You guys are awesome!! Thank you for the overwhelming support and advice.

MUCH better day today. She only snapped at him a couple of times, once was food related (my hubby's fault) and the other was while they were "playing". No teeth baring or snarling today, which was what bothered me the most. She still growls sometimes and will snap, but hoping that it will keep getting better and better. We've actually seen two HUGE improvements with Drake. Today he actually walked with my hubby much farther than usual. Granted he pulled the entire time, but the fact that he walked with him and Koda is unbelievable. Also, Chris was loving on Koda and giving her hugs and pets, and Drake walked up to him. Chris stuck his hand out and petted him a few seconds on the neck and head. Drake didn't run away! I was in DISBELIEF. This has never happened before.

Here is the link to a video I took a few minutes ago of them playing. Maybe she is just a very vocal wrestler, lol. I'm pretty sure she wasn't being aggressive, although the way she plays is definitely dominant over him. Let me know what you guys think! (Sorry for the background noise, my husband was on the phone)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VDMEJ0--j0

OMG. They are 100% playing I'm 1:30 into it and I haven't seen a single thing that's made me concerned They are going to get along great!

And I'm totally going to say I told ya so

We don't realize as people how important consistency and smells are to animals. The fact that Koda had NOTHING that smelled like HER (coming from a foster that she had only been with a week, she didn't have time to develop any smells of her own even IF they sent her along with a bed or something). Not having that really puts dogs on the defensive. They are scared and vulnerable and we don't realize that their growls are signs of fear and are their way of communicating.

Breathe They are going to be best friends in no time! They already love each other

BAHAHAHAHA!!!

That's good play fighting! Yay! That's how Neptune and Calypso play.

LOL...I could tell which one was her...Drake has the blue collar right? LOL'd at her always nipping at his butt! And I heard one of them eat it as they ran through the kitchen. Haha

Oh I love it! They look so cute playing together!! I love how Drake lets her do anything to him <3

Omg girl, TOTALLY PLAYING!!! Mya's so vocal (much more than Koda in this video) that I would get scared to death. It's just what she does. They're so cute together!! I really don't think that you have anything to worry about. At least not anything major. They'll be attached at the hip before you know it.

YAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

That's AMAZING progress for the 2nd day!!!! Geez even Cheyenne was a nasty beyotch to Mishka for at least 2 weeks. that's totally play, and great play too!

Oh they are having so much fun! And they are both so cute.

FWIW- I have yet to see a video from someone that even comes CLOSE to matching the intensity, growling, baring of teeth that I saw between Koda and Hailey. Sam's picture is the only thing that somewhat captures the ferocity between the two.

In other words... ya'll are fine

No problems there at all. Wait until they start with the cheek pulling, gashing teeth and what not, it continues to amaze me that neither one has lost an eye. Though Adobo did lose a front top tooth one day, shes now the Laura Hutton of the Husky world.

Oh no, she lost a tooth that way?! Mine do that all the time and I hate it! I'm always so worried they'll knock out a tooth.

They look like they are having a blast! That's really great for day two. Drake is so funny in the way he plays! It did look like she kind of wanted to hump him at a couple of points, but he spun around quick enough so she couldn't. But that looked like good husky fun!

Great video! dogs play well, makes me wish I could get a 2nd husky for Cali to play with..lol.

YAY!!!! What a great video, so glad to see the 2nd day was way better.

Awww yay! I'm so happy. We love her, we love him, I'm so glad they're getting along and you guys could reassure me that their play is in good fun and isn't anything to be concerned about. They just finished wrestling again and running around...now Koda is content to chew a bone and Drake is laying on the ground whining and barking trying to get her to pay attention to him, lol. I'm so in love with my huskies.

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

Rachel, I know it's tough right now - because you're managing the situation with the dogs, your own anxiety and that of your husbands. I'm here, like Tori, to let you know it will pass. It sucks when you're in the middle of it but it helps so much to know there's an end! Like Tori said, it tapers off. The NILIF helps A LOT. Not letting her up on the furniture helps, too. This forum was very helpful in receiving advice and support! You've received great advice from Tori and Kristina.

The fact that she's ok everywhere but home is a good sign, she's just establishing the pack order at home. Our Chili was ruthless the first couple weeks! The rescue advised us on our situation and told us to let them fight it out, but not let him be a brat. A water spray bottle helps when he was nearing the "brat" stage.

Be careful not to tell her "no" when she's growling, because it may train her to not growl and just attack. Growling isn't bad, it's her setting boundaries with Drake by warning him. Redirect her growling to remind her who's boss - we tell Chili "down" because it's a submissive position for him to be in. Or remove her from the situation, like Kristina suggested.

Good luck!

Before - paw to paw combat (this was day two):


After - a month later:

Those pictures are AWESOME! lol. It made me laugh so hard! Thank goodness it's not like that!!

rnelsen wrote:

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

Before - paw to paw combat (this was day two):


After - a month later:

Those pictures are AWESOME! lol. It made me laugh so hard! Thank goodness it's not like that!!

Ha! Thanks! We can laugh about it now, especially how ridiculous Chili's teeth look in that picture (rabbit teeth!). He did puncture his sister a couple of times after that - mostly in the cheek. It'll all good now.

The video you posted is awesome - that's very good progress! This is the BEST part of having two huskies! It's so much fun to watch!

You'll notice if the play fighting crosses over to actual fighting. It usually happens pretty fast - but is preceded by real growling (the classic "wolf" baring of teeth where their noses scrunch up - snarling). If the noses don't scrunch up, it's usually a mild warning or play growl. if it escalates, I just yell "hey!" at them really loud and they calm down.

You'll also notice their subtle body language as they interact. Drake may use "calming signals" to show Koda he's no harm (Frosti did a lot of yawning, and shaking her body):

"Dogs use these calming signals to improve a tense situation. Other calming signals dogs use are licking their noses, squinting and sniffing the ground.

• Yawning
• Look away
• Crouch down with your side towards the dog – not face to face
• Use slow movements
" - from http://www.pawposse.com/dog-body-language-decoded/blog-207/

lol. But this is just play too! After a while it becomes much easier to tell what is play and when play gets escalated into fighting.