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help with husky

Posted December 30th, 2009 by smoke143
in

hi i would love some help with one of the problems we are having with our husky. He is eleven months old and every time someone sits or lays on the floor he jumps on them and starts bitting them and won t stop. We have tried to ignore him but that does not work. Could really use some help on how to stop this. Thank you

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re: help with husky

Aidan's picture
On December 30th, 2009 Aidan says:

I take it these are inhibited bites that do not break skin? If they are uninhibited bites then you really should see a behaviourist, even if they aren't then professional help would be useful.

It's hard to ignore being bitten. Some people recommend yelping like a pup would if bitten too hard but I've found with drivey breeds (and a Husky would fit that description) that this can elicit more biting. This article suggests an effective alternative you might wish to try if the biting isn't too "serious":
http://positivepetzine.com/puppy_biting

Of course you must teach him what you would like him to do INSTEAD of biting when you sit or lay on the floor. Decide what that is first, whether it be going to a mat, retiring with a chew toy, sitting, or even laying down in front of you. Then teach that behaviour, make it strong, put it on cue, then cue it every time you sit or lay on the floor. Here's the trick though, instead of just going to sit or lay on the floor, make it easy for him and just pretend you're about to sit or lay on the floor. Work towards being able to actually sit, then lay on the floor using approximations of what it looks like to get down on the floor. Start off with short durations, then build at a rate that he can SUCCEED at. If he is failing, you are moving ahead too fast.

I suspect you will be using this basic plan a lot for a lot of different things. A good husky like this requires a smart, pro-active owner willing to provide direction and outlets for his drives. He will teach you a lot about dogs.

I think you might benefit from teaching him how to play tug games according to the rules, I've written a comprehensive article on the topic here:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/727

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

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