I make sure to leash train them separately first. I only attempt group walking *after* they have mastered regular non-group walking.

As with everything else, I always start small and set my dogs up for success. For example, I start training in a very low stimulus area. At first, I do group-walk training with one Sibe and my Shiba Inu. This is because my Shiba is very calm when out on walks, and he does not need to be the lead dog. My Sibes are a lot more excitable, so it is much better to pair each of them with just one calm walker. I start small, go in small incremental steps, and set them up for success.

Once my dog improves, I can very slowly increase the environmental and ‘other dog’ challenge.

Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises can also be used to help a dog stay calm when in the presence of other dogs.

In the beginning, I start walking in a more quiet area, where there are fewer distractions. Once they get better with walking, I very slowly increase the environmental challenge.

I also start with shorter but more frequent walks. In this way, I can stay calm and patient throughout, and they still get a lot of practice.

For very strong pullers – some people use a head halti. But there are pros and cons to that.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-leash-training-equipment#halti

Hugs to your Husky!

Thor sounds like a wonderful boy, especially given his history.

1. Leash training
I leash train my Huskies using the red-light/green-light technique and the 180 turn around technique which I talk more about in the article above. If my dog pulls, I stop moving and shorten the lead. As soon as he stops pulling, I start moving again. In this way he learns that -

Pull = We stop,
Don’t pull – Get to go where he wants.

Dogs, especially Huskies love to explore and sniff, so we can use that to motivate them to do the right thing.

2. Chaining
Huskies are high energy and they also have high prey drive. They will want to explore and chase after small animals, e.g. squirrels, birds, and more.

Two things help with my Huskies-
a) A good amount of structured exercise. We play structured games in our backyard, they work for their food through interactive food toys, and we go on long daily walks.
b) A secure fence line. The best way to keep my Huskies from escaping is to make sure that my fence line is secure. To save on cost, we can enclose up a smaller exercise area. In my old house, I did not really have a backyard, so my dog would spend his time inside the house, and we would go on more frequent walks.

As you have observed, chaining or tethering can cause frustration in a dog and this may result in other undesirable behaviors, such as non-stop barking, pulling, as well as guarding. Here is a USA Today article on how chaining can encourage bad behaviors.

3. Begging
Dogs repeat behaviors that get them good results and stop behaviors that get them undesirable results. If I do not want my dog to “beg” then I make the behavior be unrewarding (i.e. they don’t get anything while begging). Instead, I tell them what to do instead, e.g. Down. Then I make sure to reward the desired behavior very well with food and affection. Consistency is very important in dog training, so I make sure never to reward behaviors that I *don’t* like, and to reward behaviors that I *do* like very well.

What has worked well for my Huskies is to set up a consistent routine and consistent set of house rules. Then I teach them the rules and motivate them to follow rules by following the Nothing in Life is Free program.

Here is a bit more on how dogs learn.
This ASPCA article on introducing a dog to a new baby may also be interesting.

Good luck and big hugs to Thor!

I am having a couple different problems with my German Shepperd/ Husky mix, Tho I have not had him sense he was a puppy my boyfriend and his ex have. his ex left him locked up all the time weather she was home or not, and My boyfriend works alot. So when I came in to to the picture his dog is now 4 years old and knew some of the basic commands. But now I am trying to work with him and he just seems to be stubborn and doesnt listen to him or I very well. I am 6months pregnant and would love to be able to walk with him with out him literally dragging me. He walks pretty well in the back yard/woods with me with out his leash, His problem i noticed is he wants to explore and sniff EVERYTHING. haha
2. Is he hates being on his chain and barks and barks until you let him back in the house or just run, but when I do let him off I usually say to the house or the garage and he goes straight to the house or the garage, but to just let him out side for not even five min’s hes over in the neighbors yard eating the bread they throw for the birds or hes down the snowmobile trail and i have to call him 4-5 times for him to come back and we he does he has this thing were he looks at me from behind a tree or the side of their house like i dont see him. He wont stay in the yard and it sorta flusters me because when im out side with him hes pretty much by my side but i cant be outside with him all the time, and i dont want one day for him to get hurt or hit by a car.
and the 3. and final question is being that im 6 months pregnant my pupper doo AKA Thor seems to i dont know if it jealousy or protectiveness but he does not like not only my boyfriend but none of our friends to come near me and give me hugs or anything. Hes got to have the attention and push in between us. He is also a beggar. But i have pretty much gotten him to kennel up when he hears dishes. But he stairs at you and creeps outta of his kennel and will sit right behind you and stair at you till you give him something or yell at him and hes still very stubborn about it he’ll do it 3 or four times. If you have any advise for me to be able to help him and work with him it would be great. thank you so much.

With my Husky puppy Lara, I started small, by first introducing her to a little kiddie pool and made the experience fun and rewarding. Then I slowly build up from there based on what motivates her most.

What does your puppy like most? What games does she like to play? What was her first water experience?

won’t let my other dogs eat

Can you elaborate? Does she show aggression? Does she try to guard the food? Do all the dogs eat together? How old is she? When did this behavior start?

At the beginning of leash training, I walked my Sibes separately. They are a lot more hyper when they are together, and also a lot more reactive. When I walk them separately, they are each *relatively* more calm, and I can start the leash training process.

For leash training, I use the red-light and green-light technique as well as the 180-turn-around technique. Consistency and repetition are very important. In the beginning, I would also do shorter, but more frequent walks. This allows everyone to recharge between walks but still have a lot of learning opportunities.

I start by training them separately in the backyard. The backyard is a quiet and low stimulus area, so it is a good place to start. Once they are good with walking in the backyard, I move on to very quiet areas in the neighborhood, and so on.

When they are good walking by themselves, I start by getting a friend to walk one while I walk the other. In this way, we start to practice walking together, but we still have good control over each dog.

Huskies are bred to pull so they are more of a challenge to leash train. But with consistency and repetition, they will improve. Certain leash training equipment can also be used to provide more control, but after trying out many different things, I ended up just using a no-slip collar and leash.

Other things that help with my Huskies –
1. Making them work for all of their food.
2. Following the Nothing in Life is Free program.
3. Redirecting their energy into a variety of structured activities.
4. At home, I set up a fixed set of rules and a consistent routine.

How I trained my Husky puppy.

I have 2 huskies, my eldest girl is just over 1 and my youngest is a 9 month old boy, I am having massive issues with their behaviour, to the stage the rest of my family want us to give up the dogs, I am determind that I can train them and that they can be well behaved.

One of my biggest issues is that they pull so much on the lead I end up in pain by the end of a short walk.

I took the dogs for a 10 mile walk the other day hoping that it would quite them down but all they did was pull, I ended up with serve back pain for days and they weren’t even worn out. I am starting to loose the faith, please help me