New Husky Owner... HELP!

[HeatherW]

So I'm a new Husky owner, I have a 5 month old 49lb baby boy named Zeus.... my husband really wanted another husky (this is his 3rd, first 2 were rescues, one adult, one pup)! He's super cute, super sweet and has alot of personaliity, but he is STUBBORN and getting BOSSY with my older 3 dogs... need help/suggestions, below is a list of 'issues' I'm experiencing, as I've said I've got other dogs (3) and I grew up with dogs my whole life, I'm an experienced dog owner, but WOW this Husky is something else!

Issues:

1. Difficulty fully potty training: So we have a doggie door and he is 100% potty trained when we are home, lets himself out with the other dogs etc... but the second we leave he insists on pottying in the house 5 feet from the doggie door... we've been using washable puppy pads so its 'an easier clean up' but he's getting big, and we move the soiled pads outside the dog door into the back yard, yet still going on (He's almost 6 months old, got him at 3 months) Any suggestions?

2. Water Splashing: He loves splashing water out of the water bowls around the house, we've taken him to a pool trying to give him a 'water full' but he hates the pool,  yet loves getting water everywhere in our house.... help! I'm sick of my house being wet!

3. Slight 'Bossiness/Aggression with older dogs': We've got a 12 year old Springer, 3.5 year old Lab and 2 year old Lab/Shepherd mix and he's starting to try to 'boss' them but he's getting slightly aggressive, he walks up to them and 'lightly bites them' or snaps at them if they try to play with something nearby him.... we've got him scheduled to get neutered in 2 weeks hoping this fixes this issue but anybody else experiencing this? Will the neuter assist with this?

4. Crate opposing: He escaped his crate 3 days after we first put him in it.  We zip tied it and used clamps to keep the latches shut, but then he started 'freaking out' vomiting and having other intestional issues in it and then proceeding to step in the items and splash them around the crate and nearby walls.... we've resorted to leaving him run our family room (use a gate to keep all the dogs in it) where the dog door is during the day, so far so good, but still nervous leaving a pup run a big room with couches during the day etc.... Is this a Husky thing or is he just a stressed dog?

 

Any assistance would help, I'm really not sure what to do much more around here, he's adorable and all but its getting frustrating!

 

Thanks,

Heather in MD!

[CocoStorm]

1. Difficulty fully potty training:
My Storm is trained to potty at home on pads. He is only consistent after 6 months. But I am very firm and consistent with him whenever he missed.

2. Water Splashing
Same stopped only after 5th months. It's a husky thing. Place a BIG rock to weigh down the bowl.

3. Slight 'Bossiness/Aggression with older dogs':
Same problem with him trying to gain dominance over his 2 years older Shiba Sister. But I consistently shoo him and ask him to stop. He doesn't bite hard but it's dog way of asking each other to play and trying to be alpha.

4. Crate opposing:
Storm can lift the crate and open it up. I gave up crating him. He roams the house and will destroy my living room once I leave the house. My Friend told me that her Husky stopped only after 1 years old. Just remove small items, books etc and buy more Chew bones or toys and wait for him to mature.

Don't be angry, keep cool. Husky is very much like a toddler. Smart, and always trying to learn new things.

Storm is 7 months now and he has matured a lot within the month.

 




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[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Ok so it could be separation anxiety , do u make sure he's gone to the toilet b4 u leave?
If u can find out about water splashing let me know my 7 year old girl still does it now
A firm no and a time out for snapping , fixing won't help n personally I think he's still too young for that
Crate again sounds like it could be separation anxiety

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[Jay]

The potty training was difficult for me too. I am not sure if the puppy pads are encouraging him to potty inside or not.  I would just take away water during the day and make sure he goes potty before you leave.

The water splashing...Kodiak does that and it is indeed annoying.  He will only do it when it's hot out and he comes in from a walk or sunbathing.  If I watch over him he won't but the minute I walk away he takes his paw and splashes all the water out of the bowl!

 

For the crate thing, I thikn that could be separation anxiety.  It takes a lot of work to get over that.  Maybe get the airline style crate?  Where its more like a den? 

[HeatherW]

Thanks everyone! The pottying in the house and the Snapping/aggression issues are of course our biggest concerns, the water and crate issues are annoying but livable, and as long as he continues to 'behave' out of the crate we arent against leaving him in our family room with the other dogs.    We just don't want him going on a puppy pad forever being almost 50lbs and a week shy of 6 months he's going to be big and its already kinda stinky in the house when we get home from this.....  the snapping I'm addressing head on with the firm no and making him lay down, sometimes against his will but we are getting there, just wasnt sure if there was something else I could be doing.  I've thought of a water bottle, as much as he likes splashing the water he hates it in his face, but i dont want him to lash out at the other dogs more if the water bottle makes him angry....

[chelseafan]

Hi, when I was potty training both of mine I only used pads at night, during the day I'd take them out every 30 mins and if they did a pee or the other I gave them lots of praise and a small treat, it took 2 weeks for Cai to be trained and Luka 3 weeks. It was time consuming but they never pee in the house.
Cai used to try and dominate Luka, similar to what yours does and I used to have a strict routine for both of them, I'd walk them early, together and sometimes separately and I'd train them with commands, whoa, gee, haw, stop, walk on etc and they'd be tired when we get home, they would sleep for an hour and then they'd eat breakfast and then we'd play games together. In the afternoons i would train with treats, and then a walk together and then they'd have their dinner. It was very time consuming in the beginning but I found that a routine made them behave better, a bored husky is a destructive husky. I still keep to a routine but as they are 17 months and 15 months I vary things but I've also found that keeping them mentally stimulated calms them down.


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Forgot to add, you could use a safety gate, a dog gate is higher, I use one in the kitchen, it's been a godsend. I tried a crate for a day and Cai hated it, neither of mine have a crate and they sleep in the kitchen, never had any issues.


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[HeatherW]

We leave the puppy pad for the day and they have a doggie gate thats wall mounted, he doesnt mess with the gate, though my Lab is pretty smart and she knows how to open it so we had to rig it closed otherwise she lets them all out to run our house.  The 'room' we have them confined to is 36x14 so plenty big enough, and the dog door to outside (fenced 6ft privacy fence and deck area ) is in the room with them.  We only do the puppy pad because we have carpet and he insists on going in the same spot everyday, but the other dogs use the dog door and we will come home sometimes and hes outside on the deck so he's not afraid to use it, hes just choosing not to.... I mean I've potty trained 3 dogs in the last 6 years and he's the only one I havent had trained in less than 3 weeks....

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Try and find something that will actually clear the smell , if he can still smell his toileting he'll keep going back there i wouldn't force him down he could end up redirecting his snapping towards you , a firm no and removing him from the room will work best

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[wolfpup]

Plain old fashioned washing powder solution works a treat  -  and a LOT cheaper than commercial sprays etc.    Another one for not neutering yet - he is too young and it can cause developmental issued later on.    At least wait until he has finished growing  -   Marley's second birthday is going to be a bit of a nasty surprise for him unfortunately!

[Rachael_Astro]

1. Puppy pads will only teach him that he can toilet inside. Scrap them and go back to basics. Does he suffer from separation anxiety? That could be a cause
2. Try raised dog bowls. Astro used to dig his water everywhere, it's not happened once since I had these
3. My 1 year old husky still bites my 4 year old husky and he is neutered. Things like that I just leave them to sort between themselves unless it starts to escalate
4. That answers my question to question 1! I think it is quite common for a husky to suffer from separation anxiety. Astro suffered with it until he was about 2, and one night I left Koda on his own while I took Astro to the vet Koda had an accident in his crate for the first time. I put padlocks around the frame to prevent escape! Try putting a thick quilt or crate cover as it makes it into a little den where they feel safe. Make him associate the crate with a positive experience, try giving him a Kong with peanut butter in it or treats when he goes in


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[chelseafan]

It does sound like separation anxiety if he's only peeing when you're out of the house. Mine used to follow me everywhere at 5-6 months plus and they'd cry if I went upstairs, then howl if I didn't come back down quickly, so I started to leave the house for 5 mins and come back in making no fuss of them when leaving or returning, I'd let them see me leave and gradually I built up the time that I left them, it took months for them to stop whining, now I can leave for 4 hours.


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[Emma]

1: ice was over six months old before he was toilet trained reliably. However if it's only when you're out it's likely like mentioned already, separation anxiety.
Something to keep them occupied, white noise, an item with your scent on and gradually building up time you're away can help. Bear was just around the one year mark when she overcame it.
2. Not has the water problem other than Ice dribbling pools of it everywhere, lol.
3. When a new dog enters the pack, they try to find their place within the family. They can do it through play or more aggressively. A younger pup in particular can get quite defensive over food and resources as like a toddler they can have the "everything is mine!" Mentality. We fed meals separately as for us that was an issue and then training where they all sat with us and we took turns feeding then treats.
4. Crate training can be tricky, particularly as in this case it's hard to tell if it's separation anxiety and a dislike of the crate or separation anxiety alone. For crate training making it a pleasant place to be, things to occupy them, building up time in there, (basically similar to separation anxiety tips really). I've not tried this one myself but a thunder shirt can help calm stressed out dogs. Not sure how useful it would be in this situation mind you but maybe something to look into if exhausted all over avenues?


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[HeatherW]

Thanks everyone. 

I think  you all may be right, it may be seperation anxiety, I had a lab years ago that had it, but he was destructive to my belongings and to himself, Zeus just seems to get 'stressed' and forget his potty training... I'll try leaving the TV on, I just wasn't recognizing it, since it is manefested ina totally different way this time.... he does carry mine and my husbands socks everywhere, and everyday when I come home the throw blanket I use while watching TV is always on the floor in the middle of the room (assuming he's carrying it around like our socks). The other dogs are with him also so I didn't really consider the anxiety because he has them. 

i guess the water thing I will just have to hope he outgrows, we do have raised water bowls, we've tried the spill proof bowls with the lids.... he flipped them over, took the lid off and chewed it.... guess he didnt like that.... I've started freezing a bowl of water overnight and putting it just outside the dog door (so as he plays in it while it melts it doesnt end up on our floor, I've put it in the house before and came home to a melting ice chunk on our couch).

I've been super addressing the snapping and face biting of the other dogs and its been almost 2 days since I've last seen him do it... I give him a no and redirect him to a toy (that he usually doesnt want), as soon as I see the look like he's about to I stop him and then he goes and pouts away from everyone, but it seems to be working.  Of course this doesn't mean he isnt trying it when my husband and I are at work, he just realizes not to do it infront of us.  And its odd he only was doing it over toys, never over food, they are fed in the same area all at once, and while in the begining he would try to 'share' the other dogs bowls, he's learned his lane and stays in his bowl, now if our older dog doesn't finish he will sometimes try to eat his food but never tries to take it before then.   Our other dogs I guess did have a 'pack/pecking order' before him but there were never any issues, my lab was queen bee and ran 'the pack', our older dog never cared and our 2 year old Mix kinda fell into second place, Zeus challenges our 2 year old mix the most I'm assuming he's bidding for 2nd place, but its gotten aggressive a few times and we've had to break them up, never any yelping or skin breaking but alot of teeth flying. We've talked to our vet about the neuter, while she'd prefer he got to 1 year based on new findings, she agrees being un neutered will only allow the aggression to grow, and checked him out, he has good bone and muscle structure already and she doesn't think it would cause him harm at this point. 

Honestly we are ok with abandoning the crate as long as he continues to not harm the house, which other than pottying he does nothing wrong in our house. Part of the issue is he may see the other dogs out and try to break out for them, we aren't sure.  Our 2 year old Mix had seperation anxiety and he loved his crate (until we moved 4 months ago, he dosnt like change) and we used to keep a black sheet over his crate and that helped him, we tried it with Zeus but he would just pull it through the crate with him or shake the crate so much it would move off while we were gone. 

As far as trying to clean the smells out of the carpet so he knows not to 'go' in the house anymore I've tried Simple Solution and Natures Miracle dog specific cleaners in addition to urine destroyers in both brands.... we had success in getting him to stop going in other areas using Oxy charged laundry detergent (oddly enough) but he didn't stop in this one specific area.  I'm guessing Baking Soda is what you are reffering to?  I'm willing to try anything at this point.  We even put the scented carpet powder down (I hate it) to try to cover up his smell so he won't want to go there.  We are lucky our other dogs are so laid back and aren't trying to mark or go in the house over it or with him.  I mean I've had dogs my whole life, and usually more than one at a time, I've never had a dog I couldnt potty train in less than a month. 

 

[chelseafan]

Huskys are a breed apart, they are stubborn and demanding but I honestly couldn't be without mine.
It'll take time but you will get there with Zeus.


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[HeatherW]

FYI here is a few photos of my litte monster.... and his 'siblings '