We adopted a 2 year old husky a few months ago. He has never bitten or even snapped at anyone! He always welcomes people into my home. He may jump on them but that's all.

Earlier I was walking him outside when a girl walked by and was oohing and awwing over him. She asked if she could pet him. He immediately got down low to the ground and started growling she backed off and I started pulling back his leash when he leapt forward and bit the bottom of her shirt and ripped a huge chunk off. If she hadn't moved back he would have bit her. I was mortified and scared! I apologized to her and ran in my house. As soon as we came in he ran to his kennel to hide. He knew he was wrong.

I just don't know what's wrong or what to do. I do not want anything like this to happen again!!

Hmm. This sounds odd. Do you know his background? If he's never done this before, she might have been wearing something or smell like something that triggered a bad memory.

This again something that can really only be dealt with by a behaviorist. Until then, I would not allow people to approach him on the street. Tell them you're working on leash manners. But this is a tough one to diagnose over the internet. You really need a professional.

Welcome to the forums.... I'm extremely sorry it had to be under these circumstances you joined or submitted your first post.

I'm glad everyone is ok, but that is indeed a scary story.


Has your pup been around children before this?
If yes specifically little girls?
I'm not asking about infants here.
Think of it in terms of the age of the girl today. Around that age or size?

If your pup has been around that age/sex/size combo before were they introduced in a different way? (IE in your house by YOU or someone you welcomed in).

How much do you know about your pup's past?
where/how did you receive him?

Will there be any recourse from her parents? Do you know them? Should you maybe go talk to them first an explain things before their daughter blows this out of proportion (I'm NOT SAYING this isn't serious... I'm saying Children who are crying and scared can and do invoke protective emotions from their parents).

Some dogs aren't great around children. If something happened to him prior to this from a small child it is totally possible this was/is a reaction to that.

If there is some way you can get in touch with the previous owner or rescue I would do that and request any information they would have on this behavior.


Let me just say this. Anything, with enough time, effort, and experience can be worked through. Contacting a specialist or trainer in your area may be a very good idea. I've see some trainers do some wonderful things with life sized dolls that has translated very well over to real life situations. It is however serious enough it should be left to people who understand what they are doing and able to do it safely and compassionately (for all parties).

~Chris~

It may have been how the girl approached the dog. I know one of mine doesn't like to be leaned over when someone goes to pet him. He also hates to have the top of his head messed with. It really is hard to tell what the trigger was without being there. It may also be an isolated incident so I wouldn't get to worked up unless it becomes the norm with everyone he meets outside.

Has he ever been approached like this before while outside walking?

Some dogs can get defensive or very scared when approached a certain way especially if they're confined by a leash.

If he HAS been approached before while outside walking with no issue, perhaps there's something you didn't catch either this time or times before? Humans can be quite slow to dog body language and silent communication.

The girl was about 16-18 years old, so she wasn't small and he's been around plenty of people her size. She said it was fine I apologized and apologized. I know the previous owners and I know they didn't take the best care of him. They put him up for sale on a facebook page for pets in my area. They NEVER took him on walks, which could be the reason he's so bad on walks. He's improved a lot since we first got him.

I recently took him to a barbecue with tons of people. Little kids and adults alike. They were all petting him and playing with him and hugging him around the neck.. But he was leashed right by my side. I've been thinking and thinking about today's incident and I think it may be because she walked right up to him while he was about 10 feet in front of me without me being able to be next to him. I'm not for certain but that's the only difference. Every other time he's been approached he's been next to my legs.

Was he not leashed on this walk or was it an extender leash?

He was on a retractable leash.

cameestanfield wrote:

He was on a retractable leash.

Retractable leashes are evil. Regular leash, preferable with a "traffic" handle at the bottom to put them on a short leash when you need them close. Dogs go on a short leash when we walk past people, it's polite in case anyone is afraid of dogs, etc.

Arooroomom and LordBroll brought up some good points. It might be an on leash thing or something else. A good trainer may be able to work with you to evaluate what his triggers are. You'll also get to know him better and see what he likes and doesn't like.

Since you mentioned the bbq, I would caution you to work with him to be comfortable with hugs, since it's not a natural thing for dogs and some dogs may threatened by it. He may be ok with it or he may just have been tolerant of it since he's still new and figuring out his place in your pack. I'm especially careful around kids that don't know to temper their touch and be careful with a dog. I always caution children to wait until the dogs are sitting and ready to accept pets on the shoulders and back, ask if they can pet them and never to "pat" their heads. My dogs are ok with head pats but some other dogs aren't so it's a good thing to teach.

Thank you for the tips!

I'm going today to buy a new leash. I always keep him close by when we're walking on the side walks but this time we were in my yard and the girl walked from the side walk into the yard.

I don't know he's always been so sweet and cuddly with everyone. It shocked me when he did this and scared me so bad.

I live in Germany on a military post. It's hard to find dog trainers, but I am most definitely going to try to find one now.

Thank you everyone.

Vilseck area trainers and other resources:
http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil/sites/newcomers/veterinary.html