Training your Husky According to your rules.

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Well Id just shut it off...but yes the TV could be keeping her awake because she thinks..."hey someone is there."

I dont know about your tv but mine gets overheated sometimes so putting a blanket over it might not be a good idea.

[Bec]

i have tones of toys in there for her and yeah i warmed her up to wanting to be in there. i threw treats into the cage to get her to like being in there and i kept playing in there with her. (its big enough for me to fit in as well.

she has a potty pad on one side. her food and water dish, tones of toys, a bed, and my shirt in there for her. she just freeks out when one of us leaves the room or if we put her into there.

it seems like shes too stressed out to play with the toys tho.

What did you do in between throwing treats in there and leaving her in there for an hour and a half?

[Ashley Osburn]

if i turn off the tv she will freak out more during the night so i just put on country music or classical music.

and i leave her there until she needs to go potty. and then ill take her out, play with her outside, take her for a short walk (shes already doing great on a leash) and then take her inside and put her back in the crate and she goes to sleep again until its time to feed or until she needs to go potty.

[Sid_Wolf]

what about a radio? then she'll get the noise with no distracting lights. and do you let her out to toilet when shes crying?

[Bec]

if i turn off the tv she will freak out more during the night so i just put on country music or classical music.

and i leave her there until she needs to go potty. and then ill take her out, play with her outside, take her for a short walk (shes already doing great on a leash) and then take her inside and put her back in the crate and she goes to sleep again until its time to feed or until she needs to go potty.

I would be working her up to spending time in the crate more gradually. Get her spending 5 minutes in there comfortably, and letting her out and rewarding her when she's quiet. Then slowly increase that to ten minutes, etc. Getting her to sit in there for an hour plus is obviously just stressing her out.

[Sid_Wolf]

yea thats what we done, put her in there, then let her out straight away. then start increasing the time, letting her out when she stopped crying for a minute or two. that way she associated being quiet with being allowed out.

[Ashley Osburn]

she has 2 different crys, ones just a whine and the other is a howl. the howl means she wants to go potty. the other means im just going to screw off.

[Sid_Wolf]

how on earth did you figure that out?? i wish i could tell lol. kira crys then does a really low pitched howl, se sounds like a cow! lol but we try to ignore her, it gets hard sometimes :tdown:

[Ashley Osburn]

i learned basically in the middle of the night lol. when she was howling really loud she needed to go potty. and when she would just whine its because she just wanted out to lay down in the grass and sit. she wouldnt go potty either lol.

i test her on this all the time and its not changed. its kinda funny but nalla is like a baby. i can read her like a book. i still havent figured out what sound means she wants food but oh well. she shouldnt be eating much anyways lol.

[Sid_Wolf]

kiras quiet, she doesnt tell me when she need to go to the loo, so we have to jump and let her out whenever she goesn near the door, just in case. she never asks for food, unless its off our plate, then she just some over and gives us paw lol. the growls and stuff when playing but thats it really. the most noise we ever got out of her was the 1st 3 days of crating, and thats stopped now thank god lol

[Ashley Osburn]

last night was the first time shes slept threw the night. it was so funny. my fiance got up for work and i woke up and he said how many times did you get up last night? and i said ITS THE MORNING!!! and he said yeah? i just about jumped out of bed and leaped for joy. i finaly got a full nights sleep. YAY

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Thats so awesome! Im glad to hear that things with Nalla are getting better, please feel free to ask any questions you may still have.

Is Nalla the puppy i was reading about who loves to poo on the carpet?? If so, did she pee or poo in the crate?

Do you want some further advice on potty training?

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Yaaaay! time to talk about fun tricks you can teach your husky just for fun!

I do a few of these, but mostly we just play games of fetch and tug-o-war...lol.

here are some things you can do with your husky that can be quite fun!

SIT-UP: most people have the dog sit-up and have 2 feet off the floor but for Chewy its just coming back up from a laying position to a regular sit.

How to do it: Have your pooch lay down. Your arm starts up above their head, then lower your arm to your side and swing it back up toward your chest or head...while telling them "UP." When they get back up to the sit position give them the treat or a pat and praise.

SHAKE/ HIGH FIVE: This can be fun to teach your puppy but if you use shake then sometimes think that they can force you to shake with them if they think you should be patting them...so I taught mine HIGH FIVE instead. Basically, have them SIT and then place your open hand out at their chest level and say "SHAKE" or "HIGH FIVE." Depending on which one you are going with you will either close your hand gently around their paw and shake with them or you will catch their paw on your open hand and then slide your hand from under their paw. Then you may give them a treat or give them pats and praise.

I havent personally taught my husky to "DANCE," so if someone could post some good directions for it, that would be great.

FIND IT: I have known many people who taught their dogs to play this game, and have seen it taught different ways. I would hide little pices of treats while Chewy watched the first few times (hiding them in places he was allowed to go) and tell him "GO GET IT." Then, after he got the idea, I would hide the treats inside toys and place the toys in different spots while he watched me, and the say "GO GET IT." Then, we graduated to just placing toys and no treats, and saying "GO FIND IT."

The cool thing about GO FIND IT...is that you can also use this playtime trick to teach them that their crate is a safe place by placing a toy with a treat by it in the crate and having them go in and get it, and letting them come back out. This can help the crate to be a positive thing...instead of a scary or negitive thing.

CHOOSE A HAND: I havent taught this trick to chewy yet but it can be very cool. There are some things you will have to do to teach them this though. First, you will have to teach them the difference between...say a piece of cheese...and a meaty treat. This isnt too hard...but may take a little while.

Step one: get a cube or small piece of cheese, and close your hand around it. when they sniff that hand with the cheese...say "CHEESE." Once you are sure they understand to smell for cheese and choose the hand with cheese in it...then you can graduate. Next add a meaty treat, and when they naturally choose the meaty treat and are sniffing it tell them "MEAT." When you have gotten them to find the MEAT or CHEESE by choosing the right hand for each to get the treat you told them to look for...then you have taught them "CHOOSE A HAND." DO NOT give a treat unless they have chosen the hand with the treat you asked them to find. Feel free to tell them NO, or NOT IT, if they choose wrong.

Have any more tricks you'd like to see posted? Go ahead and post it...who knows...maybe you can tell me one that I dont know! LOL

[Chewbacca_&_me]

On a funny note, I also taught Chewy to "get the Kitty!!!" lol.

Remember the postings about the orange tabbycat who thinks he is the king of the house?? Well king Tigger, is a chubby kitty who needs to loose some weight so...

Its funny to watch chewy leap back and forth dodging the kitty!!

(just dont teach your puppy to do this unless you are absolutely certain they wont hurt them, Chewy just licks tigger and pins him playfully on occassion...lol)

[Sarah]

I have taught my boys to "touch"

I started with my arm stretched out like a scarecrow but just above my waist and said touch - i guided his nose to my hand and as soon as he made contact used a marker word - good - and gave a treat, only took a few attempts for him to grasp the idea and soon was stretching my hand further out for him to touch.

After this had been mastered - i brought in a prop - a wooden flower - you can pick them up cheap at garden centres, he then had to touch the flower - which in effect was an extension of my hand. Again rewarding with the marker word and using treats.

Next step - place the wooden flower - or other object, (stood up) across the room - i put the wooden flower in a vase and said touch - took a few attempts but he did grasp that he had to go towards the flower and touch it to get his treat - you may need to take them to it once or twice as it's no longer "attached " to you.

After this has been mastered - you can then introduce a phrase - go and smell the flower - and amaze your friends at how clever your husky is!!

NOTE: If your husky is mouthing or a nipper - please do not do this as it will encourage them to have contact with your hand.

[Ashley Osburn]

Is Nalla the puppy i was reading about who loves to poo on the carpet?? If so, did she pee or poo in the crate?

nope not at all. she has never gone potty in the house not even in her crate. shes done amazing with potty training.

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Difficult behaviors.

Since this has now come up on the forums and I have just been through several months of dealing with difficult behaviors with Chewy...I would like to take a few minutes to talk about dealing with difficult behaviors with your husky.

For this I'd like you to broaden your definition of leadership. (I assure you this is not some dog whispering thing). Think of leadership with your husky as You leading them into situations and then leading them back out again. If yours was a sled dog who ran the sled races in alaska you would have to teach them how to read and respond to the least change in environment and to every slight signal given by you to survive. The man controlls the leader and the sled and the lead dog leads all the others forward by following signals.

Well, since we are not in a working environment and we are in a home environment, we have to learn to signal our huskies about what to do in other situations...like when out on the sidewalk that they must not fear cars, bikes, skateboards, other animals, or people.

I had little experience to share in this department before I brought Chewy home almost 9 months ago, because i had never met a husky that was litterally afraid of everything (and at such a young age too). After nearly 9 months of creative thinking and working out an unbelievable amount of difficult and even some scary behaviors...I would like to share some knowledge with you.

Things that Chewy would do:

Nip and snap at people

shy away from kids and other people

cower in fear from other dogs and growl

run away from noises by cars, bikes, skateboards, scooters, etc

Growl, bark, lunge, and bare teeth at people as they walked by us

run away when I offered treats

refuse to eat from his bowl unless placed in his kennel

There are a few more things we had trouble with but I cant seem to remember them all now, I guess now that I no longer have to worry Im just not going to remember them all at once...lol.

Here's the thing about Huskies, they learn easier by being lead and shown. If you just leave it be and hope for a good outcome they will just do whatever comes naturally. Thats not always a good thing.

Do you remember I said that I chose the training I have used "for several reasons." Well, his behaviors were the number one reason for me. My number one fear was that we'd be out walking and a child might run up and get bit because Chewy got scared.

I probably read some 50 articles on the internet in the first 3 months that chewy was here and none of them were very useful- to be honest. There seemed to be three re-occurring themes,

1- dont let people touch your dog and ignore the problem.

2- use positive reinforcement and pray thats all it takes, they may well be this way forever.

3- hire an expensive trainer and spend alot of dough hoping for results that you cant be sure you will get.

The reason why I am so adiment that every new owner should do leash training is this: YOU ARE THE LEADER IF YOU LEASH TRAIN EARLY AND PROPERLY. Leash training has so many good and healthy applications. For chewy training him this way did 2 important things...it kept his attention on me and it taught him to trust me because wherever I led him to, I also led him back and so he trusted me to do that.

If you have a pup that is less than 1 year in age, you still have plenty of time to start leash training and be very successful. Alot of times even adult huskies will stiill do very well with leash training and learn very quickly as well...the point here is that there is hope.

I had problems with the things i read in the articles because it always seemed to me that the articles were suggesting that owners should just be passive and take the serious risk that their dog could literally always display these problem behaviors so that the owners would never want to be out in public with their huskies, and thats just nonsense to me.

On occassion you may have to become quite creative and patient to train a scared puppy to see that things around them are actually harmless. The important thing is to take an active position and work with your puppy, and dont leave it to chance. It can take time to get your puppy on the right track though, sometimes weeks and sometimes months...and nothing changes overnight...although you will notice subtle changes in how they approach things along the way.

I will cover some more specific things to help you in the next post (likely tomorrow) but first I want to give a better idea of what I mean by leadership- by telling you about something i did with Chewy.

As I said, walking chewy was a really difficult thing because he was very frightened of every noise, person and other animals. I couldnt seem to get him to calm down doing any other training tips I had read, and I was coming to my wits end trying.

I decided one day that maybe I should try the dog park. This didnt go over very well as almost immediately after we got there he cowered under a bench and a much larger dog kept harrassing him during the 30 minutes that we stayed there. (huge 170 pound mastiff). We didnt go back to the park for a few weeks after that and we just kept working on in home training. The next time we went to the park was the first husky meet that I scheduled, and Im glad I took him. At first he was still a bit scared and happy to cower under the bench again...but I noticed that if I got up and moved to other benches he would follow.

So (this is what I mean by creative), I decided that I would just get up and walk the park end to end, and use hand signals to get him to follow if he decided to stop. About an hour in I started walking toward the groups of dogs...and then walking in patting 1 of them and walking away from the group again. After 3 times of me doing this Chewy came into the group and nudged to be patted. Once he had come in a few times to do this I started patting him and one of the other dogs at the same time so the other dog would follow a bit as well. ( I chose a calmer, older golden to do it).

We spent about 3 and a half hours at the park that day just walking around and greeting everyone quietly, but I have not seen him cower or get upset with people or other dogs at the park since then.

Sometimes it takes some creative problem solving to help your dog, and often you wont get that sort of thing from a book or a website.

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Modified Training

Ok, so I started to talk about modified training a couple of days ago.

Most of the time a dog or a puppy can be taught how to follow commands and enjoy life with you very easily and in only a month or two so long a you stay consistent and keep doing things properly.

Then again there are some dogs who might require a bit more creativity and a new approach, once you have been working with them for awhile and they arent responding to the training you've been doing. Even these pups, usually only need you to modify a certain part of their training.

Maybe you have a nippy pup, a jumper, a puppy who steals, or even a puppy who goes potty in the house.

In any case if you have tried all the suggested methods of training to stop them from doing something naughty or you are having to teach them something that maybe you havent encountered before...then

maybe it is time to get creative and combine some techniques to make the training more strict or controlled so that you can help them a bit better.

Most new puppy owners get confused or just dont know where to go for sound advice and they eventually either do 1 of 2 things...(1) They give up and stop trying because it is too stressful or (2) they spend hours upon hours trying to sift through any and all info they can find on the net about dog training...because they want to know what to do and they want to know right now. I completely appreciate this, since I myself became a sifter with Chewy.

Believe it or not just about every dog you will meet has had that "one thing" that their owners had to get creative to train them for. Dont let all the conflicting information thats out there get the better of you, if 90% of the training you have been doing with your puppy is working then dont change any of the methods that are working for you, just add to the training that isnt working.

Here's an example:

Lets say you have started crate training, and for some reason its not working. Maybe the dog goes outside walks around and waits to go back in the house or crate to go potty...this means you need to modify the training by adding to it. If you have to, go backward a little bit and revamp the entire bit of training. It can be tiring and a royal pain...lol, but you would be surprised what good it can really do for the pup. I heard it best from a training video I bought. The man said "go back to the point where the dog was last successful."

In my case, at about 11 weeks Chewy decided he was going to go outside and potty then when I let him back in that he would potty on the rug again. This simply means that he was not emptying his bladder, and that it was time to teach him to do that. I had eased up on him by taking him out off lead to potty and so we had to not only go backward and back on the lead, but I had to be sure to create a more controlled bit of training with more supervision. If this happens to you and your puppy is leash training and crate training as Chewy was, then please feel free to try this it is modified training and it worked very well.

Since Chewy had shown me that he was willing to potty outside without an issue I had decided I would trust him and let him off the lead, and soon after he started to "hold it in" and potty on the rug. He had already been leash training and was doing very well at crate training so I simply added to this training so that we upped the chances of being successful. We immediately put the leash on again and continued to leash train (even outside), we continued crate training and I trained him to come in and lay next to the couch on the floor so I could see him. Despite this, he was also a quiet and shy puppy so he had another accident. So, I added to his training again, by making his meal schedule more controlled too. By this, I mean that I gave him a quarter cup of water, and a quarter cup of food every 4 hours and this way I had a much easier time knowing when he would have to go outside. If they eat and drink less and you know exactly when, you will start to take them out on a more frequent schedule. I also made sure to let him know that he was expected to empty his bladder outside...this is where leash training comes in. He would pee just a little bit and the begin trying to move toward the door to go in. The leash was my saving grace at this point, because I could keep him out on the grass near his potty spot and wait until he had gone potty for a second time (it never took more than 10 minutes because he was a little guy. When he had gone again he was brought back inside and patted. After about 5 days he simply emptied his bladder everytime because he wanted to go back inside.

While it may seem monotonous and take alot of time, modifying training is a good way to get things going when you are at your wits end. Modifying a training method can also help the training progress faster so that you can spend more time enjoying the puppy and less time correcting them. About 3 weeks after I modified Chewy's training he was successfully potty trained and going out off leash.

The way to know if you have progressed enough to take the next step and let them be off leash inside the home is...if they have had ZERO accidents inside the house in 7 days. Even a slight accident means that they are not ready for this step.

You can easily modify any kind of training in a healthy way that will help your dog to be more successful.

[Sarah]

You can easily modify any kind of training in a healthy way that will help your dog to be more successful.

Well said - that's an excellent post, added to rep

[N1GH7CR4WL3R5150]

Ok so now Im going to teach you the 4 things you will be using as tools with your puppy.

COME

SIT

DOWN (lay down)

and BODY LANGUAGE.

COME is not only a command but a display of affection to your dog as they interpret this as you wanting them to be close to you, so use it positively. Yelling COME to a puppy makes you scary and intimidating and you will not be able to get them to do it. If they will not COME close enough without turning tail and bouncing away or backing away...then sit with your bottom on the floor with the side of your body facing them and your hand laying open at your side. This posture means hey look, I want to play or hey come get patted. You can use treats but I just called in a fun way and patted Chewy playfully when he came up to me.

The SIT command is a very useful tool...it is not just some random trick. Some people will say oh thats just some programmed response...to that my answer is this- "It is a Healthy Response that every owner should teach both for safety and discipline." SIT is the easiest command to teach to a dog.

Before I go further I would like to recommend that if your puppy responds to you pretty well without food treats then you should try to teach commands without treats, by using friendly/enthusiastic patting as their reward. Huskies are well known for getting hooked on treat training and then refusing to pay attention unless they know you are giving treats...LOL.

In any case, SIT is so easy you could probably teach it in your sleep. Get your puppy's attention, place your hands directly in front of their nose so they think you have something for them, Say SIT, and then slowly move your hand forward until its above the back of their ears. This causes a natural tilt of the head and body because they are curious about your hand and often times they go into the sit position all by themselves. If you do have a treat, then praise and give the treat.

If you have a bounce and grab puppy you goes from sit to lunge as soon as you get ready to give the treat then you will want to teach them to wait until you say to take the treat. You can do this by not ever giving the treat if they move from the sit position...if the second you move your hand to give the treat they get up bring your hand to your chest and have them sit again. Once they sit long enough for you to get the treat to their nose, say "be nice" and then you give the treat.

In Chewy's case I didnt want a 65 pound puppy to be lunging forward as my 2 or 6 year old kids were trying to play with him or give him a treat. This really comes in handy for playing tug-o-war as well.

Next, DOWN (lay down). DOWN is also not just some generic trick, it is VERY useful...especially with high energy puppies like huskies. This position helps to teach the to be patient, calm, or to rest/relax. If done correctly It can do all three of those things at the same time.

For teaching the DOWN position. Get your puppy's attention by placing your hand directly in front of their nose. If you have a treat tuck it between your thumb and index fingers and bring your hand down flat on the floor in front of them. Most puppies not only naturally follow your hand and go into the DOWN postion but do it quite playfully. For stubborn puppies you might try tapping the floor to get their attention back as you tell them DOWN. Once they have gone into the down position wait breifly and then give the treat if you have one. As I said before if they are lungers, do not give the treat if they get up before the hand is in front of the nose...bring the treat hand to your chest and use the other hand to get the back to the down position and try again.

Now, with these two basic commands and even with commands that come later...remember that sometimes puppies react quickly to a command and sometimes they may take up to 45 seconds to react...so dont be too quick to correct them.

after you practice these commands for a week or two a piece the puppy should be having a very quick response and should be following the commands at least 60% of the time...if not be patient some puppies take a little more time. Once they are doing the commands correctly at least 8 out of 10 times then you know you are doing a good job and that you can add another command to your arsenal.

Ok so lets talk a bit about body language. for this I want you to think about your size in comparison to the size of your puppy. Think back to when you were a kid and how much bigger things seemed to you then. Also consider this: when another member of a pack of dogs corrects a member they will use very precise body language and will not back away until that member does what they are supposed to do.

As your husky pup gets bigger they will challenge you to see if you will back down and do or give them what they want. This is where body language comes in. Huskies will ignore their owners if you let them, simple as that. Body language is not about being mean it is about using movements and signals when vocal commands arent working.

Here is an example of what I mean.

One day (at about 5 months old and 45 pounds) Chewbacca decided he was going to jump on my two year old and challenge her to get a piece of cheese from her hands. My reaction at first was to stand up straight, tell him NO, and tell him to SIT. He did sit briefly but then decided he would challenge me by running toward me then go back to harrassing my daughter. So, then I used body language. I told him NO and DOWN, and when he made a move to turn away and ignore me...I straightened up and took 2 big steps toward him. I stopped just short of him, put on the "I know you didnt" face and stood there until he layed down. He layed in that very spot until I told him he was allowed to get up. Making yourself look bigger and using the body language that says "I MEAN BUSINESS" is often more effective than verbal commands alone.

On the opposite side, body language can also let a puppy know that you are not scary and that you are not trying to be intimidating. If you have a fearful puppy...please feel free to ask me how to use positive body language...I would be glad to help if I can.

how old was your puppy when you started training him on come and sit? I can't seem to get Kali to pay attention long enough to learn either of those. She is doing really good on the potty training, I give her a treat when she does go when she is supposed to. Any advice????

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Hi there, go back a couple of posts on this thread. You may need to teach your puppy the "attention" command. I have posted about that and much more on this thread so please feel free to go back and read it all as a guide.

I started training chewy at 8 and a half weeks, and he has done really well with it.

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Doggy Hormonal Outrage...lol. What can happen and what to do.

Hi everyone, as a part of this training thread I have decided to share some things that are happening now with Chewbacca and what I am doing to help alleviate the frustration that Im having.

As I have said before Chewy is a great dog and although he is driving me batty in the last couple of weeks its nothing that I havent done some creative thinking to work on. I pick on him in my posts but I still think he is a wonderful dog.

Before I go any further I think its only fair to mention that we have female dogs living close to us on all sides and some are fixed and some are not, so Im sure this is a part of what is causing his behavior as he is now having surges of male dog hormones.

Ok so on to the fun stuff...lol. Here are some signs that your male dog is "coming into his own."

Dramatic change in behaviors...like challenging authority more than normal. They may revert to puppy behaviors such as chewing, nipping, mouthing, extreme digging, barking/howling excessively, and of course humping. (while huskies dont usually try humping their owners they may display this behavior by humping large toy animals, and the faces of other dogs or themselves.) They may also become very bossy and rough with children, other pets and you...displaying so called "dominance" to everyone and everything. They may also begin to mark things or just plain pee in the house, even if they have not done it in months (chewy had not peed in my home for 7 and a half months, but did it twice within 24 hours.)

In the last 2 weeks I have experienced several of these behaviors from Chewbacca, and they have slowly worsened. I was noot expecting this behavior yet (thinking he'd at least be 1 year old before it started)but it can happen earlier and it has.

At first I was on the forums asking around because I was so upset with how bad it was becoming but now i have just followed my own advice...lol.

With the newest behavior starting 2 days ago (peeing in the house) I had finally reached my boiling point. I always tend to have some "simple Solution" dog/cat spray on hand to clean it up, but I was still not happy with this happening. After 12 days of chasing him around my home and yard spouting commands at him about every 30 seconds, I realized that in my frustration, I had become a crazy lady and that obviously this was not working...but I had to do something because I still had 8 days until his neutering.

Now, I am back to the last point where we are all successful. I have now put Chewy back on Leash and Crate training. I dont imagine I will need to do this for more than a weeks after his surgery but for now this is the only way he remains calm and follows the rules. So if you find yourself in my situation I highly reccommend that you schedule to get your boy neutered as soon as possible (unless you are breeding him) and then go right into strict leash and crate training.

Please go back to the begining of this thread and read through my leash and crate training postings if you want to know how to "nip this problem in the bud" quickly.

Your pooch may be slightly peeved to be spending some extra time in the crate when they havent in awhile and they may be miffed about you being on the end of their leash both inside the house and out in the yard but the longer you let these problems go...the worse and more frustrating they will become. Chewy went from slightly more spunky than usual 15 days ago, to absolutely obnoxious and naughty 3 days ago. With some leash training and some extra rest time in his crate the last few days i have been able to manage to keep him out of trouble and stop him from marking in the house.

I will update you all when chewy has gotten done with his surgery and he is back on track again.

[Sarah]

great post

Good luck at the vets Chewey!

[aikibujin]

Great post! I have learned a lot from reading through this. To keep this great thread going, I have a question to ask.

My housemates picked up a wandering husky puppy a couple of weeks ago, she didn't have a collar and no one came to claim her. My housemates already have a 9-month old St. Bernard, so I plan to adopt her as soon as I return in two weeks or so. By then she would have spent 3 or 4 weeks with my housemates, who probably hasn't been training her very much. So my question is, how soon should I try to start her training such as leash training and basic commands (sit, down, etc)? Should I try to train her as soon as I get home, or should I spend a few days bonding with her first?

[Chewbacca_&_me]

Great post! I have learned a lot from reading through this. To keep this great thread going, I have a question to ask.

My housemates picked up a wandering husky puppy a couple of weeks ago, she didn't have a collar and no one came to claim her. My housemates already have a 9-month old St. Bernard, so I plan to adopt her as soon as I return in two weeks or so. By then she would have spent 3 or 4 weeks with my housemates, who probably hasn't been training her very much. So my question is, how soon should I try to start her training such as leash training and basic commands (sit, down, etc)? Should I try to train her as soon as I get home, or should I spend a few days bonding with her first?

This Is a very good question to ask, and Im glad you asked. Here's the thing about a husky...THE PERSON WHO SPENDS THE MOST TIME WITH THEM IS THEIR HUMAN. lol. For your husky all time you spend with them is bonding time. Training is bonding as well. Get started as soon as you can, the puppy will adore you for it. Leash and potty training (and if you prefer it a little crate training) should come first and start immediately. Some huskies adapt very quickly to rules no matter when you start, but for most of them the longer you wait the more work you have to do to get them off to a good start. Welcome to the forum, and please feel free to post any and all of your questions.