Huge problem when I was walking a husky out two days a week! She does whatever she wants!?

Question

My relative has hired me to walk her husky 2 days a week b/c she doesnt have time to exercise her. She is around 5 years old.

there is a problem. Everytime when I arrived at my relative's house. She keeps barking non-stop in the yard(She is way too happy to see me come). after I entered the yard, she barks even more, and she jumped on me and keep licking me.

Problem 1: it takes me like 15 minutes to put a leash on her since she keeps running aruond and jumping on me. Putting a leash on is like wrestling with her.

Problem 2: when we are outside the house, it seemed like that she is walking me instead of I am walking her. She walks in the front while I tried to keep the speed of her. She just keep pulling me. I always feel like she is going to be off-leash. (She is stronger than me!)

So what should I do? I want her to listen to me, but I dont know how to communicate with her!

Thank you!!

P.S. I dont think this husky is trained b4.

Answer 1

The number one instinct for a husky is to pull. It is what they were bred to do-- pull a sled. Huskies are notoriously difficult on a leash, and need a determined trainer.

If you are big enough, and the dog is not too big and is fairly submissive (and you personally know her this well!), you can put the dog between your legs to hold him still to put the leash on him. It is what mushers do here in Alaska to control their own energetic excited mushing dogs. If the dog has dominant tendencies, don't do this, she will see it as a challenge to her alpha status and could bite you.

One method of handling this dog is to also teach her something that is incompatible with running around and jumping on you. One method is to teach the dog to sit using treats. Get her attention, then hold the food over her head. When her butt hits the ground, say "Sit!" and immediately give her the treat. Do this several times. If she is smart, she feels that when she sits down, she is making you give her the treat. A tiny piece of hot dog or other easy to use food that you can make very small pieces of is best. Don't give her treats that are too big, she will work as well for a tiny treat as a big one, and won't fill up as fast.

If she is not that smart, then you may have to use force. I have included a website which teaches both of these methods.

A pinch collar is what I would reccomend to help get her attention and have more control. Do not let her consistenly pull against you, use jerks to control her...it does not really hurt a dog to pull on the leash like we think it does. Many dogs happily pull on their collars until they can hardly breathe. The trick is to make the pulling less pleasent than not pulling. When the dog charges off in one direction, you can set yourself (if you are big enough) and go in the other direction. The force of this switch in directions amplifies your own force by a significant amount. It may seem cruel, but getting your own shoulder dislocated by a dog that catches you off guard on the leash is a worse consequence. Going in different directions and therefore administering enough force to the dog to make it unpleasent to charge around disreguarding you will cause the dog to eventually not pull on the leash. Other methods are:
You might teach her to heel using motivational methods, like treats or a toy. "If you stay in this spot beside me, I will reward you with a treat (or toy)." Much of what works for her will have to do with how her brain works. What works well for one dog is useless with another.

Answer 2

When you first get their try not to pay attention to her, she is really happy to see you because she knows she is going for a walk and someone is paying attention to her.
Try to find something that you can sit down on and let her just be excited; once the excitement is over she will mellow out at that point you can play with her, I wouldn't walk her until about a half hour you arrive, play and love her up.
Once the half hour is up put the lead on her and go for your walk, the pulling my stop or may not if the pulling does not stop this dog then needs some basic obedience training on a lead.
Don't give her any treats until after the walk, Huskies in general are hyper active.
You may want to think about roller blading with her too, Huskies love to run, once you get the basic obedience down.
Good luck

Answer 3

I have a 2 year old Husky named Timber. He is not very good on a leash either. He's very full of energy and when I do take him, I have the same problem as you, he walks ME!

I don't know about your relatives husky, but mine is crate trained. It's his bed. I don't let him out of his bed til I get his leash on him. If he is out, he fights me. He just wants to go.

When the dog jumps on you, put your knee up to block it and tell her NO. BE FIRM. When she does something good, like lets you put the leash on her, praise her to high Heaven, maybe have a treat or two too. Huskys respond better to it.

There is a good site that has a lot of good information on Huskies and behaivor issues with them. When I first got Timber, they even called me to tell me how to deal with him. They are called Tails of the Tundra..their link is http://www.siberescue.com/

Good luck!

Answer 4

very simple as she is wont listen to u now...she knows that ur takin her for a walk so she is excited...and she reacts even more...she knows u will let her do as she wishes..so she over dos it...so the next time u put on the leash dont take her out b4 that make her walk around inside the yard or compund for sometime till her excitement is down...and everyime she pulls u ...u say a loud no and pull her my the leash...amke her feel that she is wrong...do this a couple of times when ur in and when u go on the road...keep pullin her back by the leash everytime she trys to pull...this will work try it...

Answer 5

Ok Here's what you can do, and I know this is fine to do. My aunt and uncle do it and they are vets. It's not that drastic.

When you go to get the leash bring a few treats, but when she comes up running, DO NOT turn around. To a dog that tells in your ignoring it, and it will try to get your attention even more. When she runs to you stick your knee in the air so when she jumps her chest or head or w/e hits your knee, or you can stick your foot out. When she gets tired of hitting w/e she'll stop. We trained our dog Sarah like that, she used to jump on everyone.
When she comes and is good after you get her to stop jumping pull a treat out and give it to her and snap the leash on.

As for the pulling...look into a "Gental Leader" Its not called a German leader. It simply goes over their snout, and clips around their head. Ask where ever you buy it from to help you fit it to her. They are not expensive and can be found at just about any pet store. Don't be suprised when you put it on her for the first time she paws at it, or trys to get it off, no dog likes it. Keep it on while shes in the house so she gets used to it. She might also lie down when its on, and not want to move. It's normal, they don't like it. When you go to use it and walk her when she pulls just pull back. Give her a good pull the first few times, her head my jerk back but thats because it works by pressure points. When she knows it's going to hurt when she pulls make the tugs less and less forceful. Don't be afraid to pull if she needs it though.

HOPE THIS HELPS!!! Any questions e-mail me!
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Answer 6

Well, what you need to do, when walking, is to hold her back and keep the leash high above her, touching the collar to her jawbone. It shows dominance and that you're not going to let her get away. If you can't do that, every time she starts doing that stuff, just stop and hold your ground until she calms down.

About the collar thing, you need to yell, "Sit!" or "No!" whenever she jumps on you. The K-9 police trained dog my boyfriend has learned not to jump on me, all because I showed dominance over him.

And barking, just "Shh!" her or ignore it. Barking is very unlikely to be fixed.

Answer 7

Turn your back to her when she jumps up. Tell her to come and sit. If she doesn't, turn your back on her and walk away. Try from a different area of the yard. If she still is hyper then sit and don't give her any attention. She will come to you and want you to pet her but don't! Only give her commands and don't pet her.
As for the pulling, I would get either a non-pull harness for her or a Halti Leader that goes around her snout and back of her head. If she pulls, they both tighten like a choker, but release when they stop pulling.

Answer 8

sounds like the poor husky just wants some one to give her some attention. Try taking the dog to an enclosed area like a baseball field were you can close the gates and let the dog run. I have a 5 year old Samoyed he pulled me around too till I took him to the baseball park and let him off the leach and run. Northern breeds like to run. Try that .

Answer 9

my son has a husky which I watch and take care of all the time, that is normal. they love to run, and when I walk our husky she pulls too. I just hold a tight leash on her so she can't really go far ahead of me. she is 3 years old now. Huskys are very smart dogs. just don't let her loose without the leash on.

Answer 10

my mom always told us that if you want a dog to let you be the master you need to have the dog sit down ... and you need to stand over it have your legs right next to the front legs and put your hand under the nose (bottom jaw) and have the dog look at you and you say " im the boss not you" ... i never really had to do it but you could try it ... also you could try when the dog starts to walk further than you kind of jerk the leash back to get him/her to slow down and get them to listen to you... maybe you should just stop by a few times a week other than just when you walk it so that its not soo excited to see you ....
best of luck

xoxo
Emily