Just got a 9 mo. old Husky. We're having safety issues. Please help!?

Question

The dog is an over all well behaved dog. But I am having two problems with him. I have read some about dogs online but need help in two areas.

First, I have an 8 year old cat and an 9 week old kitten. I was told the dog was good with cats. But the dog has been chasing them. I have had to physically grab him by the collar to get him to leave them alone. I also yell "no" very firmly. Today he hurt the kitten when he tried to chase her. Since then I haven't let the kitten out of my sight. But she's a kitten and likes to pounce and play. I can't keep her holding her all day. What can I do to keep the dog from chasing the cats?

Also, the dog likes to bolt out the door and not come back. Yesterday he was almost hit by a car as we tried to get him back inside. I am fearful that he is going to get hurt because we live in Alaska and have a lot of moose around this time of year. How can I teach him to not bolt and to listen?

Classes don't start till January. Need help NOW!

Answer 1

Good with cats. Sigh. Whoever told you this didn't know what they were talking about.

Most northern breeds (husky-types) are NOT good with cats. A select few may do well with cats that they are raised with, but all other cats are not considered part of their 'pack', and therefore are viewed as prey.

Please keep your cats and this dog seperated. In my 25+ years experience with northern breeds, you will NOT be able to teach the dog to accept the kitten as part of his pack. The kitten will be the one to suffer, will likely be killed. You may be able to teach the dog to ignore the kitten while you are in the room, but once you leave, all bets are off.

Crate the dog and/or the cats, or pen the dog outside when you are not home.

As for the door. This is something that will take a lot of work, but can be done.

Teach the dog he is not to go out the door at any time unless he first sits down in front of it. Put a short lead on him and take physical hold of him before the door is opened, even if the door is being opened to let him out.

When he is outside, he needs to ALWAYS be on a leash or behind a sturdy fence. Sibes are known escape artists, and as you have found out, once they hit their stride, they don't listen to calls to come back. The only way to prevent them from running off is to physically contain them, at all times.

You should, with patience and persistence, be able to obedience train your dog. Sibes are intelligent, but the bore rapidly with repetitive exercises. You have to keep the obedience lessons entertaining for them, or they will find 'distractions' anywhere they can while you are having lessons.

But even the highest trained Sibe in the Obedience Ring will run off if given 1/2 an opportunity. This is a breed that HAS to be contained.

Here are some sites:

Answer 2

Too bad you didn't do your research on this breed of dog before getting one. I have 2 huskies. Had you done your research, you would have found out the following: Huskies are predatory by nature and may try to kill small animals - kittens, rabbits, squirrels, etc. They generally do not like nor do they get along with cats. They exception to this may be if, and this is a big IF, they are raised with a particular cat, then they MAY get along with that cat, but usually not any other cat. Both of my huskies hate cats, and I would never trust them alone with one. About the only thing you can do to keep your dog from chasing your cats is to keep them separated at all times. As far as bolting out the door, that is what huskies do. I can tell my dogs to "stay" and they will usually stay long enough for me to go in or out the door without any problem; however, I would not trust them alone in front of an open door. Left to their own devises, they will bolt out the door. Once they do get out, they generally like to run and run and run. Because they typically do not have a good sense of direction, when they finally do stop running, they are completely lost, and have no idea how to get back home. If you have a PetSmart near you, check with them about training classes for your dog. Some of the PetSmarts have on-going classes that you can start at any time. Best of luck to you and your dog.

Answer 3

Your sister is hitting your dog? Who on earth told either of you that this is ok? It certainly wasn't any responsible breeder or trainer. Secondly, dogs don't magically know how you want them to act while outside. And they don't magically do it. It takes tons of obedience training and constant work. And some dogs NEVER have reliable recall. He shouldn't be "getting out". If your family can't properly contain him, then you either need to find him a new home or figure out a way that he's not running out all the time. This is not acceptable. I'm sure none of you wants a $5000 vet bill for if he gets hit by a car or ingests the rat poison the neighbors just put down. Third, you should be happy that you have a friendly dog. He'll probably bark when he feels the need to. It doesn't sound like your family could even remotely handle a dog that was even slightly more defensive or protective, so be happy with what you have. Fourth, you take away his toys and treats AND scold him because you haven't trained him? How is this the dog's fault? Well, you've already given me a thumbs down, so you won't be reading this anyway, so I won't even bother to continue. You don't want help. You want someone who is going to tell you what you want to hear and magic. Sorry, kid, but you won't get that from me.

Answer 4

i have just got a 12 mo husky and she does not try to escape at the moment, but who knows. from everything i have heard and read they are expert escape artists and will not come back until they want to if at all. my husky does not listen if she is doing something more interesting or does not see any logic in what i am asking of her. huskies are so much more intelligent than they make out!!!

with the cat situation i have 2 cats too, i have put a baby gate on the bedroom door so they have space to escape to if she decides to chase them. i fill a plastic drinking bottle with gravel or small pebbles, then when your dog is about to chase your cat shake it firmly near his head and shout no, the noise and command should distract him. they don't like the noise either and will associate the bottle with the noise as soon as you pick it up. well it seems to work for mine!! a water spray/gun can help too

good luck

Answer 5

Start working on the stay and come command at home. If you can get him to associate your doorway or whatever boundary you give him as a stay then you're on your way. Huskies are pretty stubborn so you'll have to keep on top of things.
With the kittens, try holding your puppy still in one place and allow the kitten to approach him so that he gets use to her. It's instinct for your puppy to chase, just be patient. You can also try petting your puppy and keeping him still while you have a friend play with the kitten and get him running around. Have your husky get use to the kitten running and no being able to chase it. Good luck.

Answer 6

Door charging (or “bolting”) is an easy fix and you need to get a grip on it before she gets smushed by a car.

Your current punishment method doesn't work because she knows that when you do (finally) catch her, she is going back into the crate for an hour. In her mind she knows that she had better make tracks fast so she doesn't get stuck in the crate for an hour. Your correction is coming too late. You're not really trying to get her to stop running around; you are trying to keep her from running out the door.

First of all, you need to have in mind a command that tells the dog that it is ok to go outside. I just use "OK" and a hand gesture to let my dogs know that it is allowed for them to exit the door. Unless they have the "OK", they don't get to go outside.

The materials that you need: a properly fitted slip (chain) choker and a 6' nylon leash. Anything else that anyone else tries to sell you is a gimmick (clickers, remote collars, special whistles, etc.) and is just taking the place of a $5 collar and a $15 leash that will last you for the rest of YOUR life, not just the life of the dog. These leeches are preying upon people's ignorance of basic canine behavior modification. They are making stupid amounts of money because most people are too lazy to crack open a book from the library to learn how to work with their dogs.

Put a properly fitted slip (chain) choker on the dog so that the “live end” (the part that gets longer and shorter) is coming toward you thru the “dead end” (the part the doesn’t move) when the collar is on the back of the dog’s neck and he is seated on your left hand side. This will allow the collar to release immediately when you let tension out of the collar. If the collar doesn't release immediately and completely when you release tension from the leash, then you have the collar on backward and are risking injury to the dog. A properly fitted choker is big enough to go over her ears with slight resistance but not big enough for her to just lower her head and it slips off.

DO NOT remove the collar after training. She will learn VERY quickly that if she isn't wearing a collar, you can't correct her. In my experience, a properly fitted collar doesn't pose a risk of injury, although there are a thousand horror stories (none of which can be proven) to the contrary. In over 20 years of training and handling and having worked more than 150 dogs thru AKC obedience competition certifications I have NEVER seen a dog injured by a properly fitted collar.

Attach a 6' nylon leash to the moving end of the slip choker and open the door. As soon as she makes it to the end of the leash you should pull back on it sharply (not enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention) and shout "no" then bring her back inside by pulling her to you on the leash. Close the door. Make certain that the collar has released. After a couple of times you should be able to tell that it has released just by looking at the collar.

Get her to sit on your left side. Praise her for being close to you. Open the door again and if she makes a dash for it, do exactly the same thing as you did before. It should break that bad habit in a matter of a few minutes. In all of my years of training, I have never had to do this more than 5 times in a row.

ALWAYS return the dog inside by pulling on the leash, not carrying them. This reinforces that you are the one giving the commands and that they are to do as you say. You ARE the one with the larger brain, after all.

ALWAYS make her sit on your left side. This allows you to use your right hand (the one 90% of people use to do most things) and gives them a single, known, reinforced point of reference for them to return to with you.

ALWAYS praise her for doing what you want her to do. Dogs LIVE for praise. Punishment sucks. It's supposed to. Your Praise to Punishment ratio should be about 20:1 OR MORE, meaning that you should be praising ANY good behavior at least 20 times more often than you are punishing bad behavior. They get the idea of accepted boundaries very quickly when they get "good luvins" every time they are doing the right thing.

DO go to your local library and get a book on dog training and USE the information in there. The only real difference between you and a "professional dog trainer" is that they have read the books and applied the knowledge where you haven't yet.

Dog training and behavior is not difficult to understand or modify. Being a "trainer" is not a difficult thing to learn to do. It just takes a little knowledge and application of that knowledge.

Answer 7

a shock collar. It's more human than beating him and he will learn to listen. Husky are an independent breed and are more hunter than pet than some other breeds. Be careful he may take off and not come back

Answer 8

Check out the Dog Whisperer on his website He is awesome !
http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/tips/index.php
He has a book out and some DVDs that are wonderful. You have to be the pack leader - not the dog. He can show you how to take charge and be their leader. He has done episodes on both these problems on his show.

Answer 9

LMAO!!!

You were LIED TO!!!!

*OR*....."good w/cats" meant "KILLS 'EM FAST!" LOL!!! Sounds good to *me*!

CONFINE the cats *&* the DOG!!! When not under *DIRECT* supervision!!!
Use choke/prong collar to CORRECT the prey-drive!

Teach DOWN-STAY for bolting problem.
KEEP choke-collar & LEAD ON at ALL TIMES(EXCEPT when CRATED!) & NAIL HIM!!!!

Answer 10

Try calling a vet... try training and having him get to know you. Teach him Sit, Stay, e.t.c.