If you are thinking of getting a husky or you have recently gotten one then you’re probably wondering how to keep it entertained.
So, how to keep your husky entertained? To keep your husky entertained you should start by giving it lots of exercise to prevent it from becoming hyperactive. Then you can keep it occupied by doing things such as training it, playing fetch or tug of war with it, giving it toys to play with, giving it chew toys, having it pull you on a bike/skateboard, giving it puzzles to complete or you can take it to doggy daycare.
Huskies are a breed that were bred to drag sleighs on a daily basis in freezing temperatures. So, it will usually take a lot of exercise to properly entertain them. You will likely be surprised at just how much exercise and entertainment it can take to properly wear a husky out. It is important that you do it, however, since it will prevent your husky from becoming hyperactive and hard to manage.
How to keep your husky entertained
Walk it
Before you even consider how to keep your husky entertained you should make sure that it is getting a sufficient amount of exercise. If it doesn’t then no matter what you choose to entertain it with it will still be hyperactive and difficult to manage. Vets will often recommend that you give your husky at least one hour of exercise per day. So, your primary focus should be to make sure that it gets it.
One good way to give your husky exercise is to simply walk it daily. Since huskies were bred to be very active you might find that a simple one hour walk isn’t enough for your husky so you might have to take measures to wear it out even more. You could do this by walking it in a hilly area, walking it in a dog park off the leash if you can get it to come back to you or you could even make it wear a weight vest for dogs that weighs less than 10% of its body weight.
Related: do huskies need a lot of attention?
Play fetch
Another way to give your husky exercise and attention is to teach it to play fetch.
Fetch is good because it gets your husky to do a lot of sprinting without much rest which will help to wear it out quickly. It will also get it used to interacting with you in a positive way and it will help to make it more responsive to your command.
It can be quite difficult at first to teach your husky to play fetch but I go through it step by step in the link above.
Related: how to keep your husky occupied.
Teach it to swim
You can also give your husky exercise and keep it entertained by teaching it to swim.
Swimming is good because your husky will have to move its legs around a lot to stay afloat. This will result in it having to expend a lot of energy over a short time period.
Some huskies can be nervous to go into the water by nature. But, there are ways to get it to like swimming that I talk about here.
Give it toys
A good way to keep your husky entertained is to give it lots of toys to play with.
By doing this you will be able to keep it occupied with something that you want it to be occupied with. This means that you’ll be able to divert its attention away from destroying things if you need to.
Related: Why does my dog bark for attention?
Give it lots of training
Giving your husky lots of exercise is a great way to keep your husky entertained.
In the act of training your husky it will need to focus on you which will help to drain its energy a little bit. It will also make it more responsive to your command and help you to keep your husky under control.
When you start training your husky you should start by teaching it the basics such as to sit and stay in an environment where there are not many distractions. Once you can get it to do it in an easy environment get it to do it in a tougher environment where there are more distractions. Then, once you have taught it the basics, you can advance on to harder tasks such as to teach it to come to you on command.
Give it puzzles
You could also give your husky puzzles to play with that will help to keep it occupied. There are a number of puzzle games that you can buy that are designed to make your husky think and put its attention into it in order to get the reward. I would recommend to get one that is slightly more challenging so that your husky can’t figure it out quickly.
Play tug of war with it
Another way to entertain your husky would be to play tug of war with it. You’ll likely find that your husky will love to play tug of war so it’s a good way to keep its focus onto something that you want it to.
Use a dog walker
If you don’t have the time to entertain or to exercise your husky then you could consider paying a dog walker to do it for you. There are apps that you can download now that let you book a local dog walker directly on the app.
Walk it with other dogs
Another good way to give your husky exercise and to entertain it would be to walk it with other dogs.
By walking it with other dogs you will be able to give it more exercise since it will be doing more by playing with the other dogs and you will be able to give it the chance to interact with other dogs which can make it better behaved.
Give it chew toys
You could also keep it entertained by giving it chew toys to focus on. There are even some that are designed to calm them down that you could give to it to prevent hyperactivity when you think that it might start misbehaving.
Have it pull you
You could also give it exercise by getting it to pull you along on a skateboard or bike. You’ll likely find that your husky will be able to run faster than you can for longer so this can be a good way to properly wear it out.
Doggy daycare
If you don’t have the time to entertain your husky then you could consider taking it to a doggy daycare that will look after it while you’re away.
Things to consider
Huskies require a lot of effort
Huskies are a breed that were bred to work with humans on a daily basis. With that being the case it means that they will require a lot of effort. If you are unsure that you will be able to spend lots of time working with your husky then consider a different breed.
Age
It’s important to consider the age of your husky. If it is young then it will require a lot of attention but you will be limited in how much exercise you can give it. Generally, it is recommended that you don’t give it any more than 5 minutes of exercise per month of age. This is because, when it’s young, its joints and bones are still developing and lots of exercise could damage them.
Give it attention daily
Huskies are a breed that requires a lot of exercise and attention. If you’re thinking of getting a husky then be prepared to give it attention on a daily basis.
Related
Am I spending enough time with my husky? If your husky is behaving in a hyperactive way then it would indicate that you’re not spending enough time with it. Huskies are a breed that require a lot of exercise and attention to be properly stimulated. You’ll likely be surprised at just how much your husky can handle.