Wanted Opinions On This Type Of Behavior

[LaRen616]

I want to know your thoughts about this puppy's behavior, do you think it's aggression?

This happened a little over 2 years ago.

I had an 8 week old Siberian Husky for 4 weeks before I had to get rid of him, I got him from a byb, I met the father, who was friendly, but I was not allowed to meet the mother because she didn't like strangers.

He constantly went after my cats pinning them down and was trying to kill them (no doubt in my mind that he wanted to kill them, he was not playing at all).

He aggressively bit Sinister, he would grab him by the lip and tear, he would bite and pull right above his eye. Sinister had hair loss around the areas the puppy would bite. He charged at Sin, jumped at his face to bite him so Sin was constantly trying to turn his back to him and often times went in his crate to escape him.

He bit everyone that he met, not play bites, real bite down draw blood and wont let go bites. No one could pet him, he would bare his teeth and growl at you and if you didn't back off he would bite. I tried everything to get him to stop biting, walk away, put him in his crate for a time out, redirect him but nothing worked so I tried to get him to submit to me but he refused (I would lay him on his side and after about 2-3 minutes he would relax so I would let him get up and he'd turn and charge at me!)

My Aunt had to watch him for 4 days because I had to go out of town for a funeral, he started stalking her and when she was feeding him one night he came up behind her and bit her in her back. She had a big bruise and he broke her skin. She told me that he was the worst puppy she had ever met and that she cried everynight while he was there. She said she would never step foot in my house again as long as I had him.

When I took him to the Vet she told me that she had not seen a puppy that aggressive in a long time and recommended he start puppy classes at 4 months old and that he be neutered at 5 months old. She also said that he might have pyschological problems not behavioral problems and may need medication.

I rehomed him to a man that had experience with Siberian Huskies but the last time I heard from him he had sold the puppy and he was on his 4th home and was a permanent outside dog.

Before I rehomed the puppy I tried to give him back to the breeder, I left her several messages telling her I didn't want my money back and that I would drive to take him back to her because she lived 5 hours away but she didn't return my calls and her website was gone.

I strongly believe I should have had him put to sleep, at the time I just couldn't wrap my mind around doing that to a 12 week old puppy but I am convinced he had psychological issues.

What are your thoughts about this behavior?

[gsdraven]

Not having much experience with Huskies.... it's possible that he was just wired wrong. Just like many of the other aggression threads, it's impossible to judge behavior based on written word.

A lot of what you wrote sounds like Holly in her first home and when she got here. She is just a bit off but is now easily managed in a home with strong (fair, not heavy handed) leadership, clear expectations, boundaries and limits. Meeting strangers has to be managed and she is not a take out in the world dog but there is no reason that she won't live a long and happy life with a loving owner. She would be a disaster as an outside dog!

[LaRen616]

No other thoughts on this type of behavior?

[Angelina03]

That is such a sad story. It must have been really hard for you. I wish there was something I could share, but I have no experience and very little knowledge about such behaviors.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

The cat thing I am guessing is normal for the breed - most Husky rescues will not adopt to a cat home.

I do not know the breed enough to say anything about the rest. There used to be some Husky people who posted on this board - I would want to talk to a few, and find out their experience...

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by JeanKBBMMMAAN

The cat thing I am guessing is normal for the breed - most Husky rescues will not adopt to a cat home.

I do not know the breed enough to say anything about the rest. There used to be some Husky people who posted on this board - I would want to talk to a few, and find out their experience...

Yes, the cat thing is normal, although the breeder told me that when raised young with cats it shouldn't be a problem.

My GSD/Husky mix got along wonderfully with my cats, but he was a mix and not purebred.

[BlackthornGSD]

I could see this either being an aggressively playful and high-energy puppy or an inappropriately aggressive, perhaps unbalanced, puppy. The problem is that the behaviors are often very similar, although the body language will be very different.

So, based on your description.... I can't answer your question.

Was he tense or fearful? Were his lips wide and grinning or tense and sort of pursed when he was approaching people? Did he bark and how did he bark? Did he growl and when? How did he hold his ears and tail when he was biting or interacting? Etc.

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by BlackthornGSD

Was he tense or fearful? Were his lips wide and grinning or tense and sort of pursed when he was approaching people? Did he bark and how did he bark? Did he growl and when? How did he hold his ears and tail when he was biting or interacting? Etc.

I do not believe that he was fearful, when I went to pet him he'd turn his head and snap at me, if he made contact he held onto my hand and wouldn't let go.

Example: I am holding his leash, my mom comes over to pet him and he goes for her hand.

I can remember his face as if it were yesterday, his lips curled up, his teeth shown and a medium sounding growl would come out. His ears were back, tail was not wagging and was not between his legs. He growled numerous times when I went to pet him, other times he was silent. He only barked when I told him no.

He absolutely did not like being touched, anyone that attempted was either warned or recieved a bite without a sign.

[sashadog]

He sounds a lot like a puppy that my aunt and uncle adopted a few years back. Got her at 8 weeks old from the shelter and she was a typical 8 week old puppy, sleepy, bouncy, etc. My best guess is that she was a border collie/husky mix however she was young enough we'll never know.

When she hit 12 weeks, it was like a switch flipped in her brain. She would resource guard everything from them, and viciously too. This wasn't an insecure puppy thing. They would get within 2 feet of her food/toy/bone and she would attack their legs, drawing blood. And forget picking her up. If you touched her and she didn't want you to, she would snarl and attack your arms, working her way towards your face.

I didn't believe them at first when they called me about her. She was their first dog ever and I figured they were just overreacting. I offered to take her for a couple weeks thinking that my well-behaved dogs and some more experienced leadership would help teach her some manners. Nope. After a couple of days, she had my dogs at the same point your boy had Sin. They were sick of her, beat up, and preferred hiding in their crates or on my bed where she couldn't reach them.

They worked with 3 different trainers/behaviorists, did full vet checks with two different vets, called the shelter and rescues for help, but to no avail. They had 4 younger children and simply couldn't risk it taking a turn for the worse. They had to put her down.

To this day, I really believe there was something wired wrong in her head. They did absolutely everything they possibly could, even having a behaviorist come to their house everyday for help.

Maybe this is totally off base but is it possible your pup was actually part wolf or coyote? Could explain some of the more "wild" type behaviors? (Although I know some dogs can act just as crazy...)

[BlackthornGSD]

Originally Posted by LaRen616

I do not believe that he was fearful, when I went to pet him he'd turn his head and snap at me, if he made contact he held onto my hand and wouldn't let go.

Example: I am holding his leash, my mom comes over to pet him and he goes for her hand.

I can remember his face as if it were yesterday, his lips curled up, his teeth shown and a medium sounding growl would come out. His ears were back, tail was not wagging and was not between his legs. He growled numerous times when I went to pet him, other times he was silent. He only barked when I told him no.

He absolutely did not like being touched, anyone that attempted was either warned or recieved a bite without a sign.

Sounds like bad temperament. But I would have gotten/recommended an outside opinion if I were in that situation.

I heard a story recently of a family who took their 12 week old Golden puppy in to the vet to be euthanized. The vet asked permission to adopt the puppy out and did so and the dog later became an agility champion. The family wanted another pup a few years later and asked the vet for help. The vet very carefully picked out a puppy with really good temperament. A few weeks later, the family was again convinced the puppy was crazy aggressive and wanted to euthanize the pup. The vet again placed the pup in a great home. And then suggested to the family that perhaps they should not get a dog.

My point is... I would never recommend euthanizing a puppy for temperament sight unseen or without an evaluation by someone who can really read canine body language (which it sounds like you can, but you're the one questioning whether you read it right).

However, I do believe that very rarely there will be a dog who just isn't "wired right" -- and it's not related to socialization or mistreatment. Something's just not right with them. And I would euthanize a dog or puppy in that situation rather than pass the problem on to someone else and hope that things turned out alright--particularly if it were a puppy I had bred.