Need help with Zeus!

[CountryWolf07]

So I'm potty training him - and he's doing very well with it, but when he pees in the house, my roommate doesn't pay attention, but I do, because I know when he has to go and whatever. (I do most of the work)

I am wondering, how long does the potty training take? Zeus is a husky pup, obviously.

Oh, and also, he is HORRIBLE about biting/nipping, and he doesn't seem to understand that it hurts when he does that, so I need help with that.

Sometimes he drives me crazy! He can be such a monster, haha. Only 8 weeks old, though!

[Rachel]

When he bites/nips, try *yelping* loudly enough to startle him and pull your hand away. Stop interacting with him and then say *no bite*.

Potty training can vary widely. I've trained puppies that took two days, two weeks, and two years. And the one who took two years (although she did get progressively better) was the one I did most things right with. There's a lot of personal variables here with individual puppies.

Get Zues out first thing in the morning, after he eats or when you see him drinking a lot of water, after intensive play or activity. Try to find *his schedule* and then try to meet it with trips outside. Try to pick up his cues - circling and sniffing on the floor, etc. and then rush him outside. When you are outside with him and he *goes* make the biggest fuss over him, praising him like he did the most wonderful thing ever. Also try using the command *go potty* or whatever phrase you wish so you can train him to go on command. Again, praise like crazy when he does it.

Now the hard part - trying to teach your roommate what raising a puppy is all about. How about getting some books from the library.

[CountryWolf07]

Oh gosh, I am annoyed! Please let me vent.

I am good with dogs, I know what I have to do. I have raised a puppy before, but that was Rosie, and that was in 2002. I just am re-experiencing what it is like to raise one again, but a different breed. Don't get me wrong. I love Siberian Huskies, but I am thinking that I would rather adopt a young dog than a puppy at this point by what I am going through with Zeus. Maybe I am just annoyed because I am doing all the work when it comes to potty training.

In fact, Ryan just gave up on him. (the owner/roommate)
He picked up Zeus and put him in his cage, AFTER he peed so many times in the house already today, WITH HIM IN THE SAME ROOM! I stopped Zeus before he peed, and took him outside, praised him like crazy. HE knows what I am doing with him is good. So yeah, I don't get it. WHY get a husky puppy and just let him do that, while you should be really training him. I told Ryan it's NOT impossible to train that dog not to pee in the house; Huskies are very smart. Poor Zeus has no idea what's wrong or right when it comes to potty training.

Agh. I really do love the little guy already - he has stolen my heart!

[Sparklecoon]

It sounds like your roommate didn't do his research and just thought it'd be cool to have a puppy. He's only 8 weeks old. Keep with it. It's not an over night thing.

[Cinder & Smoke]

So I'm potty training him - and he's doing very well with it ...

but when he pees in the house, my roommate doesn't pay attention ...
(I do most of the work.)

I am wondering, how long does the potty training take?

With only one of you "training" - it could take forever!

You really HAVE to agree (with Roomies) to some common training procedures and
agree that everyone WILL *pay attention* and not give Zeus conflicting commands.
You all have to treat both his desirable and his unwanted behaviors in the same ways -
"punish" with the same reactions and words; as well as "praise & reward" with the same
words and similar treets. You *can't* have one person "ignoring" bad behavior!

And at his age, he shouldn't be *roaming around* the house - he should be wearing a Collar
AND be dragging a short leash - so you can "capture" him quickly if he starts to go astray.
Best thing is to HANG ONTO the human end of the leash - if you need both of your hand-paws,
loop his leash through your belt - where you go - he goes.
And you've -ALL- got to **watch him* 24/7 --- 30 seconds of nobody watching
is plenty of time for him to *squat & pee*

If he even pauses to think about it ... aske him "wanna go OUT?" - and have his
lil feets on the grass before you finish the "... OUT"!
You want him to be OUTside *before* the accident happens!

If you can't watch him like a hawk - teach him to den in his crate.
Don't crate him as a punishment - put him in, praise, and treet him.
The crate is supposed to be his place to go willingly and on command - NOT
a place to be feared because he's put there after he makes a mistake.

He is HORRIBLE about biting/nipping,
and he doesn't seem to understand that it hurts when he does that ...

Sometimes he drives me crazy!

I'm going to take a lot of flack for this - but I've used it on several dogs with
NO adverse effects or negative reactions (by the dog).

When Fido *nips* - react the same way Momma Dog would have reacted ---
SHE would have **Bit Him Back** - GENTLY - but right on his snout.
Mom disciplined with the same tool she showed affection with - her mouth.

Assuming you don't want to put your mouth over his snout - use your "affection tool" -
your fingers - to GENTLY show your displeasure after a *nip* ...

A quick - GENTLE - **BONK** on the bridge of his nose with a sharp "no BITE" command
followed by quickly totally ignoring the pup for a minute or two. (Look away and remove
yourself from his contact - turn your back on him if possible.)

Yeah, I'm a dog beater - just ask Cinder & SmokeMutt. They're NOT hand shy!

If you can't bring youself to *beating* your dog - carry a toy or a chew toy -
when he *nips* - scold with the "no BITE" command and toss him the toy to bite on.
If he holds onto the toy, give him a "good boy".

Whatever you do - be sure ALL the houshold members do the SAME things when
interacting with Zeus. Nothing worse for poor Zeus than to have one stern and one or more
parents who allow him to get away with anything.

/s/ Phred (dog beater)

[anna_66]

Oh the joys of training a husky

I'm sorry to hear that your roommie has already given up I hope he reconsiders because even though they are stubborn, when trained right they really can be wonderful dogs.

All the advice Phred gave you I did with Roxey (guess I'm a dog beater too...lol)
I hope you keep up the training Rachel!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Oh the joys of training a husky

All the advice Phred gave you I did with Roxey (guess I'm a dog beater too ... lol)

Thank Heaven I'm not totally alone!


/s/ the Beater

[CountryWolf07]

Thank Heaven I'm not totally alone!


/s/ the Beater

Phred, can I just say I am doing what you did? (Anna too) lol.. but honestly, it seems like he will react and stop and be like, what just happened?! type of attitude, but he will go right back to what he was doing, so, I just bop on his nose and go "No bite!" and I throw him his toy and he WILL go after it and take interest and play with it. He is SLOWLY learning he is not supposed to bite or nip at me whenever he wants to.. so he is getting smarter every day somewhat.

The potty training, he definitely knows NOW that if he pees in house by accident/not letting us know, is WRONG. So.. when I caught him peeing, I picked him up and put his nose close to his "mess" and I say "No! Bad!" and he completely turns into putty on me and tries to be all affectionate, and be "sorry" for what he did, and I take him outside and he will go pee again, and I go crazy over him going "GOOD BOY! Aren't you a good boy?! Yeah! You're so smart!" Haha.. I am pretty sure I've had college kids stare at me while they walked by...

I'm not giving up on this little guy! =) He has already stolen my heart. (My boyfriend has competition, ha ha.)

[Giselle]

Oh, you're not even halfway done After the bite inhibition and potty training, you get hit with the ravenous landshark stage. It's an ongoing process of tears and frustration. But that's why they're so cute and cuddly! So you don't kill them! *grin*

No offense, but dogs don't have a sense of right and wrong. Zeus was only acting apologetic so your anger would dissipate. It's very useful, really, but it doesn't mean the dog knows that what he did is wrong. He just knows that Mom is angry, so he better act submissive! That's why puppies thrive on positive reinforcement and why negative reinforcement doesn't quite work out the way you intended. Just keep an eye on Zeus, whisk him out everytime he does the potty dance, praise when he goes potty, and be consistent. Good luck!

[Cinder & Smoke]

I just bop on his nose and go "No bite!" and I throw him his toy and he WILL go after it and
take interest and play with it. He is SLOWLY learning he is not supposed to bite or nip at me ...

Progress! Just make SURE the Roomie is doing the SAME things!

The potty training, he definitely knows NOW that if he pees in house by
accident/not letting us know, is WRONG.

So ... when I caught him peeing, I picked him up and put his nose close to his "mess" and
I say "No! Bad!" and he completely turns into putty on me and
tries to be ... "sorry" for what he did ...

No, Actually Zeus does NOT "know" that his *peeing in the house* is "wrong" ...
Just like Giselle said - he just knows that you're MAD at him --- WHY you're mad at him
just doesn't *compute* in a young dog's mind.

About the only time a scolding and pointing his nose at the mess does any good
is IF he's still In the Act of peeing when you catch & scold him.
Ten seconds after he's done messing - he'll never connect the scolding with the act of *peeing*.

And when you praise for correct outside performance - keep it Short & Simple =
"GOOD Boy!" and something like "Go Pee". Eventually you want to use the "Go Pee" as a
command for him to go pee or potty NOW.

Sounds like you ARE making progress --- but at his tender age - you really souldn't
be expecting too much from the lil Kid.


/s/ fellow dog *bonker*

[Taz_Zoee]

I think your biggest obstacle here is going to be the roommate/owner.
Training Zeus will be a breeze, training Ryan will be the hardest part.
It sounds like you are pretty much doing everything right, but without consistency it won't work. I know, I have that problem in my own house. When Zoee barks Bruce just yells for her to be quiet, instead of getting up to go see WHAT she is barking at.
Have you tried talking to Ryan about this? I have talked to Bruce countless times, I've just decided to deal with it my own way. But your issue is a bit more pressing. ((good luck))

[RobiLee]

Hey Rachel, If Zeus gets to be too much of a handfulf for the new owner and yourelf can I have first dibs at him? I want hm!!!!

[cyber-sibes]

Thank Heaven I'm not totally alone!
/s/ the Beater

Oh no, Star got a little bite (not hard) on the ear when she was that age. My son still talks about the scar he has on his nose because Star gave him a correction nip! Oh, those puppy teeth are SHARP!
One thing JoJoe did that seemed to work - if she nipped him, he would put his thumb in her mouth & hold her tongue down in her jaw for a second while telling her "no bite!" Didn't take long - she did NOT want his thumb in her mouth. (but she's okay with having her mouth inspected)
It just takes a lot of patience & consistency, he'll get trained. At eight weeks, he may not have the best bladder control yet. At that age, we used to take Star out every time she drank water, every time she ate, and every 1/2 hr. or so, & really praise her for going potty.
I've also read that if a dog goes in a certain spot, try spending some time in that area - reading, playing with them, whatever. Dogs won't potty in their living space. (This worked for us with older dogs, not sure about puppies.)

[pitc9]

I sure hope your roommate catches on soon!
It's so sad when someone gets a puppy "just because"

I hope everything works out with the pup.

[Rachel]

so, I just bop on his nose and go "No bite!" and I throw him his toy and he WILL go after it and take interest and play with it. He is SLOWLY learning he is not supposed to bite or nip at me whenever he wants to.. so he is getting smarter every day somewhat.

The only thing about throwing the toy after you say *No Bite* him is it might send mixed messages. He may think, I bite and then somebody plays with me. It might be better to do your correction and then turn your back on him for a few minutes. The message here would be your behavior is unacceptable and nobody wants to interact with you when you do that.

I'm thinking that this puppy is one day going to end up being your dog at the rate this is going. I still think your roomie needs a book on puppy raising. Sounds like he doesn't have a clue.