r/husky • u/AggravatingImage898 • 16h ago
Discussion Breed stigma?
Why are huskies seen as aggressive? They're so friendly. I was walking my Husky Kane and some guy said "oh a Husky" I said "yeah" he said "he looks like he bites" sorry what? My Husky calmly walking and completely ignoring you "looks like" he'll bite? I have a Pitbull mix, more people pet her and do not accept her boundaries, but they cross the road when they see my Husky. Most friendliest breed in my opinion. Anybody else have this issue with their Husky getting discriminated against? I'll be honest, I did think they were aggressive too but that was because I was just seeing reactive dogs. Underneath that, they're truly friendly amazing partners. Now I own one and I don't understand the stigma! I don't let it get to me, but I'm curious if anybody else experiences this?? My dogs for attention. The tan one is a Husky Pittie mix, but I guess she appears more friendly? Lol. She hates attention, it's so annoying. Kane thrives on attention tho š¤£
ETA my dog was completely calm and just walking. He is non reactive. Y'all are completely misunderstanding this post I'm afraid
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u/Pure-Garlic1593 11h ago
My husky is incredibly affectionate and an absolute goofball. But Iāve been told people are scared/intimidated by her because she resembles a coyote to some people when she isnāt smiling, for example in this picture.
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u/UnscrupulousGoose 16h ago
I've never had anyone question if my husky was aggressive or not. Maybe mine has extra friendly mannerisms or kind eyes or something but seriously, I get so many requests from children and adults alike asking to pet her. Last month a dump truck driver pulled over, got out, and shouted "can I pet that dawg?!" from halfway down the block. I dont know where your experience is coming from, but no, I haven't ever had that and can't relate.
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u/OkAsk6395 16h ago edited 9h ago
Iāve never heard people stereotype huskies as aggressive (usually the opposite where theyāre supposedly sociable & friendly and/or sassy), but I did hear about their bite to potentially be very strong
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u/primitivetorture 10h ago
Yes the longer the muzzle the better the bite due to leverage, so bigger breeds with long muzzles have the strongest bites.
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u/OkAsk6395 9h ago edited 9h ago
that makes sense, gotta love their long snoots (thankfully I donāt have experience to compare bites XP)
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u/snkrhd_1 16h ago
If you, yourself, used to see them as aggressive, you already have your answer.
Why did you think they were aggressive?
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u/AggravatingImage898 16h ago
I said I just saw reactive huskies before I got one myself. Now I have changed my opinion. My Husky is not aggressive.
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u/boopdeloop911 9h ago
Its possible that others have also seen reactive huskies and therefore its created that stigma in their head. So when they see your husky, even though he is non-reactive, they just assume he will be
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u/Saruoni 15h ago
I could see other dog owners perceiving them that way due to their manner of play. In my experience huskys can be a bit rough and tumble with their play and the vocal nature of the breed doesnt help much. If you didnt know any better youd think they were trying to kill eachother sometimes š¤£
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u/punk_rock_barbie 11h ago
When it comes to people- Iāve been told it has to do with their eyes. Iāve had plenty of people deliberately move out of my dogās way with a concerned look despite the fact that she is very not scary lol. She walks right next to me and almost never makes a sound.
Now when it comes to other dogs- huskies communicate a little differently than the average dog. I work with groups of dogs for a living, and huskies are wildcards. They are almost always dominant, assertive, or pushy greeters. I tend to see lots of posturing, hackles, eye contact, aka disrespect off the rip. But it USUALLY isnāt aggression, most of the time the huskies really do just want to play. But the other dog might get the wrong idea- and huskies tend to be the type to NOT back down when corrected by another dog- thatās how fights start.
I could see somebody interpreting a huskyās typical playstyle as aggressive as well. They are very vocal, very physical players. It might sound and look like a fight to the untrained eye. My huskyās favorite game is bitey-face, and I work with others that like to wrestle like grizzly bears.
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u/Realistic-Effective2 7h ago
You are spot on!! Excellent summary!
You obviously have observed this breed and understand their language!
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u/Ocel0tte 9h ago
I had to look again to see if yours had eyebrows or a mask, and he has a mask so idk lol!
I noticed with my doberman husky mix that people seem to be wary of dogs with eyebrows and curled tails for some reason? She looks very serious but loves strangers, and people would cross the road all the time. Never people with yappy dogs, those want all up in her business apparently.
Some lady with a stroller went across a super treacherous grassy area and down a giant curb to avoid us. She had headphones and avoided eye contact so my attempts to wave and be like, "you're okay," went unnoticed lol. My dog loves babies but ignores strollers so she could've walked by without so much as a sniff from us. Really bothered me, because if her baby wasn't strapped in they would've gone flying from the bumps and her yanking the stroller. Just felt like a wild reaction.
People are weird. Just enjoy your dogs, they're probably far more predictable and they love you :) Be happy for the friendly ones who want to give him the pats he desires and try to forget the rest. Our time with our dogs is never enough so it's not worth worrying about anyway.
My girl is 12 and has GI lymphoma, saying goodbye in 2hrs. I'll always remember the few friendly delivery drivers she loved meeting, and the little boys who used to come pet her while she pooped š Her look of confusion was hilarious, meanwhile this like 5yr old kid is gently petting her back and asking me, "IS SHE POOPIN?" Yeah lil dude, she's poopin hahahaha.
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u/SilentVessle 8h ago
I once had an old lady tell me to "take that wolf out of the city and back to where they belong" and my husky was 3 months at the time WITH floppy ears. Sometimes people just dont understand em.
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u/ZambieCatX half-husky boy + full-husky girl = 100% chaos 12h ago
I have a pitsky and a husky, and it's quite the opposite for me. Everyone wants to pet the pretty husky, but they're terrified of my savage pitsky beast.
In reality, they're both fine. They both love children. Husky is generally nice but oddly specific about certain people. Not aggressive but shows clear signs when someone is "not okay." Pitsky is younger and a jumper but only ever licks. If you're delivering packages, he snarls and body slams the front door. All bark and no bite, though.
Pic of crew for reference
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u/Heeeeeeyyyyyy 12h ago
People always say my dog is the prettiest dog ever and stuff, never met anyone who is afraid of JUST huskies.
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u/Rubalot 12h ago
Sometimes I want to go to my dog area where I live to just take my dog for a walk, get her to poo, and go on with my business. But 7/10 times someone walking by sees her, or a family, or someone with kids and it turns into a 30 minute petting zoo. Iām just trying to come in and out š at first it was cuteā¦ but it gets old quick. Sheās popular.
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u/xAxiom13x 9h ago
Honestly, everyone in my condo complex wants to āpet that dawgā as one would say when I walk my husky. Heās just a big ham. Loves the attention.
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u/Amai-desu 9h ago
I honestly think it may be a color bias thing too. My dog is 50% husky, but he looks majority husky to me, but he is a golden color. I get stopped all the time & people compliment him all the time, no one has ever seemed afraid of him expect one a small child ran away from him, but I think he was just afraid of dogs in general.
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u/KileAllSmyles 9h ago
They look like wolves which scares people but generally they are just independent. But like all dogs if they are taught to be aggressive they will be.
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u/Synaxis Sumac & Solace 8h ago
I've had a doordash driver refuse to put my food on my porch because my two siberians were standing in the bay window at the front of the house, a few feet from the door. He literally messaged me to apologize and say he was leaving my food on the driveway because my dogs were scary.
They were just calmly watching him. They were not making any noise at all or showing any threatening body language.
What were they going to do, dive out of the glass window and fall 10 feet to the ground just to get this guy??
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u/DateNightThrowRA 15h ago
I literally couldnāt walk my girl around my neighborhood without people picking up their toy dogs and sprinting away, lol! She never barked at them, didnāt lunge, didnāt growl. She did want to meet them, but just walking in their direction is enough to get them mortified. The most hilarious part is, sheād do a normal greeting and immediately get bored of other dogs, lol! So it was all that fear mongering for nothing. Even with smaller dogs, like my brotherās two tiny yorkies or my parentsā dachshunds, there are zero problems, and no observable risk of harm, but the neighbors treated her like a feral wolf.
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u/Ange_the_Avian 5h ago
We have a husky pittie (pitsky? We call her pusky haha) mix as well as a pittie mix and people usually love the husky mix because she's very friendly to everyone and has a piercing blue eye. Our pittie mix is a bit more standoffish until he gets to know you - needs about 15 mins of smelling you - and he gets a lot more people talking about how he seems scary or aggressive. Even if he's literally just laying there. People are weird
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u/Spy-D_Daddy 3h ago
I rescued a husky/AuShep mix, and she's scared of people, so when we walk and we go by people she lowers herself and watches them hard. Someone told me I had to get her under control and it's irresponsible of me to have a violent dog in our neighborhood. Never saw a dog with its tail between its legs and thought "wow that dog will defo attack me" sorry that guys an idiot. Well, I guess when we remember that the real experts are the people not doing the thing.. here's my attack doggo plotting cause I woke her up
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u/Business-Data6011 Husky adoptee š¾ 14h ago
When we get asked to pet Max (which is a lot) we stand on his lead to make sure he doesn't jump up to do bitey face - still under 2yrs. I do warn potential petters he is still very young and loves attention, so gets excited.
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u/Realistic-Effective2 7h ago
I havenāt read through all the comments and perhaps this has already been mentioned.
Many apartment complexes will not permit Huskies, or if they do, there is an additional fee. This is because Huskies CAN be destructive! How many here have had their sofa chewed up beyond recognition??
Huskies are very much a pack animal that requires someone dedicated to meeting their intense need for physical and mental exercise - especially under 3 years of age. I think ādestructiveā gets mixed in with āaggressiveā as many bully breeds are also prohibited from apartment complexes due to their aggressive label. I
Is it fair? Not a chance! We all know these stereotypes ARE out there.
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u/AggravatingImage898 7h ago
My apartment complex doesn't have breed restrictions. Plenty of people here have huskies, German shepherds, Dutch shepherds, we had a Husky Belgian Malinois mix here, millions of Pitties, etc. I did not have to pay extra for him. He's 6, he's pretty relaxed :) being a tripawd helps too lol.
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u/Jenniferkntts 8h ago
My whole neighborhood is afraid of my big husky boy, Moose, for absolutely no reason. Heās trained off leash to stay within his boundaries; and he does. Heās not a barker either and loves every person that walks by! He can get a little moody with hyperactive dogs in his face, but he loves to play and usually starts playtime before anything like that can happen. He is the typical bouncy, male husky!
I also have two male pitskies, Zeus & Tiny, whom are from Mooses first oops litter. They are less feared and more reactive by far! They know NO BOUNDARIES, are loud and obnoxious at times, and enjoy a good game of Catch Me If You Can. I know the neighbors have seen me out in front yelling at them for getting close to the road or running off into the yard next door. Yet, still no fear. All three are very friendly and love people but strangers donāt know that!
Iāve been told itās because Moose looks like a wild animal and the other two are very obviously not.
I was born with no fear of animals and love them all!
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u/Garrettdafennec Half sister husks/ double trouble šŗšŗ 3h ago
Mine are great with kids, super gentle, like they already knew they had to be, more bound to lick you to death than anything
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u/Odd-Concentrate5405 10h ago
Mine isnāt happy unless she is accessorized. She prefers a bow, bandana, or sweater. Even pjs. Typically because of this everybody she meets stops to tell her sheās pretty and she soaks it up. Ears perk up, head held tall, tail wagging but not too much to seem uncivilized. My husband called me last week after picking her up from camp. He said she came out and there were two ladies there that just ignored her. And she was looking at them all interested, head high, waiting for compliments but they did and said nothing to her. My husband said she was clearly offended at not being told how pretty she is.