Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 2 months and 11 days old | 60 lbs
My 10 week old husky/malamute mix plays fair and doesn't bite around me (I'm a 24 y/o guy), but around my sister (who's 21 but smaller and looks like a kid) she gets super hyper and starts jumping and biting her legs. How can we train her to respect my sister and play fair with her as well?
1 Answer
Published on May 25th, 2017
This is a very common issue with puppies - they often get overly excited during play, and have trouble controlling themselves :) It's possible that your sister may tend to be louder, more active, or move more suddenly when she plays with the puppy, which often results in the puppy getting more "wound up." If your sister doesn't live with you, this may also be happening because the puppy is excited to see her when she comes over. Make sure that you have lots of different toys available for Sherri - long floppy rope or fleece toys for tugging, plush toys for biting and carrying, and smaller toys or balls for chasing and fetching. Your sister should always use a toy when she is playing with Sherri, so that Sherri has something to bite on. If she starts to get too excited, you can ask her to sit for a treat, or engage her in some other activity that is calmer and less exciting until she settles down. If needed, you can even give her something to chew on, such as a bully stick or a Kong stuffed with peanut butter, and put her in her crate for a while to let her calm down. Her ability to stay calm during play should improve as she gets older, just as it does for human children :) In the meantime, you can help her by redirecting her to a calmer activity when needed.
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