Hi there,
I would be very appreciative of some suggestions regarding issues with my new-ish rescue Husky mix- mixed with a Samoyed they think.
I am a very experienced animal owner-the vast majority of domestic animals have been owned by my family and I at some point, with dogs being the center of the family and all being rescued.
I am very used to all the usual issues with dogs, nervousness, house training, recall, commands, various smells and even worked in kennels through my student summers. I rescued a hunting ferret who tried to break your fingers and turned her into a cute, litter trained wiggle of joy who is currently asleep under my knee.
So you get my drift: me+animals= a whole lot of love both ways.
Bought a house and thought now's the time i can responsibly have a dog. Found a beautiful lurcher in a rescue center, made an appointment to see her. turns out she wouldn't be good with the cat but "ive got the perfect dog for you two" and out comes what looks like a sheep, we felt sorry for him all grubby so that was that.
In comes the (8 month, neutered) Husky. He is very intelligent and chooses to pretend i don't exist in a way I've only seen in cats! I've trained him to do all sorts of commands perfectly and then he looks at me like I'm hideous and runs to the local Army base<---that happened today.
I took him on a 7 mile cross country walk and he pulled so much i spent the entire next morning lying on a hard floor as my backs out, as even though he knows not to pull- you guessed it- he pulled with all his might for 7 long, freezing, muddy English winter miles.
Took him to the woods in the middle of nowhere- he ended up on a golf course. he did this after coming back to me many times perfectly.
He is house trained yet once in a while goes to the bathroom on the carpet then saunters off to his basket as he knows he's been naughty but hey he fancied a nap anyway so 2 fingers to you owner!
Hes not even excited for his dinner- he looks at it, actually sighs and walks off.
Gets too hot when cuddled and doesn't seem to enjoy it anyway.
Permanently wet as he wants to lay in the rain- so def no cuddling. His coat is so fluffy that it wont dry for a good 2 hours.
refuses to leave the cat alone no matter how many times hes been hissed at, spat at and fully whacked by our very large male cat. He is never vicious but wont give up- for literally hours.
I'm basically at my wits end- he seems very happy yet my partner and I are miserable. I have never once given up on an animal but at the same time I've never had an animal that has such little regard for me or my partner.
Just to add- my partner works from home and the dogs has all the attention he wants (not much it turns out), a big house, great walks at least twice a day, other dog friends, other human friends, a good diet, toys, sticks etc etc.
So basically what I'm saying is please could I have some advice from anyone with Husky experience who could tell me if this is a passing phase that I need to persevere with(i do see glimmers of a lovely dog in between the bad bits) or if this is just Husky through and through in which case we cant live with him.
100% the dog I will have needs to walk off of a lead eventually, will never go in a crate and will, once fully trained come back every time. We live in the countryside so its insane to have a dog on a lead once trained enough to know right from wrong. Everyone i see has a gun dog perfectly at heel and i have a nutty sheep look-a-like literally dragging me through the mud, happy as Larry, pretending i dont exist!
Sorry for wittering away- just thought I should put in all details.
Many thanks in advance for any advice.
I would be very appreciative of some suggestions regarding issues with my new-ish rescue Husky mix- mixed with a Samoyed they think.
I am a very experienced animal owner-the vast majority of domestic animals have been owned by my family and I at some point, with dogs being the center of the family and all being rescued.
I am very used to all the usual issues with dogs, nervousness, house training, recall, commands, various smells and even worked in kennels through my student summers. I rescued a hunting ferret who tried to break your fingers and turned her into a cute, litter trained wiggle of joy who is currently asleep under my knee.
So you get my drift: me+animals= a whole lot of love both ways.
Bought a house and thought now's the time i can responsibly have a dog. Found a beautiful lurcher in a rescue center, made an appointment to see her. turns out she wouldn't be good with the cat but "ive got the perfect dog for you two" and out comes what looks like a sheep, we felt sorry for him all grubby so that was that.
In comes the (8 month, neutered) Husky. He is very intelligent and chooses to pretend i don't exist in a way I've only seen in cats! I've trained him to do all sorts of commands perfectly and then he looks at me like I'm hideous and runs to the local Army base<---that happened today.
I took him on a 7 mile cross country walk and he pulled so much i spent the entire next morning lying on a hard floor as my backs out, as even though he knows not to pull- you guessed it- he pulled with all his might for 7 long, freezing, muddy English winter miles.
Took him to the woods in the middle of nowhere- he ended up on a golf course. he did this after coming back to me many times perfectly.
He is house trained yet once in a while goes to the bathroom on the carpet then saunters off to his basket as he knows he's been naughty but hey he fancied a nap anyway so 2 fingers to you owner!
Hes not even excited for his dinner- he looks at it, actually sighs and walks off.
Gets too hot when cuddled and doesn't seem to enjoy it anyway.
Permanently wet as he wants to lay in the rain- so def no cuddling. His coat is so fluffy that it wont dry for a good 2 hours.
refuses to leave the cat alone no matter how many times hes been hissed at, spat at and fully whacked by our very large male cat. He is never vicious but wont give up- for literally hours.
I'm basically at my wits end- he seems very happy yet my partner and I are miserable. I have never once given up on an animal but at the same time I've never had an animal that has such little regard for me or my partner.
Just to add- my partner works from home and the dogs has all the attention he wants (not much it turns out), a big house, great walks at least twice a day, other dog friends, other human friends, a good diet, toys, sticks etc etc.
So basically what I'm saying is please could I have some advice from anyone with Husky experience who could tell me if this is a passing phase that I need to persevere with(i do see glimmers of a lovely dog in between the bad bits) or if this is just Husky through and through in which case we cant live with him.
100% the dog I will have needs to walk off of a lead eventually, will never go in a crate and will, once fully trained come back every time. We live in the countryside so its insane to have a dog on a lead once trained enough to know right from wrong. Everyone i see has a gun dog perfectly at heel and i have a nutty sheep look-a-like literally dragging me through the mud, happy as Larry, pretending i dont exist!
Sorry for wittering away- just thought I should put in all details.
Many thanks in advance for any advice.