I'm worried my pup is learning bad play habits from my other dog who wasn't well socialized as a puppy. At the park, Hugo--my husky--isn't aggressive or anything, but he "play bites" or mouths other dogs--around the neck and whatnot. There really isn't any yelping so I don't think he's hurting them. I'm wondering if husky's just play rough like that or is this something I should intervene with? Thanks!

Nanook does the same and I've seen other dogs do the same. I wouldn't imagine it's bad, but others who have more experience with Huskies should probably speak to this.

Huskies definitely play rough, most to anyway, and they do tend to be rather mouthy when they play. As long as the other dog and other owner are okay with how they are playing, I wouldn't worry about it.

However, I would pay close attention that he's stopping when dogs want and not playing roughly with dogs that don't want to. Pippa's getting a little better at that. She play so roughly with some of the dogs at the park that you'd think they're trying to kill each other. But if a smaller dog comes in, she's learning she needs to be easier with them.

It takes some intervening sometimes. A few months ago she was very bad at picking up when another dog didn't want anything to do with her, but she's gotten a lot better.

Well I definitely keep a close eye on him. I'll watch to see if he stops if another dog doesn't want to play.

I was actually worried about the same thing for a while and then I learned that it's completely normal. Now, since our dog park doesn't have separate sections for small and large dogs, I just have to keep an eye on Lycus with the small dogs because he is very mouthy and a lot of owners get scared even though he won't actually hurt them.

Vegeta is the same way. He's very mouthy and loud. But I generally just let him do his thing. He needs to live and learn. If they yelp, he stops. If he yelps, they stop. My friend's 80lb, 1 year old black lab doesn't quite know this yet. The lab has only played with bigger dogs so he's a little too rough with Vegeta. He doesn't quite understand that because of how small Vegeta is he can't throw his weight around like with bigger dogs. So I can understand how bigger dogs can sometimes bully little dogs without meaning to.

Onyx plays rough just like that. We just recently adopted a 6 year old beagle basset mix and he will walk around the house nipping the back of her neck and her legs to get her riled up.

We took him to Petsmart before Christmas and met another husky. She was really mouthy but they were happily playing. People would walk by and give looks as if they were fighting. We were laughing about it.

I really haven't ever seen a husky who didn't play mouthy lol! Balon does, and he has taught the lab

Same with Link. And, for added bonus, it makes us sound really lame when we say " oh, it's a husky thing, perfectly normal.". It comes off as this "not my fault" justification rhetoric. Still working on my diplomacy as a Husky owner

bttlsgtmajor wrote:

Nanook does the same and I've seen other dogs do the same. I wouldn't imagine it's bad, but others who have more experience with Huskies should probably speak to this.

I just got a peek at your Nanook profile pic--what a cutie!!!

Crispin's got the worst of all worlds with mouthy-ness. He learned to be overly mouthy since he was fostered with GSDs (also notoriously mouthy and rough). We have to watch him pretty carefully because when someone doesn't want to play anymore he doesn't always take the hint, but he's really good at being more gentle if they give a yip. He's also amazing with puppies (very gentle, just puts his mouth on them without pressure), but not small adult dogs (very rough). I'm not sure why.

Peaches is like that when she plays with my youngest daughter (almost 9 yrs old). I'm trying to teach her how to handle the pup but she says she doesn't want to be mean and hurt her feelings. I tried to tell her that she doesn't have to be mean, she just has to be the boss. I love that Peaches enjoys playing with her but I don't want my daughter getting hurt, she already has several scratches and sometimes Peaches will jump up and nip at her face, that is a BIG no no!

Anyone have any easy tricks or tips I can teach my daughter to use?

Have her either get up and leave the room entirely when she nips, or (what I've done a lot with small puppies) is standup and turn your back to them. When they've calmed down a little, start play again.

katiesham wrote:

Have her either get up and leave the room entirely when she nips, or (what I've done a lot with small puppies) is standup and turn your back to them. When they've calmed down a little, start play again.

Thank you! I'll have her give that a try.

Very normal husky play, that is why they have so much fun playing with other huskies! As long as the other dog gets it and isn't scared, don't worry about it. You may have issues with other dog owners though who think your dog is attacking theirs, unfortunately.

Hugo is adorable by the way, I love him!

Mishka'sMom wrote:

bttlsgtmajor wrote:

Nanook does the same and I've seen other dogs do the same. I wouldn't imagine it's bad, but others who have more experience with Huskies should probably speak to this.

I just got a peek at your Nanook profile pic--what a cutie!!!

Thanks! We're making a calendar of his first year with us so I've been taking pics in each month... think they're all up on my photobucket...

Definitely normal...my biggest problem I have is Karli is super submissive. She's not a wrestler, she's more of a "chase me chase me" kind of pup. She'll wrestle sometimes but not too often. There's one female husky at the park who takes her down easily, and I keep trying to tell the owner to let her, its not a big deal, Karli needs to learn her place. But she gets really upset with her dog for grabbing Karli around the neck. Karli's not squealing or anything, so she's not hurt. I just feel bad for the dog getting in trouble when Karli's the instigator lol. Watching huskies play is truly a learning experience.

Mschwax wrote:

Very normal husky play, that is why they have so much fun playing with other huskies! As long as the other dog gets it and isn't scared, don't worry about it. You may have issues with other dog owners though who think your dog is attacking theirs, unfortunately.

Hugo is adorable by the way, I love him!

Thanks! I know he's not hurting any of the other dogs because they'd yelp if so, but it's kind of startling to see him mouth a dog on the neck and try to shake him like a chew toy--that's normal, too?

I've seen his guard hairs go up when our other dog tries to bully him, so I can tell when he's irritated vs. playing. And as for continuing to play with a dog who isn't responding to his play--that's when I step in and tell him to stop. I make him sit next to me for a few seconds, calm himself, and then, let him go play again.