We got Neesha from a breeder at 5 months old.  She had no socialization with people. She was fed a mix of dry and raw meet. When our family came to get her she was very scared of us but very submissive when we caught her. We thought she would come around to the social part with us. She is now eight months old.  When she is in the house she is under the desk at all times or in her kennel.  My kids and I can pet her only if we can corner her. We do not chase her around. We have a big yard so she stays outside all day and plays with our other husky. We cannot get her to come inside.  She will sit a few feet away and look like she wants to come in but is to scared.
  We live out in the country close to grandmas.  When my kids go to the back yard to play she tries to escape threw the gate. When she does escape she goes to grandmas and catches her cats and eats them.  I blame the raw meet diet for that. I know Huskies are by instinct predators.   My other husky does not do this when around cats. He will chase them and if he catches them he will kill it from playing with it. But if the cat goes under the porch or up a tree he goes on. Neesha will dig and crawl under the porch and viciously try any way to get at it. On the up side she has never tried to bite me while I am dragging her by the tail out from under the porch.  
 I have worked with her with treats but she is so timid that even if she wants the treat she still wont do what I ask.  So we have a few problems.  I expected to have to train her but not to this degree.  My husband has no connection with her. He wants to give her back to the breeder.  He has no time or patience to train her. So it is all on me.  I can’t get on to her because that just regresses her.  I can’t train her with treats because she doesn’t respond to them. I have tried many different kinds of treats too. She loves treats but wont do anything for them. In the summer time our dogs and the extended families dogs are let go to run by our pond. Neesha will never be able to do that if she goes strait to grandmas house to eat a cat.  I am at my wits end and starting to come around to giving her back. I don’t want to though. I don’t know if I have the time or ability to train her to be what we want in a family dog. We are regretting getting her as an older puppy. Its like we adopted a rescue dog.  We don’t want to spend money on training her when there are no guarantees.  Any advice would be appreciated.

I would rehome her if you are unwilling to spend money on training.

The raw diet is not to blame for her strong prey drive. Both my huskies are on exclusively raw diets and live with cats just fine.

P.S.
I don't think I would try to drag her by the tail anymore..

Man, that sound like a really tough situation, but to me, it sounds like she has a 'soft' personality and a lot of fear. If you google 'dog, soft personality' that will tell you a lot about her reactions to you correcting her. Is it possible she was abused (before she came to you)?

For now, it sounds like trust building is the most important thing for her. Here are some of my thoughts on how you can do this with her. If she likes and feels safe in her kennel or under the desk start this by just tossing something really awesome (cheese, beef jerky, cooked chicken, anything human food that she doesn't normally get, and really likes) to her when you walk by and don't make eye contact. When you notice her start to perk up when you approach, you'll know that she's learning that good things happen when you walk by. Have all family members do this, but try to limit any forced interaction (cornering her for pets and whatnot). Forcing interaction will undermine any trust building progress you're making with her. The next step would be sitting on the floor near the crate, again without direct eye contact and tossing the treats, when she's comfortable with that, move closer, and try to get her to eat from your hand. The next step would be trying to get her to step out of the crate for the treat and just keep building from there. I feel like once you can break the ice this way and build some trust, than training will become more possible and hopefully a little easier. Also, there will come a point, when she will show you how much you mean to her and with a dog like her, it will be an amazing experience. You'll know it when it happens.

In terms of training, you will get out what you put in, although with her, it won't be easy, some of her lack of socialization will be difficult to overcome, and she may never be comfortable with every situation, but I think it is possible to get her to trust you and bond with your family. There are no guarantees in any dog training, but you owe it to her to make a real effort. If there is a training class close to you I suggest you sign up, they may even let you visit a class or do a free consultation so you can decide what you think. A lot of times, taking a dog like her into a new environment will actually show you how bonded she is to you. She will be uncertain and look to you for what to do. It sounds like it's going to be a difficult uphill battle to work with her, but since you already have a husky, I think you can handle it.

I know how they can really push you, I went through a time with my pup (now 10 months) where I really thought I was just never gonna feel a connection with him. There was one point where he was running around me biting me (he had a big issue with play biting) and every time I tried to correct or redirect him, he would just bite harder. I just sat down and cried my eyes out. He was kinda like a wild animal for a while. He is much, much sweeter now and I love him to death, but he too is in the teen phase and some days are rough, but with more time and work, those days are becoming moments and are fewer and farther between. Also, she is at the age where she's in that fun teen phase as a puppy, so all of her worst traits are going to show themselves, sometimes on a daily basis.

As far as treats go, have you tried any human food, like cheese or hot dogs for example? Dizzy likes dog treats, but will do absolutely anything for cheese. Situations where he won't give a biscuit a second look (like if other dogs are around) he will usually be interested in the cheese. He also loves these maple flavored delish brand cookies from walgreen's (no idea why), but maybe try out some other non dog treats.

Now about the cats, the raw meat diet has nothing to do with her killing cats. Some huskies just have a much higher prey drive than others. I've had two, and my first one was much higher drive than my current one, but even my current dog, Dizzy, would chase one if it ran. He eats a raw meat diet and has a healthy respect for the cats within our house. However, outdoors, I really don't know what he would do if he caught a cat or any other animal, I have never let him, but I don't think it would be pretty. My advice about the cats? Never, ever let her escape, and never purposefully let her around cats. Of course, accidents can and do happen, but maybe see if you can secure the gate and train the kids not to leave the gate open or let her out, or if she's really pushy about the gate, you could try to use a long tie out as a back up until you have her trained to respect the gate.

Something to note as well, is that if she is hiding under or in something, I wouldn't reach in to grab her or even pet her. If she is that fearful, it could (and probably will eventually) lead to a bite, and I would hate for that to happen. It would be the end of her and I think at this point its still possible to turn her around.

Thank you so much for your suggestions and encouragement!! This is exactly what I needed to push on. She was well cared for at the breeder. She is great with other dogs and very submissive when on a leash. I will post how things go.

Thanks!

Also Casey, I don't normally pull her tail. It was the only way I could get a hold of her under the porch. It was a risk because she was in predator mode getting to a cat. She saw me and that I was the one pulling her. She tried to get me to stop and let go but she never snapped at me. I like to think that is a good sign!

Yeah Jen sounds to me like she is right on the money :DNeesha can and will turn out great with a lot of well thought out training. She may never be 100% in your eyes, but I am sure you can at least get her to the 90% mark Also keep in mind it is a commitment... You have to Commit yourself to her... it may take a year or 2 to get her to where you want her to be, Or it could be as short as 6 months... it all depends on consistancy.

Remember to that a perfect husky is actually not perfect at all just like us

I totally agree with Jen. Great advice you got there! A friend of mine got a rescue with similar issues (A 9 month German sheperd) and once the pup gained trust in his owner 90% of the problems disappeared. A book we (I helped him a little) found really useful in order to understand the pup was Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas, maybe you could give it a try, it is really short and it may help you to connect with her. If you can't find it in any store just look for it online or tell me and I will send it to you (I know I have it somewhere in digital format).

Javier77 wrote:

I totally agree with Jen. Great advice you got there! A friend of mine got a rescue with similar issues (A 9 month German sheperd) and once the pup gained trust in his owner 90% of the problems disappeared. A book we (I helped him a little) found really useful in order to understand the pup was Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas, maybe you could give it a try, it is really short and it may help you to connect with her. If you can't find it in any store just look for it online or tell me and I will send it to you (I know I have it somewhere in digital format).

I love that book, one of my favorite dog books and one I definitely used with my pup. great suggestion.