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I recently rescued a beautiful Siberain Husky.  She seems to be about 6 months old, well-groomed, and trained.  She sits, shakes hands, fetches a tennis ball, and walks well on a leash.  I want to continue her training, but I've never really trained a dog before.  I mean, I taught most to sit and stay and get down, etc.  But this husky seems to need more and I can't afford a trainer.  So I wanted to learn how to train her myself.

She will fetch a tennis ball, but she seems to expect me to do something other than throw it across the room.  I don't have the kennel up yet, so we haven't done any outside fetch.  When she sees me get her leash, she gets so excited.  And I think it's more than just a walk she is expecting.  I think her previous owner was doing some sort of training with her and she wants that.  But I'm clueless.  I feel like I'm letting her down.

Is there a particular site someone can recommend with basic commands and training exercises?  I might even like to later advance into agility training, altho I doubt I'd ever "show" her.  It would just be recreational for us.

She's an adorable creature, full energy, very lovable and intelligent.  And I just don't want to shortchange her.  Somebody help please!

NancyAnn

I just found this site while looking for info on my new puppy.  On Thurs, I rescued a siberian husky from a shelter here, and I was hoping to get some info.

The minute she saw me, she headed straight for me.  I had a leash in my hand, as I had already been told I could have her, sight unseen.  She saw the leash and just got so excited, prancing around and nudging me eagerly.  Once on the leash, she was ready to go and dragged me out of the kennel with childish enthuisiasm.

She's about 6 months old, I'd guess, full of energy and seems to be happy all the time.  She made herself at home with my Samoyed and two cats with no problem at all.  She sleeps by my bed at night, as if she'd always been there.  In the morning, as soon as I begin to stir, she pounces on the bed and smothers me with smelly, sloppy kisses.  But she's good-natured and stops when I firmly say no.  She follows me everywhere.  And unlike my Samoyed, she readily submitted to a bath.  Her nails are clipped and the hair around her feet is neatly trimmed, so she is obviously used to grooming.

She has been well taken care of and has had some sort of training.  She knows "sit", "get down", "go out", "go in", "go pee".  She'll jump up eagerly to get treats, but when I tell her to sit, she'll sit and wait impatiently for me to hand her the treat.  I've decided to name her Angelina because I think she's an angel.  And also her silvery blue eyes remind me of Angelina Jolie's.  They're just almost spooky because they're so silvery.

My question is, what kind of training do people do with these kinds of dogs?  When I let out a certain kind of shrill whistle, like you hear people do with a horse or in movies with sled dogs, she immediately stops and pays attention to me, as if she is waiting on some sort of command.  I'd like to know how to continue her training.  She's so smart and so willing to please.  I'd like to take advantage of her willing participation and continue to work with her.  If you know of some good sites on training, please let me know.

Another question is what kind of food do y'all give your huskies?  She begs for people food, of course, but the vet doesn't recommend it and I don't want to get her started on a lifetime of health problems.  My Samoyed loves the Purina Prime Cuts (dry food), but Angelina doesn't seem to like it.  She does love milk bones and other chewies.  But she's rather skinny and I'd like to put a little weight on her.  What do you recommend?

She's been a delight so far, friendly with kids, adults and critters.  Today I had to leave her home alone with Sam (my Samoyed) for several hours and that made me nervous.  She chewed up her leash yesterday so I feared the couch would be in pieces when I got home today.  But only a silk plant in a window was knocked over.  She didn't even turn over the trash.  I was pretty impressed.

I'm looking forward to hanging out here and learning more about this new precious puppy I've been blessed with.  Thank you guys for any info you can share.  And thank you, administrators, for this site.  I'm glad I found it.

NancyAnn