Issue with 12 year old and guests

[Albino Bull]

Hello,

I had a issue between my 12 year old daughter and me 2 year old male named Nookie.

Daughter was laying on the floor watching TV, dog decided to get agressive, whether or not he intended to harm her but he grabbed on her arm and left mild punctures on her forearm. Needless to say, he is almost out the door. So I am coming to you folks.

I also have problems with him being very agressive towards anyone that lives outside the household, my parents and wifes parents, basically anyone who does not reside at my residence. I have to place him in his kennel during there visit. His temperment is growling towards them, a glowing eyed stare down and he is not afraid to stare the right in the eyes and have the hair standing up on the back of his neck and he becomes a statue.

I have set up an appointment to get him neutered Dec 9th.

I have never beat this dog, I have probably spoiled him to much. He lives inside all year round. We have a female husky half breed that lives with us also, she is 8 years old. A cat that he hates and tries to maul.

Any advice ?

[SarahNukka&Shadow]

What is your background knowledge of huskies?

You do not go into much detail about the insident with your daughter but I would say he was most likly trying to initiate play as if he'd wanted to hurt her he would have just hurt her... as with the people who dont live in your house.. how well have you socialised him? More background on the dog would be hlepful too.. how long have you had him? from a pup or as an older rescue? If you rescued him what do you know about his situation prior to coing to you?

Have you spoken to any professional trainers/behaviourists? if not I would advice that is your best bet. If you do descide to rehome him just bere in mind that you need to be honest with anyone looking to rehome him and if you give him to a shelter there is every chance that if he is actually agressive he will be put to sleep.

[Staceybob]

Sounds like this is getting out of control; I'd have a look at finding your local qualified behaviourist personally.

Stacey xxx

[Albino Bull]

We have had him since he was a pup. Small enough to hold in one hand. He is now 2 years old, weighs about 70 lbs.

The daughter was laying on the floor watching TV, eating some candy dog was attempting to get the candy, she pushed him away and he lashed out at her.

He has not had alot of socialization due to always having this aggression, the only person who dont live in my house that he doesnt have any agrssion towards is my father only, whom visits twice year from another state.

I have not attempted to get professional advice yet, however when he got his first rabie shot he lashed out at the vet and bit her. Not good.

My wife and I and my oldest daughter do not have any problems with him at all, just the younger daughter and him.

My wife has been told he is half wolf and husky due to having one brown eye and the other eye is brown/light blue...I dont believe this. He is not AKC registed but has some pedigree papers. When we got him, he was in a litter of 3, 2 females and him. His mother was allowed to roam the house the day we got him, howver his father was in the kennell and was ver large dog.

I am pursuing him to get neutered Dec 9th, do you think this will help his agression and help me to get him socialized ?

I am not schooled in Husky's, Samoyed's I have had and never had a problem like this.

[Staceybob]

howver his father was in the kennell and was ver large dog.

Sounds to me like perhaps this could be 'genetic' based aggression. They say quite often that the behaviour and temperment of the parents can affect the puppies.

I am pursuing him to get neutered Dec 9th, do you think this will help his agression and help me to get him socialized ?

Neutering has been known in some cases to help with aggression, but in some dogs it can also be known to make them worse (lack of testosterone, more need to act like a bigger man to be territorial). For further health reasons, to make sure he doesn't get prostates or testicular cancer, I would say neutering him would be a good idea.

I think what your boy needs is some hard work and a lot of socialisation, increased over a length of time. The best thing I personally feel I can suggest to you, is to get in touch with a canine behaviourist and perhaps see about joining some training groups. For the first few sessions, it may just be beneficial for your dog to sit in a room with people working with their dogs, till he gets used to the idea of seeing other people.

I hope someone else might be able to give you better advice than I have done here. I'll keep checking back.

Stacey xxx

[Albino Bull]

I am very open for lots of advice...today was a very hard day. I made the decision to rehome him, but I cant. My wife decided to have me get him fixed hoping this will calm him down.

Here is a pic of my oldest daughter with Nookie..She is 5 feet tall.

[husky princess]

We have had him since he was a pup. Small enough to hold in one hand.

Do you mean quite literally? if he was that small (ie under 8wks) then he probably didnt learn bite inhibition from his mum and litter mates and so he 'over did it' in error??

Some good advice already given. I would urge you to explore a behaviourist who has husky knowledge/experience and check out references etc. is there an american husky organisation (in UK we have SHCGB and SHWA) who has help with support, information as well as the rehoming side of things, but they do alot of work to prevent that from happening.

good luck

[husky princess]

he looks gorgeous and a 'normal' size husky to me. Go back to basics and do some training & be consistant - you will get dividens?

Ask yourself?

Is his brain being exercised?

IS he physically getting exercised?

Is he having a good quality diet with no cr*p?

Does he have plenty of company - not being left for long periods?

Does he have plenty of appropriate toys to chew/play with etc?

Plus many others which will come to mind as you go through different threads etc

[Albino Bull]

He was small, I think right at 8 weeks.

He had health problems as a pup, we had to put him on a duck and rice puppy food multiple vet visits when he was a pup for diahrea. Everthing else would literally run right through him.

Answering your questions

Brain exercize...hmmm dont know how to answer this.

He gets exercise, he is only kenneled from 10pm till 5:30 am. He dont get regular walks as he should though. He gets tied out on a chain for several hours a day.

He is left alone for about 8 hours a day, kenneled

His diet I feel is having regular dog food always there and water and he get his share of table scraps too...not good..like said he is spoiled.

He has toys, chew bones and loves to get in bed with ya and hide under the blankets and play hide and seek...he loves that. My poor bedding is always on the floor.

[sutsibe]

I agree that a behaviorist is a really good idea. Neutering may or may not help, but I don't believe that it would hurt. Do you live anywhere near the Chicago area? There is a husky club there (www.shcgc.com), and they may be able to give you additional help - but do talk with a professional trainer, as well! Some of them are awesome dog trainers, but I don't know at this point if any of them have a lot of experience with aggression - if you want to p.m. me, I can perhaps give you some names from that club if that's an option. Good luck!

[Staceybob]

I am very open for lots of advice...today was a very hard day. I made the decision to rehome him, but I cant. My wife decided to have me get him fixed hoping this will calm him down.

Well done on making the decision to not rehome him. I know things are probably very difficult for you right now, but you clearly care about your boy, otherwise you wouldn't have come looking for advice =].

Husky Princess and Sutsibe have suggested a great idea in looking at your local Husky associations.

Stacey xxx

[Albino Bull]

I agree that a behaviorist is a really good idea. Neutering may or may not help, but I don't believe that it would hurt. Do you live anywhere near the Chicago area? There is a husky club there (www.shcgc.com), and they may be able to give you additional help - but do talk with a professional trainer, as well! Some of them are awesome dog trainers, but I don't know at this point if any of them have a lot of experience with aggression - if you want to p.m. me, I can perhaps give you some names from that club if that's an option. Good luck!

I am 100 miles south west of Chicago. I am open for any advice.

[SarahNukka&Shadow]

We have had him since he was a pup. Small enough to hold in one hand. He is now 2 years old, weighs about 70 lbs.

The daughter was laying on the floor watching TV, eating some candy dog was attempting to get the candy, she pushed him away and he lashed out at her.

He has not had alot of socialization due to always having this aggression, the only person who dont live in my house that he doesnt have any agrssion towards is my father only, whom visits twice year from another state.

I have not attempted to get professional advice yet, however when he got his first rabie shot he lashed out at the vet and bit her. Not good.

My wife and I and my oldest daughter do not have any problems with him at all, just the younger daughter and him.

My wife has been told he is half wolf and husky due to having one brown eye and the other eye is brown/light blue...I dont believe this. He is not AKC registed but has some pedigree papers. When we got him, he was in a litter of 3, 2 females and him. His mother was allowed to roam the house the day we got him, howver his father was in the kennell and was ver large dog.

I am pursuing him to get neutered Dec 9th, do you think this will help his agression and help me to get him socialized ?

I am not schooled in Husky's, Samoyed's I have had and never had a problem like this.

Right, the issue with your daughter that sounds fairly straight forward case of him not knowing his boundaries properly, he thinks he has a right to take things from your daughter so he need to be shown this is not acceptable. She needs to show him she is also his leader not his equal.. I would have her involved in any training you do with him, get her teaching him things like basic sits, downs, leaves and waits. BUT she also needs to know her boundaries, instead of pushing him away (a physical action and one that treatened him enough to nip her as a warning) she should give him a command "NO, AWAY" getting her to use vocal commands like that shows him shes not challenging him shes telling him.

I'd also google "nothing in life is free" dog training, this is a priciple that again shows him his place in the family and teaches him basic mannors, things like making him sit and wait till he can eat, making him do something for you before he is given treats, fuss and games, making him sit and wait nicely while you put on his leash etc. Its all about teaching mannors and patients.

Yes I would say getting him fixed should help, it will make him concentrate better so teaching him these basics will be easier.

Part wolf just because he has a brown eye? RUBBISH! Unless the person who said that had any knowledge of HIS parentage and background they are just showing their complete ignorance to dog genetics. My boy also has a brown eye and a part eye (half blue half brown) this is a very common thing in huskies and has nothing to do with any wolf in the genes.

Apart from what I have outlined above I deffinatly think a professional reputable trainer/behaviourist is worth looking into.. look up Susan Clothier (I think thats how you spell her name) and maybe contact her and see if she can refer you to someone in your area.

Good luck and let us know how you get on... hes a very handsome boy and worth the effort!

[Staceybob]

He dont get regular walks as he should though. He gets tied out on a chain for several hours a day

Ok these answers are really important, as well as your answer about brain exercise.

Huskies need a lot of brain and psychical stimulation/exercise. Although they can be very stupid (theres some fantastic videos on youtube and here lol) they have fantastic minds that need challenging on a daily basis.

Brain stimulation can be anything from enforced training to hiding treats under cups and getting your dog to find them or hiding treats around the garden and getting your dog to find them. I'm sure there's many more ideas other people can give you; (kongs, treatballs, toys where they have to figure out how to get the prize)

I really really would try and bring in regular walks into your dogs life, whilst being chained outside seems nice because they get the fresh air, the nice breeze, the sweet scents of the out door, it doesn't really ensure that he is getting the right amount of exercise.

Huskies have been commonly known to improve with increased exercise (and changes in diets if thats an option available, which is not for your boy).

Stacey xxx

[Albino Bull]

I will keep checking back for advice and to search this forum which is outstanding. Time to head to work.

Thank you all for the info you have offered so far...

Paul

[Arooroomom]

From what i've read you're going to need to put a lot of work and effort into making this work or put a lot of work and effort into rehoming him into an environment with people who are equipped to handle a dog who's bitten before.

First of all, the dog is lacking in an outlet for his energy. These are medium to high energy dogs and need to have an outlet. Whether that be running, dog parks, swimming ect. ect. Especially since he's an intact male. He's got testosterone running around rampant as well as unused energy. He NEEDS an outlet, this isn't something debatable. He can't be kenneled all day, put on a chain, and then put back in a kennel at night. That really won't cut it with these dogs and if anything it's going to make his issues worse. Dogs live and thrive off of routine. Create an exercise routine and stick with it. It's so important for him.

I would also remove any sort of toy, bone, treat.. anything that is accessible to him. When you want him to have something he must work for it. A simple strand of routine commands will do. Push-ups are the easiest. (sit, down, sit, down, ect. ect.) And you decide when the toys go away.Table scraps need to be ended as well. He should only be eating in his bowl and eat his own food. If he's free fed, bring him to eating twice a day and remove the food after 15 minutes have gone by.

Blue eye/brown eye has nothing to do with wolf content.

Neutering may help but it will do nothing unless the testosterone in his body has been run down to the point of a normal dog. Right now it's too built up. A exercise routine as well as mental stimulation (training, basically or food puzzles) will help to bring him down to a normal level. After some time of sticking to a routine the neutering can be done and it will help loads more rather than if you were to just do it in efforts to fix the problem right now.

You should also begin to remove him from situations where there are people eating (especially a young child) and he's around. Either kennel him or bring him in the other room. You're setting him up for failure by leaving something so defenseless as a child with him and food around. I can't even say my own dogs wouldn't try to swipe off a child.

If this is too much for you to handle or too much effort involved... Please please find a good home where his past behavior is known and they are able and willing to work with him.

Also: Forgot to say... any step in the right direction is a good step. Reward him for good behavior. Don't lavish him, but a Good boy! and a treat will suffice in many occasions. Unless it's a BIG ordeal then jackpot the heck out of it! I really hope you guys can make this work. Please, let us know how things go.

[Bec]

I am pursuing him to get neutered Dec 9th, do you think this will help his agression and help me to get him socialized ?

Honestly? I doubt it.

Don't seek advice online - no one here has seen your dog so cannot make an assessment on him. You need professional help now.

I also wouldn't rehome a dog like this - it's unethical to pass a serious behaviourial problem onto someone else, and dangerous, too.

[husky princess]

To be honest you've answered your own issue by him being on his own, not enough exercise, scraps of food etc

there's some fantastic advice here and cant really add a huge amount other than -

Please check you are not over feeding him - this is only going to add to his energy levels. please check what you are feeding him and if necessary change to a good quality food (taste of the wild is of high quality so perhaps use that to compare ingredients). you want a natural food with no colours, flavours etc. If the recommended amount says 250-350kg per day then you want to be on the lower amount, huskys really dont need a huge amount of food - as they are not running 30 miles a day in -30 conditions!

As a family you need to change your lifestyle to incorporate more doggy friendly activities. Please include all family family members (who live in the house) into the training so everyone can give commands and he will do as he's instructed etc! Consider getting yourself a doggy rucksack and incorporate this with walks as well. it will give him a job and help get him tired out. (they do vary so look around before you buy the first one you see).

Good luck and please keep us updated & enjoy the next few days of husky walks (if walks are more of a drag cos of him pulling then get yourself a long lead with a padded walking belt. this will be more comfortable for you & keeps him safe on a long lead.)

oh and perhaps consider doing something like agility with him - there may be a group near you??- this will exercise his brain, develop your relationship together, excellent exercise and he needs to listen to you etc

and finally he is a larger boy (probably overweight going by 70lbs and not enough exercise and given table scraps etc) so be careful with 'treats'. a treat can be a 'special' toy, as well as food treats - try and give 'healthy' ones - perhaps finely chopped up carrot etc & equate it all into the amount of food you give so you are not feeding too much.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

i cant add anything to what has been said on here already - you say he has ALWAYS been agressive - but surely as a puppy that wasnt the case? how did you socialise him as a puppy?