I have never owned dogs before and now have 2. Been looking through many, many books about dog training, and have done the traditional puppy and obedience classes with a group in a building.

Now I am trying a private trainer, as I am feeling extremely frustrated and at a loss as to how to proceed. The information on this site seems to be most in line with my thoughts on dog training, as neither of my 2 dogs could care less about clicker or food training when in any situation outside our house.

Ghost is a husky mix that we have had since she was 8 weeks old, she is now 1 1/2.

We adopted Pippi, another husky mix who is around 19 months in Dec 2010. Pippi was a stray found on a reserve. She is a generally nice dog, calm and compliant in the house, doesn't bother our indoor cats or my 2 yr old son.

I also care for 4 other children during the day, ranging from 1 yr to 5 yrs old. As a result the dogs spend most of the day in the backyard. They come in during naptime and are made to stay at the backdoor on their mat. I have been working with both dogs teaching them not to push past children or adults, waiting at the door until I release them to go through, waiting for their food.

The struggle I am having now with Pippi is that I don't know what to do to exercise her. If I leash walk her, she is constantly pulling and on alert for other dogs or critters to chase. The pulling happens immediately, with all collars I have tried - flat, prong, martingale and head halter. She actually broker the head halter when an unleashed dog ran up to us on a walk, luckily I had her attached to her flat collar as well and was able to hold her back.

I just moved to a prong collar as this lunging, shreiking and barking is getting worse; what I find now is that when I correct her with the prong she turns and snaps at me. This has left me very unsettled, as I have small children around and am a smaller woman as well.

I have an e collar but am hesitant to use it on her, as she has already snapped at me when corrected. I tried taking her to the several acre off leash wild park reserve in our city to avoid other dogs, only to have her spot a deer and take off, leash attached. She wandered back looking for me once she realized she couldn't catch the deer.

Other problems that seem to be coming up is that our first dog Ghost has become very possessive and jealous of my interactions with Pippi. If I play ball with Pippi in the yard (which she does beautifully, dropping ball at my feet, backing up and laying down to wait until I throw it), Ghost will bark, nip and jump on top of Pippi. Ghost has also become apprehensive of people when we are out walking and will bark, but cower back close to me.

I have to walk them separately, as Pippi will bite Ghost out of frustration when I correct her after she loses it seeing, smelling or hearing another dog. The trainer I am working with has told me to just stop moving when we come across another dog and Pippi starts barking, and wait until she calms down before we move again.

I get lots of nice dirty looks from people for having my dog on a prong collar, and then for her freaking out. As well, when I take them on separate walks, both dogs are now barking up a frenzy at being left behind, and have pulled apart the chain link in their run to escape and try to follow me with the other dog.

I feel completely lost here and overwhelmed. Did I just take on too much? I do genuinely like both dogs, but find myself dreading walk times even though I know they need exercise.

I am basically a single parent, as my husband works away from home 3 weeks at a time. This means I have to bring my 2 yr old on all walks, training, etc. Where do I start? What do I do to get these dogs to respect me more? How do I know how long to keep trying with these 2?

Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/16/2011 05:53 PM)
Edit reason: more paragraphs!

I'm posting so that this will show up in "my posts" later so I can come back and give you a full response.

For now I will just say, you're definitely on the right board.

For the dirty looks with a prong go through this thread and look at the links. These hidden prongs are cool!

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/295953/page/1#Post295953

So I have more to respond to later...

You've told us what you *don't* want her to do.
What DO you want her to do?
What would two good dogs look like, to you?

I am very amateur, but wish to say that I think with huskies and husky x the key is exercise, and it's not ball playing or a walk on leash to the park, it's MILES at a trot, and then the nice gentle dog inside will emerge. I don't know how you are going to get that done, but without it, I am not sure you can make some huskies into
the peaceful creature you are hoping for. Hopefully some husky owners will chime in with suggestions for a mother who lives in town.

Thanks all...what do I want them to do? I want them to respect me as the authority person, listen to and look to me when we are out and I say "no". Be calm and compliant when out on leash and in the house, come when called when off leash. No chasing animals. No aggressive barking, lunging, crying at other dogs when out on leash or when a dog walks by our house. I would love for them to be able to calm themselves down instead of getting worked up when they see another dog, or when I leave them alone at home.

I totally agree with and understand that they need exercise, I just don't know how I can really exercise them. I used to be able to take Ghost out to the big wild reserve area that is off leash for dogs and she would have a good run and swim and be tired and happy. Now that I have Pippi, my time is taken up with walking both separately, and I can't take her there anymore since she is aggressive and starts fights with other dogs (off or on leash, unprovoked) or will chase deer, rabbits, whatever she sees. So Ghost is suffering because I don't have enough time to do both. I find myself thinking more and more that it was a mistake to get another dog, especially one that is obviously a high energy dog used to wandering miles wherever and whenever she wanted. Did I mention that she escaped from my 6 ft fenced yard multiple times to chase other dogs walking by? I've had to raise my fenced. I just got back from walking both, Pippi first which was a hard 45 minutes of leash corrections and barking like a maniac at other dogs in yards and on the street. I had to turn around several times to avoid other dogs. Then I took Ghost and it was like bliss....she barked at another dog (something she has only started doing since we got Pippi), but quickly stopped when I said "no" and "leave it". She even got to walk part way off leash when we hit that area, saw some dogs and started to trot over but came back when I called her with no problem. I walk them both with 15 lb backpacks trying to tire them out more, but it just isn't enough. I feel terrible for wanting to rehome Pippi, but especially after walks it seems like the thing to do. Can a dog who has run wild for over a year be a good house dog? Reserve dogs often wander in packs, returning to their home occasionally for food. She is a nice enough dog, interacts very well with people and no aggression there (except when I give her the leash corrections or try to get between her and another dog). I don't even know where/what home would be better for her. I do however feel very inadequate in managing her behaviour and being able to train her.

Oh, and I also want them to stop being possessive of me and wrestling each other for my attention.

Have you read the pack structure article? That is probably a good place to start.

It doesn't sound like either of these dogs are hopeless at all, but for the early stages of their training you will need to seperate them for a little while. Do you have crates or kennels for the dogs?

Any chance you have a treadmill at home? A human one can work just fine. I'm just thinking that it would help you to excercise the dogs.

 Quote: angela d houle

Thanks all...what do I want them to do? I want them to respect me as the authority person,

What does this look like?

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listen to and look to me when we are out and I say "no".

You want to use "no" as a look command?

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No chasing animals. No aggressive barking, lunging, crying at other dogs when out on leash or when a dog walks by our house.

This isn't what you want them to do. This is what you don't want them to do.

If you can't tell me, and I speak english, how could they possibly understand what you want?

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I would love for them to be able to calm themselves down instead of getting worked up when they see another dog, or when I leave them alone at home.

Do they know what calm is? What it looks like?
For that matter... what DOES calm look like?

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Did I mention that she escaped from my 6 ft fenced yard multiple times to chase other dogs walking by? I've had to raise my fenced.

Huskies are known for this. Which is why you basically can't put them in a yard unsupervised. Ever.

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I just got back from walking both, Pippi first which was a hard 45 minutes of leash corrections and barking like a maniac at other dogs in yards and on the street.

What were you correcting her for? Does *she* know why you're correcting her?
What do you say before you correct her?

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I had to turn around several times to avoid other dogs. Then I took Ghost and it was like bliss....she barked at another dog (something she has only started doing since we got Pippi)

Probably a clue the dogs should be separated.

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no aggression there (except when I give her the leash corrections or try to get between her and another dog).

Again, what are you correcting her for?
What do you say before you correct her?



She wants to bite you because as far as she is concerned, your corrections are rude, unfair, and scary for her, and she has no faith that you'll protect her from another dog.

 Quote: angela d houle

The information on this site seems to be most in line with my thoughts on dog training, as neither of my 2 dogs could care less about clicker or food training when in any situation outside our house.

Then you've seriously misjudged this site. We're huge advocates of marker/clicker training. Your statement reveals a giant hole in your training.

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If I leash walk her, she is constantly pulling and on alert for other dogs or critters to chase. The pulling happens immediately, with all collars I have tried - flat, prong, martingale and head halter. She actually broker the head halter when an unleashed dog ran up to us on a walk, luckily I had her attached to her flat collar as well and was able to hold her back.

Did you train her to behave another way on leash?
Did you train her to do it under gradually increasing distraction?
Does she know what is expected of her, or are you just holding her in place and hoping she'll figure it out?

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I just moved to a prong collar as this lunging, shreiking and barking is getting worse; what I find now is that when I correct her with the prong she turns and snaps at me.

Yes, because she thinks your correction is unfair, and it probably is. Slapping a prong collar on her when she doesn't know how to heel is bordering on cruelty. Not because the collar is cruel, but because you're punishing her for doing what you've always let her do. Why is it suddenly not okay?

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I have an e collar but am hesitant to use it on her, as she has already snapped at me when corrected.

Please don't use an e-collar on a dog. Ever. You aren't an experienced enough trainer, and an e-collar isn't a substitute for training.

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Other problems that seem to be coming up is that our first dog Ghost has become very possessive and jealous of my interactions with Pippi.

Then separate the dogs.

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If I play ball with Pippi in the yard (which she does beautifully, dropping ball at my feet, backing up and laying down to wait until I throw it), Ghost will bark, nip and jump on top of Pippi. Ghost has also become apprehensive of people when we are out walking and will bark, but cower back close to me.

Yes, this is to be expected.
This is why you don't do this. Play with the dogs separately. How hard is that?

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I have to walk them separately, as Pippi will bite Ghost out of frustration when I correct her after she loses it seeing, smelling or hearing another dog. The trainer I am working with has told me to just stop moving when we come across another dog and Pippi starts barking, and wait until she calms down before we move again.

Trainer sounds like an idiot... but anyway...

So you're walking along and Pippi is heeling beautifully, focused on you, and suddenly another dog appears out of nowhere and Pippi, who has been heeling and obeying every command you give her, loses the ability to obey.

You do what, at this point?

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What do I do to get these dogs to respect me more?

Who says they don't?