Why do Huskies Throw Tantrums?

Why do Huskies throw tantrums? Whether you’ve experienced your own Siberian Husky throwing tantrums first hand or you’ve seen one of the many videos online of Husky hissy-fits, you may be asking why this is happening. Is Husky temperament to blame? Many of us treat our fur baby dogs like children but are Huskies starting to take their role and needy toddler too seriously?

So, why do Huskies throw tantrums? Huskies are naturally a very vocal, communicative breed of dog. Their vocalization originally developed as a tool to help them communicate within their packs and later helped them to communicate with their working sled dog team and humans. Vocalization is also a tool for the Husky to express their inherent physical and emotional needs to their owners.

While Husky tantrums may come off as a comical series of events when your fur baby is acting out like a toddler, it is important to pay close attention to these behaviors. Your Husky may be trying to express their physical and mental needs to you through their vocalized form of communication. Is your Husky trying to get some extra attention from you or are they trying to express an immediate physical need?

Husky Vocalization as Communication

Historically, Huskies are pack animals.

Huskies were bred to work in sled dog teams to transport their owners through sub-zero climates. In their working pack, it is beneficial for the animal to be vocal to communicate in both positive and negative situations. This may relay information about food, injury, or upcoming danger.

Relationships with Husky sled dogs and their owners were mutually beneficial:

The dogs helped with transportation needs and in return received care and food.

This interspecies relationship may have led Huskies to expand their thoughts of their dog exclusive pack to include their human owners and families as well.

Today, Husky vocalization continues to provide a tool for communication between Husky and owner. Surprisingly, this communication doesn’t make Huskies good watch dogs.

Or guard dogs.

Husky howling, whining, and even their tantrums are used as a direct line of communication to express their physical and emotional needs and wants.

Just Talkative…or Throwing a Tantrum?

Husky vocalization is a tool for communication to express both the needs and wants of the animal.

A Husky tantrum could show a very social dog’s desire for more attention from its owner, or an injured dog showing a physical need for immediate help. It is important to pay close attention to this communication to understand what your dog may be trying to tell you.

Some expressions of communication may be caused by an emotional need. This may stem from boredom, lack of attention, nervousness, or fear.

Other expressions of communications may be due to a physical need such as hunger, injury, or the need for a bathroom break.

While it may be easy to laugh off your dog’s silly behavior and not think much of it, it is important to find the root cause of the tantrum to make sure your animal is well cared for both physically and mentally.

Emotional Need:

• Bored
• Lack of Attention
• Scared or Nervous
• Undesired Activity

Physical Need:

• Hunger
• Thirst
• Potty Break
• Pain or Injury

Signs That Your Husky is Throwing a Tantrum

If your Husky is acting out, becoming extremely vocal, or starting to show aggressive behaviors, he may be throwing a tantrum.

Each dog may express their needs and emotions differently. As you pay more close attention to your dog’s tantrums you may notice trends of when these tantrums are occurring.

Maybe your dog throws a tantrum before a bath, at the dog park, or when you are leaving for work. It is important to look for these trends to know when to expect them and how to develop an effective strategy to help work through these tantrums and encourage positive behavior.

Below are a few signs that your Husky is trying to communicate their emotions to you through tantrum behaviors. If your dog is acting out of the ordinary and you cannot find the cause of the problem or suspect a medical emergency, it’s important to consult your veterinarian immediately to address the issue.

• Whining
• Howling
• Barking
• Nipping
• Aggression

Training Techniques for Tantrums

Tantrums may occur because of boredom, high stress situations, or a multitude of other reasons that caused your dog to act out.

Many training techniques for tantrum throwing dogs focus on impulse control and frustration tolerance. With consistent training, these techniques can help to limit the number of preventable emotional tantrums your dog has.

It may be beneficial to track your dog’s tantrums to look for trends of when tantrums occur most frequently. If you discover certain times or certain situations that your dog is more prone to showing tantrum behavior, you can concentrate on more specific training techniques to work through these situations.

If your Husky learns at a young age that they can throw a tantrum for emotional reasons they may continue to express unwanted behavior frequently.

While training any dog, you need to remain calm so your dog does not get worked up and so you do not create decisions or consequences for your dog out of a place of frustration.

It may also be helpful to limit your training to short sessions. If training goes on for too long, the dog may become bored and distracted and start to exhibit undesirable behaviors.

It is important to continue ongoing training to keep up with your dog’s behavior training. Good habits develop over time with consistency.

The dog should expect the same responses from each person it may interact with on a daily basis. Make sure that all family members or friends that will be interacting with the dog frequently know what rewards to give for each positive behavior.

Daily exercise is a great way to promote positive behaviors from dogs. This will help to prevent physical and mental boredom from the dog.

Predictable daily routines are also important for dogs. This will help to build consistent expectations of when to anticipate their food, play time, and down time.

Positive Reinforcement to Avoid Husky Tantrums

Positive reinforcement is a training technique that rewards positive pet behaviors while ignoring unwanted behaviors.

It is important to keep this in mind while training your pet to keep training time a positive and sustainable experience for both you and your pet. This method helps to focus on calm, desired behaviors without punishment for unwanted behaviors.

Treats and affection are a great tool to use for reward positive, desired behaviors.

Examples of positive reinforcement versus negative reinforcement:

• Reward your dog consistently for going to the bathroom outside (desired behavior) instead of scolding your dog for going to the bathroom indoors (undesired behavior).
• Reward your dog for dropping their ball while playing fetch (desired behavior) instead of trying to pull the ball away from them, chasing them for the ball, or letting them jump on you (undesired behavior).

If the training methods you are using are not working in a positive way that is effective for both you and your pet, consult a dog trainer for a customized training routine for your pet.

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