Huskies are known for being a difficult breed to train. However, the truth is that they were bred to work with humans where they would drag sleighs for hours daily in freezing temperatures. If they can be taught to do that then you can definitely teach them to stay.
How to teach your husky to stay
- Go to a park or backyard with some treats, a toy that your husky loves and a long leash if you have one.
- Start by rewarding it for sitting or laying down on your command. If you haven’t trained your husky to do that yet then you may need to ease it into it the first few times.
- Tell it to sit reward it with a treat then tell it to stay with your palm out in front as if you’re telling someone to stop.
- If it stays sat for 1 second and keeps its attention on you then reward it again.
- Repeat the process. Each time you do it try to get it to keep its attention on you for a little longer. Try to get up to 5 seconds.
- While it’s sat down tell your husky to stay and then retreat back a few steps and then come back and reward it if it stays sat down.
- Repeat the process each time going backward a few steps further. When it starts to do well give a little pause before you go back to reward it.
- Now you’re going to do both of the exercises again but this time using the toy that it likes. Start by telling it to stay, squeaking or waving the toy, and then rewarding it for not going for the toy.
- Then do it again but put the toy down in front of it and reward it for not going for the toy.
- Then add distance start by staying close to your husky then gradually go further away.
Related: why does my husky destroy everything?
Watch the video below to see how it’s done.
Why You Should Teach Your Husky To Stay
There are a number of benefits that you’ll be able to get out of teaching your husky to stay and it’s one of the first things that you should train it to do.
If you’re able to teach your husky to stay on command then it will mean that you’ll be able to have people over without them being affected by your husky. This will make it easier for you to maintain a social life with your dog around and it will make having people over a less stressful experience. You’ll also make your guests feel more comfortable and to make them more likely to want to come over more often.
Related: why does my husky eat grass?
You’ll have an easier time walking your husky
By being able to make your husky stay still when you want it to you’ll be able to do things such as pick up poop without having your husky pull you away.
Have it be easier to handle at the vets
By being able to get your husky to stay still at the vets you’ll be able to make it be done quickly and you’ll make it a less stressful experience for your husky.
Keep it responsive to your command
By being able to regularly have your husky stay still when you want it to you’ll be able to keep it used to listening to your command. This will help to maintain the respect it has for you and it will help you to teach it other things more easily.
Make it easier to stop it from misbehaving
Huskies are prone to having a larger prey drive than other dogs. By being able to get your husky to stay when you want it to you’ll be able to get it to stop misbehaving such as when chasing cats or if it tries to destroy something.
Things to consider
When you’re training your husky to stay there are some things that you’ll want to keep in mind that I’ll mention below.
Be patient
Teaching your husky to stay is something that you’re going to need to repeat multiple times over a long time period. If you just teach your husky to stay once then it will quickly forget it and you won’t be able to get it to stay when you want it to. This is why it’s important that you approach this with a lot of patience and be willing to take a long-term approach.
Give it lots of exercise
Huskies are a breed that requires a lot of exercise. They were bred to drag sleighs in freezing temperatures for hours so the occasional walk isn’t going to do much for them. If you don’t give your husky lots of exercise then it will be more hyperactive and a lot more difficult to train.
Build up the distractions
When you’re training your husky to stay it’s important to do so in little steps. Start out by getting it to stay for just one second, then two, then after a while you can try it with more distance, then with a toy up close and then with a toy at distance. If you try to get it to stay while you are 5 meters away straight away then it’s going to be very difficult. If you’re still stuck make sure to watch the video linked above.
Age
Consider the age of your husky, when you’re trying to train it. If it’s young then it will be more energetic but you’ll be able to change its habits more easily which you can make easier by wearing it out first. If it’s older then you’ll often need to have a bit more patience since they can be harder to change but they’re not unchangeable.
Make sure to do it regularly
It’s important to be doing the training on a consistent basis. The more you do it the more you’ll be able to get it to make it a habit that stays with your husky. An easy way to make sure that you consistently train it is to make it stay before letting it eat its food in the morning.
Related Questions
How to teach a husky to come? To teach your husky to come you’ll want to make sure that you’ve taught it to stay first. Then you’ll just want to tell it to stay take some steps back and then to tell it to come while enticing it with a treat or toy that it likes. Start by only going back a small distance so that it doesn’t come to you until you tell it to and then gradually increase the distance.
How to teach a husky down? To teach a husky down simply get some treats that it likes then say “down” while enticing it to go down by lowing the treat to the floor. After you’re able to get it to go down using the treats gradually get it to go down only when you say “down” and then reward it with a treat afterward.