Why does my husky chase shadows?

If your husky has been chasing shadows you are probably wondering why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of reasons why your husky might be chasing shadows and what to do about it.

So, why does my husky chase shadows? Possible reasons are that it is anxious or bored, it is a compulsive behavior or that it was just playing when it did it.

There are a number of things to consider when trying to figure out why your husky has been chasing shadows. Depending on the cause, there are a number of things that you can do about it.

Why your husky chases shadows

There are a number of reasons why your husky might chase shadows and each of them will come with some clues.

Below are some reasons why your husky might be doing it and what would make them more likely.

Anxiety

The reason that it has been chasing shadows could be that something is causing it to be anxious. This would be more likely if it starts doing it when something might be making it feel anxious or if it has started doing it since something happened that could give it anxiety.

Things that might cause it to become anxious could be:

• The sight of you preparing to leave for work
• Thunder, sirens or lightening
• Someone being around that it does not like
• Being ill or injured
• Separation anxiety

Boredom

Huskies are a breed that is meant to get a lot of exercise on a daily basis. When they do not get enough exercise they will often do things to stimulate themselves and chasing shadows could be your husky’s way of getting rid of excess energy.

Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day. If your husky is not getting that much, it would help to make sure that it does.

Compulsive behavior

It could be the case that it has been chasing shadows compulsively. This is where it has an irresistible urge to chase shadows. This would be more likely if your husky has been chasing shadows excessively over the course of weeks or months.

Possible things that could have happened that caused it to develop the behavior could include:

• Someone mistreated it
• Another dog was aggressive towards it
• It was separated from another dog

Look here for more information about compulsive behavior in dogs.

It was just playing

It could be the case that your husky was just playing when it did it. This would be more likely if it just did it once or twice. If it has been doing it repeatedly, it would be less likely that it was playing and more likely to be due to a different reason.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider in order to help figure out why your husky has been chasing shadows.

How old it is

It would help to consider the age of your husky.

If it is just a puppy then it would make it more likely that it was just playing at the time. However, if it has been doing it repeatedly then it would make it more likely that there is something else that is causing it.

If it is older then it would make it less likely that it was just playing and it will be important to figure out the cause if it has been doing it repeatedly.

When your husky started chasing shadows

It would help to consider when your husky first started doing it since it could be the case that there was an event that triggered it to start.

If your husky started doing it suddenly, it would make it more likely to be due to things such as something making it feel anxious. It would help to consider what else changed when it started doing it.

When it does it

The timing of when it chases shadows would also be something to consider.

If it seems to be doing it at certain times, it would make it more likely to be due to things such as anxiety. It would help to consider what is different at around the same time that it starts doing it.

Whereas, if it does it at random times, it would be more likely to be due to things such as boredom or compulsive behavior.

How often it chases shadows

It would also help to consider how often it has been doing it.

If it just did it once or twice, it could be the case that it was just feeling energetic at the time. Whereas, if it has been doing it a lot, it would be more likely to be due to one of the other reasons mentioned above.

How to stop your husky from chasing shadows

Below are some things that you can do about your husky chasing shadows.

Get help from a vet

If you cannot figure out why your husky has been chasing shadows, you cannot get it to stop or it seems to be doing it compulsively the best option would be to take it to a vet. By doing so you will be able to get expert advice tailored towards your particular husky.

Train it to do other things

One option you have is to learn to recognize when it is about to start chasing shadows and then to redirect its behavior onto doing something else such as laying down. By doing so you could be able to get it out of the habit of chasing shadows.

Avoid negative reinforcement training

It might be the case that you have been inadvertently training your husky to chase shadows. This would be more likely if you have been giving your husky things such as toys, treats or attention when it does it.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is well behaved and to try to redirect its focus when it is about to start chasing shadows.

Give it exercise

As mentioned above, it is important to make sure that your husky is getting exercise on a daily basis. You can give your husky exercise by walking it or by getting a dog walker to do it for you.

A particularly effective way to wear it out, even more, would be to train it to play fetch.

Give it other toys to play with

In addition to doing the above, it would also help to give it lots of things to be distracted with so that it is less likely to start chasing shadows. Things that you could give it would include puzzle games or toys that it can roll around or chew on.