canine jealousy

Question
she is a pure bred siberian husky.  3 years old.  she is very protective of me (male).  if my wife comes as close as 4 feet away from me and starts to talk, the dog comes and stands between us and starts barking her head off.  my wife does nothing to deserve this.  my wife takes her out to pee and poop and feeds her.  i  do nothing during the day to get this attention.  i play on my computer all day and she sleeps all day.  so i do nothing extraordinary.  how do we break her of this

Answer
You're giving this dog a very clear signal of unavailability, or availability on invitation only: equaling high rank.  She has begun to consider herself second in rank. You are, somehow I cannot ascertain from this distance, contributing to her behavior, either with complacency or some non-verbal body posture.  I don't mean to insult you but something about this behavior is flattering, n'est-ce pas?  It needs to stop immediately.

Your wife needs to learn about positive reinforcement training (read Paul Owens' book "The Dog Whisperer" and go to karen Pryor's website) and begin interacting with this dog, teaching her one command at a time (in short daily intervals) using words only SHE uses (made up words, not the normal "sit", etc.)  YOU stay completely out of it.  If your wife is afraid of this dog, you need to bring in a credentialed behavior expert (NOT just a dog trainer!) to evaluate the dog's overall temperament and put your wife's fears at ease (or validate them, I can't tell which one from this distance but my guess is the dog will not -- yet -- bite or attempt to bite her.)  If she is able to interact with the dog without fear (a tic-tac candy masks any anxiety by hiding adrenaline on the breath), she can begin positive reinforcement training.  While she is doing this, you are to LEAVE THE ROOM whenever the dog demonstrates any behavior toward your wife that is threatening, such as barking.  Leave the room, come back when the dog stops barking, repeat as often as necessary until the dog stops.  Do this EVERY SINGLE TIME the dog behaves in a manner you do not like toward your wife.  You are also not to interfere with the training and NEVER use your wife's commands.

Meanwhile, keep this dog OUT of the bedroom ALL THE TIME.  Make her a bed in a room as far from the bedroom as possible and contain her there with a closed door or a gate.  After your dog has obtained one solid response to one command (100% compliance all the time) your wife needs to make this dog WORK for everything: eating, going in/out, playing, being petted, etc.)  This is psychologically elevating your wife while demoting the dog.  Also, have your wife create a "trophy" object of a stuffed animal by sleeping with it, carrying it around, etc. and, after the dog has begun to respond reliably to one command, give the dog the trophy object for a VERY SHORT INTERVAL only after she has earned it by obeying a command.  (Do this only once a day when YOU are NOT HOME.)

After the dog has begun to offer consistent and reliable cooperation with your wife's commands (should take a couple of months), have your wife hand feed this dog over the course of a day once a week, removing  any other source of food for that day.  This will clearly cement your wife's rank in the dog's mind.

Meanwhile, put a short nylon lightweight "house tab" (leash) on this dog so your wife can oversee her comings and goings in the house, whether you are there or not, without touching the dog (touch is a primary reward.)  Instruct your wife NOT to "make nice" with this dog; she needs to take a very firm, patient, kind, consistently strong presence in the dog's perception of her.  You are not to speak to, look at, or touch the dog if she is barking at your wife or in any way attempting to block her from going in/out of rooms or approaching you.  Instead, as I suggested above, leave the room for a short interval.  I can almost guaranty that after the first few times of you leaving the room, your dog will demonstrate displacement behavior (look around in a confused way and find something else to do) which will offer a strong indication that you are, somehow, unwittingly rewarding her behavior.

Within a couple of months, if not sooner, of using these techniques, your dog should begin to show a marked change in her behavior toward your wife.  Please repost with updates.