Hello..

I'm hoping that someone would give me so advice on what I should/could do (if anything is wrong here)

I recused a beautiful Sib from a young couple that didn't want her anymore, she was living in a one bedroom apartment for the first 15 months of her life, and she just turned 2 years old (I've had her sense March of 2015)

She now lives where she has a great size backyard, goes for walks 1-2 times a day, dog parks, bike rides etc. she's great! calm, doesn't destroy everything in sight and very chill, she tries to get cats when we are on walks but when I tell her NO! she chills out. In the last 2 months she has jumped up and grabbed two opossums from the 6' fence, the first opossum was playing opossum so it lived but the second wasn't so lucky, she does it so quietly that I can even hear her doing anything from the living room with the door open, she doesn't tear them apart, eat them or anything like that so I'm assuming shes just playing with them.

So the day before yesterday I was walking her at night and I didn't see the dead cat ahead of me on the sidewalk and she attacked the dead cat like it were alive, it scared the crap out of me because I didn't know the cat was dead until after I got her off the cat, the cat was stiff as a rock. (last night she got a hold of opossum #3) (#1&#3 walked away)

She gets along with everyone, people, kids, small or large dogs etc... she is not aggressive at all other thank with socks, yes socks!

My main concern is that I'm watching my ex girlfriends dog (which it was our dog when we were together) but when she moved out she took the dog with her but now shes looking for a place that accepts dogs, Ive had her for about 3 months now, the little dog doesn't like to play to much with my Husky but my husky want to play with her, I'm afraid that the Husky might hurt her in some way, not by playing but seriously hurt her or even kill her, she has not shown any aggression towards the small dog but I do not want to take that chance.  Am I just over thinking this issue?

I think you're right to be cautious, but I would just keep a close eye when they are together. And separate when you're not there to supervise. If she starts getting too rough with the small one definitely let her know. She might feel differently about the animals outside because they're not actually in her house, but the other dog is so hopefully she just views him as a part of her pack.

Since I'm seeing two different questions here, I'll respond as if you did indeed ask two.

Opossums:  Take a look at this Santa Clara County link. While 'posums aren't the rabies carrier that many people think they are, they do carry several zoonotic parasites. (( Improper terminology, zoonotic means that they are carriers of a disease that can be transmitted to humans; while this is true, they also carry parasites that can transmit diseases to our dogs ... ))
You suggest that they're getting into your yard and since opossums are nocturnal scavengers that seems to indicate that they think they can get food in your yard ... Do you feed your dogs outside? Do they take food out with them? If you / they do then you might want to clean up better outside.
Last note on 'possum ... while they typically are not aggressive, if they feel trapped they will defend themselves and what they can do to a dog is not pretty! If you let rover chase the 'posum, you may end up with a very surprisingly high vet bill.
I'm assuming that your pics 1 and 2 are posums and #3, I'm not too sure about ...

As far as her getting along with your ex's pup; from the pictures you have there, I'd be inclined to say that you don't have a problem. Sibes like to play, that's a given; if they play together and the little pup doesn't seem to complain (except to say "get this lummox off me!") then I'd just let them play; if your sibe hurts the pup (I realize it's a full grown small dog but for simplicity's sake I'll refer to it as 'the pup') you'll know about it and your sibe should back off - now's a good time to teach her 'easy' (be gentle) or 'enough' (that's enough, stop) If she doesn't back off then you'll need to keep them separate.
Oddly, most dogs will recognize that even a small dog is a dog and treat it, more or less, as an equal.

aljones,

Thanks for the reply, but I never said that the opossums were getting into my yard, I said that my Husky jumps up and grabs them off my 6' fence, the fences are bacilly the expressway for all rodents/cats etc..I do not keep any food outside nor they take any food at all and my backyard is completly kept up.

I would never let her "chase the 'posum" those pictures were taken when I would go outside to get her to bring her inside for the night.


She does know the words gentle, be nice and NO!

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Oh, shoot, it's the middle of the night and for some reason I'm awake.
Max, you seem offended that I responded to the 'possum part of the thread but in defense, you use the 'possum in the title to the thread and then spend two of the six paragraphs talking about it.  Most <??> people are not aware that 'possums can be carriers of disease nor that they can really be vicious if they're cornered so I took the liberty of addressing that.  
Excuse me if you felt that I was being condescending or responding to the question you didn't want addressed.

That's quite a beautiful back yard you have there, are you out of the drought area or has it greened up that much with the recent (too plentiful?) rains??

That is like turf grade yard. Is it turf? If that is the real deal grass then good lord you are the god of grass.

Huskies have an insane prey drive and you will be hard pressed to get around that. I agree with Al. It looks like her and the little dog are getting along good. Dogs do tend to know other dogs through smell and behavior. As long as the little dog doesn't show prey tendencies (making high pitched sounds and constantly trying to run away) I doubt you will see an issue. Just set boundaries and stand up for the little dog if it seems like it needs a hand dealing with bruiser. As for 'possums, whether they are in the yard or on the border they are close enough to be grabbed and something is luring them there, possibly a trash can in the front they use your fence as a super highway to get to or a shed they are wanting to use for housing, or left out food. With the prey drive of huskies nearly the only way to get around this is to figure out why they are so drawn to the path they are taking and get rid of it, or sit out there with her and get onto her every time she sees one. You might also look into 'possum repellents such as hot sauce you spray onto the top of the fence where they walk or if you have a garden they might be coming in to eat you can spray the leaves of the plants.

My two kill 'possums all the time. When a cold snap is on its way it seems they think they want to take up residence under my porch and then the dogs kill them. Several 'possums later there are either no 'possums left or the amount of 'possum blood in the grass has helped the rest of the brood get the hint. Keep wormer on hand. I dose mine after every kill and haven't had an issue with them catching anything unsavory from the critters.

Hi Jen,

Thanks for the reply, that is great info! did your huskies tear the possums apart or did they just play with them like mine did? after your Huskies killed the possums did their behavior change at all, and is the behavior the same towards dogs,humans, kids etc? I'm just trying to get a feel for what I should expect if anything.

Al,

I'm not offended, sorry if I came off that way, and yes...it is artificial turf.

I completely constructed the back yard mainly to accommodate my husky, as you can see all the rocks near and around the fence is so she doesn't dig under the fence even though shes not a huge digger, the fake turf helps her and my house stay clean along with saving water so it works out all the way around...

Mine have torn 'possum, and a skunk, and several moles and birds into little pieces and strung them about the yard. My husky is dog aggressive but it's not due to her prey drive. She has deep seeded issues that stem back to a past prior to me. She can get along with male dogs off leash. My other dog, shepherd mix is fine with dogs and cats but helps when it comes to wild critters. Their behavior never changes when they have made a kill. They are still great with people and kids and each other. They also don't guard the kills so I can go out and take them from them at any point. The excitement of it burns some energy off so they will sleep a little and they usually need a bath afterwards, but they are the same dogs they have always been, just with another notch in their belt for pest disposal.

Jenn,

As you can tell from my pictures it looks like its more of a trophy (notch on her belt) for her as she doesn't eat them or tear them apart.

I will still keep an eye out regardless but thank you for the great info!

My parents have a little dog and they get along just fine. Loki has a high prey drive but he is good with small dogs. Kind of a trick to see their dynamic is if they're rough housing and one yelps, watch how the other responds. If she backs off, then she's respecting boundaries.

I know your feels. Loki is a murder machine as well. Last year there were a bunch of nests in our trees and it seemed like I was constantly taking away birds he was killing. It might not be bad to chat with your vet and see if he or she thinks it would be good to check for parasites.

Danielle,

great idea about checking for parasites, I'm going to call the vet today, the only time they even play is when the little on (Shadow) runs after the Husky (Skylar) and Skylar always runs away, it seems like Skylar get a kick out of Shadow running after her, when Shadow stops then Skylar will go right up to Shadow and give a very light bark/grunt and Shadow will start chasing her again, while Shadow is running after Skylar she is barking at her and somewhat trying to lunge at Skylars face but she can't even reach.

I make sure to let both of them know if they are out of line right as it happens, Shadow keeps to herself more than anything, this could be because Skylar takes all the toys that Shadow plays with and hogs them all.