I currently share my life with two Siberian Huskies – puppy Lara (7 months old) and Shania (3.5 years old). Both of them are very silly, and very energetic. They love to play, explore, and hunt for earth critters.
Siberian Huskies are beautiful dogs who love people and love life. They can be great family dogs if properly trained. However, because of their high energy and high prey drive, they require a lot of daily exercise and are not to be trusted off leash. When bored, a Husky may chew, dig, and escape to look for adventure elsewhere.
Before getting a Sibe puppy, find out all you can about the wonderful nature of Siberian Huskies – the good, the bad, and the quirky.
Siberian Huskies – The Good
1. Siberian Huskies are love bugs.
Sibes are very affectionate dogs. They are especially friendly with people, even strangers.
Husky Shania has very many friends in our neighborhood and she enjoys going to say hello to them every day. Her most favorite friend in the world is the Awesome Cookie Guy. Whenever we pass his house, Shania always stops and waits. When her Cookie friend spots her and comes out, he comes bearing gifts – a yummy low-fat cookie for Shania!
Shania also comes to me when I am sad or upset. She will lie down next to me or lay her head on my lap and give me licks.
The people trusting nature of Siberian Huskies make it easy to find caretakers for them when I get busy, or when I need to leave on emergencies or vacations.
2. Siberian Huskies are athletic and have a strong zest for life.
Lara and Shania are frequently on the go. They enjoy re-landscaping our backyard, attacking bushes, pulling down trees, running, jumping, and digging. They both enjoy playing chasing games and are always ready to go out for a walk and explore. They get very excited whenever anybody comes to visit and enjoy spending play-time and rest-time with their pack.
As part of their zesty life program, Huskies also love to eat.
Both Lara and Shania will eat and eat and continue to eat more if they can. To keep them healthy and slim, I set up a fixed eating schedule and only give them their allotted amount of food. If I give them treats, then I reduce their regular meals a bit so that they keep a fairly constant caloric intake.
Sibes are not shy about stealing food or begging for food. Both Lara and Shania will steal each other’s food if they can. They will also steal from my other dog, Shiba Inu Sephy.
I always supervise them closely during meal-times. Food stealing can encourage food aggression, so I train my dogs not to steal and teach them that if there is any stealing, I will handle the situation.
Siberian Huskies can also get impatient about food and may get slightly overzealous when taking food out of your hand. Bite inhibition training is a must.
3. Siberian Huskies are clever and independent.
Reward Training
Sibes are smart and will quickly learn new commands and figure out interactive toy puzzles; especially when food is on the line.
Lara learned how to Sit on command as soon as we got her home (8 weeks old). In fact, if we use positive reinforcement techniques, we can start obedience training puppies as early as 6 weeks old. However, puppies should not be removed from the litter until they are at least 8 weeks old.
With clever and independent dogs like the Siberian Husky, it is most effective to use reward training techniques. I teach my Huskies that the best way to get what they want is to do what I want first. Here is more on how I trained my Husky puppy.
- If they want to go play in the backyard, they must first do a simple Sit next to the door.
- If they want their food toy, they must first do a Handshake.
- If they dig where they are not supposed to in the backyard then they lose their backyard privileges.
Since we control all of our dog’s resources, we can encourage good behaviors and discourage bad behaviors by tying those behaviors to our dog’s most desired resources.
With reward training my Sibes are always motivated to work. They are never hand-shy and love being with people. Siberian Huskies have a wonderful independent spirit, so we should not shock them, choke them, or physically dominate them into submission.
Siberian Huskies – The Bad
1. Siberian Huskies shed a whole lot.
Sibes blow their coat once or twice a year. During this time they will shed most of their undercoat and replace it with new fur. Frequent brushing will help to control some of this shedding and keep our Husky comfortable and clean.
Even though they may only blow their coat twice a year, Sibes actually shed all year round. There is Sibe fur everywhere in our house, including carpets, tile floor, counters, tables, chairs, blankets, and beds. Hair can also get onto kitchen utensils, food, and drinks.
Another issue to consider is pet allergies. Many people are allergic to dog or cat hair. Although Siberian Huskies have little doggy smell and are not one of the most allergy-causing breeds, a serious pet dander allergy of a family member should have you reconsidering a dog for your choice of pet.
~~[Siberian Husky Club of Canada]
Because they shed so much, try to make brushing and handling fun for your Husky. I always pair brushing sessions with food so that it becomes a fun and rewarding experience. I start with a soft brush and slowly switch over to using the Furminator which is awesome at getting out a dog’s undercoat.
2. Siberian Huskies are awful guard dogs.
Sibes look wild, like wolves. For this reason, many people think that they make fierce guard dogs.
In truth, however, a Husky is more likely to invite strangers into your home with open paws and give them many licks.
Siberian Huskies are happy, goofy, and naturally trust all the people that they see.
My Siberians may sometimes make a fuss when people are at the door, but it is out of excitement rather than a warning cry.
Also, my Siberians will happily follow anyone home as long as they have some yummy pieces of food.
3. Siberian Huskies have very high prey drive.
Husky Shania is a very accomplished huntress.
When we first got our backyard landscaped, we had a big Earth Critter Attack. There are a fair number of rodents including gophers, voles, and mice that live in our area and they decided to throw a big party on our newly planted grass. Holes were appearing everywhere and the organic scent-based pest control we used did not seem to have much of an effect.
We were worried that our yard would not even last the year but then huntress Shania went into action. After a few days of hunting and marking, we noticed that the Rodent Gang had moved their party location somewhere else!
However, this high prey drive also makes it extremely risky to let a Sibe go off-leash in a non-enclosed space. If she spots a deer or squirrel, she will be gone and away before you can shout Stop. Siberian Huskies are very athletic and can cover large distances in a fairly short amount of time.
High prey drive also means that a Husky will have a strong instinct to chase and hunt cats and possibly also small dogs.
4. Siberian Huskies love to pull, pull, pull.
Sibes were bred to pull sleds, and today, they still love to PULL!
One of the biggest challenge with my Huskies is teaching them how to walk without pulling and/or to only pull on command.
The easiest way to leash train a Husky, is to start when she is young and still small. I have tried a variety of techniques with my dogs and what has worked best are the red-light,green-light technique and the 180-turn-around technique.
I started leash training puppy Lara almost as soon as we got her. First I trained her in our backyard. After she was fully vaccinated, I started leash training her around our neighborhood.
While leash training a Sibe, it is very important to be totally consistent. I stop as soon as puppy Lara starts to pull and if she pulls too much, I turn around and walk in the opposite direction. This teaches her that the fastest way to get to where she wants to go is to walk along with me at a measured pace.
5. Siberian Huskies love to sing.
Sibes have a great singing voice. However, neighbors may not particularly enjoy it when Siberians decide to sing or howl to the moon.
Husky Lara is a very vocal dog. She barks when excited, frustrated, scared, and sometimes when other dogs are barking. I have to spend more time and effort training her to stay quiet because her natural instinct is to vocalize.
Husky Shania is a more quiet dog. She almost never barks and the only time she vocalizes is when she is playing with my other dogs. She also sings beautifully when she hears a squeaky toy.
My Husky breeder tells me that there are some Sibe bloodlines that are more noisy than others. Lara’s mother, for example, comes from a more vocal bloodline.
6. Siberian Huskies are a big time commitment.
Sibes are very energetic and affectionate. They like being with people and they also need something to do. Otherwise, they will get bored and get into at least 10 kinds of trouble.
All my dogs work for all of their food, either through obedience exercises, grooming sessions, play sessions, or through interactive food toys. In addition, they go for 1.5 hour daily walks and wrestle with each other several times a day. Sometimes, I join in on the fun and play flirt pole or the water hose game with them.
When bored or lonely, a Husky will figure out her own activities, which may lead to property damage or escape expeditions.
Do not get a dog, especially a Siberian Husky, unless you have a lot of free time to spend with her. If you must work long hours, consider dog daycare or hiring a dog walker. Sibes do best when there are many interesting activities throughout the day and frequent human supervision.
I Love Siberian Huskies
Sibes are awesome dogs. They are always ready of adventure, and they will be there to give you licks and support when you need it, or even when you don’t.
I got my Huskies through the breeder list from the Siberian Husky Club of America. I also considered adopting from my local Siberian Husky rescue, but did not find one that fit well with my Shiba Inu.
It is best to avoid backyard breeders, pet stores, and online pet stores. Such establishments almost always sell unhealthy puppies with poor temperaments.
Source: Siberian Husky Pictures.
I don’t want to get rid of him and I don’t have money for expensive obedience training some days he’ll be really good and I’ll take him out all the time but he doesn’t give much warningI need some guidance my husband was thinking about a shock collar because we don’t know what to do and we’re sick of our house smelling like pee and I scrub all the pee spots with special P cleaner. I walk him every morning around the block sometimes twice before I go to work I play with him before I go to work and then when I get home I walk him again please help!
Two things were really important while potty training my Huskies – supervision and consistency.
Supervision
I made sure to supervise my puppy (Lara) very closely – either she is with me, or I put her in her puppy enclosure when I am unable to supervise. I use the puppy enclosure *every time* I need a break, even for very short breaks. I put puppy pads in her enclosure so that she has a place to go if she needs to.
In this way, either she goes on her puppy pads or I am there to take her out. If I am too slow and she starts, that is fine. I calmly no-mark, interrupt her, and take her out. She will usually continue outside, so I can reward her *very well* for it with a fun game outside, lots of attention, and also special treats. In this way, she learns that potty outside is *a lot* more rewarding than going inside, and will be very motivated to let me know when she needs to go.
Consistency
I also put Lara on a very consistent schedule. In this way, her potty times are also more consistent and I can better predict when she needs to go. When in doubt, I take her out. I take her out as soon as she wakes up, and after about 10-15 minutes of vigorous play. In the beginning, Lara would sleep for about 2 hours, and then we would play, exercise, do training and more, for about 2 hours. Then, she would go to sleep again for 2 hours and so on. Sibes are very high energy dogs, especially when they are young. They need a lot of daily exercise and supervised activity.
Here is more on what I did to potty train my Husky puppy.
My dogs like peeing where they have pee-ed on before, based on the smell. Therefore, it is important to totally remove all the pee smells. Dogs have much stronger noses than we do, so if we can smell it, then it will be many times stronger for our dogs. I also replace Lara’s potty pads after a single use. I know – it is no fun cleaning pee, but with close supervision, I was be able to cut down on the number of mistakes significantly.
Re shock collars:
Shock collars are *not* appropriate for potty training, and will likely make the situation worse.
Puppies pee in the house because they do not know where they can pee and where they are not supposed to. This is why it is very important to show our puppy the right place to pee, and then reward him *very well* for it.
If a puppy gets shocked every time he pees, he will associate the pain to his pee-ing behavior. This will cause him a significant amount of stress because *he has to pee* but he will be afraid of do it for fear of being shocked. This may lead to him holding his pee for an unhealthy amount of time, becoming fearful inside the house because he might be shocked, becoming fearful of people, and more. Ultimately this will lead to health issues and even more behavioral issues. Stress and fear can also result in submissive urination.
Shock collars are especially risky and dangerous when used on a young dog or puppy. Young puppies have developing bodies and developing minds. They also go through several “fear periods”, which is why careful management and socialization are important to help our puppy grow into a balanced adult. Applying pain based techniques have an extremely high risk of causing our puppy to become stressed, fearful and unbalanced, which will lead to even more behavioral issues down the road.
Here is more on shock collars.
I got a dog from the SPCA Siberian husky, but I also had one in the past for 7 years same behavior problems. Its boredom and the timing of the food and water. I only feed her twice a day early a.m. and evening, Feed at 6:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. She goes to the dog park twice a day, 5:45 and late evening. I make sure and steam deep clean and also spray with Foey bitter apple the places where she may have had an accident, If she smells it she will go in the same place again. The main problem with Siberians is boredom, toys wouldn’t help neither would the KONG I have large bones in her room as well as a large window with the blinds up, she sees all, and she has something to chew on, I leave the T.V. on while at work, She won’t urinate in the house if I keep the schedule anything outside of that she will. You may have to kennel train again, at first. Put her in the keneel and don’t let her out unless she is going outside. She will learn training to hold until you take her. I hope it works.
hi we have a 9mos old husky an we are having a hard time taking care of him.. he’s on a leash and when we unleash him its hard for us to get it back coz eh tries to bite.. he also destroys stuffs at home.. my father wants to give him to other people but i dont want!!! what can i do with this,, btw shall we still feed him the baby dog food or for adults now.. please help me..
HelpI have a4 month old Siberian Husky and hi love him very much but he will not quit peeing in the house I do positive reinforcement I carry treat when I left him outside with me in my pocket nothing seems to be working till start peeing and look at me like he knows what he’s doing I’m at my wits end help
why my Siberian Husky 5 months old drinking a lot of water and never stop ?
I suppose it depends on how hot it is, amount of activity, and general health. My Huskies do not like the heat, and they need more water when it is hot outside. I also make sure that they always have a cool, shady, and comfortable place to rest. During the summer, they like being inside the house, on the tile floor, and in front of a fan.
Excessive thirst can also result from illness or an issue with the dog’s diet.
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/my-dog-always-thirsty
Is your puppy energetic and eating normally? Are there other behavior changes? Does he have diarrhea? Is his pee normal and clear? When did this behavior start? If you think/suspect it is health related, then it is best to consult with a vet.
How do I train my husky to speak on command and not to speak at all?
http://shibashake.com/dog/woof-woof-stop-dog-barking#quiet
i am 17 years old & i need your help with my husky his name “kiko” hes runs away when he sees a cat or just trys to run away and he pulls a lot . what should i do ?
Here is an article on how to teach a dog to come when called.
Here are some of my experiences with dog pulling.
Here is an article on how I trained my dogs to walk on a leash without pulling.
Get yourself a dog treat pouch with his favorites treats. Walk a couple of steps and give him a treat, keeep doing it and increase the distance between treats and also get hima a no pull harness
My wife and I have a four month old female siberian named meeka. She is such a good puppy and we are having a blast training her and watching her grow. The only problem I’m having is sometimes when we pick her up she growls. She doesn’t bite, but she a snarls and grows if we scoop her up when she is doing something wrong.
Yeah, being picked up can be scary because the dog is now in a vulnerable position and he cannot run away. This is not too different from how we feel when someone picks us up.
We did a lot of work with our Shiba Inu to desensitize him to being picked up, and now, he is ok with it for a short amount of time, usually to be put into the car, etc.
In general, I want to make the “picking-up experience” be positive, so I only do it in a positive context and never as a punishment.
I have a 9 month old Siberian Husky and all he wants to do is follow me where ever i go, i cant do any thing without him because he will bark and scratch and bite at the doors and he isnt the nicest dog if he doesnt know you he will bark and growl at you and if you try to pet him he will bite you. PLEASE HELP I WANT TO BREAK HIM FROM ALL OF THESE THINGS!
Hello Sean,
My younger Husky, Lara, also likes following me around. I let her do this, but she is not allowed to scratch on doors or scratch on me. If she does any scratching, I no-mark the behavior to let her know that it is undesirable. Then, I give her an alternate pre-trained command for something she *should* do instead, e.g. Sit.
If she follows the command, then I reward her well with attention and food. Nowadays, she will follow me around and sit on her own when I stop moving. I make sure to reward her well for that behavior. 😀
If she continues with her scratching, then I may send her outside into the backyard (briefly). In this way, she learns that if she cannot follow people rules, then she does not get to be with people.
If she escalates her behavior into biting on me, then I calmly say “Timeout” and put her briefly in her timeout area. I almost never do this with Lara because she usually stops before it comes to this.
As for greeting people, I do people desensitization exercises with my dogs. I always try to stay very calm, and try to make people greetings positive and rewarding. In this way, they associate people with positive events, and become more calm and confident while meeting new people.
we have a male husky who is 2 years old and he loves to jump over the 6′ fences. we put him at the backyard for potty times but he can be disappeared with a min. we also have 1 female who turns 2 years old soon and 1 male puppy who is at 6 months. three of them play at the backyard, run and chase then the male husky will jump out. we are worrying that the puppy will learn to escape from him sooner or later.
we try to go to dog park more often. he will still jump over the fences to the small dog area and jump back to large dog area. jump back and forth. and even want to jump outside the dog park area.
his behavior became weird since day 1 he escaped from home. he doesnt come when call (or will just pass by us and wont stop in front of us) and growls at other dogs in public.
hes very horrible now. we have no idea how to train him. do you have any suggestions for it?
thanks.
In terms of escapes, the first thing I looked at with my Huskies is how to enforce our fence-line. In particular, my Husky, Lara, dug under the fence while chasing after an earth critter and ended up in our neighbor’s yard. Therefore, we put concrete blocks all around our fence-line to prevent this.
Is there a particular fence area that your Husky climbs over? Are there objects that he can climb up on to help him over the fence? What type of fence is it? Are there footholds on the fence that he uses to climb over?
Some other things that help with my Huskies –
1. After Lara dug her way out, I made sure to supervise her while she is in the backyard. Every time she tries to dig on the fence line, I no-mark her and get her to do something else. If she does not want to stop and keeps going back, then I bring her inside. I use a leash if necessary.
2. More frequent daily walks. With Lara, daily walks are very important. The one time that she escaped, was when we took our other two dogs to the vet, and we skipped walking Lara for one day. Boom! – she escapes. 😀 Now I walk her every day in rain, snow, or shine for around 1.5 hours.
3. I follow the Nothing in Life is Free program and make them work for all of their food, as well as everything else that they want.
In terms of coming when called, here is a list of recall training techniques from the ASPCA-
http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/teaching-your-dog-to-come-when-called
I had a lot of problems with my Shiba Inu when he was young. Getting help from a professional trainer can be very helpful. Here is a bit more on how dogs learn and how I trained my Huskies.
We have a 3 year old female husky her name is Fidelis she has really blue eyes and she is spoiled rotten she has her own pool, her own patio to sit on we got her a bed for christmas and a new pink collar, if you leave her outside by herself she will bark or howl till you come out to play with her, her behavior is unpredictabe its whatever she wants, she loves her belly rubbed and playing in the snow. She is an outside dog with her on kennel big enough for 3 dogs her dog coop is insulated with insulation and has straw for her bedding she loves sleeping on her roof laying on her bed and uses a pillow for her head she is the spoiled dog that I know of and I wouldnt have it any other way
Will you have a 2013 Calendar?
Yeah, I just finished it during Thanksgiving week.
Fantasy Dog Calendar 2013