Prey Drive

[Nook]

Im looking into getting a husky and i keep reading about their prey drive.  I keep and breed small chickens, ducks and quail.  I have ferrets and another 2 dogs.  Will my small animals never be safe ?

My other 2 dogs are a lurcher and a whippet, both working dogs with insane prey drives.  Their work is to catch rabbits for me, once they have clocked onto that rabbit NOTHING can stop them.  But i have trained them right from wrong and they would never in a million years touch any of my small animals, or anybody elses.

So why can't a husky be trained in this way ?  Or can it ?

The possible dog in question is 13 month old and never been exposed to small animals or stock.

[Elyse]

There have been people here who keep huskies with small animals, but they never leave them alone - they are always supervised. I haven't had any experience with it myself, but I know mine has a high prey drive - he's killed many animals (from little squirrels to huge/fat, vicious opossums. 

 

The reason why huskies aren't like any other breed (despite many other breeds have similar/stronger prey drives), is because huskies are incredibly stubborn and independent, and very intelligent dogs. They are also known to have 'selective hearing', ie: they will blatantly ignore you to chase and kill something. 

[Mobezilla]

When raised from puppies, most people have success with their husky and small animals living together, however as Solitary said they NEVER leave them alone together unsupervised. What concerns me is if he is already 13 months, it may prove more difficult. My pup is only 8 months old, she was around a few cats when she was 8 weeks old but only for a couple weeks, after that she hasnt been around them and now every time she sees a cat she stares for a minute with intensity and promptly bolts after it as far to the end of her leash as she can. I would never trust her with small animals.

[Andy]

At 13 months old the prey drive is certainly there.

If they haven't been brought up from puppy around the other animals.

Then the temptation will be great.

Anything small and fast moving is prey.

They will dig under fences, jump over fences.

even if brought up with cats, they will ignore your cats but the neighbours cats will be fair game.

coming into the house at 13 months then yours will be looked at as furry nommage.

you would have to watch the dog like a hawk.

[Andy]

Also, Huskies as a breed have very poor recall.

As Elyse says they have Selective hearing, meaning if there is something even matginally more interesting they

will ignore you.

So Huskies should be kept on lead at all times if they are not in a secure area, i.e. a garden with sturdy minimum 6ft fences.

You might train them not to go near the chickens etc,

But the moment the opportunity presents itself they would see them as fair game.

[CARRINGTON]

It is possible we have a husky, a cat and two naked mole rats. They are never left alone and when first introduced if they were going to be in the same room he was on a leash. He

Still has a few moments so he gets put in

Time out and they are never left alone!!! There have been times my cat has been dumb and ran from him and Balto has pinned her and there was twice she did it where if he wanted to he could have killed her but has not yet. He knows the cat is off limits. So I would say if you get this husky to make introductions slow and teach him what is and is not off limits but that is not saying it will be successful.

[a7xAda]

My husky was raised around small animals and dogs from the time she was a pup. While she doesnt go out of her way to kill small animals, she does occasionally bolt after my cat. Lucky for me, my cat can more that aptly defend himself and the dog backs down immediately. I do not leave them alone together. If I leave my dog out of her crate while I am at work, the animals are kept on separate floors of the house so they cannot come in contact with each other unsupervised.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

It depends on the dogs too most huskies prey drives don't kick in right away but we got skyla at 14 weeks old n her prey drive was already really high, if your getting a puppy try n find a mellow calm puppy this will help , never leave a husky unsupervised tho

[Stormy]

I wouldn't trust either of mine with any cats, or small animals the only animals they are okay with is horses and thats only the two that are at my OH parents but even sheep goats etc they would more than likely kill they are never off the lead!!!

[HuskyGuerl]

I agree with everyone it depends on the dog because my Echo has never been raised around small animals and when he is around them he doesnt even think of to attack even being around chickens..But Cherokee will kill anything small, cats, birds, squirrels, rabbits, and im sure she probably would small dogs to..You just got to be careful dont trust them to much

[Applebear]

Basically just echoing what everyone else is saying...I brought my chow/husky home at 8 months, but personally I'm not sure it would of mattered if he was 8 weeks. I don't trust him at all with my parrot, but it's not like I have to go lock up the dog when I want to hold the parrot...he respects boundaries and knows it's a no no to come near. If the parrot lands on the floor, again...just takes a no and stay from me where I can then pick up the parrot without interference from dog trying to bunny hop his head. The thing is Ro's a pretty loving guy, but sudden movement triggers him. I've seen him behave real well with my moms cat and then when the cat runs, he triggers...he can't help it.

 

I would definably agree your best chance is getting a pup and growing up with the other pets, but like everyone else said...always keep them supervised and never fully trust them alone. Better to be safe than sorry sort of thing.

[Mia-Blue]

I have a working lurcher, Belle and Mia my husky.....now both have high prey drives due to their breeding and although Belle can easily switch between work and pet mode, making her good around our pet cat, as well as our now deceased rabbit. Kitty obviously feels safe with Belle as she will happily sit in the same room as Belle.

Mia on the other hand is a nightmare with Kitty, even though she has known her from 8 weeks, she will chase her at any give opportunity and to be honest luck and us being very careful is the only reason we have not had an issue between them. There is no way I could trust her for even a second to be in the same room as the cat, and Mia makes it very obvious that she would just love to have a go at trying to catch her...........saying that Kitty will not even come down stairs if Mia is in the house, this only confirms Kitty knows the threat Mia poses to her.

 

As for chickens I feel they are another thing completey as far as huskies are concerned........we had 3 killed very quickly by a friends husky who took an opportunity which we should not have allowed to happen, no fault of the dog her instinct kicked in and she followed her breeding......this same husky has since killed other chickens as well as a cat and by no means have these incidents occurred by poor dog management, these dogs will take every opportunity they can to follow their drive.

 

I would give a lot of consideration to the set up you have for your chickens before you make a decision to get a husky, as ensuring they are well secured alone may not be enough to ensure the birds are not worried by a dog, also it could cause the dog distress seeing lunch but not be allowed to have a bite!!

[RedJasper]

It completely depends on the animal.  I got Rusty at 18months.  He had never been around cats and I have 2.  I was worried big time.  Rori has her from the day she was born and brought her home at 6 weeks.  She was raised with them.  Rori here lately has been trying to bite them and has gotten a mouth of fur several times.  When Rusty see's her getting ready to chase or stalking his kitties he grabs her by the neck and drags her away from them.  On occasion Rusty will try to play with them.  Vader is about 2 and has been with us for about 5 months and he chases them occasionally and just likes to annoy them by resting his head on them.  The cats are declawed and will swat at their noses.  All of them back down.   So just because they are raised with small animals does not guarantee they are safe.  Rusty is the only one ever left unsupervised with my cats.  That does not mean I am naive that he won't hurt them.  I know that chance is there.  Where as Rori would NEVER be left unattended with the cats.

[Brady]

So, as far as I know, Sherlock hasn't killed anything - but his prey drive is high (you should see him stalk birds on the fence).. He just hasn't been given the opportunity to catch anything..

He's so stinking curious and can spot other animals from miles and miles away... and he doesn't seem to get size differences either..

[Julieanne]

Just want to add in that already having two dogs, they can create a 'pack' and behave in a way they wouldn't normally.

 

Even though my other two dogs are a Collie mix and a chihuahua!!

I couldn't trust them together, though my Husky is okay with cats when no other dogs are around.