Siberian Husky HARD TO TRAIN!!! Need Tips!

My pb siberian husky (female, not spayed) is having a really hard time with her training. We got her when she was about a year old (she is over 1 1/2 yrs. now), and she hadn't had much of any training. Now, we are trying to train her, but having a hard time because she is not motivated by treats (not even steak or cheese) and the things that she will do, she will not do if she is not on a leash or runner. We live about a mile away from the road in rural Vermont, and I would love to be able to let her run without having to be hooked up, but she refuses to come when she is called if she is not. She is very smart, but boy is she stubborn! Does anyone have any training tips or recommendations?

Thanks!

Not motivated by treats? HUH?

I suspect this dog is full during the training...but even that is surprising.

Either way, be sure you are not overfeeding the dog.

I would break up the amount you are feeding per day, and stop free feeding (leaving the food out all day) if that's what you are doing.

Whatever amount you are feeding her divide it in 2 or 3 portions only.

I would train her when she is hungry and feed all or almost all of one portion throughout the training when she does the right thing. Remember to give LOADS of praise along with the food.

If you are having too much trouble, I would suggest group obedience training. It is great for socializing dogs. Also buy a couple of books on dog training if you haven't already done so.

Good Luck!

Homer

You are posting on another section of the board that you want a "Cheap/free" intact male husky. I presume you are going to breed these unregistered, untitled and unhealth tested dogs?

You also have a litter of kittens - one of which is in dire need of vet care.

I have some recommendations, but you won't like them. First, take your kitten to the vet, and get the mother of this litter spayed.

Second, take this husky bitch and get HER spayed. Then take her to obedience school. Huskies are runners, and cannot be trusted off leash. It has nothing to do with training - huskies are a running breed.

You know little about animals, yet are letting your cat have litters and now you want two intact huskies, when you don't understand or know how to train the one you have. You are asking for big trouble this way.

I have tried not feeding this dog ALL DAY (which I do not believe is healthy)before a training session (usually around 6pm), and she still could care less about the food. She (we!) is currently enrolled in a group obedience class, but perhaps it isn't set up right for her because she is not accomplishing much. Everything that they do is motivated by treats, and it's really hard to get her to do anything when she doesn't want them! The vet says that she is fine physically, perfectly healthy. She doesn't like any dog food, dry or canned. She is REALLY picky. Finally, since she was getting really skinny because she wouldn't eat, the vet said that we should try just giving her a little meat and leaving the dog food so that she can eat it if she wants it. That seems to be working at keeping her well at her 49 lbs. She gained back a little bit of her weight, and has been pronounced perfectly healthy. I wonder if she thinks that she is human-- she will eat ANYTHING that she sees a human eating-- spinach, lettuce, soda (if she can get her mouth or paws on it, which doesn't happen much at all, if I can help it!), asparagus. However, unless she sees a human eating it, she could care less. She is definetely a challenge!

First of all-- my kitten has a vet appointment next week. Second of all, I had planned to have the cat spayed, but the vet's couldn't fit her into their schedule for 2 weeks, and they think that she was already pregnant when I rescued her from the barn. Also, if you will read my other reply, I have explained what was going on with my dog. I'm sorry that you feel that I do not take sufficient care of my animals, but would have really appreciated the chance to answer questions before you reached this conclusion.

Not all dogs are as food motivated as we would expect or want them to be. Is your husky motivated at all by toys? If so you can have her work for toys or for a short play session. I know that huskies are typically very independent dogs - but if yours is by chance on the needy side, you can also use praise as a motivator - make your voice very sweet and let praise be her reward when she does something good.

I would make sure she's getting enough excercise also. Since her recall is unreliable - do you have a fenced in area where you can let her run around and tire herself out a little bit? I would recommend a daily romp in a fenced in area for your dog.

As to improving the "come" reliability, practice on a short leash calling her name, and then "come!" in a cheery voice. If she doesn't come, reel her in and then lavish on the praise/treats/toys, etc. Never call your dog using the come command for something she won't enjoy (ie, nail clipping, ear cleaning, punishment if she's done something you don't agree with). In these situations, instead of calling her to come to you, go and get her. Once she's starting to get the picture and turn in and come to you when called on a 6 foot leash, get yourself a longer leash. Work yourself up to a 20 ft or 40 ft lead and let her nose around outside. Don't give her the opportunity not to obey the command - if she doesn't come, tug on the leash, while encouraging her and talking her into you ("gooooood girl!). Don't give her the come command if she's off leash at this point in time -she knows she can run, that she doesn't have to obey, and you'll set yourself up for more problems in the future. If she does happen to be off leash, use something different - I like "let's go!" and i usually will turn around and walk the other way - (i have a very needy dog though who would follow me anywhere.. so this might not work for you). My point is, don't ever expect a dog who won't come on leash to come off leash.

I second the opinions of previous posters - get this dog to an obedience class and pronto! or at the very least, get yourself some dog training books.

Also, I would recommend getting her spayed asap.

Hope this helped.

Andria

I'm the proud father of 2 huskies. The older is Ollie, 2 yrs, He's an alaskan husky, which is a Husky bred with any other dog for the express purpose of creating greater strength, speed, and endurance. Milo is a pure bred siberian, only 6months old. They are WONDERFUL dogs. They are also a handful!

at 1 1/2 years I am dubious that you will ever train your dog to be safe off leash. Ollie recently got loose (snuck past my wife who was taking milo outside). By the time, I found him (20 or so minutes) I was driving my truck around town. I found him, and followed him for 3 miles averaging between 15-20 miles per hour! He NEVER stopped longer than to look, to make sure I was still following! I only managed to catch him when he found a field full of cattle, which he started herding! A few things I've learned so far?

1) Huskies, as a generalization, don't care about food. It will work as a training aid when they are young, but unless they are quite hungry, and REALLY love the food, they don't care! It takes me a lot of effort just to keep Ollie at a healthy weight, fortunately Milo is better about eating! Toys are a good aid, just find what makes your dog happy! For mine, it's a LOT of praise, and pets, and playing. Fortunately, he also likes raw chicken, so that helps!

2) Huskies RUN!!!! They were bred for it, it's in their nature, and they are good at it! They also figure out quickly, that they are (probably) a lot faster than you! So, they can have a great game with it! Also, they are escape artists! Ollie has cleared a 6foot high kennel that we have for him! He has also destroyed said fence by sheer power, and we had to replace it with a MUCH higher quality one.

3) Huskies are STUBBORN!!! Ollie learned commands almost instantly! I had him sitting, laying down, giving his paw, all with in a few minutes of trying! after a couple of weeks. He stopped! He would give us a look that said, I know what you want, and I don't care!!!!!! We had him enrolled in a 2 week boarding intensive training, and that made a 100% difference! The trainer was actually concerned that he might be part wolf, because he was the hardest dog she had ever trained (we got him at 9 months, and due to early success waited till about 1year to take him to a trainer...) He's now a loving, well behaved dog, He snuggles with the cats, he sleeps happily by the bed (or on, if it's cold) He plays, sits, stays, lays, doesn't jump on us anymore. He is the coolest dog. Saying that, I doubt he will ever be safe off leash until he's too old to care!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess my advice, would be this. Find a trainer (even better if they have dealt with huskies), be patient, and realise, by 1 1/2 years, they've learned a lot, and it will take A HUGE investment to retrain them now! If you're not prepared for that commitment, it's going to be a VERY tough road!

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