A good place to start would be understanding the Siberian Husky (or “husky”) breed. Go here:
And, you can do more research on the internet. A good source is the Siberian Husky Club of America web site (http://www.shca.org/). There is also an internet email list, called Sibernet-L, that is full of people from around the world that own Siberian Huskies. This is a great source for answers to your questions (http://www.sos-srf.org/SibernetL.html). Books on Siberian Huskies:

Siberian Huskies are not what I would call “stubborn.” Some owners will call them that, but they are not. That “stubborness” is actually a sign of an intellegent dog. S/he is not being “stubborn.” Your dog, being a Siberian Husky, has the “What’s in it for me?” attitude by nature. If you can understand this about your dog, you can use it to your advantage in training your dog.

There are many ways to train dogs. The BEST philosophy is using “positive reinforcement.” This is NOT Ceasar Milan’s philosophy. Other philosophies include negative reinforcement (hitting your dog when it does not repond or using pronged collars or choke chains). Siberan Huskies will respond excellentantly to positive reinforcement because you are showing/telling them exactly what is it in for them.

I suggest finding a obediance class that uses the positive reinforcement philosophy (PetSmart is NOT a good source in my opinion for training Siberian Huskies). Make sure you trainer you choose understands the breed. I had a couple well known dog training classes/facilities in my area tell me that huskies could not be trained. (That’s bunk!) I also had a trainer tell me that you could ONLY train puppies. This is not true either…I have proven that. If you find a trainer that says they only train puppies or that huskies can’t be trained, they are full of crap and have no idea how to train dogs.

If you are in an isolated area and do not have access to an obeidnce training class, look for books that use positive reinforcement or books on how to train Siberian Huskies. (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=book+train+Siberian+husky)

Furthermore, you mentioned your dog was a “husky.” Most of what I referenced above was for Siberian Hukies, the breed. If your dog is not a full bred Siberian Husky, this information would still pertain to your situation.

Good link for general information on Siberian Huskies and other Working Breed dogs:

If you are in the Twin Cities area, look up Alpha Academy at 651-636-0523.

I’m going to give you the exact same answer I gave you the *first* time you asked this question:

How much do you know about this breed? How much research did you do before you got him?

I find it hard to believe that he “fails to grasp” the concept — he just doesn’t see any point in doing it. “Because I said so” isn’t a reason for a Siberian to do anything.

Does he respect you? Doesn’t sound like it. What methods from these books are you using? Siberians will rarely learn ANYTHING for praise alone. Again, your approval isn’t what interests him.

This is an interesting article on “hard to train dogs”. It might help you understand what you’re dealing with:

Try using treats to reward his response, if you haven’t. Something small, like a piece of kibble, or a slice of hot dog. Work on the respect thing, too. Try the Nothing In Life Is Free method. More info here:

You’d do well to take him to obedience classes, preferably with someone who has worked with the breed before.

This is yet another reason why I tell people that Siberian huskies are not the breed for everyone. You need to understand them in order to train them.

This is probably not the answer you want, but it is the cold hard truth.

Huskies are a highly intelligent, and independent breed.

I get the feeling that your attitude is part of the problem along with the lack of learning about the breed you have in the first place. This breed is vastly different than the majority of dog breeds.

Obedience training may help some but realize this, the training classes are for YOU not the dog. You are being taught to train the dog. And the Husky, being a Husky, will do what you ask of him if he feels like it or if he sees the point in doing it. Most REPUTABLE trainers will tell you this at the start. A Husky will generally know the command in about 3 repetitions. As I said though, unless THEY see a point in doing it they most likely won’t. And you have to be patient and realize this.

Good luck.

25 years of being owned by Siberian Huskies. I currently have 16 Huskies most of whom were rescued by us from people who didn’t know what they were getting into.

Okay, first things first, a husky has a very VERY similar temperament to a wolf. I know this, because I have a family member who worked with wolves, and I own a husky and several Husky mix breeds.

The single most important thing you need to do is assert yourself as the alpha (it sounds silly, I know, but it is very true).

You enter a room before the dog, you eat before the dog, you decide when you go out for a walk, you decide when he gets his treat, you decide every aspect of the dogs life. It needs to understand that.

DO NOT USE EXCESSIVE PHYSICAL FORCE.

A tap on the nose is fine, but hitting, whacking, spanking can cause the dog to bite. If it thinks a raised hand means it’s going to get hit, it’s not going to like it. If someone goes to pet the dog and it assumes it’s going to get thrashed because the person raises their hand for a pet, it may attack, and the dog may have to be put down. We don’t want that.

When you eat a meal, don’t give any to the dog. Once you finish, fill his bowl and let him eat. Master first.

If you’re in the room together and you get up for whatever reason, the dog will probably jump up to follow you. More than likely, he’ll cram his nose in the door and do anything in his power to get out before you.

Step in front of him between him and the door then face him. Give him your command for sit, then lay down.

Crack open the door. If he jumps up again, tell him to sit, then lay down again. It may take a while, but eventually, he’ll get it. You should be able to open the door and he should remain still (well, he may twitch and squirm a bit…)

Taking him on a walk should not mean the dog is dragging you down the street. Training him to stay beside you is very important.

If he does not know the basic commands (stay, sit, come, down, heel) then teach those to him first.

Please, feel free to email me with more featured questions like house-breaking, how to stop chewing, how to get the dog to stop nipping, what you should REALLY be feeding him, and other such things.

Sadly, training a dog is a bit too much to fit into one little thing…

Please, please make sure you’re not feeding him any of the major brand-name dog foods.

Hug him lots daily… Kiss him lots daily and take him on lots of walks everyday and play with him daily and find toys he enjoy.s and play with him daily…..
He’s a sweetie who loves to be loved…Thats enough….

Enjoy yourself and don;t stress your dog and you out…

We have had quite a few special needs doggies that just needed a loving warm affectionate person who loves em and takes care of them…

ALL DOGS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL… some are just good ole lap dogs that need love…

NOT all dogs need to be trained like police dogs.!!!!For that matter the good ole days and letting dogs be dogs in stead of today techniques or training dogs like they are ALL the same is so wrong;……

Just love him and make daily routines for him…like every morning and every evening regardless of the weather he KNOWS you and him will be going for a nice long walk…

Our dogs know when Saturday comes…They fly out the door and into the truck for a ride …with the windows open..We always go by a favorite drive through where they give all the dogs a chicken stick….
EVERY morning and every night they know they will go out the door on a leash for a fun walk through the neighborhood…
Inbetween morning and noon and noon and night they KNOW there will be play time with the frizbees, and doggy foot balls and tickling and wrestling time…

JUST GET HIM IN A DAILY ROUTINE HE CAN DEPEND ON AND JUST PLAIN LOVE HIM JUST LIKE THE OLDEN DAYS…!!!! YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID

Huskies can be very stubborn please call a private trainer

It sounds to me like he believes he is the Alpha. No matter what breed you have if you are not the Leader then they have no reason to do what you wish. Start with walking him a lot! Get him tired before you “train”. Never let him lead on the walk. Watch an episode of the Dog Whisperer….that guy is amazing …even with some of the most stubborn breeds.

huskies and malamutes are just smarter than the average dog and notoriously difficult to train because of that. Most dogs will do something just because you asked, smarter dogs need a reason to listen to you. You need to make it worth his effort. I find bribes are always useful. Food treats, extra praise, toys, a game are all good things to start with.

Keep the sessions short so he won’t get bored, I’ve found clicker training particularly useful because it gives him a marker so he says, “Hey, I did something she wanted me to, now I get something I want.” And with clickers you can catch him in the act of doing something you want him to without actually being in a training session. Like, if you want him to sit, catch him when he sits, if you want him to lie down, catch him when he lies down. When you start off with unknown commands use a gesture to signify what you want him to do, once he’s figured that out you can include a verbal cue so that way he figures out what exactly you mean.

But most important is to be consistent. That means every one in the house. If you aren’t he’ll know he can get out of having to work by ignoring you. Don’t let him get away with doing things you don’t want.

He sounds like a typical Husky.

He has no reason or motivation to do what you want. He sees no benefit to showing you that he understands anything. And most northern breeds laugh at what “the books” say about training dogs.

Bassetnut gave you a great article to read. I’d also recommend googling NILF (Nothing in Life is Free). You need to find what motivates your dog & you need to be a leader.

Huskies are working dogs and they like to roam. I would imagine you should have read up on the breed first. Best thing to do now is contact a rescue group and ask them to help you on some pointers of better understanding your dog and his breed.