Jodee - with the greatest of respect, have you ever owed a Husky/Mal cross? Your beautiful border collies and cavvies are light years away from a northern breed.

I have owned this type of dog for around 15 or 16 years - not long, but long enough to know that with these dogs you most certainly DO need to be Boss!! Or rather should I say ... boss (with a lower case b). That does not mean to say that you beat them, kick them, abuse them, even use an e-collar on them ... it means you have to be kind, consistent, firm and assertive without being aggressive - either physically or mentally. They are incredibly intelligent usually, more so even dare I say it than a collie (I have owned a collie in the past so speak with a little knowledge, although doubtless nowhere near as much as your's) and you give them an inch, believe me they will take a YARD.

Whereas I am less in favour of the "Ouch!!" , nonetheless any short, sharp word will be taken notice of. We have had this discussion before - it is NOT the word that is important, it is the meaning that the word conveys. A nice crisp "NO!" has more emphasis, N being a hard letter, than the diphthong "OW", although OW nonetheless is fairly hard. Coupled with an erect finger in the space immediately in front of the dog's muzzle (and thus a fairly dangerous place to put your digit potentially!) works wonders with these dogs - which is why I like SOME of CM's mantra.

They are very focussed - a filled kong or toy would not deter any northern breed I have ever owned or known from sinking his teeth into your ankle if that's what he was focussed on doing!!

Myrsky: absolutely not with a breed like this! Most husky/mal crosses become very distressed when separated from you, and will simply scratch your doors and damage them very quickly indeed, even a tiny puppy! My boy Hal at 8 weeks old chewed through our pine kitchen door!!

Do not shut him away, but spend time with him training him NOT to bite. It won't take long if you follow my suggestions of a loud, short sound like "NO!!!" or even "OUCH" ... in Finnish of course!! It doesn't matter though, it could be in Polish, if it is an assertive, sharp noise it will work. And the stiff, erect finger in front of his muzzle coupled with your choice of word will pay off dividends. Even cats will respond to this type of training, I know because I have done it on my daughter's cats to stop them scratching my hand when it was rested on the arm of the sofa.

I have owned wolf crosses - mainly husky / mal mix - for nearly 16 years, to my knowledge Joedee, who is doubtless far more knowledgeable and experienced a dog owner than myself, has never had any experience of living with a husky x mal. They are very different from most other breeds.

Thanks, Gnasher! My own dogs have taught me so much. I hope to pass on what I can.

Myrsky-- your puppy is still very young, so the 'crazy' will be easy to correct if you are consistent with your training.

Ankle nipping, chasing, clothes pulling-- these things are not to be tolerated. Bear in mind that even shouting NO! can be positive reinforcement to a dog-- they don't understand language the way we do. Instead, turn your back, Don't make any eye contact. Don't look at him, talk to him, or engage with him in any way. Ostracise him from your company for an interminable at least five minutes. If you must put him out on the balcony, do it with a minimum of touch, no words, and no eye contact. This tells him that you are not pleased with his behaviour and you won't put up with it. Do this once or twice and then you can use a firm NO! as a precedent, and he'll associate that NO with being put out of your company. Believe me, being shunted aside is a more effective deterrent than any kind of whacking.

From what you're describing, I suspect your puppy has inherited more Husky than Malamute in his braincase! Mals tend to be pretty docile and sweet in human company, but Huskys can be somewhat madcap. This is fine! Both breeds are high endurance dogs, valued for their intelligence, self-reliance, and fortitude. They are notorious for terrible recall, so if you can get training on that right away, do so, but bear in mind that it might break down easily. They're also notorious for their absolute loyalty, so the more you interact with him in positive ways, the better and better he'll be.

At his age, he's probably biting and mouthing a lot because he's teething. He might be comforted by a frozen carrot. Just take a whole one and pop it in the freezer and give it to him when it's a popsicle. The cold is very soothing on sore gums, and the carrot is very sweet and enticing to a young dog! Apples work too-- try the smaller, tarter ones like Cox. Bigger dogs like Mals and Huskys do well with a good amount of vegetable roughage anyway, so it would be good to get him used to nice veg. My Akita has a routine where, when we let him out at night, he sits down and will not come back inside until he is offered a carrot. He loves them.

Another excellent post ... however, I personally would never ostracise a dog like a husky mal cross. They have a very strong pack ethic, and HAVE to be with their pack - ie you - by shutting him out on the balcony for instance you really are giving him the most serious punishment that you could, because in a wolf pack that would mean death - even though you are only doing it for a short time, it is still far too harsh a punishment IMO. But a short sharp NOISE - like a "A A A ... or NO!! Or OI !!" or whatever you want to expel from your lungs DOES work with these dogs, and even better is the erect finger or hand - not to punish but to claim the space around the dog and say "This is mine and I am telling you NOT TO BITE ME!"

He will "get it" extremely quickly.

In addition, ostracising the dog will almost definitely mean damaged doors because these dogs have incredibly sharp strong claws however well clipped they are and can rake through a mahogany front door in minutes - I know because I now have a badly damaged mahogany front door!

But apart from that, excellent post again!

Taking into account Gnasher's response--

Yes, all the larger Spitz types need, need, need companionship. They do not do well in kennels. They must not be kept outside. They need to be in the house with you, connected to you-- so I want to qualify my ostracisation technique.

I never shut the dog away. I make them leave the room that I am in-- I don't even have to close the door, just order them OUT! if they try to come back in. This tells them that I am displeased with their company-- and five minutes is all it takes. After that I'll go get them and offer a game or a treat or a walk and everything is cool. Honestly I can't think of the last time I've had to do this... it must be years ago.

One thing I'll mention: if you do go for crate training (and I suggest you should; it's brilliant and done well can save you and dog alike a lot of angst) the crate must never be used for this kind of time out. The crate is a safe haven, the dogs' own space, where he is not to be disturbed. It should always be sacrosanct.

If I banish one of my dogs for misbehaviour, they still have run of the house-- they just don't get to be with me. That is the consequence of misbehaviour and that's all it is: no confinement, no physical anything.

EDIT: Thanks, Gnasher! I think you and I agree pretty much-- I hope my last post clears things up a bit. I emphasise with you the necessity of keeping a Mal/Husky mix close and I only use banishment as an extreme measure. Turning my back and ignoring is generally good enough. But I have been through some pretty rough stuff with my Akita, so I do recommend maybe a firmer approach when the rough play won't stop. It took quite a while to get through to Taji but with a little puppy it shouldn't take long at all.

That's better !!

The only time that the spitz breeds can live away from their owners is if you have 2 or more. With Ben and Tai, we did get them to sleep in a separate bedroom to our's because there were 2 of them.

But a single spitz breed - no, they need to be with you.

You're so right. It took such a long time to win Taji's trust, after going through three irresponsible owners and 7 months alone in kennels. I can't fault the kennel staff. They really did all they could, but they were set up as a day care, not long term care. He's fine now and he loves his muttly companions!

And here is Myrsky with a great wonderful ball of fluff!

It does not make sense to me that dogs bred for outdoor work such as sled pulling etc are clingy and need to be with their owners all the time and don't like being kept outside. This is my ignorance shining, though. I've never owned of of these breed types, as I know I couldn't deal with them properly. The shedding alone would kill me. My clingy dog is a Labrador/Great Pyrenees mix, but I baby him so perhaps it's different.

Yeah . I envy her. She sounds great ... got the good sense to ask for advice. What a breed to cut your teeth on!! I wish her and her partner the very best of luck - she has a great dog there, just needs to know how to raise him ... with a firm, fair but kind hand, in respect of the amazingly intelligent animal that he is. They learn so quickly, these dogs, they are amazing.

Myra, they will live perfectly happily outside as long as they have company, particularly if you start them off straight from the word go. The problem we had with Hal, for instance, was that he HAD to be with us 24/7 - he was a F4, a lowish content wolf cross, and even at 8 weeks old was incredibly powerful. For 3 weeks we tried to get him to settle in our kitchen, but for 3 weeks he crapped all over the room and ripped his way through the pine kitchen door! There was no way that that dog was going to sleep anywhere else but with his human pack. Had we had 2 little Hals, I think we would have been successful.

In a wolf pack, to be turned away from the pack is certain death, so these northern breeds, being closer to their ancestors than other breeds, often retain this intense desire not to be left Home Alone and to sleep with the pack - for obvious reasons.

For the past 16 years, hubby and I have not been able to go to the cinema, the theatre, to a smart restaurant, abroad on holiday ... it is a price that we willingly pay, but many are not so willing, and this is just one of the reasons why these beautiful dogs end up in rescue, going from one unsuitable home to the next.

Re the shedding, my house resembles tumbleweed blowing down the street of Dodge City during a shoot out!! I could vacuum all day long, and the bloody place would still look like a scene from a Spaghetti Western!! I don't mind, housework is a blood waste of time, but even I get fed up with it sometimes and long for a spotless house.

When we retire I plan to buy 2 pups together, and they most certainly will sleep outside - much the best place for them. Nice kennel, deep straw or sawdust, they will be pigs in clover with a nice heat lamp in the bitter cold winter.

Sled dogs - mals and huskies, like Musher's dogs - live, eat and work outside. They are a team, a pack, and don't need to be with their human 24/7. If he had just one sled dog though, it most definitely would need to be with him, which would mean like us he would have to sleep in a freezing cold bedroom in the depths of winter with the windows open!! We have electric blankets, otherwise we would die!!