Husky kills a Yorkie in our local park

Husky didn't have the best start, bought from a pet shop on looks alone, no research or knowledge of the breed. He'd clearly had no socialisation. He grew into a big, beautiful boy but with insufficient guidance from his owners. Because he wasn't aggressive with other dogs they thought it was ok for him to bounce all over other dogs, nipping them on the back of the neck, after all 'he only wants to play'.

Despite friendly advice to take him to training or at least control him better nothing was done. As he hit adolescence the owner had less and less control and actually got a bit afraid of him. He started to get into fights. Still they took him out and let him off lead.

After a few incidents I reported him to the council emphasising that he wasn't a nasty dog, just one that needed more control, unfortunately I didn't know where he lives, but they were looking into it.

The other day he killed a Yorkie. I don't know all the details, but he could easily have just been in his usual bullying play mode with no malice whatsoever.

So sad.

J.

So sad So irresponsible The poor owners of the Yorkie, and the poor Husky having such a crap upbringing.

...poor dogs... both of them

Hmmmm, before condemning this owner totally, it is useful to bear in mind that predatory drift can occur in ALL breeds and does not necessarily reflect the temperamant or training of the dogs concerned.

Whilst I appreciate that the majority of sled dog clubs advise that dogs are not let off the lead, it can happen with ANY dog when playing tips over to "you are a potential meal" mode.

It does NOT mean that a dog is "aggressive" only that it is following its instincts, so whilst I am sure that in this individual case this could have been avoided, it can happen to anyone!

This is why I take enormous care with both my dogs when I meet a lady with 4 Bichon Frises; only ONE of my dogs is let off at a time to play gently with them, otherwise the chances of predatory drift are heightened when combined with the "pack" mentality.

yip...to both points.

The OP explained the owners ignorance, disinterest to train and idiotic decision to still let him off the lead despite not being trained and being a husky with such a high predatory instinct. Terribly irresponsible owners IMO.

I appreciate that, I am merely posting to advise others, who may not know about predatory drift, that sometimes a "there but for the grace of God................" attitude is sometimes called for!

Like I said I don't know all the details but from my personal experience of this dog it is quite likely that there was no aggression or predatory drift at all. And certainly no pack mentality as he is an only dog. This is a big dog and his playing style is very physical including quite hard nips on the back of the neck. The Yorkie involved is one of the small ones so that could have been enough to be fatal.

This had been pointed out to the owner, the owner insisted on taking the line that the dog didn't need to be under tighter control because he wasn't aggressive. He is a big dog, he didn't need to be aggressive to cause damage.

J.

...grr what is it with all these 'outsized' sibes anyway

I bumped into a Sibe owner the other day on a walk who told me he was unfortunately going to have to rehome him because he had too much energy The boy was 18 months old. Why oh why do people just take on these dogs so ignorantly, to me they are one of the top most 'specialist' breeds around yet people can pick them up from PET shops?!