If your husky is obsessed with you this post will show you why that might be the case and what you can do about it.
So, why is my husky obsessed with me? Possible reasons are that it wants more attention, exercise or food, it might have separation anxiety or it could be the case that you have inadvertently rewarded the behavior.
There are actually a number of reasons why your Siberian husky might be obsessed with you and it could be a combination of reasons. However, there are also a number of things you can consider which will help you in figuring out the exact reason.
Why your husky is obsessed with you
There will likely be some clues that come with the different reasons why your husky is obsessed with you.
Below, I will show you a number of possible reasons why it might be obsessed with you and what would make them more likely.
It wants attention
The reason why your husky does it could be that it is looking for attention. This would be more likely if it becomes more obsessed with you when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it more attention when it does it.
In this case, it would help to give it attention throughout the day in the form of exercise, training and by playing with it. But, it would also help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it becomes obsessed and to give it attention when it is well behaved.
It wants exercise
Huskies are a breed that is meant to get a lot of exercise on a daily basis. When they do not get enough exercise it can cause them to behave abnormally and it could be why your husky has been being obsessed with you.
Generally, it is recommended for huskies 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.
It’s hungry
It might be the case that it does it because it is hungry. This would be especially likely if it becomes more obsessed with you when you would normally feed it or if you have not fed it in a while.
It could also be a sign that there is an issue with its diet especially if it has started being obsessed since you changed its diet. You can look here to see what you should and should not be feeding your husky. It would also help to ask your vet about what you should be feeding it and in what quantities.
Fear
It might be the case that there is something that is causing it to be fearful. This would be more likely if your husky is not always obsessed with you and if it becomes more obsessed in situations such as when there are sirens or when someone is around that it does not like.
If it does seem to be the case that fear could be the reason it would help to remove the thing that it is fearful of if possible. You could also try desensitization training. I have written more about why your husky might be fearful in this post.
Nature
Huskies were bred to work alongside their owners for hours on a daily basis. With that being the case, it is in their nature to look to their owners for direction. This is why it would help to give your husky lots of training so that it learns how you want it to behave.
Separation anxiety
It might be the case that your husky has separation anxiety and that it follows you around because it does not want to be left alone. This would be more likely if it starts being a lot more anxious when you are about to leave.
If your husky does seem to have separation anxiety it would help to train it to be less anxious when you are not around.
To do this you could do as follows:
- Make it seem like you are about to leave by doing something such as picking up your keys
- Reward your husky for not being anxious and repeat these two steps a few times
- Make more moves towards actually leaving such as by picking up the keys and putting your hand on the door handle
- Reward your husky for not being anxious and repeat the process a few times
- Actually open the door and go outside for a few moments then come back and reward your husky
- Repeat the above, each time staying outside for slightly longer
Reinforcing the behavior
It could be the case that you have been reinforcing the behavior by rewarding it when it is obsessed with you. If you tend to give your husky things such as treats, toys or extra attention when it does it then it might have learned to do it more in order to get rewards.
Instead, it would help to reward it when it is well behaved and to give it lots of positive reinforcement training so that it learns how it should behave.
Things to consider
When it became obsessed with you
It would help to consider when your husky first started being obsessed with you since it could 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 due to things such as a change in its diet, something causing it to be fearful, wanting attention or you might have rewarded it for doing it. It would help to consider what else changed when your husky first started doing it.
When it is more obsessed with you
It would also help to consider if there is a certain time that it tends to become obsessed with you.
For example, if it tends to become obsessive when you are about to leave home it would be a sign that it is because it has separation anxiety.
How to get it to stop being obsessed with you
Below are a number of options you have when getting your husky to be less obsessed with you.
Train it to listen to your command
It would help to give your husky lots of positive reinforcement training. This is where you reward your husky for behaving the way you want it to and avoid rewarding it when it does not. By doing so you will be able to get it to learn how you want it to behave.
To use positive reinforcement training to get it to be less obsessed with you, it would help to train it to lay down somewhere and to stay. That way you will be able to tell it lay down when it starts being obsessed with you.
I have written about how you can train your Siberian husky to stay here. I have also written about how you can train your husky to lay down here.
Give it exercise
As mentioned above, it is important to make sure that your husky is getting enough exercise. You can exercise it by walking it yourself or you could get a dog walker to do it for you when you don’t have the time.
Make sure its diet is right
It might be the case that there is something wrong with its diet that is causing it to be more obsessive. You can look here to see what you should and should not be feeding your husky.
Avoid negative reinforcement
It would also help to avoid reinforcing the behavior by avoiding rewarding it when it is obsessive.
Instead, it would help to train it using positive reinforcement training and to give it rewards when it behaves the way you want.
Give it distractions
In addition to the above, you could also give it things to be distracted with. Things that you could give it would include toys, bones or chews.