Need Help...Sorry for Long Post
I just recently rescued a female husky who was hit by a car...fractured pelvis and ankle. She's had orthopedic surgery and is mostly crated rested. We have a 6 month husky puppy and 14 year old Australian Shepard...plus a 6 year old cat. All animals are indoors and our cat just does not like the puppy or the new dog (she has her own area in the house). (Also, we do have a nice big backyard) The older dog has no interest in her. The rescue is in my room and we have them separated, she growls at the other dogs and definitely has a strong prey instinct with our cat ???? We have slowly tried walking dogs one at a time side by side but enough distance in between...she growls less with the puppy but the older one she does not like at all. The vet said she is approx 2-3 years old and looks as thou she is getting ready to go into heat. We will spade her when she is completely healed. Our older dog wants nothing to do with her, is very docile. The puppy accidentally got through the hallway gate and went for her food which caused the rescue to bit her nose. Iv'e been reading a lot online about this breed of dog trying to find a good place that I can get training tips for this breed. I really want to work with her to accumulate her with the other dogs and hopefully our cat. Any help would be much appreciated.

It's very nice of you to adopt this dog. What is her long term prognosis? I imagine her injury is affecting her personality right now. Time will tell.

I'm a firm believer that training can overcome a lot of issues (perhaps just reduce but not eliminate some), but it may take a LOT of time and patience and, possibly, professional help.

Regarding training "this breed".... Personally, I see no difference in training one breed over another. They all must learn manners and they all seem to have different personalities regardless of breed. Our two Huskies (brother and sister) are very different.

As far as the cat, she may never be able to be left alone with the cat. In our case, our two would kill our cat if she ever got out and we weren't around to pull them off her.

Hi, thank you for responding! She is healing very well!!! I take her on three walks a day (besides resting), she now lifts her tail to use the restroom, now toe tapes the injured leg when walking, and recently used her injured leg to scratch her ear...Yay!!! The Vet wants to take the metal plate out, during that surgery she will spay her at the same time. I agree that she could be lashing out due to being injured and scared. She has really bonded with me since she is with me most of the time. She is wonderful with humans. As of breed, I was just meaning that they tend to be a hierarchical pact animal...dominate, need of a strong leader, ect...I do realize many canines have this.
I have realized that with the cat. She does have her own space and am very careful with that. I am just very focused on her and the elderly Auzzie...the Husky puppy already shows her that she's in charge, lol...but when the 14 year old Auzzie comes by she growls and lunges...the Auzzie is scared.
We are just trying understand her growl tones, movements, aggression, and honestly...how can we help her...I am not giving up on her

I would take a no nonsense approach to any hint of aggression. At the same time, she is healing, in a new home so give her strong, safe boundaries. A place that is her own, as you are doing in your room, is good. Make your walks training walks, starting with the door ("thresholds") Have her sit and wait while you open the door, exiting only on your command. Practise sit, heel, stay on your walks (this will not only give her the exercise to heel and strengthen her body but will engage her mind, keep her interested and on her toes.)

For now, since she appears snippy with the other dogs, I would keep a leash on her when not in her crate. Probably, leash the puppy, too (I'm assuming the Aussie is not going to invade the rescue's face?) A good exercise to promote peaceful coexistence is the "sit on your dog" exercise

http://caninelifeskills.com/sit-on-the-dog-exercise/

Right now, with her injuries, surgeries, I would keep puppy from being all over her (puppy is going to see a play mate and want want want to wrestle etc, your rescue is going to be cranky between her body and all the new stuff) Still, you can start having them quiet in the same room using whatever tethering/leashing you can manage (we have a kitchen table with 2 huge oak pedestals, 3 lion's feet on each - a VERY convenient place for indoor tethering while integrating a new, "pack-challenged" rescue.

The walks together are a good way to enhance pack/human bonding as well as practice commands (though a 6 month old puppy will be a handful - delightful handful but a handful none the less )

All three of our animals are adopted. Kona was at our local animal shelter when we picked him up 6 months ago.

I was brought up with a wolf hybrid as a kid, so pack training was a large part of having him. When we picked up Kona, I used the same training.

As Anymeme suggests, I also take a no nonsense approach. When Kona messes with his older brother too much (a toothless, 16 year old Pomeranian), or the cat (3 years old, great temper), he receives a loud, firm verbal reprimand. NEVER strike a husky - not even a swat on the nose (I don't recommend that for any breed) - that leads to mistrust and a potential attack when the dog feels threatened or has just had enough.

That said - a firm loud "KONA NO!!!" will stop Kona in his tracks. Sometimes he'll even leave the room and pout in a favored spot. The most extreme correction (happened twice) is a verbal reprimand and he's put outside for 5 minutes or until he asks to come back in.

We also do controlled meet & greets - cat on our lap, allowing Kona to slowly approach for a sniff. It took about a dozen attempts before everyone stayed calm doing this. Lastly, we have ensured that Gibby has a couple of "Kona Free Zones" so that he has a refuge to relax in.

With this and some patience, Kona now cuddles with the Pom, and is much improved with the cat.

Good Luck!
(go figure - I hear the cat growling as I type...)

You probably wont know the dogs real personality until she is healed. Even with my 3 that get along sometimes we still have to separate shadow and spider when spider gets too crazy (shadow isnt old but hes grumpy and almost blind) spider and squirt never really got along and for the last year we have kept them apart. I do take in wolfdog fosters from tje local animal shelter and the most important thing to everyone getting along has always been the introduction done in a neutral unfamiliar place and i tend to hand my dogs off to experienced neutral people so it doesnt become a resource guarding situation where i am the resource to be guarded we keep all dogs leashed inside until there is some kind of peace and when we do finally start letting them together off leash we do 1 dog at a time until all animals are comfortable with the new animal. Another trick we have used is to give them treats together (not in a feeding frenzy tho) so they associate each other with good things. That said one of my dogs can not be around any other animals safely ever and my other three have a very strict order that i also have to abide by or things go bad like they go out the door in the same order they are fed in the same order and so on. I wish you luck and i personally wouldnt introduce the dogs until after the new one is healed and i would probably bring in a professional and invest in some baby gates

First thanks for adopting this girl, she may not show she appreciates it now but as she becomes aware that this is her furever-home she will.

I have to agree with both Ami and Rick (@amymeme and @Kona_18) setting boundaries is going to be the thing that helps her realize that there are limits - to everything.   I tend to have a 'no hit' policy, but that doesn't mean that my pups haven't run into my hand a time or two.  If they try to rush the door then my hand goes down - if they run into ..... I'm actually blocking the door but they don't always stop before they get there.

You seem to be much more aware than many of our new people who come in with "I got a Husky and I don't know what to do!?!" At the same time, as Ami says, she's been hurt (and is probably hurting still from the surgery) and she's in a new place with new people (and other animals) so it's a understatement to say that you're not seeing the dog she'll become.  

I have three dogs and two cats (and if the cats would get along we'd all be fine) but there have been a few too many scuffles between the various dogs.  One thing I can't do is have them around each other when they're eating - we have food possessiveness issues, but when it's time for bed, I have to check and see who's where 'cause the corner that Sasha was in last night might be occupied by Avalanche tonight ... and Sasha's crate might be occupied by her or maybe Sky.  Silly dogs!!  It just takes time to let them adjust and setting the boundaries makes it all go smoother.

Having a training leash - as Ami mentioned will help a lot, you don't want to reach in to grab a dog who's 'protecting' their <whatever> - the chances are good that they'll grab you instead.

Good luck and may I wish you a lot of patience!!!

Something I thought of - when we first got Kona I first offered him some of his food by hand before pouring, then poured his food in front of him. If he refused (he did) I put the hand food in the bowl with the other food. I (or whoever fed him) did this every meal at first, now randomly. The idea is that he gets this message:

"I'm the alpha between us - I'm giving you this food. You can trust me. It's ok if I touch your food."

I routinely do the same with bones, babies and toys - "Kona, let me see that." (gently grab baby out of his mouth), "What a good boy, nice baby!, Here ya go" (hand it back). Kona never offered any real resistance, but I would have backed off if he showed too much.

It's the same message, "I'm the alpha - let me see your stuff, you're a good dog, here's your stuff back - you can trust me."
It's very quick and casual, but I think he gets the point.

It takes patience and creativity, but once you have that trust built, it goes a long way.
Kona doesn't mind us putting our hands in his bowl, looking in his ears and mouth, or taking almost anything from him (I usually have a baby for a substitute if I have to take an item).

It reinforces that message and as a bonus, makes it much easier to tell when he has something he shouldn't and to get it away from him ---
--- like that box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts a few weeks ago....

"Babies" ????????????????????????????

Kona has 3 distinct sets of toys:

Bones & edible chew toys

Toys - Rope bones & balls for rough housing

Babies - Great training tools! Stuffed animals that he treats as babies. He's extremely gentle with them, I used to use them as "stop devices" when he played too rough - he still instantly stops what he's doing and begs for it. He carries them and sometimes buries them in the couch & chairs. - Very cute!

Babies vs Toys - I'm not 100% sure, but I think the difference is a face - all of his beloved babies have faces, his torn up toys don't.

To Topic - I found babies make great training tools - a lot of very simple ways to use them where food or toys might trigger over excitement or possessiveness. (Kona gets excited and mouthy over stray breezes, so this was important for me early on). And it's great fun to watch him when he's in "Baby mode".

Here's his current favorite - a baby sea turtle that he stole from our daughter.

Aw! Sweet!

I don't know what it means that my dog pounces on his stuffed animals, grabs them by the neck, shakes them and mouths on them. His "babies" are more like Prey...

at least they're not destroyed, just covered in dried dog spit. :-)

Hah. Here, "babies"are prey. Pounced on, shaken, stepped on and unmercifully shredded, squeakers eviscerated.