|
Husky is driving me crazy, nothing works with him
I adopted my Husky about 2 years ago. The vet thinks he's 10 years old now. He was chipped with old info- his owner must have moved and left him behind. When we got him he was potty trained and everything, and he doesn't bark which is an AWESOME bonus for me. But right off the bat there have been some major quirky issues that are subtle at first, but they've become too big to ignore.
He is an attention whore. Ohhhh my gosh, you can pet him for 30 mins straight and it's not enough. NEVER enough.
He does not like to play with any toys. At all. I've legitimately tried everything- squeakers, crinkly ones, realistic animal ones, frisbies, tug rope, laser pointers, bones, even Kongs with food in them he gets tired of after a while. Playing is a bonding experience and you can get out a lot of energy with it, but he won't do it. So he gets bored. He digs holes, chews up random objects in the house (why doesn't he like bones if he'll chew up my floss?!?!)
So I took these as signs of pent up energy. I can't seem to exercise him either! When we walk it's like I'm not going fast enough, he pulls really bad and gets 10/10 distracted, looking for rabbits to hunt or something. He lunges after other dogs and snaps at them, wanting to fight. I've tried to work on all these things to no avail- he's soooo stubborn. The stop and turn around technique doesn't work. I taught him "look at me", but we start walking again and he instantly pulls. I've worked with him for, not joking, 6 months on this and NADA. STILL A PULLER.
So I take him on bike rides, but he just gets bored. We go for 2 miles and we get home and an hour later he's needy again. It's like it doesn't fulfill him.
SO as a means to work his brain somehow, I've tried to teach him tricks. Wont. Do. It. I taught him lay down but barely. He gets so frustrated, he just whines or won't listen- gets up and walks away.
I feel so fed up. I love dogs, I've had them before. And I love huskies, but I'm at a loss with this one. Why does nothing work? Can anyone relate, or does anyone have any advice?
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Domesticity category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
Hi hon. I used to have a black lab/greyhound mix. The grey hound part in him always needed to run. We got him at barely a year old. But we had him til he got old. We tried to teach him how to walk properly on a leash and how to listen and follow commands but the worst was his pulling and trying to break free and race off. So we hired a personal dog trainer to come to our place a couple times a week til he was trained. These dog trainers know what they are doing. This gal would go out with me as I took him for a walk and show me what subtle things I did wrong that sends mixed messages to dogs. Animals are much more intelligent than we credit them.
Our dog was so well trained that he learned to stay at our side. If he forgot himself and walked a few steps ahead of me when he should walk exactly at my side with his head not straining to be any further past the front of my body, then I only needed to give the command to heel and he would stop and begin back up...yes I said backing up and check to make sure he wasn't even a couple inches further ahead of me. It was hilarious but made walking him fun again. I did add one thing though, I came across lots of neighbors I would chit chat with for a bit and if the dog got antsy and tried to pull ahead, I had stomped a foot as I said 'heel'. So now all I had to do was stomp a foot while conversing with a neighbor, and without my having spoken a word, he would stop pulling, back up and wait patiently. I highly recommend getting a trainor that comes to you rather than taking to a class where other pets and owners are present, especially since you will also need training for how he deals when he sees other dogs on a walk.
I agree that the dog may have abandonment issues. Pets do not forget things like this and it can for sure influence how they act. My daughter has a cat someone left behind when they moved and the landlord asked if anyone wanted the kitten about a yr old. That cat exhibited some issues of being afraid of being alone. However the daughter is well versed in how cats communicate with humans and has done a great job and the cat adjusted wonderfully.
When our dog got really old, he began to act anxious when we weren't home. We tried every the vet suggested, and there was't anything physically wrong, so we tried a toy ball that you can record your voice on to comfort your dog every time they move the ball playing with it (motion activated) but the dog would have to want to play with it, and that did not work. He eventually got so freaked out he was like that when we were at home and trainors could say it wasn't a behavior thing anymore but that like a very old human, he could be losing his mind, the vet agreed and when it got so bad he no longer had any quality of life, we sadly had him put to sleep. Your dog doesnt sound that bad off. So heres a product I saw on facebook some months ago and went searching for as I couldn't remember what it is called. I loved the video of the first one. It might be reassuring to your dog.
So heres the links for Pet Chatz the first is where you contact the pet.
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
And paw call, is when the pet contacts you (if they hopefully don't over do it, lol)
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
and a review of the products
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Consumers on other sites seem to have given it a very high rating.
Good luck with your dog.
]
I can relate some what.
Ten years old is really old especially for a pure breed. We adopted a pound puppy when she was about 9 months old and she too was attention starved for the longest time. These animals are smarter then we give them credit for. If he was left behind once then every time you leave the house he may feel he is being left behind again. So when your home he wants your attention. W
e got in the habit of telling her when we left, we will be back at --- so go up and lay on the bed and sleep. I usually got home first and she would be at the door to great me. My wife would get home just about 5. Tell me dogs can't tell time. About ten minutes of five she would go stand by the door. If my wife was not coming through the door she would come and get me so I would open the door so she could watch for her. I think she heard the car before she saw it for her tail would start to wag then when the wife parked she would start to jump and if I let her out she would walk down the steps and wait for her then jump ,up to be greeted.
Now if you ask me and my wife we will tell you that our dog had us well trained within a few weeks and that is okay for she was really a good dog and very empathetic. We were able to train her a bit. she of course loved ice cream. I would lay on the couch with a cone and I would take a glob in my mouth and force it out between my lips for her to lick of me. Not once did she ever bite me and she was very delicate in licking the ice cream. It was something she only did with me.
Try telling him when you leave that you will be back. When you get home say something like see I told you I would be back. I'm fairly certain that might calm him down when he learns to trust your coming home again. Right now as he sees it you leave and he does not know if you are coming home until you arrive.
At ten years of age he is going to be set in his ways. You might try a chock collar when walking with him and see if that doesn't send him a message. Use the choke collar for a few walks and see how he behaves and then a regular collar and see if he learned anything. But have patients he is and old dog and it takes time to teach him new tricks.
IF he is chewing up furniture give in a time out when you find it. Show him what he did wrong. Have a create to put him in and tell him "bad dog you get a time out. Ten minutes then all is forgiven. BE patient it takes time
]
More Questions: |