I am wondering what can be done for a husky who howls whenever the owner is leaving and then absent from his or her home.
-
amazon.co.uk/Lunalou-Vibration-Barking-Harmless-Additional/dp/…– ValorumNov 1, 2020 at 22:58
-
Huskies are drama dogs, they're famous for it.– MastNov 2, 2020 at 15:02
-
@Mast It's not about the drama. They love you deeply and can express it even more strongly. They miss you and it hurts them. They won't keep that to themselves, assuming they aren't in survival mode due to previous abuse. There's lots of people who will claim how beneficial it is for huskies to be not attached to people and not to have separation anxiety. Just spend half an hour looking into the behavior of those people and see for yourself if that's how you want to behave or that's how you want to treat your dog. Everyone has to make that decision for himself and live with its consequences.– 3D CoderMar 24, 2022 at 15:10
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
Let me sing to you the song of my people!
- Almost every Husky ever
Huskies are very, very social dogs, even more so than many other breeds. They don't like being alone and they'll notice if something is up, calling for missing members of the pack, etc.
Whether you can train a dog out of it has to be decided on a case by case basis.
- This howling for missing pack members lessens over time, so don't be discouraged if it doesn't work immediately.
- Whatever you do, be consistent and think carefully. Huskies are extremely intelligent and will indeed fact check and make their own conclusions. For example, our two dogs won't care if I leave the house without a jacket or mantle. They know I won't go without them. But if I take it... You can also use this to your advantage later to tell the dog what you're doing.
- What you first should try to do is really just training - regular separation anxiety training:
- Leave for a few minutes, then return. Rinse and repeat, over and over again, continually taking more and more time.
- Make sure to not react/return upon the dog howling or whining. Otherwise you teach the exact opposite.
- And as mentioned, be consistent. If you take a hat to work, do so during training, too.
- Also keeping the dog company might work very well. This could be a second dog or other people in your household, but also the radio or TV. There's no guarantee either thing will work.
- It's also possible the dog is reacting to nearby dogs in heat (or being in heat itself). If so, it might help to keep windows closed during the few "important" days and not leaving the dog outside to sniff into the air.
- It should be noted that spaying/fixing the dog is no cure all and often advised too quickly to fix things like this. Don't try to take this cheap route, it most likely won't work nor make a difference.
Look into separation anxiety. Depending on the specific temperament of the doggie and the amount of abuse it has suffered prior, it might take few months and doggie doesn't necessarily have to fully become OK with the separation.
Do the right thing and put Husky into into care of somebody who can be with him 24/7. My Husky is with me 24/7, so it most certainly is doable. It's incredibly selfish from anybody to get a Husky and then leave him alone for 40-60 hours of the week. And no, having two of them doesn't fully alleviate that either. They will be happier, yes, but not fully happy.
