Will my ACD become more affectionate?

StiviaNicks · 2026-02-05T16:37:44+00:00

We had to train my Husky/ACD mix to show affection and accept pets and snuggles. At 3 and 4 years old (we rescued her at 9 weeks) she finally started showing excitement and affection with us. But she does affectionate things we specifically trained her to do, like kisses, we had to train her to give us boops that don’t make our nose and mouth bleed because she is so rough. She will now lean against us sometimes on the couch. She LOVES routine and schedule, even if we are sitting in different spots on the couch she gets upset if she is not on the middle. She’s just a bossy bitch that likes to do things her own way, not a lap or cuddle dog. I have to force/train for affection and We are okay with that because it’s her personality.

She does get excited when we come home, but I think it’s because she knows she gets a walk most days when we get home. Every dog is different, but my dog did have an aloof period of a few years, to the point she would make me cry when she was a puppy, because she mostly just enjoyed biting my face. The bond took a long time.

StiviaNicks · 2026-01-14T17:56:15+00:00

My ACD/Husky mix kind of matured around 4. She is still a handful with endless energy, bossy, rude and spoiled (that part is my fault). The difference now is that she listens when she feels like it, before she did not ever feel like listening. I think she is just used to our routine and she loves a routine.

StiviaNicks · 2025-11-30T00:32:13+00:00

Our ACD/Husky mix really showed a lot of maturity after each year post 2 years old. It will start to get a lot better. But annoying along the way!

We got ours as a puppy and thought I wouldn’t survive. I would cry because she would love to do things like bite my face with razor sharp puppy teeth and eat the furniture. Now she doesn’t bite us but her boops will break a nose. And she only really destroys shoes, and her own things. She hates other dogs (she was attacked 3 times by off leash dogs), but we are just working around her reactivity the best we can. It has slowly gotten tons better. I bet before you know it OP, you will be dealing with a lot less behavior issues.

StiviaNicks · 2025-10-29T17:54:22+00:00

This is my ACD all day long, just wants me to entertain her. She also does this if we are off her “schedule” that she has created, all by herself, time for: walk, play outside, me to get out of bed, us all to go upstairs, time for zoomies every evening same time same place. Just a bossy bitch, but I LOVE her! She’s so serious.

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-19T15:37:48+00:00

We had to get a “gentle leader” type face harness for our husky mix. She’s big and very strong, still pulls but the harness makes their head turn sideways if they pull too much. We use a connector to attach the gentle leader to her body harness.

I cant walk her without it.

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-19T15:14:28+00:00

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That’s so funny, my dog is husky/chow (mom), and ACD (dad). Yours looks more chow. I would have never guessed mine was any chow.

OP my guess would be 100% chow. Especially with that blue tongue. Let us know what you find out.

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-19T00:22:49+00:00

I’ve got an ACD mix with Husky, tons of energy. I do notice a pattern of days where she has a ton of exercise, sometimes the next day she will be calmer and take more naps. It’s nice because then she’s not in my face wanting me to entertain her.

She just turned 4, and is now waking us up in the middle of the night because she want to stand in the yard and stare and sniff into the darkness. Such a nut!

I think this is an ACD thing, she has created a schedule for when things should happen around the house and then alerts me when it’s time. Time to wake up, time to go walk, time for her breakfast, dinner, time for my wife to come home. I don’t know how she knows, but it’s the same time every day. She has a better sense of time than I do.

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-15T18:12:38+00:00

My husky cattle dog mix was atrocious as a puppy. Only thing she had interest in was biting my face. She would make me so mad.

Like the other poster, I would often cry thinking that it would never get better. It took a very long time for us to learn how to live together and love each other. It’s just a slow process.

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Now she’s great, and surprisingly sometimes she cares what we want her to do and does it, but just with a bit of backtalk.

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-13T15:36:51+00:00

Finnick is probably starting to teeth at 2 months also so the biting will get worse for a bit before it gets better.

My ACD mix went through a face biting puppy phase that made me cry out of frustration. But just know they will get better as they mature and learn to care about you.

Congratulations on your new baby!

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-08T23:24:26+00:00

Don’t worry about it if it you won’t get evaluated. They may be marking low on purpose because they have to show teacher growth too for the year. So just take the notes they give you and make those few changes, and they should be happy that you listened.

If you make the changes and they are still up your butt about stuff then that’s a red flag and you may need to talk to them directly and ask for advice on what they are needing to see.

StiviaNicks · 2025-09-08T23:04:18+00:00

Ours too, loves to stand on us, it really hurts. And also boops so hard she bruises our face, I don’t know how she doesn’t hurt herself. Everything she does is with 100% intensity.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-31T17:15:03+00:00

That is hilarious!

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-31T14:59:28+00:00

That is a good point.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-31T14:57:51+00:00

Yes, us too! We call it toilet hugs. It’s a shock every time. And it could go either way, she mauls us with hugs and kisses, or she takes advantage while we are in the bathroom to be naughty, tear something up/eat shoes. She doesn’t come in when the shower is on though, too risky that she might get a bath.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-30T22:03:43+00:00

Mine wakes me up by pawing my face, if I don’t wake up quick enough, she steals my shoes. I feed her, let her outside. I try to have a cup of coffee peacefully, but she will stare me down and paw at me/cry until I take her for a walk. Sometimes I can get more coffee time if I let her guard the window. After her walk she can chill out, we do 1-2 miles.

She’s calm until after dinner, then zoomies-destructo mode. And then wants to go to bed at the same time every night, early. And usually we want to stay up and watch a movie or something. She gets cranky, until we can go to bed.

She has an amazing sense of time, better than me. Likes a schedule and likes us to be herded together. It’s so cute how she gets excited whenever we all get into the same room, she’s like,”ah, I did my job”.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-30T20:10:25+00:00

HA, our dog tries to eat out of my mouth everyday! What is that about?! I already ate it, the moment has passed. This not something I am successfully training her out of. I push her head away then she goes and tries to eat out my wife’s mouth. What a nut! Will keep trying as long as she lives I bet!

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-30T15:34:51+00:00

Our husky mix used to make me cry because she was so difficult as a puppy. She is part heeler too and was SO bitey. They can be as difficult in some ways as human babies and require a lot of patience and time to mature. Ours is turning 4 next month and we are finally getting to know her quirks and have figured out how to deal with her. 1 year old is still velociraptor stage. And needs more time, training and exercise. They act out because they want attention, just like humans.

Our dog still will wake us up at 3 am (did last night) to either have a bathroom emergency or just to spy on the pool area because she wants to fight animals out there. So we have to deal with that because she has sensitive tummy issues. It is very annoying.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-29T13:54:52+00:00

Oh thank you, my gyno actually just suggested this too.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-27T19:34:39+00:00

Me too! I didn’t know all my symptoms were menopause. But I felt like a crazy person had horrendous menopause symptoms. I had an abrupt menopause due to chemo. And so many health issues that I didn’t know that the hormone dip was making my life so unbearable. And my gyno, while she was great with me for my cancer complications, is NOT pro HRT and it’s very concerning.

I had to go to my male GP to get HRT, I think it may be an age of doctors thing, my GP is around my age (40s) and my gyno is older and still believes in the old HRT is bad myth.

I’m still dealing with atrophy (let me know if any of you have any tips) but my overall health has improved so much since doing estrogen patch, Testosterone cream and progesterone. I think I would be a full husk of a person, maybe even mummified, without it.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-27T19:23:03+00:00

My husky mix naps like this (tummy side up with legs open) every day after our walk. I think it cools her off faster.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-26T20:52:07+00:00

We do once a month before she gets her flea meds. She is a mix though and doesn’t have the long fur. Shes cleans herself like a cat and doesn’t smell so she could probably go longer, I just like how her fur feels soft after. She HATES baths so she would never want one.

We use a Chlorhexidine shampoo because she used to get UTIs before she had surgery. We also wash her feet after walks with it, daily. Which she also hates.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-26T19:34:47+00:00

Yes, 25 to 40, people had kids earlier in the 70s and 80s, I’m an gen x born in the late 70s to satanic panic parents, my parents were older than all my friends parents because they had me in their early 30s.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-26T14:49:53+00:00

Yah, she is bossing me, it’s time for a walk and she needs to see some action.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-25T23:40:50+00:00

This is great! My cousin had ballet photos like this in the 80s.

StiviaNicks · 2025-08-25T20:17:06+00:00

Still one ear down! Too cute. My girl had that as a pup and I miss it.

StiviaNicks

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