Siberian Husky

Question
QUESTION: Hi - I just adopted a 7 month old Siberian Husky -- he seems friendly..a little timid at first but he then comes around -- yesterday my neighbor who the dog has met a few times already brought over his 2 year old son -- the dog kept his distance and looked nervous and then all of a sudden just started barking and howling at him from a distance.  The little boy was just sitting on the couch -- do you think my dog will become mean?  why would he do this? do you think you would have an answer for me?

Very upset in NJ

ANSWER: Huskies and other sled dog breeds are not particularly social. The dog needs to be neutered and then obedience training. A significant part of the obedience training needs to be building social skills with other people and other dogs. They were bred for strength, endurance, dominance to protect and survive and not as home dogs. I've owned two and two malamutes and none of them gave up trying to hump everything in site and would tolerate but not accept more family friendly dogs, but got along with our cats fine. There are exceptions but it will take a lot of work.

All breeds have inate traits, herding, sight hounds, scent hounds etc. Working against those traits is very difficult. Its best to choose a dog breed that fits the lifestyle of the owners.  A lot of dogs in shelters were obtained because the owners had an emotional desire for a particular breed. Dalmations were intensely popular because of the Disney movies, but not appropriate for many living situations. Cocker Spanials from Lady and the Tramp, as examples.
Don't give up, but use the breeds strengths rather than work against them.


Regards,

Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again --- thanks for the fast response --- Chubby (my Husky) was neutered 2 weeks ago - before I adopted him I read up on Huskies and almost all the articles I read said that they were very sociable, friendly dogs.  He is very friendly, it was just this one incident - could it be that he is not used to children?  

What happened was this....my sons friends were over the house (all are 22 years old - there was 3 of them and myself (Chubby is very attached to me already and we have only had him for 2 weeks) and then another friend came in the house with his 2 year old son (Chubby has never seen children) ...he sat his son on my couch.  Chubby just looked at him...I was sitting across the room, so I gave my son two milkbones to give to the boy so he could give them to Chubby -- he did and Chubby took them from him very gently.  The boy never got off the couch or made any sounds -- then one of the other boys got out of his chair and went to sit on the couch next to the little boy -- Chubby was sitting near me and all of a sudden he just started barking and howling looking towards the couch - and he wouldn't stop until they left.  I am very confused about this -- I love Chubby and adopted him because my dog died last year and I really missed having a dog --

Answer
Thanks for the follow up.  It takes 4-8 weeks for the hormones to work their way out, so only two weeks, he still has a lot of drive left. As you explain it now, it appears he was being protective of the "puppy" against the intrusion of space by the older boy. Since he had no prior association to guage his reactions, the sudden influs of unknown people caused him to be on his guard, and the association of larger being with a small being made him give warning. He was doing his job in his mind, protecting the "turf" and guarding.  

It is better to introduce the dog one on one with each new person letting the dog know you are comfortable with the new person rather than in groups.

I am certainly glad he was not agressive but defensive. Sounds like a great family dog.

Regards,

Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC