by Diane Morgan
A dog’s face, ears, and rectal area are very sensitive to pain. Take particular care around these areas.
Irritable aggression
Irritable aggression is the mark of an old, grouchy, tired, or generally grumpy dog. Sometimes it’s related to pain. Children are often the victims of this form of aggression, because they sometimes don’t know enough to leave the animal in peace. Irritable aggression is usually controlled by leaving the dog alone. However, if you have small children, or if the dog tolerates no interference at all — for example, not allowing children on the couch with her — you have a more serious problem. See your veterinarian for suggestions. Tranquilizers or finding an all-adult home may be an option.
Maternal protectiveness
Although, strictly speaking, maternal protectiveness may be regarded as a kind of aggression, it is a common, hormonally-based behavior. We all understand that the mother wishes to protect her young, but she should not be exhibiting serious aggression toward her human family. Similar behavior may be associated with a false pregnancy. If a female dog suddenly begins acting in a protective or aggressive manner, it may be because she thinks she has young to protect.
Bitches prone to false pregnancies should be spayed. They not only tend to have behavior problems but are also subject to pyometra, a severe uterine infection.
Genetically based aggression
A few dogs are just born aggressive. In Siberians, it could be a genetic anomaly caused by inbreeding. Genetic aggression manifests itself at an early age by deep belly growls and an uninhibited bite response — usually by the age of 4 months. This form of aggression cannot be trained out of a dog. Aggression is a dominant trait, which makes it common; however, this also means it can easily be bred out of a strain. Breed nonaggressive dogs to non-aggressive dogs, and bingo, the dominant gene disappears.
Aggressive tendencies can be passed along in the gene pool. A puppy whose parents have exhibited aggressive behavior is more likely to do so himself. This is another reason why you should know as much as possible about your dog’s relatives.
Environmental aggression
Toxins in the environment are suspect in certain cases of aggression, and some dogs have an allergic response to vaccines that can lead to aggression. If you’ve ruled out other possible causes of a dog’s aggression, consider environmental aggression as a possibility and discuss it with your vet.
Establishing Your Dominance
If your dog exhibits symptoms of dominant behavior but has not bitten anyone, you can attempt to correct the situation yourself. However, if you are at all doubtful about your abilities to handle the situation, find a good animal behaviorist to work with your dog. (If your dog has bitten anyone aggressively, you absolutely must get professional help for him.)
Dominance always escalates if not controlled, because the dog’s bite threshold is lowered with each uncontrolled bite.
Keep a short leash on a dominant dog when you are home; let him drag it around with him. If he exhibits incorrect behavior, you’ll have a safe handle to grab him by.
Begin corrective training early. The longer you allow your Husky to feel he’s in charge, the more difficult it will be to teach him otherwise. You are not being cruel to your dog; you’re doing him a favor. Dogs are hierarchical creatures, Huskies more so than most.
Here are some general tips to establish your dominance:
Never let your puppy nip or bite at you, even while playing.
If you feel challenged, stare coolly at your Husky. Don’t look away before he does. It is the alpha’s prerogative to initiate staring.
Decide when games begin and end. Make sure you end up with the toys.
Don’t play tug-of-war. If it happens by accident, make sure you win.
Keep the dog off the sofa and bed. Dogs equate being high up with being boss.
Practice giving and taking food away from your Husky. He should accept your right to do so without complaint.
Initiate petting on your own. Don’t let yourself be nudged into it.
Have your Husky obey a command like “sit” before you feed, pet, or play with him. To establish yourself as alpha, make sure he works for everything he gets.
Reserve your praise for something done really well, on command. Don’t lavish him with praise, however, because you want him to keep trying.
Neuter your male dog. Unneutered male dogs are three times as apt to bite as altered ones.
You didn’t hear it from me
There’s another technique that sometimes helps establish dominance, but it will only work for men. If you have the energy, privacy, and, most importantly, shamelessness (and if you drink enough coffee or other liquids), you can arrange to have one of those little contests with your Husky where you follow him around your privately fenced yard and, whenever he urinates, well, so do you. The important thing is to be the last one peeing. That makes you the winner. If this sounds ridiculous, it probably is. But I have it on good authority that it really works. Under no circumstances allow anyone to see you, and don’t tell anyone about it either.
With a dominant dog, continually reinforce the concept that you are alpha. If your Siberian is lying across your path, move him aside gently with your foot. Do not walk around him. If he is sitting in your favorite chair, move him out of it. Don’t get a chair from the kitchen for yourself because your dog has taken your seat. Don’t let him walk through a door before you do. Feed yourself before you feed him. Make sure he allows you to touch or remove his food.
Avoiding Dog Bites
Approach a strange dog slowly, even if he appears friendly. Your hand should be outstretched, your fingers curled into a fist (not to punch the dog, of course, just so your fingers won’t get nipped). This approach allows the dog time to sniff the hand and acknowledge you.
If the dog does not appear friendly, keep your hands to your sides and do not approach. Move quietly to the side without turning your back on the animal. Do not attempt to make eye contact with the dog. If attacked by a dog, curl up into a tight ball and remain as still as possible. Do not run away — you will only excite the dog’s chase instinct.
Do not disturb a sleeping dog; an unexpected embrace can trigger a snap before the dog is even awake. Let sleeping dogs lie.
The same holds true for dogs who are eating; they should not be bothered. It’s one thing to work with your dog while he’s eating; it’s another to suddenly race up and snatch away the dog’s dish. This kind of behavior is enough to make even a well-behaved dog peevish. Teach your children all these tips as well.
Be sure you carefully watch your children’s friends with your Husky as well. Even if your child is perfect, your neighbor’s kids probably aren’t.
Chapter 10
Breaking Bad Habits in Your Husky
In This Chapter
Figuring out how to cure your dog of some common behavior problems
Considering the possibility of medications, when all other options fail
Many of the canine activities that we human beings term behavior problems are either normal canine activities that we find inconvenient, a result of a dog being left alone too long with insufficient natural stimulation, or an organic disorder. In no case are they forms of revenge exercised by your dog to get back at you.
If your Siberian is doing something wrong, you need to discover why. Only when you know the cause can you properly address the problem and channel your dog into more socially acceptable behavior.
Correct training can help you redirect negative behaviors into harmless or even beneficial activities. But it takes work, and serious cases may require a professional dog behaviorist.
Chewing, running, howling, and digging are natural dog activities. They stem from the ancient, ancestral urge to get food and shelter. But in the lonely, bored, or overstressed Siberian, these habits, natural as they may be, can become intolerable for you or your neighbors. You can respond to an unwanted behavior pattern in one
of six ways:
Change your behavior.
Change your dog’s behavior.
Build a higher fence, get earplugs, confine the dog, and so on.
Medicate the dog.
Medicate yourself.
Get used to it.
One size does not fit all. The cure you choose depends on the target behavior, its cause, and your patience.
According to one recent survey, Siberian Huskies rank fifth among dog breeds in destructive behavior. They follow West Highland White Terriers, Irish Setters, Airedale Terriers, and German Shepherds. Like these breeds, Siberians are energetic and highly intelligent dogs; much of their destructive behavior stems from perfectly reasonable causes. They do not chew or destroy furniture to get back at you. Dogs simply do not think that way. They are not vengeful. The message they are sending is, “I am sad and lonely.” Or, “I am bored out of my skull.” Or, “I am ill.” It’s not, “I hate you.” In some cases of destructive behavior, the message is often simply: “I want your attention.”
In this chapter, I guide you through some of the more common behavior problems in Siberian Huskies (and dogs in general), and let you know your options for responding. Only you (with the help of your vet) can ultimately decide what is best for your dog. But with the information in this chapter, you’ll be armed with the knowledge you need to make an informed decision.
Separation Anxiety
Fear and loneliness combine to create many destructive behavior patterns. Experts think that 20 to 40 percent of dog behavior problems can be directly linked to separation anxiety. Dogs are pack animals by nature, and among dogs, no breed is more pack-oriented than the Siberian. Huskies simply detest being alone.
If you think your dog suffers from separation anxiety, he’s not alone; it’s estimated that 7 million dogs in America are keeping him company. A dog with severe separation anxiety may begin to salivate in terror the minute he thinks you are leaving; he may cringe and whimper. I knew one who would slink along the wall in a crouched position, whining the entire time. Separation anxiety is especially common in dogs who have been rescued from shelters or who have been moved from home to home. Dogs who have noise phobias (thunder, vacuum cleaners, and the like) also seem disposed toward separation anxiety.
Sensitize yourself
In his native land, the Siberian spent every day, all day, working alongside his human companions, which is what he was bred for. Don’t blame your dog if you couldn’t get a job as a sled driver. Be more sensitive to his needs. The best thing you can do to help a dog suffering from separation anxiety is to provide your Siberian with more of what he likes best — your company, or failing that, the company of other dogs.
Get up a little earlier than you have to and spend some time with your dog. Play with him, run with him, brush his teeth. He deserves more than a “Nice boy, here’s breakfast, see ya in ten hours.”
If you can, let your dog sleep in your bedroom with you. He’ll enjoy your company even while you’re asleep.
Or try bringing your dog into work with you once in a while. I did this for years, under the pretext that the animal was having medical problems and needed frequent medical attention. Well, it was sort of true.
The American Animal Hospital Association conducted a survey and found that 24 percent of dog owners take their canines to work with them, at least once in a while. A well-behaved dog relieves stress on the job and reduces blood pressure all around. Of course, if the dog eats the contract for your next big deal or pees on the office palm tree, you may be out of a job.
Desensitize the dog
Start desensitizing your dog to being left alone. You can’t take your dog with you to the opera, but being able to leave him alone for a few hours without returning to a war zone isn’t an unreasonable expectation.
Don’t make a big fuss about either departing or returning. Pay no attention to your dog for about 15 minutes or so before you leave. Avoid even looking at your dog, strange as that may sound.
Prepare to leave, but don’t actually do so. Do this several times a day, and soon your Husky won’t necessarily associate you getting out your purse with being left alone.
Gradually lengthen the time that he’s left home alone. Get him used to the idea of you being away. At first, leave and come back within a minute or two. Give him a toy as you depart, and collect it upon your return. Soon, he’ll understand that you’ll always return, and he won’t become destructive.
Most people make the mistake of not being gradual enough in their separation training. If your dog behaves well for one hour alone, do not assume he can be safely left for eight hours. Increase his periods alone by only 15 minutes a time.
Crating your dog helps create a sense of security for him, and even if it doesn’t, while he’s in the crate you know he won’t be chewing the furniture. It’s not safe to leave a Husky under 4 months alone free in the house; he simply does not have the psychological poise to keep from ripping things into shreds. Crate or kennel him. Don’t leave him in the crate for more than four hours, however.
Medicate the dog when necessary
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first behavioral drug designed specifically to treat separation anxiety in dogs. It’s called Clomicalm (clomipramine hydrochloride) and comes in pill form. Clomicalm is a godsend for those people whose dogs do not respond to conventional behavioral therapy alone. It is neither a sedative nor a tranquilizer, and it won’t change your dog’s personality. It will calm him down and enable him to learn positive behaviors more easily, all for about a dollar a day.
Clomicalm is designed to be used along with good training; it’s not a replacement. Owners who have used Clomicalm have noticed an improvement in their dogs in about a month. Although a few dogs will have to remain on Clomicalm permanently, most can be weaned off the drug in three to six months.
Digging
Siberians are born diggers. Their arctic heritage tells them that digging a hole in the snow is a fine way to keep warm and that digging in the moist ground is a good way to keep cool. They have also apparently found out that digging in the sofa is a great way to be comfortable.
Indoor digging probably indicates that your dog is bored. Or that he’s lonely and wants to be with you. In elderly dogs, digging in the carpet can be a sign that they are too hot or cold. Older dogs may try to use the carpet to help regulate their body temperature for this reason.
If your Husky is pawing at the floorboards, he may be trying to tell you that you have a rodent problem. Call an exterminator.
If your Siberian is digging outside, observe the digging pattern. It’s possible, of course, that your Husky is just burying a bone, but probably not. Random holes dug all around the yard indicate your Husky is not getting sufficient exercise. Holes dug in the vicinity of a fence could indicate his desire to escape. Holes dug in moist garden soil suggest that your dog is too hot; he’s merely looking for a place to cool off. Siberians may also be hunting for moles or mice. In their enthusiasm for this sport, more than one Siberian has dug up a yellow jacket nest.
To discourage your dog from re-digging an outdoor hole, put a few pieces of carefully selected dog feces in the hole. Siberians know that dog feces should remain covered.
Some people recommend filling a hole with water and shoving the dog’s head in it to make him stop. This cruel practice will not work; in fact, it will only terrify him or make him defiant.
If your Siberian digs near the fence line, take the hint and bury the wire a few inches underground. And keep checking it to make sure he can’t escape.
You can also confine your Husky to a safe area, but let him dig. Give in to the Siberian’s desire to mine dirt. Get a sandbox, and put it in an area that gets lots of afternoon shade.
Interact with your dog in positive ways, grooming, playing Frisbee, going for a hike — any activity to work off his excess energy. If you need help, rent or borrow a neighborhood child. They’re always ea
ger to play with dogs!
Chewing
Siberians are chewers, especially when they are young. All puppies are oral, using their mouths to investigate new things. Your dog may go right to the new pillow you’ve just brought home and chew it to pieces, even though he’s never bothered the old ones. So, let him become well-acquainted with the new item before you leave him alone with it.
Don’t punish your dog for having chewed something inappropriate. It’s a temptation to hit the roof when you come home to find your living room in shreds, but doing so will only make your Husky associate your return with something awful. He has no idea why you’re angry with him. Dogs must be caught in the act to make the connection between inappropriate behavior and your displeasure. Sometimes you need to manufacture a situation where you can correct your Siberian immediately.
Understanding why dogs chew
Unfortunately, many dogs regard any attention as better than no attention. Not responding to negative behavior with negative attention will take some self-control on your part. But you must resist the urge. Remove the target item (or the dog) with the minimum amount of fuss. Give him plenty of loving attention when he is behaving himself, not when he’s being a nuisance.