by Diane Morgan
Having more than one Siberian makes the situation more difficult, because they may gang up on the cat. Like adolescents, Huskies seem to forget about polite upbringing when they are in a pack.
Even if your Husky gets used to the family cat, he may still chase or even kill other cats. Dogs are quite capable of distinguishing between family and strangers. Keep your Siberian restrained on a leash or safe in your yard at all times. He should be taught the “drop it” command in case he gets hold of a cat or rabbit.
When your Siberian gets used to your cats, you can usually have additional cats without problems. However, sometimes dogs accept the old cat but not newcomers.
Birds
Everyone knows that cats kill birds; fewer of us learn (until it’s too late) that dogs kill birds, too.
We once had a pair of parakeets, one blue and one yellow, who, while deathly fearful of the cats, made it their life’s work to torment the dogs by dive-bombing them. Unfortunately, they played the dogs too cheap, and our Basset Hound had her mouth open at exactly the serendipitous moment (for the dog, not the parakeet) that the parakeet flew into it. The parakeet did not fly out.
I have seen Siberian Huskies actually stalk and kill birds around a feeder.
Livestock
If you or your neighbors own sheep or cattle, you must absolutely keep your Siberian away from them. Huskies regard sheep as prey animals and sometimes injure or kill them. And they have been known to attack young calves, especially when the dogs are in groups. A pack of dogs is always more dangerous than a single one.
Chapter 8
Training Your Dog
In This Chapter
Setting goals for your Husky’s training
Working together as a family when you train your Husky
Being aware of which commands your dog should know and training him to follow them
Working with a professional trainer
Siberians have an unfair reputation of being difficult to train. But anyone who has seen a well-matched team of Huskies pulling together, responding instantly to voice commands from a musher, turning left, turning right, slowing down, speeding up, or stopping on command, knows that Siberians, far from being stubborn, are almost infinitely trainable.
But the owner of Huskies must be trained to work with this amazing breed. It may be daunting at first; Siberians have such strong leadership qualities that they respond only to people who earn their respect. They are also highly intelligent and bored by routine.
To best work with your dog, you need to understand his natural character. Part of this character is species-specific (common to dogs in general), part is breed-specific, (common to all Siberians), and part will be his very own individual personality. Dogs vary in their temperaments, like people, and your best chance of success comes through understanding your particular dog’s natural bent. Never assume that a technique that worked with your other dogs will work with this one, even if they are littermates. And if one technique doesn’t work, try a different one. Every dog has his own learning style. Training a Husky requires creativity. You will need to work as hard as he does, but the rewards are immense — for both of you.
A Siberian will never be a slave, but he is a loyal friend and trustworthy companion you can be proud of.
The weak link
A Siberian is smart enough to discover the weak link in the family — the one person who will let him do anything: beg for food, charge the door, pull on the lead, and so on. This person can unwittingly undermine all the careful training done by the rest of the family. Of course, the weak link is usually a child. So train your children to be pet smart at the same time you train your dog to obey. This includes lessons in kindness, consistency, and healthy leadership behavior on the part of your child.
Training the Family Before You Train Your Dog
Before you can even think about training your Siberian, you must train the Siberian’s family. Too many times, the family dog responds only to one person; but when that person is not at home, the dog is practically untrained. Training the dog needs to be a family project, even though it is best to have one person be the training leader. The training leader will do the actual teaching of new skills, and then practice them with the dog and the rest of the family. Everyone will then learn the same commands and be able to enforce them. A dog who will sit or come only for one member of the family is not trained. Furthermore, a family member who allows a dog to do as he pleases undermines the entire training project.
Consistency is the key to successful training. A dog has a difficult time learning when it’s okay to be on the couch and when it isn’t, or that it’s fine to leap up on the teenagers but not on Great Aunt Rose, or that it is permissible to beg for food “once in a while.” You will be much more successful in the long run if you never allow your Husky to do something that’s usually prohibited. Siberians are so smart that teaching them right the first time pays off; you may not get a second chance.
Setting Your Training Goals
Every training session should have a specific goal. If you have no goal, you won’t have any idea whether you’ve accomplished anything.
Keep a logbook of your training sessions, and write down what your goal is for each session. Then record how it went. If you do this faithfully, you’ll have a valuable record that will be useful to you in the future. It will also help focus your mind and attention on the particular and specific aims of each training session. Don’t try for too much at any one session.
Always wait until you are in a calm and relaxed mood to work with your dog. Siberians are psychic when it comes to picking up on moods, and your dog will respond to your mood. If you want your Husky to associate training with happiness, you have to, well, be happy.
Begin training your Siberian immediately, whether you have a new puppy or a recently adopted older dog. Siberians are strong-willed and independent, so you must establish yourself as alpha (the leader) right away. Do what it takes to earn your dog’s respect — which is not the same thing as making him afraid of you.
Before you begin training, exercise your Siberian, just to take a little of the edge off. Your energetic, life-loving Siberian has a lot to occupy his mind. Start your practice in a quiet area where neither of you will be distracted. Train often but for short periods. I recommend about three times a day for 15 minutes each, but with a puppy, 5 minutes at a stretch is long enough. He has many things to think about!
Basic training requires only two items — a collar and a leash — both of which can be bought at your local pet supply store. And, although not absolutely necessary, a few small treats (like a little bit of carrot or a very thin sliver of cheese, not a whole dog biscuit) are always helpful.
To train without pain, begin by using a simple buckle collar. If it doesn’t work, or the dog is a confirmed puller, you can ratchet up to a choke collar, or even, in extraordinary cases, to a prong collar, but there is absolutely no reason on earth not to begin as gently as possible. If you train correctly, a buckle collar may be all you ever need. Many people have the best luck of all with head-halter type collars, which let children walk even large dogs with ease.
If you do decide to use a choke collar with an older puppy or adult dog, put it on the dog correctly; otherwise it won’t work or may even injure your dog. Make the collar into a “P,” with the loop in your right hand, and the tail hanging straight down. Approach the dog from the front, and slip it on. The tail of the loop will now be on his right. Attach the lead, and keep the dog on your left.
Some Siberians have a problem with respect to their fur when wearing a choke collar; the guard hairs poke through and can be broken off. To prevent this from happening, you can make a cloth “collar wrapper” for the chain or you can buy a collar known as a Fur Saver, designed to protect against this problem.
If you are working with a young puppy, never use a choke collar; you can bruise or damage his windpipe, which in puppyhood is insufficiently protected by muscle.
If your dog doesn’t seem to be paying attention to your firm and repeated commands, try whispering. Your lower tone and distorted voice will tend to make your Husky look up, pay attention, and try to decipher what you’re saying.
Agreeing on Commands
Keep your communication with your Husky simple. You’ll never need to discuss Shakespeare with your Siberian. So make your commands short, clear, and consistent. For example, decide what the command for “come,” will be. Don’t say “come” one time and “here, boy” the next. Commands don’t have to be one word each. Siberians are perfectly able to understand phrases and even to pick out important words within them. Just remember that, from your Husky’s point of view, important words are more likely to be “ride” and “pizza” than “stay.”
After your Husky understands what the command means, don’t say the word more than once. This only teaches your dog that he doesn’t have to sit or come the first time you give the command, and that’s not the message you want him to get. Give the command once, and then wait. If he does not respond appropriately, quietly enforce the command the way you did when you were first teaching him. Never lose your temper with your dog.
As part of your own training, write down in your notebook every word you are using in your lessons, and what each word should mean to your dog. Put a star next to every command that your Husky reliably obeys. The point of the notebook is for you to keep track of how you are progressing in your lessons.
Commanding without words
You can also include whistles or gestures as part of your dog’s vocabulary. Many people enjoy having their dogs respond to these cues in addition to verbal commands. You’ll notice that your Husky will pick up some words, like biscuit, ride, or bath seemingly on his own, without any help from you, while other words, like come, seem to be beyond his capacity to understand.
Paying attention to your tone of voice
Try to cultivate two distinct tones when training your dog. First there’s your bright tone: “Good girl!” and “Let’s have a walk!” are all said in the bright tone. The dark tone, relying on the lower end of your vocal register, is reserved for “Bad boy!” and “Quit that!” Practice these assiduously. It’s amazing how often people get them mixed up.
Using your dog’s name
Never use your dog’s name in connection with anything negative, like scolding or hauling him into the bathroom. Otherwise, he may not respond positively when you call him. He may not anyway, but there’s no point in decreasing the odds.
Teaching Your Husky the Basics
Some things every dog must learn. So in the following sections, I fill you in on the most critical commands and how to teach them to your dog. Everything else is gravy.
I often add the word please to my commands. More for my own benefit than my dog’s. Why? Because it reminds me to use a calm, pleasant tone of voice. This in turn calms and pleases the dog. When you’re a team, attitudes are contagious. Saying “please” is not begging; it’s only common courtesy.
“Come”
The most important command for any dog is “come.” Unfortunately, it’s also the hardest command for any dog to obey. Even the Siberian who will come instantly on command in the obedience ring may not do so outside if he has a decent chance of running fast and far in the other direction. And he doesn’t need an excuse. Being free and unfettered is more than many a self-respecting Siberian can take.
If your Siberian does take off, it’s not his fault. It’s yours. Whack yourself on the head with a rolled up newspaper several times, and say, “I was told not to let him off the leash. I am bad. I am bad.” Then go find your dog. Still, the command “come” can be taught so that your Siberian will be inclined to obey you even under trying circumstances. It is such a critical command that it should be the first one you teach. Your Siberian may escape from the house or slip his lead at any moment. You need at least a fighting chance of getting him back safely to you.
Many books tell how you can confidently train your dog to come to you every time without fail. These authors usually have Labrador Retrievers. Believe me, it is a rare Husky who will always obey. Don’t take a chance on your dog’s life. Keep him on a leash.
To increase your chance of success, you should always associate “come” with something positive for the dog. Reward him with a small treat or praise every time he approaches you. Don’t call him to punish him, clip his nails, give him a bath, or anything else that he may regard as punishment, whether you mean it that way or not. Always praise your Siberian when he comes — even if you’ve been yelling at him to come for 15 minutes.
When calling your Husky, speak in a happy, cheerful voice, no matter how irritated you secretly are. If you punish your dog when he finally shows up, he thinks either, “Gosh, that must not have been the right response to that command after all,” or, “Ha! Next time I’ll know better. The next time she calls me, I’ll just run away farther. She must think I’m stupid or something.”
Begin training for “come” using a 10- or 12-foot lead attached to the dog. This way your Siberian will not even have the opportunity to disobey. If he moves in the wrong direction, pull gently on the lead to entice him to you. Then praise him.
Keep him on the lead until he responds eagerly every single time. If you have to pull to make him come, he is not ready for off-lead training. The single most common error people make is to overestimate their dog’s obedience and take him off the lead too soon.
When you finally do begin off-lead training, make sure your dog is in a confined area (preferably the house) where you can easily retrieve him if he chooses to ignore your call or whistle. But don’t punish him for an error. Reward him for correct behavior. Never praise or reward him until he comes all the way to you, right to your feet. Dogs are clever at knowing precisely how far your reach is.
You may want to use a whistle, clicker, or some other distinctive noise in addition to the “come” command. Dog whistles are useful aids. They have a far-carrying and distinctive sound. Of course, you may not be able to hear it yourself, so you won’t know if it’s working or not. It’s one of those things you have to take on faith.
Positive reinforcement is a critical training tool, but it works best if you offer treats and effusive praise intermittently, even after the dog has learned the lesson. If you cease praising him after he’s learned the behavior, he may revert to disobedient behavior in order to be rewarded, as in the old days.
“No!”
I never add the word please to no, because it sends the wrong signal. “No” means, “Immediately desist!” You may combine it with a reference to what he’s doing wrong: “No chew!” means, “Stop eating that; it’s my dress.” Some people think that saying “no” is a severe punishment and should be used sparingly. But this isn’t true; “no” is just a guide to correct behavior. Your dog will learn what it means and he won’t hold it against you. If your dog is chewing something inappropriate, say, “No chew” and hand him something more acceptable. Then praise him. There’s nothing to it, really. You will not confuse your dog or destroy his psyche.
Many pet owners have more trouble learning the meaning of “no” than their dogs do. When saying “no,” don’t betray your verbal command by your tone or body language. If you say “no!” but are really thinking, “Oh, that’s so cute the way he ate my slippers,” he’ll know you don’t really mean it. Next time he’ll eat your hundred-dollar cross-trainers. If you say, “no beg,” and then relent a minute later, he’s not the one having trouble understanding what you’re trying to communicate.
“No” is a mysterious word to dogs unless it is uttered immediately in conjunction with the forbidden behavior. You can’t walk into a room five
minutes after the doilies were devoured, shake one in his face, and shriek, “No! No!” He will probably think. “Gee, she’s yelling ‘No.’ She should put that doily down.”
“Sit”
“Sit” is the easiest of all commands to teach. Just push the Husky’s rump to the ground while you say, “Sit, Icicle,” in a firm encouraging way. If you want to use a treat, hold it up slightly above his eye level; this will encourage him to sit down. Praise him lavishly when he succeeds. Be careful to praise him as he sits down, and not as he starts to get up. When you want your Siberian to get up, give him a release command. I use the word break. Some trainers use okay, but because people use that word constantly in regular conversation, I think it’s too easy for a dog to misunderstand it. You can even make up a secret word that will amaze all your friends.