Saturday, 7 March 2015

Help! My Siberian Husky won't listen to me!


Time for some Siberian fun!
Most of you probably have heard that Siberian Huskies are extremely intelligent, however there are some out there who mistake their intelligence for "stupidity."

Why?


A huskies intelligence can be mistaken for stupidity for two reasons. (I really hate that 'S' word.)

1) They have a habit of ignoring you when trying to train.
2) They can turn their selective hearing on and off whenever they like!

A sibe will basically tell you whether or not he feels like listening during a training session or even every day life, this can often make a husky difficult to train. I'm sure there are other breeds out there like this as well ;)

training huskies


Because of the husky being difficult to train at times, they have been labeled "stupid" by some people. Which of course, is not true.

There are secrets to training your Siberian Husky, and today, I plan on sharing a few of them with you, but shhhhhh! Don't tell anyone!

Tips for training your Siberian Husky 

Huskies are extremely playful, and silly. Because of this, they will thrive in a training session that has been made out to be a game for them.
So, be silly! Let out your inner craziness! Your husky will love seeing you have fun and will want to join in. Be happy and positive throughout your whole training session, and do not let your frustration seep through.

A Siberian Husky can have a very short attention span if something does not interest them, so know your dog. Know what they like. Know what gets them excited, and know what they will want to work for in order to receive.

training your siberian husky

If you do not know your dog, and their likes, chances are, you will not get a good response through training. They will simply choose to ignore you. And anyone who is owned by a husky knows that that they are SUPERB at ignoring us!

Ask yourself a question - what does my husky respond to best?
A toy? A treat? Or maybe just plain old praise from his human.
Whatever the case may be, use it to your advantage.

If you answered treat, then always be sure that you are using a high value treat when training.
If you use a daily treat that your sibe gets all the time, your response will not be as good as if you were to pull out a few little cubes of cheese instead.

If your answer was a toy - then you know that you will get the best response through using a favorite toy, and so on and so forth.

  • Keep things happy and upbeat for you and your husky
  • Use a high value reward best suited for your dog
  • Stay positive for a better result
  • Realize that some days your husky may just have an off day and not feel like training. Take that into consideration and end your session if things aren't working out.


That's it, some tricks of the trade when your owned by a husky!
*note these tips will work for any breed, not just sibes.

sepia husky photo
Sepia Saturday contribution
Sepia Saturday is hosted by Ruckus the Eskie
Co hosted by Earl's World

Hope to see you all back here on Monday!
If you have any questions about training your husky, (or any breed) please feel free to comment below.



34 comments:

  1. Such good points about any dogs. They certainly apply to terriers! Play play play and treat

    Terry

    from MatildasJourney.com

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    1. BOL! I have heard that about Terriers as well!

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  2. We totally agree!! Definitely true for terriers...especially my granddog! BOL!

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  3. LOL mom say i sound like my dad :D

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  4. In other words: Huskies are like cats ;-)

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  5. I would agree that these are great tips for all dogs. Especially make it fun! Who really wants to work for a grumpy human? Not me.

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  6. When we had our Elkhound she only heard what she wanted to hear so now we refer to that as "Elkhound ears".

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    1. hahahaha! That's great! So I guess I have some Siberian Ears then?

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  7. The Kuvasz and GBGV breeds are both stubborn and independent, so we are not easy either. We do what we need to, but Mom doesn't dwell on perfect obedience with us. Mom's friend has huskies and they are the most perfectly trained dogs we know, so it is possible, just takes a lot of work.

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    1. It is possible, thats for sure! As for perfectly trained? Hmmmmm.......i'll let you know when we get there!
      Don't wait up

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  8. Hi Y'all!

    Good points for training any of us. Let me ask you humans, when you were learnin' stuff, wasn't it easier if it was fun? Didn't y'all like havin' something yummy to look forward to when you finished?

    Y'all come on by,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  9. Great post! I think that can happen with any smart dog. They have their off days just as much as we do.

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  10. Yup great tips for any dog. Lovely sepia photo.

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  11. Beagles definitely have the selective hearing in common with huskies. Plus they can get very distracted by their noses (we always say that their ears shut off when their noses engage :) But they are also very treat motivated, so that helps.
    Great advice for all dogs!

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    Replies
    1. BOL! Ears shut off? YES!!! Most definitely! hahaha!

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  12. Hmmmm, I think my Hailey may be part Husky . . . she is the Queen of hear what she wants to!

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  13. The mom wonders if these tips can be used on us cats. Nah...us cats don't listen to anyone! :)

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  14. Huskies stupid??!? HA! They will outsmart the best of them! You're so right about their attention span, if you bore, they will ignore!! When training I use very high value treats, otherwise my Husky isn't interested.
    Love & Biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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    1. Heyyyyy, I like that saying! "If you bore, they will ignore" haha! Love it!

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  15. Those are great points and maybe they will work on Shetland Sheepdogs as well! Dakota doesn't listen either! I don't think dogs that don't listen are stupid, just the opposite...they are brighter than super obedient dogs because THEY decide just exactly what they will and will NOT do! xoxo

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  16. You know Bentley has very selective hearing. He can hear a banana being peeled, but not me hollering for him to come inside! BOL!

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    Replies
    1. hahahaha!!!! Ohhhhh I know the feeling!

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  17. Good tips. I think any dog can have an off day at training. We run into that every now and again so we take a break. Then when we come back it is like presto concept learned.

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    Replies
    1. Exactly. Sometimes thats all it takes. Just a little break, regroup, and try again.

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