Husky difficulties

[Wellfuckmeinbothears]

Hi all,

We have a 8 month old pure breed husky, he’s lovely and we love him but my god he is hard work. We walk him for an hour twice a day but he’s relentless! His pulling on the lead means I can no longer walk him as he pulls me over. He constantly whines and follows me from room to room. He’s mostly toilet trained but if he needs to go in between his walks he would rather go inside despite having free rein of a large garden. He’s also started snapping at us if we try to stop him from doing something (chewing cables, get off the bed etc) and we cannot leave him loose in the house, he has to be in the cage if we go out or he destroys the house. We are really, really trying with him. We’ve been to puppy classes etc and nothing’s helping. I’m in despair! He’s not been “done” yet so try’s to shag everything (kids included) and bites us when we stop him. Will getting him neutered help?

Any advice or just support would be so appreciated. I love my dog but he’s just so badly behaved.

I agree you need to rehome. You have time to do some research into best way to do this and maybe contact some groups that work huskies, that way you can be confident he is going to a better environment.

Bringing a new born into this environment is asking for disaster. Even if you sort his behaviour to a manageable level do you really want to be living on red alert the entire time? And putting your baby into a situation with a very unreliable aggressive dog? You are struggling just now and he is not even fully grown. This dog has the potential to kill your baby with one bite, you won't get a second chance or the chance to decide to rehome if that happens.

Also please don't underestimate the work of a newborn and how your feelings for your dog may change once the baby arrives. It's quite common for pets to start to feel like a hassle for the first few months after a baby arrives and you will 100% not have the time, energy or patience to give this dog what it needs when your baby is small. Don't leave it until this point to decide to rehome as. T then your only option will be a quick drop at a rescue centre which is unlikely to work out well for your dog

You don't have enough time to retrain and for those behavioural changes to be ingrained, with you confident in his behaviour, before your baby comes. Rehome asap. You love your dog but you'll love your baby more.

"I honestly don’t know why he destroys stuff, when I show him things he’s destroyed and tell him off he hangs his head and seems to know I’m upset."

I'm sorry, but this is probably part of the problem, and I'm amazed that you've had trainers involved and they haven't a) taught you the basics of dog training, and b) recognised normal husky behaviour.

Even with full time dedication and ££££ at your disposal, living in a 2 bed flat with a baby on the way is never going to be successful for the dog or for you or your family.
Huskies (as many posters have pointed out) are very hard work, and realistically, even though you work from home and are with the dog, as your pregnancy progresses you will not be able to give the dog the amount or intensity of exercise that it will need.
I would not risk having the dog around with a newborn, at all.

OP I am sure you love your puppy and want the best for him. Your boy sounds very stressed and you must be as well. You urgently need help with his behaviour in the first instance and have been given good advice upthread, but please also try to find a breed specific rescue and get on their waiting list. If, by the time a space comes up you are all coping better, then fine, but rehoming is not something you can make a snap decision on.

Please do not attempt to rehome him yourself.

A husky rescue local to me ( rural area ) posted this week that they have 45 dogs in their care and as many on their waiting list. A husky rescue in a city near me can easily take 30+ calls a day from people wanting to rehome their dog. In addition to this there are huskies dumped in council pounds every day of the week. It is a huge problem, and this is before the traditional pre-Christmas 'get rid of the dog' season kicks off. There are many, many people who cannot cope with this breed and who have been conned by 'breeders'.

Buying a puppy is easy. I could go on Gumtree now and be home tonight with half a dozen husky puppies which would be cute for about 5 minutes .

Excellent post professorcat. Exactly my thoughts.

Also agree with ProfessorCat!

It's great that you are willing to spend time and money on your dog op, but with the best will in the world, this is not something that money can fix in the time available and if the dog stayed, you would be exposing yourself and your baby to unnecessary risk.

It's a situation that should not have arisen, but it is as it is now, and I would definitely rehome straightaway, without hesitation, through a reputable breeder (not the breeder you brought him from who is thoroughly disreputable if they are not interested in being involved post-purchase).

We have a husky, unfortunately her previous owner did no training with her so was a nightmare to begin with, but she has gotten much better, the only thing we couldn't stop was the pulling (especially when excited) so we use a dogmatic head collar after trying loads of others and them breaking or her getting out of them.

It hasn't completely stopped the pulling for us (although other people say it has for them) but has massively improved it and when she chills out on our walks we then take it off and put her lead onto her collar.

Actually you need to think beyond the baby stage to when you have a crawling baby and an unmanageable dog in a tiny living space , what will you do then just keep the dog in his cage ? No amount of money is going to fix this in a few months , particularly as you get bigger with the baby and less able to manage him , much better to sort out rehoming him now .

He’s a teenager in dog years so he’s trying to be assertive. I don’t have any tips but definitely nip this in the bud or you will have a giant aggressive dog on your hands.

Can you afford a behaviourist? I would look into booking one.

Thank you all for your advice. It’s given us lots to think about.

Poor dog.

Sorry Op but I think you should rehome , adding a baby into the mix is a disaster waiting to happen. Can you afford doggy day care so he'd at least be exhausted. My dog walker has a husky that goes on all the walks she does (5,6 hours a day) so by the time he's home he's knackered.

The other thing to consider is how much work new born babies can be. When my DS was tiny he would only sleep a couple of hours at a time and was a slow feeder so literally I was spending hours each day feeding him. He also had colic and often would only sleep of I was walking his pram round the block or in a sling.

Realistically, even if you start improving your dogs behaviour before your baby is born, how much time are you going to be able to give him when your new born is demanding? And what if the baby’s arrival causes his behaviour to regress?

I’m a bit confused about the garden you say your dog has free access to if you are in a flat. Is this a communal garden or is it a secure private garden where your dog could may be spend part of the day outside.

My 6 month old lab puppy has chewed my vacuum cleaner cable today. She also chewed the remote control. Both are fucked.

I was annoyed and pissed off but not at my puppy. At myself for not putting vacuum back where it belongs, and putting remote out of reach. I picked the mess up. Puppy is still learning and it’s my responsibility to make sure I keep things out of her way. Boots are another thing, my puppy used to try chewing shoes on my feet.distracting her and giving her something she can chew has worked, but not overnight it took months and she’s still not a hundred per cent, I won’t wear my fave footwear until I’m confident she will not try a cheeky chew. Dd puts school shoes on at door.

Would have been utterly pointless showing her the chewed cables and getting angry at her, dogs have different thought process to humans and will not have any understanding of what all the words your saying while showing her cables mean. Dogs don’t feel guilt, regret or apologies so won’t express it.

Huskies need more time and work than most other breeds. You’d find it difficult to meet the dog’s needs with a newborn even if your puppy wasn’t having other issues.

You’d need to be alert and focused for one thing, you’re going to have be conscious of keeping baby and dog separated, nit just when you are out if room but also times when you are there, and the tiredness that comes with a newborn often means you’re not alert and focused. It’s very very very easy to sit down with a cuppa once baby is asleep is in bouncer or Moses basket and nod off for eg. There will be times were you will not be able to physically stop your dog doing something you don’t want as your dealing with baby. There’s a lot of extra crap about the place with babies. A dog prone to chewing is going to think it’s christmas, you say she’s going for you when you’re trying to stop her, you’ll have a baby in between you unless you put baby somewhere safe before stopping dog chewing, which won’t be effective as you need to stop the unwanted behaviour as soon as it starts. You’re dog is going to go from having you guver lots of attention to having it reduce. You won’t be replacing the reduction in mental stimulation and as she won’t be getting her required exorcise the chewing and whining may well increase when baby is here. If your husband took the dog for a walk for two or three hours after he gets home from work, how is he going to spend time with his child?

I wouldn’t trust myself to not accidently nod off, or forget to secure dog while I was changing nappy or feeding. I think there’s a good chance you’re going to end up with a stressed mum and dad, a stressed dog and a newborn.