[bama311]

I recently adopted a 2 yr old male siberian husky and i cant figure out a way for him and my girlfriends 3 yr old female cairn terrier to get along. They are practically in the same house all day but they have to be put in separate rooms. The cairn terrier is very aggressive towards him and growls and snaps at him whenever he walks by. When she does the the husky thinks she is trying to play and becomes more interested in her every day. This is starting to become a huge problem because the more aggressive the cairn terrier is the more the husky tries to play with her and follow her when they are in the same room. The cairn terrier is very protective and sometimes snaps and growls at me when she is next to my girlfriend and i come close to them, but most of the time she is very nice to me. How can i fix the cairn terriers aggressiveness towards my husky and how can I make my husky not follow her everywhere and somewhat just ignore her?

 

[doxiemommy]

How did you introduce the two?

Have you ever walked them together? I would try walking them together, your girlfriend walking the cairn terriier, and you walking the husky. You don't have to be close, just walking parrallel to each other, maybe a few feet away. For some reason, walking like this can help the dogs create a bond.

Has the cairn terrier ever been around other dogs? Does she act like this to all dogs she meets?

It sounds a bit like she is resource guarding your girlfriend, from the way you say she snaps and growls when you come close to your girlfriend. Is there a possibility she's guarding something else from the husky? When the husky walks by, is he walking by the terrier's bed/toy/treat/bone/special area? If so, it could be that the terrier is guarding whatever the item or area is.

Lastly, are you very certain that the snapping is out of aggression, and not rough play? Some dogs do play very, very roughly. Your husky does not seem to find the behavior threatening, but wants to play. It almost seems as if the husky is taking the terrier's behavior as an invitation to play. One of my dogs is a rough player, and she does snap when playing, but doesn't every actually bite.