Siberian Huskies are known for their breath-taking looks combined with a recognizable intelligence.
The game of thrones trend made a lot of people tend to make the decision of having a husky or any dog breed that resembles the dire wolves appeared on the show.
Yes, the show is over, but still plenty of people still under the charm of the ‘dire wolves’ in the series and looking for having one for themselves.
Even if your interest in owning a husky is not because of the series, you can’t deny you fell under the charm of their looking, right?
If you are getting one of these astonishing creatures, you need to know that it comes with a huge responsibility. As pack dogs, huskies are known to need more careful considerations for the training part. So, here are some dog training tips that will help you with this stunning breed.
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Let Your Husky Knows Who Is The Alpha
One of the first dog training tips regarding this breed is to let them know who is going to be in charge from day one. Siberian Huskies are famous for being stubborn, with a strong will, and fighting for their independence. For these reasons, they are hard to train.
A husky owner should have the knowledge of the hierarchical order of authority that must be in a husky’s life. If you didn’t get your puppy or dog to understand that you are in charge, in a lot of situations you won’t be able to take control of.
Demonstrating strong- will traits along with confidence is a key success element in training your dog.
Giving your dog the feeling that you are equal is not the right thing to do. Huskies tend to follow their leader, only the leader’s commands are respected. So, you need to let your dog or puppy see you as the leader.
You could impose this idea with actions like entering a room first then your dog, eating then giving him his food, or even moving your dog out of your way.
Sometimes you may find your husky becomes aggressive as an attempt of attaining the leadership from you by a pecking order. This includes biting or any other aggressive behaviors.
Never ignore such incidents and make sure your dog obeys your commands Every.Single.Time.
Dog Training Tips: Be a Good Alpha and Award Your Husky
Good behaviors are what make a dog ‘well behaved dog’. In order to get our canines to act well, we need to use a positive way to ensure the results.
Positive reinforcement is to ensure your dog is getting a tasty or entertaining treat combined with encouraging voice for every good behavior he makes. ‘Respect training ‘ or positive reinforcement will motivate your dog to repeat the action you rewarded him for.
Don’t wait too long to give your dog the reward as this may confuse him and lead to misunderstanding the purpose of the treat.
Try to always redirect your husky to good behavior when he is doing something wrong. Use the rewarding and luring systems as they are among the safest ways to train your dog. Luring or rewarding won’t make your pooch afraid or scared.
In case he failed to do a command or any other thing just hold the treat he failed to get and don’t give it to him. Direct him to do another thing and when he does it, then, give him the treat.
What to Do When Your Husky Is Not a Good Boy
As you reward your dog for good behaviors, Discipline should be there when he shows a bad behavior or unwanted manner. Never use violence with your dog. It is not only abusive but also will make your husky lose his eagerness to obey your commands.
Corrective behavior is more effective and without any negative effect on you or your pooch. Regulate your dog’s resources such as toys, chews, and treats until he responds to the corrective method.
Being firm when you give a command like ‘No’ or ‘Stop’ is necessary but don’t use an angry tone while being firm.
To obey any given command is a must, the moment you give your husky a specific command but he refuses to do it, ignore him and leave for minutes then come back again and give the same command. Be consistent and repeat the command until your dog obeys.
If your pooch is stubborn as a mule and still doesn’t want to obey, take him to the time-out area and don’t let him communicate with anyone till he obeys the command.
Dog Training Tips: Settle on Your Vocabulary
Just like communicating with other humans, using words or simple phrases are a way to enhance the bond between you and your dog. Communication will help in attaining a good relationship with your pooch and get him to understand what he needs to do perfectly.
To teach your dog words like ‘sit’ or ‘stay’ is called dog obedience training. It starts with the very basic commands like sit, stand, yes, no or come and vary till it gets to the point where it is high-level competition among clubs that is more complex and accurate like those happen on Kennel clubs.
It is important to start this kind of training as soon as possible. With husky and other dogs breeds like Bloodhound, it is relatively difficult to train them, especially for obedience.
Starting early with your pup will give you a head start to impose your leader’s personality on your dog. Act as if the puppy is a little baby who needs you to be in charge of everything.
Begin your obedience training with one command at a time, don’t teach your dog too many words, give him the time to comprehend and understand a command well then, you can shift to a new one.
Use treats and praise to encourage your dog to do the given command. Luring and rewarding methods will help you a lot with obedience training. To read more about what basic training your puppy or adult dog will need, check What Basic Training Your Dog Needs?
Don’t Do This Within Your Treating System!
A common mistake some pet owners fell for is that they show the treat for their dog before giving him a command and this is wrong. This way you are bribing your dog not reinforcing him to do the command. Using reinforcement is right while bribing is totally wrong.
Your dog will get the idea that he is doing the command for the sake of getting the treat, and the reason you are seeking as a pet owner is totally different. Your dog should obey you for the seek of pleasing you not to get a treat.
So, keep in mind to stay away from bribing and focus on letting your dog get the positive reinforcement method instead.
Potty Training
This is among the training that takes some time. House training your dog is one of the essential training you need to consider even before getting your buddy. And like every other training, it is better to start as early as possible.
Putting a feeding schedule and another one for the times you need to take your dog out to eliminate will help you in avoiding unnecessary accidents. Puppies need to go out a lot of times to discharge and husky is not different.
Try to get your puppy as much as possible so you don’t get any “surprises” at your house. Don’t worry this won’t last forever, it shall pass. When your dog gets to control his bladder for a long period of times it won’t be that hard. Check How to Potty Train a Puppy to Go Outside: Start Your Potty Camp! to get it all about how to potty train your husky.
Crate and Leash Training
Consider using a crate to limit your dog access to many places in the house. Also, your dog will consider this crate as his den if he is trained properly. Get a crate that fits your puppy and doesn’t have a lot of space so he doesn’t use it for eliminating.
Crating is not as bad as most people think, in How to Crate Train A Dog | The Ultimate Guide, it shown how crate is not bad as most of the people think, in fact, it helps the pet owner in many crucial incidents and that’s what exactly happened to our writer herself! Check to see how crating is beneficial when used properly.
Leash training is one of the relatively easy training that will actually help you with dealing with your husky.
It could be used as another way to show your dog that you are the leader and the one to command. Adjustable Police Tactical Dog Leash will help you in achieving this goal, with its lightweight and high-quality nylon used, it is a winning choice not only for huskies but also for other dog breeds.
Dog Training Tips: Consistency Is The Key
To set a routine for your dog will help your husky to maintain the good behaviors he is learning. Good manners are a result of repeated positive response for your training, and with consistency, you will absolutely nail it!
A routine is the best way to keep achieving consistency, it is good for you and your buddy. It gives both of you a regular training schedule for everything; potty, feeding, exercising and playing, and this will give you both more time together and will make your expectations for your husky realistic.
In a Nutshell
Training your Husky is a lot of work, but trust me it is worth it. Huskies are intelligent, energetic and a beautiful breed that a lot of people have a thing for their mesmerizing eyes. So here are dog training tips tailored for people who got under the spell of those dazzling dog breed and can’t grow out of it.
Ever been under a spell of one of those astonishing creatures? Tell us a story about you and the Husky breed.