Walks, Coprophagia and Pica?

[Xilonen1991]

Hello! Been gone for a bit, but in back. Sorry for the long post  

My fur baby is currently 8 months. She is getting stronger and more energetic each day. However, with that have come some behavioral issues. I'm not sure how to address them. There's a few: 

1) Xilo loves walks, whether it's with her harness or collar. However, as soon as we go down the porch stairs, and at times while we walk; as soon as she feels she's pulling me (or she sees something/ someone and I don't quicken my pace to go chase it too), she turns around and bites the leash. She bites it, pulls it hard, and sometimes she growls  I assume it's at me because I don't let her run free to chase a car or another dog. Very rarely, she has jumped at put her two front legs on the arm with the leash, the proceeds to try and bite the leash when she lets go. (Hope that made sense.) How can I get her to stop pulling and biting while we walk? It's embarrassing, and as it is, I don't think the neighbors (that saw her do this today!) like her very much. They keep their dogs as far away as they can. 

2) (Sorry for TMI) The eating of cat feces. I have seen this three times recently. I think it's cat feces. She sniffs dog feces, including her own, but will make no attempt to eat it. I have seen her eat two dry cat poops and one fresh one. The fresh one she threw up right away. Thank goodness, but she didn't learn her lesson because she ate the second dry one after that. How can I get her to listen when I tell her to leave it? She listens when I tell her to leave other things on the street,  but not cat poop. 

3) The paper problem. Xilo has taken to eating paper. It's only been about a week. She started with receipts. It looked like she was only chewing them, not eating them. Then it seemed like she stopped after we finally caught her in the act. Then, she started grabbing any paper she could find. And actually ingesting it! I caught her and tried to correct her. She did it again. My solution: I have closed the bedroom door. What could be causing her to suddenly want to eat paper? And poop for that matter?!

Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you. 

Xilo at 8 months. 

[booned]

With a pulling dog (from my own experience) there are a few things you can be doing:

• Before walking make sure to exercise your dog in the yard for 10 - 15 minutes to burn off some energy (fetch, tuggy etc.)
• Heel train Xilo:

Simple 'Heel' Training

Start indoors on the lead:

• Put a treat in your hand and put your hand by your side with the leash in the other.
• Walk around your house with Xilo trying to get the treat out of your hand.
• Repeat 'Xilo Heel', praise every 10 steps and release the treat from your hand.
• Keep spare treats in your leash hand so you can quickly continue the training.
• If Xilo gets distracted or moves too far ahead, stop, lure her back to your side with your treat hand.

Start training outdoors in a secluded area with minimal distractions and continue the heel training walking back and forth in increasingly longer stints (5 meters & turn around, 10 meters & turn around, 15, 20 and so on).

You could also purchase a Halti collar for more control on your walks, but some dogs don't like it and will need time to get used to one.

With the eating poop, just keep a supply of treats on your walks and try to spot poop before she does and as with the heel training, let her smell the treat whilst you walk past it and release after. The paper thing is just puppy boredom, give her a better alternative and keep any paper out of reach.

It's important to note that as with any training it is vital that your dog is sufficiently exercised beforehand for the best results.

 

[chelseafan]

Oh I remember those days well [emoji849]
My 2 are well trained but as soon as they see a squirrel a cat a mouse, any prey that takes their fancy all training goes out of the window, typical for husky’s. All I do on a walk is hold them closer as I can judge by their body language when they’ve seen something they want to chase. As for the poop eating, mine used to eat fox poop but now I’m vigilant so as to avoid it. Mine used to try to eat anything they could find, paper, cushions, etc, they do grow out of this and it can be from boredom, when I caught them I’d say no and replace with a toy, I also used ‘what’s this’ which means treat time, so whatever they were doing they’d stop doing it and sit for a treat, still works now. It will get easier as she gets older, you have to have eyes in the back of your head with husky’s.


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[Luna-tic]

First thought is what are you feeding her? I’ve heard it said that dogs eat cat poop because if the cat is fed properly it’s higher in protein than most dog food so is attractive. If it’s a real issue while you’re out then maybe muzzle her? It will probably make your neighbours even more worried lol but they’ll get over it. It’s really quite extraordinary how many dog walkers rush to protect their dogs when they see my husky coming, they pull their dog in, move over to the side, cross over to avoid us and try to excuse themselves by saying it’s their dog that’s the problem “oh he was once bitten by” a big dog, hairy dog, grey dog etc. You just have to smile and keep going.


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[Maz51]

All good advice. Persevere. She's still a pupster.  

Yes, diet may have something to do with it so review what might be lacking in hers? 

No wheat, gluten maise.  A raw bone too twice a week can help and keep her occupied too. Supervise and remove boney splinters.  Frozen raw bones are easier to chew on as it breaks these down too. Remove bones if left andvpop back into freezer in a bag for another time. 

Pick up asap. Maybe.. put the crate base outside... if she poops/wees on that .. tip onto garden, clean off base & disinfect andput back indoors.  THEN, after a while, pick up the mess. Water over the wee dilutes and stops grass going yellow. 

If you catch her DOING it remove her promptly saying No! Out! taking her firmly outside.  

She will learn.  Repetition, patience and quiet handling will get through but you must catch her in the act quickly.  And deal with it. 

Huskies are naturally clean.  But leaving mum at 8 or 9 weeks does not give them time to learn toilet training by mum, so you need to do it from day one.

Can you get a companion for her?  Two together can work faster. 

You don't necessarily need it to be another husky, however other smaller breeds don't always cope with the very high antics of rougher play by huskies, except other huskies, altho' an older dog may well teach them quickly nicer manners 🤗

Good luck!

[Xilonen1991]

On 9/3/2018 at 4:38 AM, booned said:

With a pulling dog (from my own experience) there are a few things you can be doing:

• Before walking make sure to exercise your dog in the yard for 10 - 15 minutes to burn off some energy (fetch, tuggy etc.)
• Heel train Xilo:

Simple 'Heel' Training

Start indoors on the lead:

• Put a treat in your hand and put your hand by your side with the leash in the other.
• Walk around your house with Xilo trying to get the treat out of your hand.
• Repeat 'Xilo Heel', praise every 10 steps and release the treat from your hand.
• Keep spare treats in your leash hand so you can quickly continue the training.
• If Xilo gets distracted or moves too far ahead, stop, lure her back to your side with your treat hand.

Start training outdoors in a secluded area with minimal distractions and continue the heel training walking back and forth in increasingly longer stints (5 meters & turn around, 10 meters & turn around, 15, 20 and so on).

You could also purchase a Halti collar for more control on your walks, but some dogs don't like it and will need time to get used to one.

With the eating poop, just keep a supply of treats on your walks and try to spot poop before she does and as with the heel training, let her smell the treat whilst you walk past it and release after. The paper thing is just puppy boredom, give her a better alternative and keep any paper out of reach.

It's important to note that as with any training it is vital that your dog is sufficiently exercised beforehand for the best results.

 

Thank you. I’m going to try heel training. 

On 9/3/2018 at 8:03 AM, chelseafan said:

Oh I remember those days well
My 2 are well trained but as soon as they see a squirrel a cat a mouse, any prey that takes their fancy all training goes out of the window, typical for husky’s. All I do on a walk is hold them closer as I can judge by their body language when they’ve seen something they want to chase. As for the poop eating, mine used to eat fox poop but now I’m vigilant so as to avoid it. Mine used to try to eat anything they could find, paper, cushions, etc, they do grow out of this and it can be from boredom, when I caught them I’d say no and replace with a toy, I also used ‘what’s this’ which means treat time, so whatever they were doing they’d stop doing it and sit for a treat, still works now. It will get easier as she gets older, you have to have eyes in the back of your head with husky’s.


Sent from my iPhone using Husky Owners

Tell me about it! It’s like having a toddler! 🙂 Thanks, I’m going to try and distract her with a toy- hopefully it works. 

 

On 9/9/2018 at 1:34 PM, Luna-tic said:

First thought is what are you feeding her? I’ve heard it said that dogs eat cat poop because if the cat is fed properly it’s higher in protein than most dog food so is attractive. If it’s a real issue while you’re out then maybe muzzle her? It will probably make your neighbours even more worried lol but they’ll get over it. It’s really quite extraordinary how many dog walkers rush to protect their dogs when they see my husky coming, they pull their dog in, move over to the side, cross over to avoid us and try to excuse themselves by saying it’s their dog that’s the problem “oh he was once bitten by” a big dog, hairy dog, grey dog etc. You just have to smile and keep going.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I feed her Taste of the Wild puppy formula. 

Yeah, they aren’t fond of her as it is. They do keep their distance. It’s fine, though, I’m not fond of their angry-looking dogs lunging at us either. 

On 9/10/2018 at 1:49 PM, Maz51 said:

Pick up asap. Maybe.. put the crate base outside... if she poops/wees on that .. tip onto garden, clean off base & disinfect andput back indoors.  THEN, after a while, pick up the mess. Water over the wee dilutes and stops grass going yellow. 

If you catch her DOING it remove her promptly saying No! Out! taking her firmly outside.  

She will learn.  Repetition, patience and quiet handling will get through but you must catch her in the act quickly.  And deal with it. 

Huskies are naturally clean.  But leaving mum at 8 or 9 weeks does not give them time to learn toilet training by mum, so you need to do it from day one.

Can you get a companion for her?  Two together can work faster. 

You don't necessarily need it to be another husky, however other smaller breeds don't always cope with the very high antics of rougher play by huskies, except other huskies, altho' an older dog may well teach them quickly nicer manners 🤗

Good luck!

Sorry, I’m confused on what you mean (the bolded part).

My girl is potty trained. She doesn’t  eat her poop- she eats cat poop she finds outside. I don’t have cats. 

I would like to find her a companion, but we can’t afford that at this time. 

[Maz51]

Apologies, IDK why that went into bold 🤔😶. I was answering a topic on toilet trng & issues with indoor/inside crate soiling! Will remove post. 🤗