A couple problems with the Siberian

[Samio]

I have a puppy Siberian Husky and she's having some behavior problems. First of all she constantly pees on the floor. She usually can hold her poop till it's time to walk her but she pees, and I mean alot. Whenever I see her I immediately know she is going to pee. And not just once, two or three times, maybe four, in only a couple of minutes. She also doesn't listen when I tell her no. Like earlier today, there were guests in the living room and she was bored in the basement so I brought her up to my room. She kept slashing at the door to go play around the house and just wouldn't stop. I told her NO! a thousand times but she would just stop, look at me for a second, and continue clawing at the door. I even smacked her on the butt a couple times but she persisted. Then, she kept jumping up on my bed. But she was out in the rain earlier so she was kind of wet and plus I just don't want her to learn to lay on my bed so I told her NO!, but she wouldn't listen. I started nudging her by her collar to get off and she would jump off and get right back on. After I did that a couple times she began growling at me. She also screams really loud when she's in the basement. She doesn't bark much, just yells and sometimes howls.

I don't like scolding her all the time and it also gets tiring to keep yelling the same thing over and over again. But I don't want to just ignore it because she'll get use to doing what she wants.

Another thing that isn't really that bad but concerns me is that she is extremely shy. I mean EXTREMELY shy. If a person she's never seen walks up to her outside to pet her, she goes crazy in the opposite direction and screams like cow giving birth. She's good with other pets (I got her from a kennel) but people, and anything that moves or makes any noise, scares the living crap out of her.

EDIT: And oh yeah, she farts alot too. I'd guess about a thousand times a day.

 

[juliefurry]

Siberian huskies are a VERY dominant breed of dog. You really need to look into obedience classes, if your pup is not in them already. Also look into NILIF training (nothing in life is free training). By having your pup work for everything (going outside, getting treats, getting fed, and most importantly getting affection) she should start turning around. My dogs all have to sit if they want out, a treat, their food, or to get petted. As for the peeing when she sees you she may get very excited and some puppies can't help peeing when they get excited. And for the farting maybe she is not being fed small enough meals. Trying feeding her less but more often. I know our dogs will fart bad if for some reason we cut down on one of their feedings for some reason. So try feeding her smaller meals but more often during the day.

 

[Rubylove]

She's just a puppy. This is how puppies behave. As you say yelling the same thing at her over and over is going to be totally ineffective. She doesn't have a clue what you're talking about. She doesn't understand `no' (they don't understand English from birth...lol) she doesn't understand what she's getting a smack for - she's just generally confused.

You need to redirect her behaviour to what you actually want her to do. It sounds a little as though you expect her to just know how to behave without actually teaching her what you want her to do. She's not going to know automatically - she's a dog, not a person.

She pees inside because she's a puppy. It's what they do. They have very small bladders and can't hold it. You need to teach her where to pee. You need to teach her where you want her, not on the bed. You need to teach her what you want her to do instead of clawing at the door.

Look into clicker-training - it's awesome...here's a couple of really good links for you...

www.clickertraining.com
www.clickerlessons.com

She needs training, not yelling at. She just is not going to understand. Do you train her at all? And if so, how, and how often?

The most important thing is to have patience. It is VERY hard work to have a puppy - and you have a big, dominant breed. They take A LOT of work, and A LOT of patience. You can feel very frustrated and it is natural for you to yell at your pup, or smack it, because quite often that is either how you were raised or you discipline children. But this DOES NOT work on dogs. You need to be constantly watching and redirecting their behaviour towards what you want, and then rewarding and praising when they do the right thing.

It's hard. But it's important if you want a well-trained dog who is a good dog when it's older.

 

[PFC1]

Siberian huskies are a VERY dominant breed of dog.

Some of them are dominant, but what they really are is independant and strong willed. They are a difficult dog to train because of this. They are great dogs, though.

Is there any chance that this peeing is submission peeing? I can't tell exactly from what you are describing, but it is not out of the question to pee as a sign of submission. Particularlly given that you describe her as extremely shy.

 

[Samio]

I do train her as often as I can. She understands the sit command and does it nicely when we're alone in a quiet room, but outside, or in a room with people, she ignores my command. As for the scolding, I think you're right ruby, she probably doesn't know why I'm scolding her.

The clicker training looks really good, I'm going to try that. And Julie, I'll check out the NILIF program.

PFC, it's possible that it may be submissive peeing, but she's the complete opposit of a shy dog while inside so it may just be excitement from seeing me like Julie said.

Thanks for all of your opinions. VERY helpful.

 

[Dixie]

As for peeing, have looked into a bladder infection?? I had a pup that was potty trained, he held his poops fine but when it came to pee, it came out. At first I was scolding him, but it did not help, then I noticed he was drinking alot, so I suspected an infection, took him to the vet and had it confirmed. Antibiotics for two weeks and less water until cleared up. He was fine after that.

Look into a medical problem before jumping to a conclusion.

-Dix

 

[Rubylove]

As for peeing, have looked into a bladder infection?? I had a pup that was potty trained, he held his poops fine but when it came to pee, it came out. At first I was scolding him, but it did not help, then I noticed he was drinking alot, so I suspected an infection, took him to the vet and had it confirmed. Antibiotics for two weeks and less water until cleared up. He was fine after that.

Look into a medical problem before jumping to a conclusion.

-Dix

Definitely. Normal puppy peeing is about once every 20-30 minutes. Not three or four times in the space of two minutes. Ruby started doing this and it turned out that she had a urinary tract infection. You'll need to get a sample (not always easy!) by sliding a fairly flat, small tray under the dog when they are peeing. Then you can have it tested. But it's important to test for this because it can escalate and turn into a nasty bladder infection or worse...

 

[Samio]

Hmm, I'll definitly have to go to a vet and check that out. I think that might be the case because her peeing tendencies are absolutely abnormal. Thanks again guys.

 

[Samio]

Wow! Just W-O-W! Clicker training is incredible. Pure genius I tell you. Thank you all for telling me about, and the NILIF program, unbelievable.

She's listening to sit, down, stay, and come already. Well she confuses them alot and I think she hasn't learned to actually listen to the word but hey, at least she listens! It's so much better to have her sitting and waiting anxiously for her dinner instead of pouncing all over me.

But how do you guys make them understand that they need to listen to the WORD? When I say sit, she does down sometimes and vice versa. Alot of times he tries both. Usually, no matter which one I say she does sit first then down when she hears me say something else.

God I'm so happy!