Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Georgi
May 23, 2008

Hi, My Husky is a lovely affectionate dog. BUT he is a terrible thief. He will steal anything from food to socks, knickers, rubbish, well anything he takes a fancy to. Now comes the problem, if anyone tries to take whatever he has stolen off him. He will lunge at them growling and bearing his teeth, today he stole an empty bird feeder and when my elderly mother forcefully told him to leave it he did but then suddenly turned round and ran towards her bearing his teeth. He sort of leaped at her but she side stepped and he ran back to the feeder. She got it off him by spraying him with the hose so he ran away. Is this a good idea or not? It really frightened her. He has never bitten anybody but has mouthed them hard enough to leave a mark. So far he has only ever showed this nasty side with things he has stolen, never with his own toys and will happily let you play with him with his toys. As I have young nieces and nephews who love playing with him I must get this sorted before it gets any worse. He is 19 months old. He is quite obedient for a husky. He will sit and stay and go down, and his recall is ok up to a point, I always make him sit and wait for his food, which he is very good at.
I hope someone can give me a bit of advice

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
May 24, 2008

Hi Georgi!

I bet your mother was very scared of your Husky when he lunged at her. Using hose was a good idea in emergency cases like this. However, I would not use hose or water every time when you want to take things away from him.

The reason why your Husky sits and waits for food is that he gets a big reward by doing that. However, when you take things he has in his mouth, he will loose what he has in exchange of nothing good for him. He even gets scared by hosing water. He lets the thing go but it is not his choice. In other words he is forced to do so. I would like my dogs to let go of things not by being forced but by their choices. This all comes with training your dogs.

I would practice "Leave it" and "Drop it" with your dog every day. I wrote how to do this yesterday as my response to someone else so I am not repeating here. If you are interested please read the following link.

[url]http://www.kingdomofpets.com/dog/forum/dog-behavior-problems/548-dog-plays-keep-away.html[/url]

Once your Husky learns "Leave it" and "Drop it", have your mother and your nephews and nieces practice that under your supervision. Your Husky should learn to obey not only to you but also all of your family members and friends. I think training using praises and rewards such as treats and toys is easy to do and works really well as long as you are consistent and patient.

Good luck

Siberian Husky possessive and aggressive