We took Koda to a different day care today and they practically labeled him as an "aggressive" dog. Instead of letting him run with the pack at first, they took him and tried him one on one with another dog. Koda tends to do better in a group setting than one on one. The other dog didn't seem to want to play in a rough and tumble way, so he snapped at Koda, so Koda fed off him and they got into a small scuffle. They broke off right away, and Koda ran around all happy-like....

I don't ever think Koda is aggressive. It's weird and I don't know how to explain it. He likes to play rough and he does like to be dominant... but I don't know that I have ever seen him initiate a fight. It's usually a dog reacting to him.

Does anyone else have this problem? Or are your huskies similar? I know we need to socialize him more and he isn't two yet, so I know he's still a puppy, but I'm trying to figure out a way to work through it or if he'll just figure it out himself someday.

He just has no social graces. He doesn't get social cues from dogs and seems to be perfectly oblivious to dogs' warning signs.

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My sled dogs only get along with other dogs if they're quiet on approach, if they bark or whine it's a no go. Except Border Collies. They absolutely hate cattle dogs for some reason. It's been a problem from day one with Sioux. Then it spread as each dog came along. Breedists. Pfft.

The play thing is tough on other dogs too. My dogs play with hackles raised, teeth bared and blood is usually involved. But that's how they've always played, and the sled dogs seem to have a reputation for intense playing that most people can't differentiate from fighting.

I have to take very specific steps to intro my dogs to other dogs. If I throw any one dog into an area with another dog it's going to be hit or miss (usually miss). But if I can manage the introduction and all of the people involved with it, no problem.

I would be interested to hear more details of how this intro was done.

I was not fond of the introduction, but here's how it went:

Well, the owner of the daycare took Koda in on his short leash. It was a large 'day care' room (open space, obviously smelled of MANY other dogs). There were three other dogs in day care that were crated on the far end. Koda was the only one on leash in the room and the other dogs were obviously barking and yapping (problem #1 in my book). Then they did the whole "temperament testing." They brought in things, disguised themselves, made loud noises... obviously Koda passed. Then they take one of the barking/yapping dogs and put him on a short leash and let the dogs sniff each other on leashes. This went alright and then Koda tried to jump in play, tangling the leashes. So then they unhooked him and let him run around with the other dog. They chased each other for about 30 seconds until Koda started "jumping/tumbling" with the other dog (hackles raised slightly) and the other dog took this as a nono, snapped and growled, and Koda responded to that. They broke them off in two seconds and it wasn't a big deal... but they then put Koda in a small room for the rest of the day by himself because they couldn't trust him with the other dogs.

Wow, that sucks. You would think that a business of that type would be a bit more proficient or adaptive in introductions. Had it been me, we probably wouldn't have even gotten to the point of the dogs meeting. It has to be done MY way, and that means if the dogs are leashed they are moving forward and not towards each other (amongst other things). But I guess what's done is done. They probably have a perception of Koda that won't change. Makes me grateful I don't have to go through some of the things everyone else does. Like I said, that sucks.

Will you take him back there again? I think I would find a new place to let him play. At the dog park we take our two Sierra will just walk and run around and mind her own business and not start anything. Jack on the other hand jumps right in and plays with the other dogs, this last week there were only 2 other dogs there and both were smaller then him and 1 a puppy that has been there many other times and Jack was getting rough with them like how him and Sierra play and either dog was having it, the one we never seen before just left Jack alone and the puppy got scared of Jack and kept hiding by his parents of who thought there dog was being a wuss and needed to learn to "take it" we have never had another person tell us he was playing to tough but sometimes he does, no blood though. I am going to take them to a husky meet up on Sunday and we will see how they interact with other huskies off leash.

No, we won't be going back there again. Besides the fact that the place smelled and was in disrepair. I don't think it was hazardous, but I'm sure they could have taken more precautions to keep the place clean. Going back was never an issue, this just seems to be the problem with Koda meeting other dogs. All he wants to do is play and he just does NOT get the hint when other dogs tell him to back off.

For example, he also met my sister's lab/GSD mix this weekend. She's very frightened (was a rescue) and very submissive. She let him sniff her and stuff, but she would bare her teeth and growl when Koda would play bow and try to initiate play with her. He just didn't understand that it was her telling him to back off! He went ahead and continued to play with her and she would snap at him. Obviously we broke it off right away, but I don't understand why he doesn't get the hint?

Part of my system is denying that Husky play impulse by having the dogs walking somewhat parallel. You can walk Koda slightly ahead so the other dog can sniff and investigate without him jumping instantly to play. The forward momentum of walking prevents most of the play behavior. Even if he does try it, you can make a right turn and put a few feet of distance between the dogs before going parallel again. No corrections needed nor advised. It really helps the skiddish dog to have an opportunity to sniff the other dog without interference form that dog. My guess is your sister's dog didn't get the same depth of "interview" that Koda got. It might sound tedious, but the 30 minutes I spend on intro's has yet to fail me. But if I'm introducing to other sled dogs, I let whatever happens happen. They're like lego pieces with other sled dogs. They just match.

Cody does fine with other dogs as long as he's not leashed. If he's leashed he's a bit more defensive I guess. He's not an aggressive dog at all. At the dog park (and we don't go on weekends when there's alot of dogs) he tends to jump right in like Koda. He doesn't seem to realize that some dogs might not want to run and play immediately. He did learn after a few visits when to back off certain dogs. It did take a few visits though. Cody's playing is a bit rougher than most dogs but it tends to be alot of "boxing" and "chest butting." He does well with a few pit bulls that have been there. He also does well if there's a dog that wants to R-U-N together with Cody from one end of the park to the other. Sometimes he shows a bit too much interest in smaller dogs and we steer him away from them. I think that you should continue to get him together with other dogs - he'll probably figure it out. I do know of a dog or two who just never learned "boundaries" and whose owners keep them away from other dogs. Harrise's idea about parallel is a good one I think.

The biggest problem Sirmiq has, is for example, when we go to the dog park, as soon as we open the gate, he will hope over a couple dogs and take of running. Skipping the whole sniffing step. A lot of dogs don't like that. So I agree with Harrise that making Koda allow other dogs to sniff him first would be a good idea. Normally what happens for Sirmiq, is he takes off running, 1 or 2 dogs will raise there tails and approach him standing on end, what happens next determines if the other dogs relax. If he finds something to smell, the other dogs will sniff his butt while he is sniffing a tree, and everything is fine. If Sirmiq turns around, he starts woo wooing and hopping around, play bowing, the other dogs get pissed. If this happens I will normally grap him and turn him around to expose his butt to the other dogs, and then once they have a sniff the other dogs relax.

We go to a smaller dog park now because it has a lot of regulars so people now understand how our dogs play, rough. Also a lot of the dogs now know Sirmiq and they pay no attention to him. Except this one basset hound that get's extremely mad everytime Sirmiq uses him for a hurdle.

Sirmiq also has had a problem not taking a hint to back off, but he is getting better, mainly do to the fact a couple of dogs have made it very clear to him to back off if you know what I mean. I will normally step in if I see the dog is really fearful and submissive. I don't want a dog like taht to feel that they have to "fight" back since it can cause aggression later on. But if the dog seems pretty even in terms of not being aggressive and not being submissive, I will normally let the dog tell him, and then reinforce what the dog does.

I really think having regular playmates are the best things for huskies since they do play so rough. I had to laugh one day when we went to the bigger dog park because someone had a boxer that was having a blast with Sirmiq, but the freaked out when the dogs started to make noises and start wrestling. So they took the boxer out. I was just like WTF, it's a boxer.

In response to the thread title alone, yes my husky gets along with ALL other dogs large and small.