Hi,

I joined the forum last year when we first got Luna who is a gray and white husky and she's been keeping me busy but no real problems until now...she is now a little over 2 years.  Luna is well socialized with people and other dogs...she gets walked miles and miles and goes to the dog park frequently, is friendly to other people, dogs and loves kids.  She has many friends at the dogpark and has always been the dog that lies on her back in submission when other dogs get aggressive.

Recently however, she's becoming a bit aggressive herself (is it something about turning 2?).  She's territorial over her food (only with her brother the Tabby cat, Pez), bones and toys and our bed. (She and Pez get along fabulously all other times)  She will show teeth if I try to take a bone or something that she's busy chewing on.  And if she's sleeping in our bed and I try to move her to make room for hubby, she shows teeth.  What I have done before was hold my hand over her mouth when she was showing teeth and tell her to NO! and then calmly move her body to where I want her with no problem.   Once she realizes I'm just moving her rather than making her get off the bed she's fine.   However, last night, when I did what I usually do, she got loose out of my hold and tried to bite my arm...she managed to catch my forearm in her mouth and bite down, scraped some skin but didn't draw blood but there's teetmark and bruising.  I know she's capable of hurting me much worse if she wanted to.  And I could see clearly that she felt bad about what she's done.  I got the leash which she let me put on her with no further problem and crated her for the night.  She's fine now and all is well but now I wonder if I should continue letting her sleep in the bed if this presents an issue.  Common sense says no but I really love her being there with us.  Something tells me she thinks its her bed and she's our equal now.  She has annihilated all dog beds we've bought for her if it has any kind of filling but sleeps peacefully with us in our bed...if I don't move her!

With food, she will let me take anyone take the bowl b/c she knows she's being fed but if she's busy with a Tank bone or a really good toy she's chewing on and I try to come near, she'll start moving and guarding it.  If I reach toward it, she'll start showing teeth.  I am usually able to use distraction tactics to take the item away but sometimes not.  I am more worried about her hurting someone else who doesn't know she gets like this and I'm not around to deal with the situation.

When she meets people new or old, she's so loving - the ears are back, tail and butt are wagging and greets them with licks and affection so this aggression is a really bad side of her that I don't want anyone else to witness or worse - get hurt by.  She has many friends at the dogpark and she plays so well  with other dogs, wrestling and running around (she's usually the fastest and all the others are chasing her which she loves!).  She's so nice that other parents asked if we'd be willing to dogsit, we would love to be able to offer but now I'm afraid that in our home, she may be a different dog and we'd be setting ourselves up for a lawsuit.

Thanks so much for any advice you can give on how I can get a better handle on her developing aggression.  She truly is a sweet girl!  Happy Holidays!

I don't have any good training advice but I did want to say that it sounds like you are very careful with her training and she does look like a very gentle and sweet girl. The picture of her with the cat is amazing, my girl would never be able to handle herself like that.

Thanks! Your girl looks beautiful! We took Luna to meet Pez at the Humane Society and they hit it off fabulously which is why they allowed us to adopt him. The two of them run around and wrestle with each other and I know both can hurt each other but they don't. Even when Pez's claws clearly is stuck in Luna's skin...she tolerates it. LOL! That's why it's so strange that she gets aggressive only in certain situations. We will crate her at night now in the meantime until I figure out how to better handle the situation b/c I don't like being upset with her. And I just distract her to get something away from her. Her best friend Tesla wants to stay over during MLK weekend so we'll see if we are ready for that.

Thanks for posting your problem.  We can definitely help you, but more information is needed, first.  

What is her daily exercise routine in distance and pace?  Can you provide details?

What was your (or anyone's) exact reaction when she shows her teeth or after she bit you?  What immediately followed these behaviors?  If it was anything other than a firm correction and an establishment of boundaries then you are currently in the process of training your dog that she gets what she wants through aggression.  Remember, training is anything learned through repetition, so if you allow this to continue, you are training her.  

This has nothing to do with turning 2.

I get the impression that this just started?  Has anything happened to you or your partner's life that has changed your relationship to her?  Is there anything that you can specify that she is reacting to?

It is great that she is crate trained.  From this day forward it is imperative that she is no longer allowed in the bed, ever.  You need some hard boundaries around the bed for her and this can be easily trained through staging going to bed and then preventing her from getting in the bed by blocking her body and giving her strong corrections for trying to get in the bed.  Once she lays down on the floor or blanket or her bed or crate and gives up, then you can treat her or give a bone or toy, whatever.  Prevention is the absolute key here.  Once she is already in the bed, you lose. She can't be allowed to escalate to that level of guarding and irritation.  Nothing good will come of it at that point.

Try to wrap your head around this with all seriousness.  You don't have a sweet girl on your hands anymore, you have a dangerous animal who has warned you repeatedly that she is going to bite you and she did, almost drawing blood and bruising you in your own bed. Not drawing blood was just luck.  She is in need of some more structure and boundaries and some cutting back on her free for all reign of the house.  

The worst thing you can do right now is let her back in the bed and give her affection, and the second worst thing you can do is continue to allow her to snarl, growl, and bite you in the bed without corrections.  

The only way to eliminate a behavior is to correct it, make it unpleasant.  This should be done calmly and non-physically.  Use your body language and whatever correction noise you use, if you have one.    Distraction techniques are great for minor stuff like chewing on the wrong things, but with aggressive resource guarding it has to be corrected because if she is allowed to do it over and over again each time she has a bone you are training her to think that that is okay.  A distraction technique is literally a distraction, meaning, the behavior you want to go away is ignored.  

This is the very beginning of this aggression and you in a perfect spot to tackle it right now with a few small changes.

I will add to Jeff's questions, as far as the food issue is concerned. Have you taught drop it and leave it? What type of circumstances is your dog food guarding? Is it with treats, bones, dog bowl and how is the guarding displayed? You said with the cat, but is she doing this with you as well?

Luna is encountering some type of conflict as Jeff has mentioned. It may be change in exercise, changes in your schedule, or it could be something different to that, perhaps injury or sickness? Dogs don't typically change their behavior for no reason, they can't tell us what the problems are in English, yet they will tell you they have a problem with acting out.

Establishing boundaries, voice control and changing this behavior as Jeff mentioned is paramount. I will stress what Jeff mentioned in that being calm is the only way you will see results, if a dog that is stressed senses you are stressed the problem can only get worse, they feed off of our responses; not saying that you are, but if you act crazy and give a high pitched, no voice control type request , as in yelling, will only create a dog who will be crazy and you will have no control over the situation. The best way for me to example this is to share my situation.....Miya has a clear boundary as in her bed is where she sleeps, she is not allowed on our bed, through jealousy of the cat(the cat is allowed on the bed) she will go up on the bed, I give a firm, non yelling, Miya off the bed, poof off she goes no more challenge. My husband on the other hand gets upset and yells get off the bed, get off the bed, and she will start the zoomies, pushing his buttons so to speak. I tell him all the time, if he requested her to get off the bed in a calm voice she will stop. Of course this is a mild challenge compared to yours, but you have to stop and think how the situation escalates and also why the situation is there in the first place.

We are all happy to help, to get your happy, sweet girl back.

Thanks for your replies and offer of help; I really appreciate it.

The major changes I see happening this year really are my son went off to college (so she's got more of my attn. but she always had it b/c I work from home).  We got Pez our cat who she plays with very well and they hang out together (but at night Pez sleeps with my younger son and Luna always slept with us). There are some aggressive dogs at the dogpark that recently try to pin her down or corner her or grab her neck.  Could that be what's causing her to start learning aggression?  She usually gets out of the situation by submitting or running away and that leads to a chase and noone can catch her so they give up.  She eats well and is playful even today...all is forgotten.  She weighs 54 pounds, has great teeth b/c she lets me brush it, is current on all her shots  and our vet even said she's got a great temperament for a Husky!

She knows a lot of commands in 2 languages (wait, sit, down, shake, other hand, hi five, speak, belly up, drop it, leave it, go to your house, let's go, and she waits at the corner before we cross the street).  The one that's most inconsistent is come and stay.  At the dogpark, she will only come when she's tired and ready to go...Usually she'll come when I say Let's go Luna (rather than come) and she'll come right to the gate and that's usually after 2 hours.  The drop it and leave it works mostly when we're walking and she picks up or thinks about picking up something (she once got a squirrel and dropped it when I said so) but at home, she won't respond to it if it's her fave bone or special treat.  If it's some random thing she's got and I've got something better she drops it instantly. It only seems to be certain things she places more value on.  If I offer a treat she wants, then I can take something away from her.

The food aggression is only if our cat hovers around near her when she's eating.  Anyone can put their hand in her bowl and remove it or touch her food no problem.  I've also given treats to her and multiple dogs at the same time at the dogpark and she does not get jealous or show aggression at all.  She waits her turn.

I've had 2 other dogs that have since passed (both male GSP and Weimaraner) and neither were aggressive and I thought I knew what I was doing but she's so completely different.  Our Weim, we could do anything to and he would not care whatsoever.  I have always treated my dogs like one of my kids and I see where that can be problematic moreso with Huskies?

She walks easily with an easy walk harness and is great on walks.  We walk/run 2 miles daily, or stop and let her play with a neighbor's dog in their yard or she runs around in the back yard chasing squirrels and I'll bring out the Chuck it and throw balls...she'll fetch it but just run around with it rather than returning them, she loves tug of war (I know that can breed aggression too so no more of that?)  eventho she keeps bringing and dropping into my lap?  She runs around with our cat and goes to the dog park 4 times a week where she runs and wrestles with her friends for almost 2 hours.  She's exhausted b/c she comes home and passes out.  I also taught her how to run on the treadmill and she does that on a really rainy day if I keep the treats coming.  I'll just say Luna treadmill and she's there!  She's very eager to please.

This is the first she's actually bit me but not the first that she's shown teeth in bed.  I've just been able to get her out of that state of mind previously by rubbing her belly which she loves!  Then when she's in her happy state, I can move her to where I want no problem., believing I was successful.  Guess not! I clearly was in denial. This time she was asleep and I moved her but when she bit down, I yelled NO! And she let go.  It's clear she thinks she owns it now.  

Does any of what I've shared explain why she's starting to behave this way?  Good thing she likes her crate and will go in there often during the day since I'm not in my bedroom but it's like she knows, nighttime=gotta follow mommy to bed.  Is there any possible way to change this behavior so that someday she can resume sleeping with us or do I just need to give up on that altogether?!  Thanks again!

Wow, you have a dynamic house! Lots going on. That's great for a Husky though because they thrive on active, inclusive family pack structures.

A Husky is extremely different than a GSD . If you imagine the arrows of intentionality coming from a dog, a GSD 's typically point towards you, and a Husky's typical away from you. Very different drives and working styles, for sure.

Speaking of drives, playing tug is a fantastic way for your dog to express and fulfill prey drive. The way to do it best is offering it as a reward for something good, playing tug, practice "off" or your release command, reengage, play again , and let her win. The win is what will satisfy prey drive and she will emotionally exhaust herself more quickly and efficiently. I have been walking my dog with our tug in my back pocket and using it to desensitize him to squirrels, and it works amazingly.

It sounds like you have a great foundation with her and that her life with you is overall very positive. Her daily exercise is good, she could stand more, but that's usually a good baseline to have.

It sounds Ike she just needs some boundaries and some structure in her discipline. Yes, by rubbing her belly if she gets fussy and territorial in bed you are training her to be that way because she then gets affection and her way afterwords.

Any trainer or behaviorist would just tell you to keep her off the bed at all time...hard non-negotiable boundary at the bed...and pay very close attention to your use of affection , which for her is approval and acceptance of the state of mind she is in.

I'm not saying this from a dominance- alpha hierarchy perspective, but she just needs to be put in her place a bit with the bed and you need to communicate very clearly that her behavior is unacceptable. She needs a stern correction, calmly and non physically. Don't get mad or frustrated or emotional, just draw the line in the sand and stand your ground. If she doesn't obey when on the bed, just wait and wait and wait.

First I would like to say your Luna resembles my Miya, lol, except eye color, especially that last pick of her sleeping.

Moving on to your problem.....Sadly I agree with Jeff, you can no longer allow her on the bed. There is an old saying "Let sleeping dogs lie" in the literal sense it's true, you clearly said she was asleep, and I have to say she needs her own space to sleep. It has nothing to do with her "thinking" she is equal, it has more to do with being comfy and that's her space, and don't move me. For as much as we want our dogs to respect us, we must respect them. If her crate is next to your bed, perfect, institute Luna bedtime and proceed to show her to her crate. As Jeff said use your body to let her know she is no longer allowed on your bed, it's not hers. Jeff also mentioned repetition, I agree, constantly telling her that her bed is hers and your bed is yours(mine), the light bulb will come on. As far as beds are concerned, Miya tore to bits everything, until I brought home her special doggy bed, placed it next to ours, she slept on it for a few days, and then nibble nibble, (there's still a tiny hole, but after a year and a few months it's still intact), when I caught her nibbling I told her to be nice to her bed, lol, and then proceeded to lay on it with her, and basically afterwards just monitored her, she's been great ever since. I will admit I am similar to you, I treat her as if she's my kid, but I also knew I needed to set boundaries and be consistent with them. She never gets on the bed when we are in it, and up until about 3 or 4 months ago, she has never went up on the bed, that's why for me it's all about the cat and her interest in kitty.

Your son going to college may have made an impact with Luna that you never could realize, perhaps he played with her in the manner Jeff describes as in using her prey drive, or giving her that little bit more exercise that she needs. I love using tugs with my girl, I stay at home as well, and you can use playing tugs for so many ways, prey drive, exercise, training(mental exercise), play tugs for a bit when she accidentally drops the tugs tell Luna to stay(since you mentioned that she does not have that command down pat, a great way to train this) and toss the tugs away, work your way up on the duration, tell her to get it resume tugs, when she drops it again do some other command, proceed as Jeff said. My neighbors probably think I am insane on how we play, I stalk her/she stalks me at times it looks like she's attacking me, lol, but this serves so many areas of interaction/exercise/training/bonding. It will release her excess energy.

With the food, we haven't mentioned much here, but feeding separately is probably your best bet, keeping kitty away when Luna is eating, since Luna seems to have no issues with her humans. As far as other dogs, again feed separately and block off paths until both are done.

I hope that between Jeff and myself we have helped you, I often think Jeff explains way better than me, and in the end we have said similar things, lol, I guess getting similar advice from 2 different people, might be more helpful......I wish you luck, she is a beauty, and I so wish that I could have pics like yours, no way on earth will my cat engage in any type of contact with my Miya.