Nebo the snot/puppy classes/clicker training

[wolf_Q]

Ok I know I've only had him for almost 5 days now. I totally love him, he's normally a sweetheart. But sometimes he scares me. Tonight, 3 times he growled viciously at me when I picked him up. It was not a play growl. He did the same thing at Lady, and she was just trying to play with him. I think he also growled at Melissa. I kind of just grabbed the scruff of his neck and said NO loudly to him. The third time he did it I took him outside and shut the door for a few minutes. Is it normal for a 2 month old puppy to be such a little snot? I don't think that he quite knows who is the boss yet. What is the best way to deal with aggressive behavior in a young puppy? He is not aggressive with Reggie or Smokey, he just wants to play with them (which sometimes drives them crazy). He hasn't been too bad with Lady, but he does not like McKinney, and just growls and snarls at him. He met a couple of dogs, and a lot of people at Petsmart and was just fine. But he's been a little unpredictable. I'm probably making more out of it then needs to be. Most of the time he is calm and sweet, but I can definitely tell he is stubborn, and he gets mad if he doesn't get to do things his way. He *is* smart and willing to learn, he already knows how to sit and lay. Anyway...any advice on what to do if he acts aggressively again...?

Also I know now that I WILL take him to some sort of obedience classes. Problem is, there is no way I can afford more then one. There are 2 offered at Petsmart I think. I believe they are both $89. One is for puppies 10 wks or older, and the other is for dogs 6 months or older. Which do you think would be more beneficial/worth the $$?

And one more thing...I bought a couple of clickers. I've heard of the clicker training and I wanted to try it. Has anyone used this method? Do you know of any good websites or anything that could tell me more about it? All I know is an article or 2 I've read in magazines. I've just been clicking it as I give him a treat when he's doing something good (like sit, lay).

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

I can't say much about the other issues you mention, but I do have some experience with clicker training. It is wonderful! I adopted Oreo when she was 1 1/2 years old, and up to that point she had been pretty much an outside dog with no training. The trainer at the San Diego Humane Society is a big advocate of clicker training, and Oreo and I took her classes. What a difference it made in Oreo! I believe that the positive reinforcement training really taught Oreo that she could trust me, and we really bonded. I was very suprised at how fast she learned, too, especially for a grown dog who had learned so many bad habits. Oreo was very motivated to learn, and I think that is one of the advantages of clicker training...the dogs love it! Here are a few web sites that give great information.

For books, videos, and links:
http://www.sdhumane.org/petownerhelp/resources.cfm
For an overview from the SD Humane Society and articles from their excellent trainer:
http://www.sdhumane.org/petownerhelp/training.cfm

I hope that these URLs work and that you enjoy clicker training as much as I did!

[Dixieland Dancer]

Amy, Welcome to the world of puppyhood! You are right, Nebo still hasn't figured out that you are the alpha and will test you until he figures it out. You need to understand what he is doing so you can work on it.

All domestic dogs are descended from wolves. Despite sometimes being very different in shape, size, and color, domestic dogs have retained about 75 percent of their behavior patterns. It is this part of our dogs that we need to understand if we are to enjoy our lives together.

In the wolf pack, there is a definite hierarchy which is strongly maintained and defended. This is how it will be in your family-pack. Adults first, then children, then dog. Dogs are very conscious of hierarchy and will attempt to find their own place if you do not do it for them.

It is important that your dog thinks that he is at the bottom of the pack. Suppose he is on the sofa and you want him to get off. If he is below you in the pack he will do so without argument. If he thinks he is on equal terms you will have to make him. If he considers himself above you he may try to bite because he feels you have no right to tell him what to do.

The greater the difference in hierarchy between yourself and your dog, the more respect he will have for you. The more respect, the more likely he is to comply with your wishes. Setting the ground rules from the start is therefore very important.

How you treat your dog in the first few months will make all the difference to the way he sees his place in your family hierarchy. Even if you have had well behaved dogs before, I strongly advise you to follow these guidelines for at least six months.

Dominant wolves will choose the safest, warmest place in the territory to sleep. It is usually elevated so that they can look down over the rest of the pack. In your house, of course, this is your bed. If you allow your dog to sleep in bed with you then he is immediately on an equal footing with you. For similar reasons it also pays to keep him off the furniture. I love to sleep with my dogs but do not let them until they are at least five or six months old. They sleep in the bedroom in a crate at the foot of the bed until then. This does two things. Helps with housetraining and lets the pup know I am the alpha. I also don't mind them on the furniture but they are not allowed on it unless I invite them up.

In the wolf pack, the dominant wolves will eat first, the rest waiting until after they have finished. For most dogs, dinner time is one of the highlights of their day. Therefore, it is important that your dog be fed after your family. Tidbits should not be given from the table as this can be easily misinterpreted by dogs as being a weakness on your part rather than benevolence. It also prevents the bad habit of begging at the table.

Dominant wolves will present themselves to subordinates for grooming. They will lick their faces and generally pay them attention. A dominant wolf would not be approached by a subordinate uninvited. In order to reinforce your status, it is important to groom your dog every day initially. This also gives you a chance to give him a quick health check, and ensures that you will be better able to handle him if he needs veterinary attention.

By following these guidelines you should start to see this aggressive behavior diminish.


As for the obedience classes.... the early socialization class at this point is much more valuable than the actual obedience class. Weeks 8 through 12 is a critical bonding stage for the puppy to bond with you. It is important during this time that you expose your puppy to places, situations and things that he will have to deal with in his adult life: e.g., riding in the car, going to the park (after 16 weeks), children, vacuum cleaners, cats, crying babies, loud noises, and others. Extremely important to proper socialization is allowing your dog to play with other dogs. This helps accentuate the difference between people and dogs, and teaches proper play behavior. That is what the early socialization class helps you with. Formal obedience can begin at home during this time with basic commands and later take the formal obedience class. Here are a few things you can do at home for socialization:

While your puppy is small, pick him up frequently.

Look into the puppy's eyes until he looks away.

Rub your puppy's stomach while he is on his back.

Use moderate pressure while grooming or petting.

Don't allow the puppy to stand on or over you during play.

Avoid tug-of-war games. Encourage fetch and retrieve.

Practice taking food away at mealtime.

Teach your puppy to relinquish toys or objects on command ("Drop it").

Praise your puppy for good behavior or when resting quietly.

Never use a command unless you are sure the dog will obey or unless you can make it obey.

Have your puppy obey commands prior to everyday activities such as feeding, playing and going out. ("Nothing in life is free."). I use this one quite extensively with Dusty since he is food motivated.


I would not suggest starting clicker training (I do clicker training with my dogs) until you learn how to do it properly. An excellent website is clickertraining.com . It has information on various books you can purchase to get going in clicker training properly. Unless you click properly, it is either wasted or shapes unwanted behaviors. You need to make sure you know what you are doing!

Hope this information is helpful!

[Dixieland Dancer]

Amy, I must admit that I kind of got concerned about your description of Nebo's behavior. I started looking into some info on the breed. Typically the Huskies are not aggressive dogs and have gentle dispositions unless they have poor breeding. They do tend to be very head strong and stubborn though. They also require lots of exercise and tend to get bored rather quickly. Follow this link for more information.

My suggestion for you is two fold. 1. Socialize that puppy above and beyond what you normally would. It is very critical that he is exposed to many different scenarios. Puppy Kindergarten is essential!!!! The cost you mentioned is very reasonable. Do not let him get away with any display of aggression at this age. You need to make sure it is nipped in the bud now.

2. Look into the Siberian Huskie Club of America and see if they have a club near you. Joining a club where others are experienced with this breed and can offer suggestions on working with them can be extremely valuable.

Nebo is just very adorable and I wish you many happy and loving years together. I am just stressing the importance of this young critical bonding and training period. Follow the recommendations of my earlier post at home. Especially the points for socialization at home.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am more than happy to help if I can.

[Stenograsaurus]

Candy, as usual, gives some great advice. Having a Husky at home, I have to tell you that he can be VERY STUBBORN AND HEADSTRONG!!!!!! Huskies require a lot of work and patience and persistence. If they don't see the point in doing something, they won't do it. If I remember correctly, you did a lot of research into the breed before getting the dog, so this shouldn't be a surprise for you. All I can tell you is to be consistent and don't give up and follow Candy's advice.

[lovemymaltese]

I have never heard of the clicker trainer, sounds like a neat plan.

[KYS]

Stenograsaurus count me in too:

I just had to applaud Candy on her great advise.

[Presley]

Presley is a pure bred black lab. Not once has she growled at me like that.. She has growled when playing alone with her rope and other toys. But her sister from the same litter who is now 8 months old and since the day the people got her has always growled. She has now taken to bitting them when she doens't like something. She started the bitting when she was about 8-10 weeks old though. It was never corrected. She doens't get to come in the house to see anyone and she is stuck in a dog run with the other lab they had pretty much all day everyday. I think it is something that can be corrected and if Presley's sister were my dog it would have been.

[manda99]

I took Smokey to the Puppy Headstart Class at Petsmart - he started the class when he was 11 weeks old.
My main reason was to get him socialized with other dogs while he was young.
While he does know basic commands now, he also LOVES other dogs which is what I wanted to accomplish (hopefully this will not change as he gets older).
I am getting him neutered and then plan on taking him back to another obediance class (as well as the dog parks and what not) to re-enforce the training part & to keep up on his social skills. I think it's important for the breed of dog I have.

Anyway... Good luck!
-manda99-

[Crikit]

Amy I have to agree with Candy about waiting to start the clicker training until you know how to do it porperly otherwise you could end up rewarding the dog for the wrong thing...it's a timing thing.

[CountryWolf07]

Hey Amy, ya know, Rosie was like that, all she needs is to know that you're the boss.. Nebo thinks he's in charge, again, Candy's advice is great. AND WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SEE my pictures?! - Rach

[wolf_Q]

Thanks everyone (especially Candy) for your advice. I'm a wolf freak, so I know a lot about their behavior. And out of all the dogs I've met, Nebo reminds me the most of a wolf (and not just in looks). I'm hoping he doesn't have bad breeding...he doesn't have AKC papers. But I met his parents, and both dogs were very friendly and sweet. They were very calm and quiet too. We do not allow dogs on the furniature, so that is not a problem. He sleeps in a large kennel at night. At first he cried, but he's doing really good with it now. I have been brushing him every day, but I can't say he likes it. He doesn't like to be held (unless he's half asleep) and he struggles and whines to get free. I also have brushed his teeth every day (he likes the doggy toothpaste, but he'd rather eat the brush lol). We did clip his nails a little bit, and he really struggled with that too. He is great with potty training (as Mckinney was awful). He'll go do his job right when I put him outside. There has been a few mistakes, but I think it's just because I didn't get him out in time. He's even started going up to the door when he wants out. I did research the breed, I have 3-4 books on siberian huskies...see I've wanted one for years. I knew they could be stubborn, but I must say I really wasn't expecting much of any aggressive behavior from them. I've also been reading a lot of dog books period. One book said to rub/play with their feet often, so they will be better with trimming the nails, and I've done that. Another said that it's better to allow puppies to eat as much/whenever they want, as they need a lot of nutrition. And to change into scheduled meals when they are older. Is that a good idea or not? I need to get him a better food. He is eating Ol'Roy puppychow...he loves it...but I know he needs something better. I was thinking Pedigree, because I can't afford the top quality foods. I just bought a small bag of that when I got him. I'd already spent $300 on him and more $$ on tons on supplies. A book said to move the food in different places sometimes, which I have been doing. And I have practiced taking food away, and he has no problem with that. Anyway...I also have been rubbing his belly often, as I know that is the subordinate position. And I do pick him up often and praise him when he behaves nicely. His main problem is if you try to hold him and he wants loose, or you pick him up when he is busy with something else (playing, etc.) He'll struggle, and start growling/yapping, sometimes biting at me. He is really a biter. I try not to let him chew on me at all. I'll stuff a toy in his mouth instead if he tries to chew on me. But it's quite difficult. He just comes right back, biting again, and it's very hard to get him to stop. Sometimes if I yipe like a puppy would, like I'm telling him that it hurts, he'll stop for a sec and look up at me. I avoid playing tug-of-war. My family is kind of a problem. I tell them not to do things (such as tug-of-war) and they still do. I just don't want me yelling at him for doing something, and then get away with it around everyone else. It will just confuse him. Like if I put him in the kennel, I will not come to let him out until I hear he is quiet. And they let him out when he is barking. They are also a problem in getting him into the classes. They think I am nuts for spending this much money on him already. My dad found some guy that will do the training for $50, but the dogs have to be 4 months old and I don't think I want to wait that long. I WANT to have a well behaved dog. As much as I love Reggie and Smokey, I don't want this dog to have all of their bad habits. I want a dog that I can take in public and be around other dogs. And Nebo seems a bit of a snot around other dogs, so I guess that part really needs to be dealt with. He has been around kids, been in the car, and around loud noises...I don't really know how I could socialize him with a cat lol....every cat I know lives outside and is not particularly friendly. He seems to like kids, he sleeps in the car most of the time...except a couple of times he's just started up yapping and struggling...but when we stopped he peed right away, so that could be it. I don't think loud noises bother him, except barking dogs. When I take him for walks, if he hears dogs barking he gets scared and won't move. Ok this post is really long. If you are bored enough to read the entire thing, any more advice is appreciated.~~Amy

Oh...and I'm looking at the clicker website here.......if I had money I'd buy a book lol. I'm going to read more about it before I do anything else.

[anna_66]

Amy, Roxey used to bite me ALL the time! I swear that was one of her worst problems, it never seemed to end (sorry, but it's the truth!). Like you said, I kept stuffing toys and bones in her mouth, and when she would start to grab me I would holler "ouch", she would stop and look at me like, "what's wrong?". All that along with saying "no bite" seemed to really help, but it did take some time!
Overall, sounds like you have a pretty good guy there, it took Roxey a little while to get potty trained. Nebo sounds like he knew exactly what to do!
And I agree, getting Nebo in school (and socializing him with other dogs & people) asap is important. I don't think Roxey would have been as good a dog as she is if we hadn't taken her to school almost immediately after we got her (she was almost 12 wks when she started). Good Luck!
Anna

[Dakota's Mommy]

To all of you who gave the great advise, thank you! My husband and I just got a great dane puppy, 6 weeks old, and I've been wondering about many of these topics and how to make sure that we raise her to be a wonderful dog. I knew about the puppy classes due to my sisters dogs, but didn't know that petsmart offered them. I was concerned being in a new area about where to go for things like that. Thanks again for all the advise, I know that I hope to remember all of it, or at least as much as I can and hope to put it to good use!