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I just have to brag a little and waste a post on the forum to take the time and have a little positive rant on my awesome Jax. In the little over 5 months I've had him, he's changed so much. By no means was he a bad dog, but at about 6 months, and having spent the previous 3 months with an owner who simply could not physically give him the attention a growing Husky-X needs, he definitely was hyper. I've since turned him from a dog that had to spend too much time in the back yard on a chain and a dog house, to a big house baby.
His house-training wasn't bad, but we've perfected it (no accident in probably 3 months till the other night, which was all my fault, being sick and just not getting the point that he was giving me signals he needed to go out). He already knew to sit and shake with hand signals, but we've bettered those and added down, all 3 to the point that I can often get him to sit, shake, and lay without saying a word. Being my first real experience with a dog of my own (didn't have a family dog till I was in high school, and Bandit is just a small guy that aside from basic manners hasn't been taught any real training), I've learned all sorts of information about dogs in general on here, and I've furthered that a bit more through the Petsmart obedience class locally. I met the trainer several times and spoke with her and determined that for the money, it would be worth a shot and it has been. The basic class has almost been beneath Jax, though it's done a lot for teaching me how to go about training him.
Though I've slacked the past 2 weeks due to being busy with work and sick, over the span of the course (which we complete tomorrow), we've added "leave it" almost to perfection from a sit or down and not too bad from a walk/run, improved his on-leash behavior (largely due to the "leave it"), introduced the clicker, working on stay, still introducing a "give" (which he needs, as he really doesn't like to give up balls and frisbees he steals at the park), and just other basic good manners that slip my mind at the moment. Oh, and I'm trying to make up for my lack of having taught a release word early on!
Overall, I've been quite satisfied with the class and plan to move on to the intermediate perhaps in another month or so, after I've gotten back up to speed and made a bit more improvement on Jax's "stay" (yeah...that's a work lol).
Today, we spent 2 1/2 hours in the dog park nearly. He continues to impress me with just how amazing he is with children. Two children, probably 7 yrs old or so, decided they would play keep-away with Jax and a rubber Kong frisbee. And if Jax got it from them? They'd chase. And if they caught up? They'd tug and fight him for it. He never once minded. Never once turned aggressive. Never showed his teeth, despite having children tugging a frisbee from him. He just kept on playing. A few little jumps, but we're working on that and playful kids will be kids. No harm, no foul. One of the children actually decided at some point that it was ok to slap Jax on the side with a closed hand and say "bad dog" (really no clue where it came from, as the kid was great otherwise and Jax hadn't done anything to bring it on other than not want to give up the frisbee yet again) but Jax didn't flinch in any way.
He plays great with other dogs. Never a sign of aggression, except one dog in our training class that he decided last week he hates (fixed that behavior by reintroducing the gentle-leader for the first time since a few weeks after getting him!). There's another particular dog that we've now seen 3 times at the dog park. This dog, Toby, just attaches himself to Jax and humps. Jax doesn't do anything but play and wrestle him off. He did get a bit snarly towards the end, but the dog returned to hump and Jax was exhausted from 2 hours of play, so it was obviously time to leave.
We run regularly. In March, we were running almost daily, 2-4 miles for about 3 weeks before I realized it was too much even on my legs. So we've since slacked off, and the dog park has opened here, but we still run 2-3 times a week minimum, and he just goes and goes. His pulling has almost stopped, his desire to dart at random things is nearly non-existant, and even before I really began to introduce the "leave it" command, I'd just naturally made a habit of giving a stern "nope" on our runs that it has the same affect and he just keeps on chugging!
My only complaint with my new-found friend is that he's shown no real desire for the water. I recently got into kayaking and took him out 3 times with me. The third time, he flipped us. And I think it was the first time he's ever been swimming. Not a fan. He destroyed me (scratches all over) before I got us back in. I've tried taking him to the lake since just to swim. He's simply showing that he's not much for it. Oh well.
If you've stuck with me this long, yay for you! Haha! Anyway, just wanted to brag a little and say how Jax was a pretty awesome find for what was little more than a random Craigslist find.
After a bath, which he does well for, but unsure as to how (or if) he can get out!
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Playing tug...with the cat?? Turbo put a lot more effort into this.
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Just one of the better profile shots I have.
![]()
Don't let the picture fool you, he wasn't having a good time!
![]()
His house-training wasn't bad, but we've perfected it (no accident in probably 3 months till the other night, which was all my fault, being sick and just not getting the point that he was giving me signals he needed to go out). He already knew to sit and shake with hand signals, but we've bettered those and added down, all 3 to the point that I can often get him to sit, shake, and lay without saying a word. Being my first real experience with a dog of my own (didn't have a family dog till I was in high school, and Bandit is just a small guy that aside from basic manners hasn't been taught any real training), I've learned all sorts of information about dogs in general on here, and I've furthered that a bit more through the Petsmart obedience class locally. I met the trainer several times and spoke with her and determined that for the money, it would be worth a shot and it has been. The basic class has almost been beneath Jax, though it's done a lot for teaching me how to go about training him.
Though I've slacked the past 2 weeks due to being busy with work and sick, over the span of the course (which we complete tomorrow), we've added "leave it" almost to perfection from a sit or down and not too bad from a walk/run, improved his on-leash behavior (largely due to the "leave it"), introduced the clicker, working on stay, still introducing a "give" (which he needs, as he really doesn't like to give up balls and frisbees he steals at the park), and just other basic good manners that slip my mind at the moment. Oh, and I'm trying to make up for my lack of having taught a release word early on!
Overall, I've been quite satisfied with the class and plan to move on to the intermediate perhaps in another month or so, after I've gotten back up to speed and made a bit more improvement on Jax's "stay" (yeah...that's a work lol).
Today, we spent 2 1/2 hours in the dog park nearly. He continues to impress me with just how amazing he is with children. Two children, probably 7 yrs old or so, decided they would play keep-away with Jax and a rubber Kong frisbee. And if Jax got it from them? They'd chase. And if they caught up? They'd tug and fight him for it. He never once minded. Never once turned aggressive. Never showed his teeth, despite having children tugging a frisbee from him. He just kept on playing. A few little jumps, but we're working on that and playful kids will be kids. No harm, no foul. One of the children actually decided at some point that it was ok to slap Jax on the side with a closed hand and say "bad dog" (really no clue where it came from, as the kid was great otherwise and Jax hadn't done anything to bring it on other than not want to give up the frisbee yet again) but Jax didn't flinch in any way.
He plays great with other dogs. Never a sign of aggression, except one dog in our training class that he decided last week he hates (fixed that behavior by reintroducing the gentle-leader for the first time since a few weeks after getting him!). There's another particular dog that we've now seen 3 times at the dog park. This dog, Toby, just attaches himself to Jax and humps. Jax doesn't do anything but play and wrestle him off. He did get a bit snarly towards the end, but the dog returned to hump and Jax was exhausted from 2 hours of play, so it was obviously time to leave.
We run regularly. In March, we were running almost daily, 2-4 miles for about 3 weeks before I realized it was too much even on my legs. So we've since slacked off, and the dog park has opened here, but we still run 2-3 times a week minimum, and he just goes and goes. His pulling has almost stopped, his desire to dart at random things is nearly non-existant, and even before I really began to introduce the "leave it" command, I'd just naturally made a habit of giving a stern "nope" on our runs that it has the same affect and he just keeps on chugging!
My only complaint with my new-found friend is that he's shown no real desire for the water. I recently got into kayaking and took him out 3 times with me. The third time, he flipped us. And I think it was the first time he's ever been swimming. Not a fan. He destroyed me (scratches all over) before I got us back in. I've tried taking him to the lake since just to swim. He's simply showing that he's not much for it. Oh well.
If you've stuck with me this long, yay for you! Haha! Anyway, just wanted to brag a little and say how Jax was a pretty awesome find for what was little more than a random Craigslist find.
After a bath, which he does well for, but unsure as to how (or if) he can get out!
Playing tug...with the cat?? Turbo put a lot more effort into this.
Just one of the better profile shots I have.
Don't let the picture fool you, he wasn't having a good time!
