Hello...and help!! Questions

Maybe I was a bit too harsh and I apologise if I offended @allan. I just feel sorry for both the OP and the puppy, as she came here asking for help as she seems over her head with the puppy.

I do not know what to suggest - all I keep thinking is that if she cannot cope with a 10 week old, what will happen when the puppy gets bigger and stronger.

I find it refreshing that someone who has experience of a puppy of the same breed, took the time to offer an opinion based on his own experience. All too often it is the same small group which provides advice, and the thread closes down. OK, we don't always share the same opinions, but if this forum is to grow, we really need more people to feel free to contribute to the threads.
It maybe that the OP has taken on more than she can cope with, if so, this is the time to admit it and return to the breeder for help - it is so much harder to rehome an unruly 6 or 8 month old puppy. However, she has signed up for training classes, and as Allan has suggested, all the training games that she invents in the meantime have a value in mental exercise and building interspecies bonds.

I certainly wouldnt say i was offended.

i would stand by my original sentiments that things get better as the go on.
Rereading some of the posts i may suggest that physically controlling any dog could be a challenge, perhaps better to use treats etc to get them to do what you want.

Example being to stop pulling (but then again i believe that drive to be in the DNA) rather than hauling back on the lead, walk with a treat in hand and you'll often find the dogs nose is right behind it. Tend to learn very quickly where to hang about to get the easiest access to food.

Hi everyone, it's me, the OP (I'm guessing that stands for something? "Poster"??)
Anyhow, boy! I certainly didn't mean to get people upset or squabbling at each other. I'm sorry.
To answer some of the questions on here:

I live in the Pacific Northwest part of the U.S. I haven't found any Husky/Malamute groups yet, but perhaps the trainer will know of some.

I didn't mean to sound like I thought biting and chewing were abnormal for puppies, although reading back through my post, I can certainly see how I gave that impression! I have actually had many, many dogs during my lifetime, so I know pups chew and bite and that that is normal. What I was trying to get across was that hers seems extreme. We are working on training her not to bite, and it has improved some, as has the chewing. Definitely still needs lots and lots of work, but it is a tad bit better.

The biggest issue right now would be handling her physically, until she becomes more obedient, which I'm hoping training will do. I was not aware how very strong an 18 lb. pup could be! I have had small and larger dogs, but mostly small. And the larger ones were not working dogs, so they didn't pull like she does.

I may have bitten off more than I can chew with her, but I love her already, and I have always wanted a sled type dog. I am willing to put in the work. (I just hope I can physically handle her in the time being!) Although I agree it would be harder to rehome her at 6 or 8 months, I am not ready to give up on her! If I can get her to be obedient through training, I think she will be a wonderful family member. We also live in a very outdoorsy area which has many, many places to take her hiking, etc. And we have 5 acres, so she has plenty of room outside for us to build her a secure play area.

I respect everyone's opinion, and I am grateful for all advice.
Allan, I appreciate your support!
Merry Christmas all!

Are you walking her on a harness or a collar ?

Sounds daft but Huskies/Malamute walk better on a harness have seen few wearing head halti's as well as a harness with double clip lead attached to harness & the head halti just for more control over them in the park.

Hi

I'm using a harness

As with any tool a harness doesn't really train a dog not to pull, they can still pull if determined and when they aren't in the harness they are still going to go back to pulling. Like all tools harnesses are training aids, in that you have to use training to get the pulling to stop.

I have 2 more questions ☺️

1) do you allow your dog to dig? I have read that because it is so instinctual for Malamutes, you shouldn't try to stop them from digging, but rather, show them where it's appropriate to dig. Thoughts? 2) regarding dog runs - due to digging, for those who have dog runs, are they cemented foundation? If you have only a cement border, how deep is deep enough? Or is cement foundation all the way across a must?

Thanks!

Just wondered how you have been getting on?

Thank you for checking in! We are still trying to work on getting her better trained. We were supposed to start our official puppy classes today and arrived to find out the company had let go of their trainer. This really put us in a bad spot. She needs training now! Each day that she gets older is closer to her being set in her ways.
We have taken advice from this thread, a dog training FB group, and local Mal and Husky owners, and are really trying to put it to good use. One of the best pieces of advice, I think, was your advice about sleep. We've been trying to enforce naps. A lot of the time, she just lays there in her crate and doesn't sleep, but I still try , by keeping her in there at least 45 minutes to an hour.
We have switched to a front leading harness in an effort to curb her pulling, but the one we got is a tad big, so she can get out of it. So we'll need a new one.
We are also currently doing training and mealtime as one thing - so she basically has to work for her food - most of the time. We started with sit, and now we're trying to incorporate making her wait until we say okay. We are also trying to keep her to a schedule, like you suggested. Get up, eat/train, potty, walk, nap, play a bit, eat/train, potty, walk, nap, eat/train, potty, play, bedtime...and of course, additional potty as needed (every 1-1 1/2 hrs right now).
The biggest challenges right now are biting, jumping up, and pulling.
Thank you so much for your detailed replies and for checking back in. It was very encouraging to me to hear how far your pup has come in 7 months!

I don't allow my dogs to dig, but they do dig, if I catch them I stop them, I don't want holes all over my garden, it's not breed specific it's dog specific.

Don't runs, if you are planning to have an outdoor run, then you need to make it secure and then some, this breed is know as escape artists they can scale the highest wall and and digging out from under a pen would be easy for them, personally I would not leave my dog outside in a pen ( specially this breed) unattended for the above reasons.

You have to remember this breeds DNA is to pull, you put them in a harness and it gives them an added advantage to pull against the pressure, any tool you use will only work when it's on, you are not teaching the dog not to pull, and a harness on a sled dog is only going to bring its instinct out more.

If it becomes impossible to walk without pulling I would use a headcollar and a double ended lead one end attached to the headcollar and the other to her regular collar , this way you can use both or just the collar when and if needed. But you really need to work on her not pulling now before she gets any bigger.

The biting and jumping again some pups are far worse then others, my current boy has been one of the worst I have ever had..he has been an absolute nightmare for mouthing, all the things that are recommended I.e...yelping turning your back just gave him more licence to do it...what worked for us is to just leave the room walk away from him, as many times as it takes....same with jumping remove yourself from him, if visitors come do not give her the chance to practice this behaviour, either remover her from the room, put a lead on her and when she is calm let her greet visitors.....as I said this breed is extremely independent and can be difficult to contain its exuberance, and can be little gits through adolescence, and I still come back to your statement that you are struggling to control her at such a young age, you have a lot of work to do, can you clarify what you mean by that , is it just walking her or everything !

You could cover top of run, with a concrete base, chain link wire buried into concrete.

Or similar to this on concrete base http://www.kennelstore.co.uk/wooden...d-dog-kennel?gclid=CK3A2pChxNECFe0A0wodrh8J2A

Ill echo the use of a headcollar, We use a halti when near livestock or out with kids etc, She doesnt love wearing it i admit but its better than the workout you get from having her pull.

Having said that we are trying to teach her to pull on command so we can eventually get her working in harness.

She does walk differently in head collar, regualr collar and in harness. they are more than clever enough to learn the difference. The head collar just seems to drain the desire to even pull, its highly effective to correct pulling behaviour but my experience to dats is she doesnt really want to pull at it.

Hi!
When I say I'm having trouble controlling her, I mainly mean the pulling. So when you say that "any tool will only work when it is on her and doesn't teach her not to pull", is there anything that WILL teach her not to pull? Or do you just rely on the tools, like the head harness. And by head harness, are you all referring to a gentle leader?

Yes, or a version of it, there are many on the market, I like the "Dogmatic"

Teaching her not to pull............ there are no tools that will teach her not to pull, tools will help you to stop her pulling but that will be due to a restraint .

I am afraid the only thing to stop her pulling is training and this will take time, you also have the added disadvantage of her breed, but it can be done,

If I was you I would youtube , how to stop your dog pulling , there are lots of videos out there, and will probably help more than us trying to give you tips.

When talking about head collars i mean "HALTI" brand of collar. I havent used any other brands because i haven't ever had a dog that was majorly averse to using it.

Before getting a Halti, when Everest pulled when i didnt want her too i would either stop dead until she stopped and looked at me, (Training her to "look at me" on command helped - adds a lot to other commands too)

Randomly change direction if she was off out in front (effort to have her aware that i was the decision maker on the route not her, lots of rewards and praise for noticing quickly and following suit)

Generally just walking with a treat in hand, she notices after a time and follows with her nose a few yards at my heel then reward etc.

Ive noticed that forward momentum seems to mean everything to her, Pull on her harness and keep moving and she'll bear into it and pull more (like moving a sled i suppose) but pull a dead stop and she tends to come back to investigate/sit down herself (stuck sled???) few quick commands to get her focus on me and off we go....if theres any "give" at all forward she dives into it.

Tools will not stop a dog from pulling, you have to teach them.

There are different methods ie
Stop walking when they pull.
Turn around and walk the other way
you can get their attention with toys or treats.
It’s just a case of finding which one works best for your dog.

The golden rule is to never let the dog get where they want to go by pulling.
At first it will probably take twenty minutes to get five feet’ but stick to it.
As Jackie says there are lots of videos on youtube

I personally don’t use a clicker, but this one will give you an idea.

If you catch your dog chewing on something they shouldn't, interrupt the behavior with a loud noise. Offer them an acceptable chew toy instead, and praise them lavishly when they take the toy in their mouth. Build a toy obsession in your dog. Use their toys to feed them.

When puppies play with each other, they use their mouths. Therefore, puppies usually want to bite or "mouth" hands during play or when being petted. With puppies, this is rarely aggressive behavior in which the intent is to do harm.

Is your dog bored? When dogs get bored they can develop some destructive behaviors. The problem is most of us don’t have actual jobs for our dogs to do. So what happens when our dogs get bored? Luckily there are quite a few simple ways you can keep your dog busy. Is your dog bored? Our dogs were bred to work alongside humans so without proper stimulation they can easily become bored. Luckily there are a few simple games you can play, toys you can try, treats you can make, and tricks you can teach to quickly relieve your dogs boredom. To keep your dog fit both physically and mentally you’ll need to come up with some interactive activities and dog toys to enjoy together.

Hi Allan,
I was rereading this post.
Does your pup still nap in the crate at all?
Mishka is almost 4 months now, and she doesn't seem to want or need to nap much...but I need some time to be able to get ready for the day, get dressed, etc.

Just wondering what would be normal for this age.

Thanks,
Lynnanne