I needed to vent to people who would understand my annoyance.

So I've taken Caoimhe to three puppy play groups this week (at three different locations). One being a small, locally owned store, one at Planet Dog, and one at Petco. She's been the youngest at every one.

During the first one she was the 2nd biggest and was playing wonderfully with a little westie.

The second time she was trying desperately to play with a little GSD pup who unfortunately wanted nothing to do with her.

The third time (at Petco) she got attacked by an English bulldog. Not puppy biting either, like I was checking her for puncture marks.

We all know huskies play rough, and true to form so does Caoimhe. I can tell she's playing because A.) I know her and B) her teeth are not bared while she's growling/barking, she's pouncing, her tail is wagging like crazy and she's doing the play bow.

EVERY SINGLE TIME *at least* one person has looked at me like my 10 week old puppy is a monster. Meanwhile she's licking my kids' faces and rolling over for tummy rubs. She has not snapped at a trainer at any of these groups and they ALL of commented on how calm she is when they pick her up to separate her or hand her to me for potty breaks.

I feel like a mama bear, same as I would with my kids. I had to bite my tongue to not say something to one woman.

Is this something as husky owner that I will always be dealing with?

Then afterwards everyone wants to pet her and take pictures like she's the only husky they have every seen! None of the other dogs get oohs and ahhs like she does.

The other annoying thing is this: the trainers have seemed shocked each time to see a husky and start asking me why I chose this breed and telling me how to train her and what kind of exercise requirements she will need. The vet tells me huskies have become popular in my area (although I haven't seen any), so I'm surprised that they are so shocked at seeing one. UGH
End Rant. Thanks for listening

Yup i take Luci to a dog park to socialize him and if he woos/ growls in play i get looks like hes a monster, its come to the point of educating EVERY dog owner huskies are IN YOUR FACE dogs, it makes other dogs uncomfortable at times ut no harm is intended.

HI

I will go to a puppy playgroup on saturday for the first time. My puppy also likes to growl and bark before and while playing. My husky likes to play exactly like you have described it.

I'm wondering if my puppy will get the same reactions like yours.

oh great Emily! lol

Ben- good luck, maybe you'll encounter more people who are knowledgeable about the breed.

I get now why huskies do best with other huskies.

I have a feeling this is something we are going to have to deal with. A lot of people think that huskies are overbearing and aggressive because of their looks: As we all know, this is most often NOT TRUE. There are so many misconceptions out there about this breed, and unfortunately I get the feeling a lot of people think we get huskies just for looks ... again, absolutely NOT TRUE. It's also hard to tell people, "Contrary to popular belief, I actually did my research and knew exactly what I was getting into when I got my dog. I know how much exercise she needs and other special quirks she may have and I am prepared to deal with them."

Are there any other play groups in your area that also focus on training and controlled play? The one I'm taking Layla to is at a shelter that is big on animal advocacy and education, especially for dogs. It only cost $60 for four weeks and is led by a certified behaviorist. The class is mostly about training and teaching owners to socialize their dogs out in the world and teach them how to safely meet other dogs and interact. There is a short time for free play but most of the class we learn positive-reinforcement techniques (using a clicker) for training.

During free play the smaller puppies were separated from the larger ones in a playpen so they wouldn't get run over by some of the bigger dogs; however, the behaviorist chose a few of the larger dogs to go in with the smaller dogs to play with them. She chose both the Sibes (Atticus and Layla) to go in there because she knew how friendly they were as a breed in general. This knowledge about the breed impressed me and gave me confidence in the behaviorist. As she suspected, both Layla and Atticus were great with the smaller dogs. In fact, one of Layla's best friends was a very small 10-week-old Jack Russell, who played just as hard as her!

All the other dog owners at the group in general were very nice and neither Atticus nor Layla got any odd looks. In fact, they all seemed really interested in the fact that Layla and her brother ended up by chance in the same class and marveled at them playing together! After the class, Layla played a little bit outside with the Jack Russell and we talked with his owner about Siberians for a little bit. He had a great love of the breed, as he had owned a couple in the past himself.

Anyway, just my  in the hopes of illustrating that not all other dog owners and trainers are misinformed. Sorry you were met with such negativity at the play groups! At least Caoimhe got some pretty good experiences meeting other dogs, though. Sounds like she's shaping up to be a great pup! As you said, you know her best, so just let what the other owners' looks or comments fall right off your back. Who knows? Maybe it could be a good educational opportunity for them to learn more about the breed we love so much.

Yeah... People suck. You'll get tons of unwanted advice (usually terrible), lots of bizarre assumptions, silly questions, and just flat out rude comments. Dizzy has a really loud play growl and it freaks people out. I can understand why, I explain to them that he's playing and will stop if their dog yelps, people generally seem okay. Although there is always the occasional nut. I'm a total momma bear with him lol. When people ask if he's a wolf, I just say yes now.   

The first two weren't really bad, the trainers were good as they got separated at times much like you described Liz. I probably won't be taking her back to the Petco one though.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that part of the issue may be that these groups are free, therefore many dogs may not have been socialized through any classes (just an assumption of course.)

We are starting puppy obedience class Tuesday so, hopefully that's better. They too split up the pups by size for playing.

It's funny Jen, I thought about your bully situation one of the occasions I was being interrogated about my motives for having a husky. I was thinking "sheesh this stuff really does happen" lol

I don't know folks. I think some of the lame questions and silly advice is just that people are attracted to our dogs and want to interact but don't know what to say. Ladies will know what mean, same as the really dumb stuff guys say to break the ice! Embrace as best as you can and take stock in knowing that you do not behave that way!

There are even misconceptions among husky owners about other breeds!! The dog park we go to usually has a couple huskies there in the afternoon. One older gentleman has two huskies, Maggie and Buzz. Buzz is getting up there in years and looks it. Anyways, when I mentioned that we were getting another dog and that it was gonna be a lab, he gave me the weirdest look. Like I had three heads. But my girls LOVE each other and Karli is so good playing with Evee. She's very gentle and only really gets rough when Evee does.

But yes, this will be something that you'll have to deal with being a husky owner. You'll get asked all sorts of questions and people will tell you how to raise your dog. Take everything they say with a grain of salt.

That's a good point Roxy. I REALLY love Australian Shepherds and some husky owners are like psshht how could you EVER own any other dog besides a husky!? Lol I think that's just par for the course with people who are passionate about their preferred breed!

I have not run into that directly myself, but I have seen people get concerned or upset over normal dog play. This makes me a bit nervous, not for the dogs, who are fine and fully capable of telling a member they are being too rough, but that they might do something like try to sue because they thought their dog was being attacked.

I try to avoid those places. I'm just not up for that sort of drama.

Quote :

ote]quote="Taiga"]

I try to avoid those places. I'm just not up for that sort of drama.

[/quote]
Well said.

Indeed. I think it's all about figuring out which places give you the best feeling and where the people who also go there with their dogs are generally friendly, inviting and accepting and know their dogs and reserve judgment on others. Hard to find all the time, but I'm sure there're good places nearby that usually draw those kinds of people and dogs.

When I was researching Huskies before Orion came into my life I spent a great deal of time lurking on this site and I have to admit I couldn't believe the stories of other dog owners reactions I really thought they must be the exception not the rule but wow was I wrong! I've started thinking that it should be written into the characteristics of the breed "will generate unwanted (often terrible) advice from total strangers and frequent questionings of your knowledge and/or sanity"
I think my favorite encounter I've had so far was with a lady who had a morbidly obese beagle (this thing waddled not walked) which was wearing a knitted jumper to match hers. She came marching up to Orion and I to inform me that it would be in my best interests to inform the local pound that I have "one of those dogs" because it will spend most of its time jumping the fence and harassing the neighborhood. She then stalked off muttering about awful dogs and young hooligans lol

GeorginaMay wrote:

When I was researching Huskies before Orion came into my life I spent a great deal of time lurking on this site and I have to admit I couldn't believe the stories of other dog owners reactions I really thought they must be the exception not the rule but wow was I wrong! I've started thinking that it should be written into the characteristics of the breed "will generate unwanted (often terrible) advice from total strangers and frequent questionings of your knowledge and/or sanity"
I think my favorite encounter I've had so far was with a lady who had a morbidly obese beagle (this thing waddled not walked) which was wearing a knitted jumper to match hers. She came marching up to Orion and I to inform me that it would be in my best interests to inform the local pound that I have "one of those dogs" because it will spend most of its time jumping the fence and harassing the neighborhood. She then stalked off muttering about awful dogs and young hooligans lol

 

You know its gonna be bad when they are wearing matching outfits!

ccurran07 wrote:

It's funny Jen, I thought about your bully situation one of the occasions I was being interrogated about my motives for having a husky. I was thinking "sheesh this stuff really does happen" lol

Yes... It really is amazing what people will say, although she hasn't said much to me since I called her out on being a sadist lol. I saw her coming this morning and hyped Dizzy into zoomie mode and then sprinted by her and her dog. Ooo boy did she yell some stuff at me.  

GeorginaMay wrote:

I think my favorite encounter I've had so far was with a lady who had a morbidly obese beagle (this thing waddled not walked) which was wearing a knitted jumper to match hers. She came marching up to Orion and I to inform me that it would be in my best interests to inform the local pound that I have "one of those dogs" because it will spend most of its time jumping the fence and harassing the neighborhood. She then stalked off muttering about awful dogs and young hooligans lol

 I laughed out loud reading this!!! lol Matching outfits bahahahhaha

Silly people be silly. Honestly if they give you dirty looks then it's best just to ignore them. Although the whole trainers being shocked thing isn't really they're fault; anyone who did a 5 minute Google search would know that there's like a zillion Huskies in shelters because people buy them just for looks then give them up 3 months later due to a lack of knowledge on what they're getting into. I wouldn't be able to tell a responsible owner from a lame owner in public like that, so how could I except trainers to be any different? What I'm getting at here is that they probably think that you didn't research the breed at all and are trying to "educate" you. (lol) Even if they're wrong on several points/haven't done enough research themselves they're probably just trying to help... :/

AMB wrote:

Silly people be silly. Honestly if they give you dirty looks then it's best just to ignore them. Although the whole trainers being shocked thing isn't really they're fault; anyone who did a 5 minute Google search would know that there's like a zillion Huskies in shelters because people buy them just for looks then give them up 3 months later due to a lack of knowledge on what they're getting into. I wouldn't be able to tell a responsible owner from a lame owner in public like that, so how could I except trainers to be any different? What I'm getting at here is that they probably think that you didn't research the breed at all and are trying to "educate" you. (lol) Even if they're wrong on several points/haven't done enough research themselves they're probably just trying to help... :/

Yeah I agree with this. When we brought Kai to the vet for her first visit, the vet asked us very bluntly why we chose the breed? After explaining why we fell in love with the Siberian breed and gave a list of traits that we loved about them (showing that we did our research) the vet was happy. They've seen a lot of huskies go to homes unprepared who just got them because of their looks or because they saw them on tv. With each subsequent visit, now the vet remarks on what a wonderful job we've done with her. Always makes us happy to hear that.

GeorginaMay wrote:

When I was researching Huskies before Orion came into my life I spent a great deal of time lurking on this site and I have to admit I couldn't believe the stories of other dog owners reactions I really thought they must be the exception not the rule but wow was I wrong! I've started thinking that it should be written into the characteristics of the breed "will generate unwanted (often terrible) advice from total strangers and frequent questionings of your knowledge and/or sanity"
I think my favorite encounter I've had so far was with a lady who had a morbidly obese beagle (this thing waddled not walked) which was wearing a knitted jumper to match hers. She came marching up to Orion and I to inform me that it would be in my best interests to inform the local pound that I have "one of those dogs" because it will spend most of its time jumping the fence and harassing the neighborhood. She then stalked off muttering about awful dogs and young hooligans lol

That's funny right there! Lord be with the starvin' pigmey's in New Ginney.

Shaqua growls when she plays and I get that all the time at the dog park. For some reason she only wants to play with the dogs that do NOT want to play with her. LOL. There is this guy who brings his collie to the dog bark, completely antisocial dog, and every time Shaqua runs up to him and growls, pawing at him and doing the play bow, he gets disgruntled and takes his dog to the other side. Why bring your dog to a dog park if you won't let them socilaize? *sigh*

I haven't brought Journey to the dog park yet.... Not sure when I should start doing that. She is 12 weeks. now.

^ It's not really safe for them to go until after they have had all of their shots. And most parks will say no puppies under 4 months old anyway.

They had people at the dog park breaking rules yesterday and the park worker came and kicked a ton of people out. It was pretty funny. Young kids, young kids with FOOD, people with treats, aggressive dogs, washing their dog, etc.

And we also had someone who kept making their dog who obviously wanted to play, get away from the other dogs. Why bring them if you won't even let them play?!

Bae is a pretty rough and tumble player. Especially compared to the family Aussie! Lots of bitey face games and gruffing (that would be growl barking). When Pepper has had enough, he'll yip and Bae Dog will back off. If they are playing loudly when we are trying to watch a movie, I'll separate them myself.

People give me weird looks when Bae barks because he sounds like he will kill you. I know its his alert bark or his "I'm intimidated by this other dog because I'm onleash bark!" but everyone else gives me dirty looks. I've been asked to leave running events because Bae sounds like a liability waiting to happen if he sees another dog. His leash reactivity has gotten much better since then, Yay! But I'll go to the pet store and have people either compliment me, "What a beautiful dog! Is he a husky mix?" Or they will ask me if he is safe to be around. And thats when he is being quiet and respectful! Huskies can be both beautiful and intimidating.

I don't go to dog parks with Bae to avoid the snoots. If Fluffy doesn't want to play rough with Fido, she'll tell him herself. Some dog mamas won't let the dogs doing the sorting... Plus Bae Dog will jump that fence in a hurry to catch a squirrel.

Yeah, I get people telling me all about how to raise our new puppy..I just look atth me and tell them I'm experience with siberians, have two others, feed a raw diet and I am active in the show world, but thank you for your advice.

It usually pisses people off but I hates when people patronize me. Lol