My dog is killing me. I have a 10 month old Husky and he is destroying everything. The latest thing is his kennel. He somehow pulled up the bottom of it, hard thick plastic, and shredded it. He then proceeded to rip up the carpet. What can I do to control these behaviours? I am not home when it happens so I don't know what to do. I give him chew toys in there, a kong, food, water. He ignores it all and just destroys. I can't leave him out of it because he chews the walls, my weight bench, the couch, coffee table, etc. He has another dog around, but that doesn't help at all. I tried a mesh muzzle but he pulled it off and shredded 3 of them now in a period of 1 hour. I never leave him in it longer than that.

Do i need to go the extreme and buy a wire muzzle and leave him in that( with no food or water)? He never gets left alone longer that 1 hour, my roomates and I all work different schedules so someone is almost always home.

Any help or ideas wuld be greatly appreciated

Eryk

Ah huskys are known to be escape artists and mischivous! Let me tell you that my late sibe huskys were the same way. I just had to take them into fenced areas and get them tired out , they just seem to have so much energy to waste!

Yes they do get bored easily as well , destructive behaviour doesn't seem uncommon but i've never heard it to this extreme

im having exactly the same problem with my rottie pup he's 9 months old and has destroyed pretty much everything in my house :(
I currently have no net curtains , no carpets,, my settee has teeth marks all over it,, he has literally turned my house into an overgrown kennel lmao!! :(  its driving me nuts .. like you weve tried everything,, its not even as if its boredom coz he is very rarely alone and im constantly doing things with him ,, it seems the minute i sit down to do something he's off on a destructive rampage the cheeky little beggar even sits there and does it right infront of you .. i knew that rotties were destructive as pups i had it with my 3 yr old but she was never this bad .. im hoping he grows out of and pretty darn soon lol
i just wanted to say that i fully sympathise with you

I need help here....I can't take it anymore. He has cost me $500 in the last 2 weeks alone. I run him at the dog park at nite for  atleast an hour and he goes with me for my morning 4 mile run DAILY. Still no change.

Just seem you  are in USA.  Try searching for Siberian Husky clubs in the USA for contacts that will be able to advise.

He's obviously very fit - but bored :(  Many dogs don't play by themselves and perhaps a little more time spent with him stimulating him mentally rather than just getting him fit would help?

Please do NOT leave him unattended in a muzzle, he could do far more damage to himself WITH a muzzle than he could ever do to a house without it.......

I had a lab that was a real probem when younger. All I can say is that if he didnt have 100% od my attention he was either on a lead or in his crate. He ate the bottom lining of his crate and any betdding that we put in, so in the end we just gave him a good layer of newspaper to sleep on, which he always shredded and was replaced each morning. Like yours he would not chew a toy unless we were with him and then he would sometimes sneek a quick nibble of the carpet when we wernt looking. I know that it is easier said than done but you just need to control all opportunities to chew. 

Hi cazzie  i had my rotty for 14yrs she was the most well behaved dog i have ever known.
When he's destroying the house it's for attention, what do you do when he has damaged the house?  Next time just tell him he's a naughty boy and ignore him he will soon learn

If you search for the siberian Husky club of Great Britain website you will see that this is typical siberian Husky behaviour.

This is one reason among many that they are not the ideal average family pet.

There is lots of inofrmation and contact details to get some help.  What has the breeder advised?  This is an issue that should have been planned for when planning the dogs accomodation.  Most pups are destructive to some extent at this age, sibes just more so than most.

WrongSide this would be a miracle but do you live in ontario? Yesterday i saw a husky being walked at monarch park and it had a muzzle on.

Crate train your dog and put him their when he isn't under your watchful eye.
I had never used crates until we got my GSD, and he taught us a lesson very quickly,
By the time he was a year old he had eaten 2 sofa's, an entire kitchen, a hall carpet, plastered walls, doors frames and skirting......the list goes on, he wasnt bored so much as fed up that we werent there to play with him so he made his own amusement !!
I had always thought it awful to crate a dog until i realised with him if i didnt something he ate would probably do him far more damage !!
He loved his crate and i knew he was safe and only chewing whatever toy i gave him whilst inside of it,
i now would automatically crate train any pup i aquired to prevent this same situation as i have totally changed my view of them and used properly they are a fantastic "peace of mind" when you cannot be with your dog.
Donna

I'd be very reluctant to advice leaving a dog with this capacity for destruction in a crate - he could do himself serious damage :(

Digger,
I hadnt thought of it from that point of view, could you elaborate on how he could hurt himself etc...
and if you wouldnt crate the dog, maybe some advice on what you would do instead.
Sorry for all the questions, i like to see other peoples points of view and perspective on things !!
Donna

Crates are not indestructible - there are plenty of things a dog could injure himself on if he was so driven - the doors are often a weak spot in particular, and he could easily get a paw or his head or jaw trapped.

Personally I would question wether this is the right home for this particular dog, asides from that - what kind of mental stimulation he's getting, what diet he's on, how his behaviour and misbehaviour in general is handled, he sounds like a dog with a lot of issues even aside from the destruction.......

OKay just for reference, he isn't my first Husky, my second. But my parents had Husky's since I was old enough to remember. He was fully crate trained up until a lil over a month ago when I moved into a new place, now he won't even look at it. Third, he gets his mental stimulation daily, I am currently training him to weight pull, he still only pulls a tire do to his age. His training sessions are about 45min twice a day until he fully grows into himself. He is also EXTREMELY large for his breed/age, weighs 78 lbs. He isn't bulky or anything just strong. 

I know he is fit, get plenty of outside time, social time with other dogs in my city, he comes with me on Sundays to the Humane Society to volunteer to walk and socialize the other dogs. He used to lay in in kennel just fine with me home or not, now nothing.

My breeder was highly recommended by my local Kennel club, even talked to other owners who have gotten Husky's from him. The unfortunate side is he is Amish, they WILL not talk to people outside of the Amish community, SO I get no help from him, just a dog from Champion lines.

DIGGER, I am pretty upset that you would even insinuate that I would touch my dog in an unhealthy manor. Is is feed nothing but an organic diet, I eat almost the same food as him considering I am a Nutritionist.

Any POSITIVE help here would greatly help.

I have been posting on many sites not just a UK one, I prefer to use ones from the UK considering  I am from Ireland origionally.

Well Wrongside, looks like you chose the right ID - if you'd care to read my post again, I was simply asking for information re diet, I was NOT suggesting your diet was innapropriate, so there's no need to be offended.....

Weight training is NOT mental stimulation, by mental stimulation, I'm referring to a task where he has to use his head not his brawn - such as scent training (not a Husky's strong point I'll grant ;)) or simply some more complicated obedience stuff - stringing moves together in a chain etc.  Using a dogs brain tires them out much more quickly than physical excercise (which may even be hyping him up.......)

I am sorry wrongside bu whoever put you in touch with an Amish breeder cert6ainly did you no favours and I am not surprised that the dog is so untypical of it's breed.  I very much doubt the veracity of it's paperwork also.

I am in touch wityh Rescue in the US for my breed and for Husies as they often confuse the breeds.  The Amish are well known as being puppy millers as they see dogs asd merely a crop, and not a pet.  PPets do noit really have a place in their society dogs animals are tools and have to work to pay th3eir way.

I would be very surprised that you have stumbled on an Amish breeder who is involved in the dog Wworld proper as this would require attendign shows ans rallies, all totally against the seperatist nature od their lifestyle.

The way your pup was breed and reared could be having a direct influence on the problems you now have on top iof the usual breed traits.

I am learning that more Brain. The people that recommended them have beautiful examples of Husky's, 4 in all from the same breeder.

So you think the way they raise their dogs is affecting a puppy I got from them when he was 7 weeks old? and would something they did explain why he is bigger than any Husky I have ever seen in my life? He currently weighs in at 78lbs, as of last week at the vet. He can't find anything wrong with him and has a perfectly clean bill of health, just BIGGER than most.

Generally then pups will ahve lacked human contact anbd not been in a hose much in their early weeks.  I also suspect that yoru dog is either not purebred siberian or from such untypical stock as to give such a hugely untypical example as to size.  In the best bred litters you will get the odd individual that is over or undersize but double the expected size, says something isn't cosher.

my other roomate has his sister and a friend has his brother, both prime examples of the breed. My boy just didn't stop growing. Plus I made some phone calls to Chicago today and the breeder may be Amish, but he is a member of the Greater Chicago Siberian Husky Club. HE is known for having good stock and pure lines.

If I was the type of person to walk my dog with a muzzle I would seriously consider giving him away. I would never do that to him, he isn't dangerous to other dogs or people at all.

Yes the website you quoted does touch on the chewing habit, but it comes off as a sense of pride for these people. It doesn't say anywhere on there what to do to curb the chewing and destructivness, kinda incomplete for the Husky Club.

78lbs is huge , my 2 late sibes were only about 50-55lbs. Stupid stupid question but any chance he may be a alaskan malamute :D

Or a Huskamute

The Breeder had no other breeds on his property. And our local Husky club, told me today, that my breeder has a very good reputation for breeding. I don't know any reason why or how my pup is so much bigger than his litermates. His sister who also lives with me only weighs 40 lbs. They have been on the same diet and raised the same way.

When it comes to his behaviour, I think Digger may be right. I need to challenge him more and work him til he drops. So far he can out run me and learns everything I throw at him at an extremely fast pace, except for not chewing things.

My Vet is also telling me that my other roomate bringing a new puppy in the house, female Husky/White wolf hybrid only 5 weeks old, may be making him act out. He is used to being the center of attention because of the way he looks, Big, red/white, with ice blue eyes.

this is a pic of him at 6 months
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a209/Wrongside/CIMG0480.jpg

an at 7 months
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a209/Wrongside/CIMG0650.jpg

I dont have any newer pics yet, but i will soon

Eryk

He doesn't look to big just lean , is he MUCH bigger then his litter mates. If not then it's probably all just muscle mass from hauling tires!

He just started pulling a tire for about 30 feet for 5 times, only about 2 weeks. and those pics are months old. When training properly for weight pulling, most dogs do not pull anything heavy until over 1 1/2 years. I have had much experiance in the pulling arena, not my dogs but friends. My mom is also a search and rescue dog handler, uses Wolf/husky hybrids typically, so I am not a novice when it comes to handling a dog.
He is only 10 months old. He has only gained 2 lbs in the last months so i know the pulling is not the cause. He is ALOT bigger than his litermates, he weighs 78 lbs, his sis weighs 40, and his brother weighs about 50. So you can understand the difference in sizes.

I don't think he needs 'working till he drops' - I think he needs MENTAL stimulation - he needs something to think about - a puzzle to work out - maybe feeding his meals in a way that he has to work his brain to get them.....

BTW - you say you also have his sister living in the same appartment - how do you know which dog is being destructive?

SHe lives in another room which is locked during the day, plus she lives in her kennel when no one is home too. She doesn't do anything wrong really.

have you tried agility with him

Question , why would agility help

coz it would maybe make him think about it mental stim

In the first post you said he has another dog around, now you tell us that they are locked in seperate rooms - may be he's frustrated that he doesn't have company?

Agility would also be a good idea because it would stimulate him mentally as well as physically, unfortunatly he's a little bit young yet, but you could start some basic training which doesn't stress the joints......

thankyou digger, i thought that i was out of line for a while, I do gentle basic agility with my 9mth old nothing strenuous, and he loves it, he knows what i wish him to do, without much help from me. More brains than me i think lol

WHat would be some good basics or places I can find info on Agility? I need to do something he is too flipping wild.

Eryk

Hi Eryk,
You could start with a kids play tunnel, getting him to sit at one end, go to the other end and call him through it. Oki caught on to this quickly but did go through a stage of laying down in the middle and refused to come out, quite funny me in one end butt sticking up in the air not pretty site lol. Maybe putting a few poles on the floor spaced out and walking over them, then combining the two together. The poles would eventually become jumps when he gets old enough.
There are alot of sites on the web, for agility. Where abouts are you?
I also play hide and seek in my garden with Oki he seems to enjoy hunting me out
I hope this helps
Danielle

I live in the US....Sites here don't give any help. This site has been a godsend.

My boy and I play Tag at the dogpark. That's really the only game he likes. He can already jump up to my shoulder while standing still and I am 6 ft. He has more energy than I know what to do with and I run him everyday with me, his pull training, plus his time at the park. Digger recommended Agility so I am gonna give it a shot and see if I get better results.

BTW...I can't hide anything from him.

Not to be picky but it twas me that recommended agility, but i dont mind really just playing.
What about hiding treats when him not in the room/garden.
All i did was type in agility into a search engine and asked on some sites and found loads.
What is yours called?
I do think he will love it, don't give up keep looking
Danielle
P.s If you tell me whereabouts in the us i will have a look this end, I'm in the uk

Having had a quick look and not as yet knowing where you are i don't know if this site would be helpful
http://www.nadac.com/clublists.htm

Hi,

There are loads of basics that you can teach for agility even before you start on any equipment.  The essential basic commands for agility are "go on" for your dog to run straight on ahead of you "left" turn left "right" turn right.  So have fun teaching these.  Put a toy out in a straight line ahead of your dog and as you let him go shout go go go so he learns to run on ahead of you, which is an important part of agility.  Also stand wtih your dog beside you and throw a toy to the left or right and at the same time telling your dog to go left or go right.  Then leave your dog as in a recall but instead of calling your dog to you send it left or right to the toy again using the command.  Make sure all of this is fun and a great game. 

Then you need to be able to teach your dog to run on your left or right hand side.  Believe me this is harder than you think, they always seem to want to run off or switch sides!  Teach your dog to spin left and right with your left and right hand turn commands, so as you are running with your dog you can spin them away from you or toward you and change the direction you are running in.

As for equipment, tunnels are great for young dogs.  Poles on the ground are fine too (being sensible of course and NOT being tempted to put jumps up until the dog is old enough!  When your dog is used to the tunnel drape a piece of cloth over the exit end so that the dog gets used to the cloth tunnel that will appear in normal agility.  There is a great book called the a-z of jumping (produced in USA I believe) that gives great exercise for teaching different jumping bits.

Maybe you could find a scaffold plank too and teach your dog to walk along that and down on the end (as if teaching the contact points).

More than anything, remember that agility is fun and agility is just one big game!  The more motivated by a toy your dog is the easier it will be train your dog.

Hi slobdog,
That was alot better than my bit of c**p, i knew what i meant but brain wasn't working
Thankyou
Danielle

Lol, It's only because i've been doing agility far too long!  I seem to have given that advice to a lot of handlers!  Mind you it's easy talking to someone and showing them what you mean than trying to explain it on here!!

Mand

Yes, i do simple beginning stuff at my obidience class nothing major but trying to explain was hard, Agility is definatly something Oki and i are going to do, so any help is very much appriecated.
So would a spell checker on this lol

Well do feel free to ask away.  If I know the answer I will help as much as I can.

mand

I must say that was very thorough, THX...I will be trying this stuff out and seeing how he responds. I know I am gonna have a HUGE challenge with the left, right directions. He is definately one of those Husky's you CAN'T trust off leash. He has a VERY high prey drive and has caught more rabbits than I care to admit.

I'll figure out what he can do. The jumping part will be easy since at my last place, he was 6 months old, he jumped my 5 ft fence easily. He has tons of agility, maybe now I can channel is somewhere.

Eryk

Wrongside i can relate , my late sibes were NEVER off leash only in fenced in dog parks. They are just so rowdy aye? 3 hr run on the fields and they still drag me down the street!

That's why I started running him with me. He keeps me motivated to keep going. He is very good about stopping and sit-wait at corners and lights. i do drop his 20ft lead on our runs alot. when he has the lead on he hasn't tried to run yet. he stays right with me.

Eryk

Hi Wrongside I just checked out the pic of your dog he is beautiful.

Maggie (from N.Ireland)