Why does my husky howl at sirens and thunder?

If your husky has been howling at sirens or thunder you might want to know why and what you can do about it.

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

So, why does my husky howl at thunder? Possible reasons are that it is due to its ancestry, it does it naturally to communicate with other dogs or that it triggers a fight or flight response.

There are actually a number of reasons why your husky might be doing it and it could be a combination of factors. However, there are some things you can consider that will help you in figuring out the exact reason.

Why your husky howls at sirens and thunder

Each of the different reasons why your Siberian husky does it will likely come with some clues.

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

Ancestry

The reason why it does it could be that it is in its genes to howl in situations where there are loud noises. It could be the case that your husky does it due to an evolutionary trait getting it to let other dogs know of its location in the area. This is something that wolves and dogs in the wild are known to do.

Communication

Wolves and dogs, in the wild, will howl to tell other members of the pack where it is or to scare off other predators that are entering their territories. In the case of your Siberian husky, it might be the case that the howling is to alert other dogs or members of its pack of its location or to alert other dogs of possible danger. It could also be to warn others not to enter its territory. 

A change in air pressure

If your Siberian husky also gets anxious when it hears noises such as thunder then it might be because it can sense a change in the air pressure. This is because it will warn it that there is a storm on the way and it might hear the low-frequency noises of the thunder as it approaches (source). This would be more likely if it starts behaving differently before the thunder has even arrived.

If your husky becomes afraid when there is thunder and lightning I have written about why that might be the case here.

Sensitive hearing

Siberian huskies have better hearing than we do and they can hear higher-pitched sounds too. It could be the case that the high pitched sounds of sirens cause it to howl since it is of a similar pitch to other dogs howling.

It triggers a fight or flight response

It might be the case that the pitch of the sirens or the loudness of the thunder gives your husky a fight or flight response where it becomes highly alert quickly in order to be prepared to take action if necessary. This would be more likely if your husky becomes anxious as well when it hears the noises.

How to get it to stop howling at sirens and thunder

Below are some options you have when getting your husky to stop doing it. You will likely find that a combination of them will work best.

Train it to associate the sounds with rewards

One option you have is to use desensitization training to get it used to hearing the sounds so that it won’t become as anxious when they are present.

To do this you would play with your husky while playing the noise using the speaker on your phone in the background. Doing this could help to get it to associate the noises with positive things.

Let it go to a quieter room

Another option would be to give it access to a room where the noises are not as loud. Doing so should help to reduce how anxious it becomes when it hears the noises.

Reduce how anxious it gets

You could also do things to reduce its anxiety by giving it attention, distractions or you could give it crate training so that it has a safe area to go to.

I have written more about what you can do about it being anxious here.

Things to consider

Below are some things to consider that could help in figuring out the exact reason why your husky becomes anxious when it hears sirens or thunder.

If it always howls at high pitched or loud sounds

It would help to consider whether or not it always does it. If it only howls sometimes it could be the case that the timing has something to do with it.

If it does only seem to howl sometimes it could be the case that it does it because it knows that it will get attention from you. If it only does it when there are certain noises it would also make it more likely that it does it to communicate.

When it started doing it

It would also help to consider when it first started doing it since it might be the case that there was an event that caused it to start doing it.

If it started doing it suddenly it would be more likely to be because you started rewarding it for doing it or because other dogs started howling as well. It would help to consider what else changed when it first started doing it.

Be consistent

When training your husky it is important to be consistent with the training. If you only train it once, it will be unlikely that you will be able to get dramatic results. But if you train it consistently, over the course of weeks and months, you will be able to get much more noticeable results.