aggression in our husky

Question
We have taken my son's 1 1/2 old female, spayed husky into our home.  She was left in an apartment by herself alot during the day while our son played pro baseball.  We brought her home last baseball season.  Besides destroying alot of things in our house, she can become aggressive while eating and also with other dogs.  It seems to be getting worse.  We have an 8 yr old golden mix who gets the wrath of the husky's temper tantrums.  Last night my husband was walking the dogs and the husky got really aggressive with a 15 yr old dog.  He yanked her back and put her to the ground.  Yesterday a person was walking an Eskimo dog on our street, when the husky saw this dog, she started to attack our golden.  She has never hurt the golden, but she certainly terrorizes her.  She plays with our cat and they chase each other around the house.  She hasn't hurt our cat.  It is really alarming to me when she attacks our other dog.  I watch my year old grandson twice a week, and I'm pertrified that she'll hurt the baby.  So far she's been ok with him, but I never leave them alone together.  We love this dog - especially my husband.  She has become "his dog".  Can you give us any tips on how to cope with this situation?
Thank you.
Tish


Answer
Several things:

1) If the Siberian was not raised with cats, there is a good chance that the dog will eventually hurt, seriously injure or kill the cat.  That has NOTHING to do with aggression, but is a bred in problem with the breed.  So, be very careful with letting any "play" or "chase" happen with the cat.  My advice would be to separate the two permanently.  (Sibes are unfortunately known as cat-killers, and many do it accidentally.)

2) Siberians are generally very good with children.  Definitely stay diligent in supervising the two, but I wouldn't worry too much.  I just added a newborn child into our house, and after a few days, our dogs are attached to protecting the newborn.  I still don't let them interact with the baby without me being there and in control.

3) Food aggression - definitely take care of this immediately, but it's a slow process.  First, feed the dog in an isolated area, away from other animals and people.  Second, begin forcing the dog to do some sort of obedience command prior to getting food.  Sit and Down work pretty well.  Third, get some small treats.  During the dog's meal, interrupt her first by just calling her name and giving her a treat from a distance.  Do this for a couple of days at every feeding.  Just get her used to the idea that you can be close to her while she's eating, and you give her more good stuff.  Next, slowly move closer to her while she's eating.  If she growls, you were too close or didn't present the treat soon enough, take your time and take a few more days before getting closer.  Once you can sit right next to her while she eats, begin offering treats right above her bowl.  Again, if she growls, you were too close or didn't present the treats fast enough.  You want this whole thing to be really positive.  Eventually, you should be able to stick your hand right in front of her nose while she is eating and the dog will just look for treats.  When you get to that point (which may take a couple of weeks), you can start doing the following:

a) reaching into the dog bowl to drop the treats in there
b) exchanging food for treats (hand drops some treats and takes some kibble)
c) taking the dog bowl up in exchange for treats

The important thing is the dog gets used to "your hand = more good stuff".  And any time you take anything away, you both give her something better for it AND give whatever you took away back.  After a couple of weeks to a few months of doing this, the dog should be pretty easy going with food around you.  Next, repeat the entire process with each member of the family.

Finally, it sounds like the Sibe also needs obedience and socialization work in general.  For that, I would suggest enrolling in a training class and getting a professional to help with the obedience work.  Also, by working in a group training class, the dog will also get socialization time with other canines, which should help with the aggression as well.