If your husky keeps walking in front of you this post will show you a number of possible reasons why it might do it and what you can do about it.
So, why does my husky walk in front of you? Possible reasons are that it wants to go faster, it wants to interact with something, it has lots of energy or that you haven’t trained it not to.
If it walks in front of you when you are in the house then it could be that it is unaware that it is in your way, that you have inadvertently reinforced the behavior by rewarding it or that it does it for attention.
There are many different reasons why your husky might walk in front of you but there are also a number of things that you can consider that will help you figure out the exact cause.
Why your husky walks in front of you
Each of the different reasons that your husky does it will likely come with some clues in the way that it does it and the situation that it does it in.
Below, I will mention a number of reasons why your husky might walk in front of you and what would make them more likely.
It wants to go faster
Huskies are a breed that requires a lot of exercise to be fully stimulated. The reason that it walks in front of you could be that it wants to go faster. This would be more likely if it tends to pull on the leash when you are walking it. If your husky does pull on the leash, try following the tips mentioned in this post.
It’s being protective
The reason that it walks in front of you could be that it is being protective. This would be more likely if it only seems to do it when other people are around especially if it shows signs of being aggressive around them.
If this is why your husky walks in front of you then I have written more about what you can do about it here.
It wants to interact with something
It could be the case that it wants to interact with something when it walks in front of you. Huskies have a much stronger sense of smell than we do and it could be that it smells something ahead that has it curious. This would be more likely if it tends to walk in front of you towards something and then stop to sniff it.
It wants attention
It could be the case that it does it because it wants you to give it attention. This would be more likely if you tend to give it more attention when it walks in front of you around the house.
In this case, it would help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it does it and to train it not to do it by following the tips mentioned below.
You haven’t trained it not to
If you haven’t given your husky much training, it will not know how it is meant to behave and it will behave the way that it feels like training. This is unlikely to be the way that you would like it to behave. This is why it is important to give it training so that it behaves the way that you want.
Nature
Huskies would pull on sleighs for hours daily, it could be the case that your husky walks ahead of you because it is in its nature to do so. This would be more likely if it has always walked in front of you and if it tends to pull on the leash. In this case, it would help to train it not to walk in front of you by following the tips below.
Things to consider
When your husky first started walking in front of you
It would help to consider when your husky first started walking in front of you since it could be the case that there was an event that sparked it to start doing it.
If it started doing it suddenly, it would be more likely that it started doing it because it realized that it would get rewards or you changed the route you walk it on and it’s curious.
If your husky has always walked in front of you then it would make it more likely that it does it naturally and you need to train it not to do it.
When your husky walks in front of you
It would also help to consider the timing of when your husky walks in front of you.
If it only walks in front of you when there are other people or dogs around then it would be more likely that it is either curious or being protective.
If it only seems to do it at home then it would either be more likely that it does it naturally or it does it for attention.
How to get your husky to stop walking in front of you
Below are some options that you have when trying to get your husky to stop doing it.
Use positive reinforcement training to get it to stop walking ahead on the leash
Positive reinforcement training is where you get your husky to behave in a certain way by rewarding it when it shows signs of behaving that way and not rewarding it when it does not.
To use positive reinforcement training to get it to stop walking ahead, you could do as follows:
- Start walking it on the leash with some treats
- Stop when it is about to walk ahead of you and get it to pay attention to you
- Reward it for stopping and paying attention to you then carry on walking
- Repeat the above until it stops walking ahead of you
Use positive reinforcement training to stop it walking in front of you at home
To use positive reinforcement training to get your husky to stop walking in front of you at home you would:
- Avoid giving it attention when it walks in front of you
- Get it to pay attention to you when it is about to walk in front of you, reward it and then walk ahead of it
- Reward it when it does not walk ahead of you when it normally would
You can also give it lots of attention and exercise throughout the day.