Do you own a Siberian husky? Then you already know how wild this breed can get from time to time. Most new husky owners frequently ask the experts how to calm their huskies down. Huskies are a bit more energetic dogs compared to the other breeds. So, calming these dogs down can be a bit challenging for their owners. However, with a bit of patience and persistence, you can effectively calm your husky down like a pro.
Prevention is the key to calming your husky down. If you know what is setting off your dog, it would be easier for you to take the situation under control before it gets out of hand ultimately. Building a healthy routine for your husky can also help you keep their overexcitement under leash.
For example, if you give your husky many daily exercises, they will become calmer in theory. Other methods of calming your dog involve lots of training, offering calming chew toys, ignoring your dog when it becomes hyper.
There are many ways you can try to calm your husky down. All of the methods work due to different reasons. The best way to keep your husky calm is to make a combination of them all and apply it. Check out the following ways that I recommend.
Exercise
Huskies were bred initially as sledging dogs. They used to pull sledges throughout the day in freezing temperatures. That means it should be no surprise to you that your husky requires a lot of exercise every day. When these dogs do not get what they want, they become hyper.
If your dog is not getting that much exercise right now, create a new routine for them to get more exercise. Also, try not to underestimate just how much training your husky requires. Still, an hour a day of activity is more or less enough for your husky to calm them down.
Try to play a game of fetch with your dog. It is the best way to wear your husky out without actually getting fatigued yourself. If you are running along with your husky to give it exercise, you will soon understand that you are getting tired long before your dog does. Playing fetch with your husky can mitigate this issue.
Another option that you can try is to walk your dog with others. It is one of the most efficient ways to wear your dog down. Huskies are pack animals. So, when you walk them with other dogs, they will start playing with each other, expelling a lot of energy.
Training
Training your dog is yet another way to calm your husky down. It will help you and your dog in several ways. If your husky gets proper training, it will listen to your command even when they are hyper. It will also teach your dog to wait for your command before they do anything, like running out of the door. The training process will also demand a chunk of its mental energy, which, in turn, will wear your dog down.
‘Stay’ is the first command you want to teach your dog. This simple command will help you stop your husky from misbehaving more easily. Once your husky has learned the command stay, keep on reinforcing it regularly.
Once your dog has learned the command to stay, you need to teach it to come. It will help you get your dog to come to you once it starts misbehaving. Another thing that you can teach your dog is not to run away from you when they are not under any leash. It will help you keep your dog safe, as most of these dogs get injured when they suddenly bolt out of the front door.
Recommended Training
Ignore
Your husky acts are hyper to get your attention, so it is essential for you not to reinforce this behaviour. To make sure this behaviour does not become permanent, you should ignore your dog completely when it acts hyper. Give your husky all the attention it needs when it calms down.
Calming Chews
There are some chews available on the market that will help you calm your husky down. If you use it, make sure not to teach your husky that misbehaving will get them a chew. Try to give your husky the chews before they misbehave or after they have calmed down.
Triggers and Threshold
Apart from training your husky, understanding its triggers and thresholds can also help you control its behaviour. The more you know the triggers and thresholds of your husky, the easier it would be to avoid the hyperactivity of your husky.
Triggers
Triggers are elements that elevate the arousal levels of your husky. Loud sounds, other animals, changes in the weather, toys, other people, or any other distractions can act as a trigger. Some triggers leave a more significant impact on your husky, while the others do not bother your dog as much.
Threshold
The threshold is the point where your dog’s arousal level shoots to such a level that your husky can’t deal with it anymore. That is the point when your husky starts to get hyper.
For example, when you arrive at home after a long day of work, your husky gets so excited that it immediately hit their threshold level. In this case, you should try to decrease how this trigger creates an impact on your husky. If you teach your husky to stay or come when you arrive home, it will help take their mind off and use their mental state to concentrate on something else.
Contrary to this, most of the time, your husky only reaches the threshold of hyperactivity after experiencing a long build-up of different triggers. In this situation, you need to intervene to ensure that your husky does not get to this threshold level. If you can do that, you can easily prevent hyperactive behaviour in your husky.
If All Else Fails
Huskies are intelligent dogs. While their independent nature may give you some trouble during the training process, if you are persistent and consistent at the same time, you would be able to manage their hyperactive behaviour easily. However, if you think that things are getting out of control, do not hesitate to contact help from a canine behaviour expert and have one-on-one training.
