Hi everyone! I just had a couple questions. My daughter Scarlett and I took Kiko to the dog park this evening. We haven't been since July or so. It's been quite awhile. We have another dog, a German Shepherd named Riley that she plays with at home and we take walks together with. Other than that she doesn't really have contact with other dogs where she plays with them. When we went to the park she had her coat up at first but quickly put it down but didn't really want to play with any of the dogs. She loves loves loves to run so she ran a couple laps and came back to us. She ran up and said hi to people but it was short lived. I was surprised by that because she is SO lovey at home, especially with me (is basically happy being on or next to you like laying her head on your lap/hand/arm/feet or laying just near by you - hoping to be pet but is happy and will fall asleep just laying there), she talks all the time to me, cries if i leave or i get in the shower (she loves water and taking showers). I thought she would be really friendly with other people because on walks she is but she wasn't too interested in them. She gave them about as much interest as our shepherd does with other people. She explored around for a while, ran around, and would look back to see where we were. It's gotten much colder here (we're in CO) so we went to the car to get Scarlett her coat.

Kiko followed us to the gate and I kept her back (it's chain link fence around the park and we're parked immediately in front of the fence where she was. Maybe 10 feet if that away. When I shut the gate behind me she started pacing back and forth, and when we started to walk off she started crying. I didn't mean to scare or alarm her, make her think we were leaving her, etc. I didn't think it would be a problem just running to the car to grab the jacket. :S She was trying to jump the fence to get to us just crying. My husband has said that when I leave in the mornings to take my daughter to school, or if I leave the house to go out, etc. she'll cry and howl. I don't work right now and so since we've gotten her, her and I spend just about all of our time together. Later on another husky owner came with a 3 1/2 month old husky. He was over half as big as she is. We think she is 8 months old but are not too sure. She's SUPER tiny but her dimensions like always are pretty symmetrical, even her coat markings. We think that she comes from being a puppy mill puppy sold from pet stores (we got her from a woman who had to rehome the puppy she had for 3 weeks that was bought from a puppy store). She is missing the last digit on her front left paw. When she came to us had no bite inhibition, wasn't sure about a lot of stuff, was TOTALLY fine with using the bathroom where she ate and slept, etc. Supposedly as her paperwork said when we got her she was 3 months and 1 week, but again was very small. I look back at those pictures from our first day and think there's no way she was almost 3 1/2 months old. And when I look at how big she is now, and how big that puppy was and he's the same age as she was when we got her (comparing their sizes) she was a lot smaller. The first dog she tried to play with was a big old German Shepherd, but he didn't really want to play so she went on her way. When the husky pup came she tried playing with him but as husky pups are he was really aggressive with play. She would roll over on her back and then kick her legs up and run around then do it again. Paw at him and bow. But when he would catch up with her and do the little puppy bites and pulling/jumping onto her, and she'd do the roll over thing, she eventually started to cry out. The playing stopped and she'd try to run back to me, he'd catch up and jump on her, she'd roll on her stomach and he wouldn't stop and she'd start crying again. So she ran up and jumped on a log I was sitting on and sat next to me. My question (long about way) is if it's normal for huskies to not really care too much for other dogs? She's not aggressive or anything, she's just not interested. With the husky puppy she played with, I wasn't sure how to understand how she was with him. If it was that she hasn't played with small dogs/other puppies really before so wasn't used to it/wasn't sure how to take or handle it? I wasn't sure if he scared her, or maybe he nipped too hard?

I watched closely right when I heard it and as she was running back sometimes she would cry and he didn't nip her. Laying on her back and he's trying to play. I wasn't sure if she was trying to say she was scared or didn't want to play anymore? They did a whole lot of jumping, pawing, bowing, etc. puppy play so it wasn't like she was on her back the whole time. They would play then take a break and then play again...but not too long into it is when she started crying. It wasn't a yelp, it's like what she does when she cries. Similar noise. At home she's super dominate over Riley, and I can't recall her being submissive to any other dog. What do you guys think? I know I can take her to the bigger dog park that's I think a mile or two wide with trails that she would like to go to (can walk and doesn't have dogs right on her all the time). Should I keep taking her to the small one? Or just continue taking her on the long walks only? I also forgot to add that before we left she did walk to the gate and sit down and look back, then run back and sit by us. She was just ready to go. All in all we spent +/- 20 minutes there. Not very long at all. The other question is with how affectionate she is. I heard that huskies are very affectionate and that they're also very not. She is through the roof and back superbly affectionate. Is that normal? Which one is the norm? Either way I like it hahah. We were having some bumps in the road with her earlier but she's been doing GREAT. She sits before meals, before every door, comes when calls, fetch most the time lol, shake, lay down, roll over (sometimes). She is doing awesome with our daughter and is friendly with other people. Some neighbors have very small children and we have her sit while they say hi. Have been doing that for a couple months now off and on and she's been doing great. I wanted to update on that part. Thank you for answering questions everyone I can also add pictures here in a bit and show you what she looked like when we first got her and what she she looks like now if wanted.

Ashley, some huskies are affectionate and others are not. I think a lot has to do with the amount of time you spend with them as babies, imho. Miya is very affectionate, But she spends, and always has spent, little time by herself. As far as other dogs, have you done any puppy classes with her? I have never experienced dog parks, so from what you describe, it seems she is not very confident and unsure what to do with other puppies. Taking her to a puppy class, whether it is a socialization type class or a basic puppy training class, will help her in her confidence. Some things that you mentioned are actually good things to work on, her focus on you and her desire to look for you are actually good things, many huskies could care less about their human once dogs are around. A better approach for when you leave is to have her sit and stay, so she can watch you, and with the sit and stay guides her in knowing you will be back. Obviously that is not an approach for when you go somewhere as in the store, but good for her in situations as when you went to your car.

To be fair, I, again, imho, think when a pup is in tune to her human, makes training far easier. Many times advice to people is to say have your dog focus on you, with you you don't need that. So distractions for your pup is not an issue, that's a good thing. Building confidence will make it easier on her for times when you leave, and she shouldn't fuss as much.

For your pup, I think the long walks where she encounters one dog at a time may be easier on her, so she isn't so overwhelmed. I also think the training you have done so far is great. It sounds like you will end up with a sweet, polite husky. And yes we love pics here, so post some up!! I hope I answered some of your questions, hopefully other members can help with the dog park issues better than myself. Even if I had a dog park close to me, I have to say I probably wouldn't take Miya, most threads that I have read here, sound to me like people don't train their dogs well, and dog parks causes more problems than they are worth.