumpkin bits.

As Ghost has had a 'bad' experience in his crate, you need to start over with this training. I'd suggest removing the crate for a few days and reintroducing it. Place the high value treat inside and allow him to go in to eat it at his leisure. Don't close the door for the first few times he does this. Let him understand that it isn't a place he will be confined in to begin with. As he becomes comfortable with this, close the door for a few seconds and then reopen it. Repeat over and over, lengthening the time the door is closed (but not locked) eventually moving to a full closure of the door for a very short period of time.

I also found that potty training with a bell at the door was an incredible help. It took Ryn just two days to figure out when she rang the bell it was potty time.

Best of luck and welcome to the forum. Be patient and allow your little man time to adjust to his strange new world. Don't give up!

[s200rey]

What a lovely looking pup!! as far as help & advice, i'm around 2-3 weeks behind you (Bowe is a rescue pup, and is only 5 weeks old) so cant really comment atm...

[JBnab]

Beautiful pup! You have already been given some great advice. For Zoya, I found the blanket over the crate idea worked well. She has a small bed in her crate (takes up 1/2 the crate), a blanket folded up, and then there is a little space that is bare (that is where she usually lies). And she has her favorite plushy in there every night. If she has to go into the crate when I go out or something (other than bedtime) she gets a kong, or other toys.

For Zoya, it is all about squeeky toys. They must be relatively easy to squeek and louder is better.

I had puppy proofed before we got Zoya. I puppy proofed even more after we got her! It made my life easier (and hers!). I have baby gates to block off rooms if needed but honestly have only used them once or twice.

It can be frustrating! Keep reading/posting...it sure is nice to have people here who understand and are so friendly and helpful.

[Kathirin]

Beautiful puppy. Just be patient with him. You only had him less than a week give it time. We first got Klous when he also was about 8 weeks old and he was shy and scared when we first brought him home. He didn't eat much and did nothing but sit in the corner all day. He never wanted to play with us or his toys and would go for almost 2 days without eating. It really did concern me. I was afraid that he may be sick but i took him to the vet and talked to some people and they basically said just to give him time to get used to his surroundings and his new family. And thats what happened, about a week later he was playful and eating and just being a hyper and energetic husky puppy . I dont know much about crate training a dog becus we didnt crate train klous, but again everything is new to him right now, give him time to get used to it.

[Circe]

When I got my boy he cried the minute I tried to crate him to take him home! He would scream for hours and finally I found if I put him in for short bursts and sat next to the crate he was fine. I gradually would spend less time but make sure he could see me still. Then I would leave but check in on him every so often. Once he realized I wasn't abandoning him the crate was ok! I'm not tough enough to let him cry- I am so owned!

[Crash]

Hi, and welcome to the pack!

[Insane Pat]

Hi Ghost looks lovely

Potty training, well hes young and will have accidents keep up the positive responses(verbal and physical) when he goes where you want him to go, ignore it when he goes in wrong place dont tell him off(he may think you dont want him to go at all), you could try putting down newspaper(or puppy pads) for him to use where its easy for you to clean up till he gets the hang of it (he will miss ) and he's bladder is bigger. Also telling what hes doing poo/wee will help later on when you want him to go some where else that hes not used to.

Chewing things, when he chews somthing he shouldnt take it off him or turn him around if it cant be moved and tell him no(firmly but keep calm you dont want to scare him) give him hes favourite chew toy instead (rope toys, soft squeaky toys tennis balls work for my boy squeaky toys always get his attention) and again give him positive responses when he plays with this, he will learn what you want him to play with and it gives you a chance to be negative and positive to him if that makes sense.

The crate, try staying near the crate or move it in your or your brothers room so he still has company, try small amounts of time building up slowly as his confidence grows, try covering top/sides to make it more den like.

Eating/treats, are you feeding the same food as breeders? a change might of put him off (food or new home) as may of worm tablet, he wont starve himself so dont worrie for a few more days. Part cooked carrots, chicken, sausage(like a hot dog but with meat ) fish treats (you can get 100% fish skin treats over here) apple or if you have friends with dogs ask them for a few bits of theirs treats to try out to see what he likes best.

Sorry if I've repeated other replys but it all helps just keep up the training and be consistant(you and your brother and anyone else that meets him) and you will end up with a happy and loving friend.

[Erinc]

It sounds like you've had a lot of experience with older dogs, its not quite the same with an 8 week old pup! Think about it, he hasn't been in the world long, and he's just been removed from the only environment he knows, and feels secure in.

Your pup is going to need to pee after every sip of water, after every nap, and every half hour in between. If you're not spending more time outside than inside, then your not doing it right During the night, you need to set your alarm to wake you up every 2 hours - theres two of you so this should be even easier! For every month he grows, you can add an hour to the intervals. When you wake him up to take him out, literally pick him up and put him outside straight away, otherwise he's going to pee before you get him to walk half a meter. When he pees and poos outside, you can attach a command to it, you also need to act like he's just done the most amazing thing in the world and go crazy, praise him, and make sure he's excited about what he has just done.

If he isn't food motivated. He must have something he likes, a certain way of playing, a certain toy, a certain noise you make, every pup is different and yours is no exception.

Crate training is a difficult one. I couldn't bare the crying so for the first few weeks, I moved from sleeping with his door open and my arm inside to sleeping on the couch, then sneaking upstairs. You're going to have to be up anyway to take him outside so forget about a good nights sleep for the next 3 months.

He is going to push you to your limits and take years of your life expectancy before he starts adding them back on. All you can do is love him and make sure he is healthy and happy. Training is important but he wont want to learn from someone he doesn't trust. All the effort you put in now will be worth it in 6 months time.

Good luck with your puppy, he's adorable and i'm sure you guys will work it out. Its going to be a bumpy ride & let your brother know that it takes more than 3 days for an insecure pup to bond with you, especially if you've left him crying for 5 hours - i personally don't agree with doing that when you've just brought home a brand new pup - you need to make him happy before you start being able to train him. you need to assure him of that security first.

Oh & Welcome to the pack