If your husky is always hyper at night 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 being hyper at night and what you can do to stop it.
So, why is my husky hyper at night? Possible reasons are that it is eating the wrong foods right before bedtime, it’s not getting enough exercise, separation anxiety, inadvertently rewarding the behavior or a problem with its sleeping environment.
There are actually a number of reasons why your husky might be being hyper at night and it could be a combination of multiple reasons. However, there are some things you can consider to help figure out the exact reason. Once you have a good idea of the cause, it will become easier for you to get it to stop.
Why your husky is so hyper at night
Each of the different reasons why your husky is hyper at night will likely come with a number of clues.
It’s eating the wrong foods right before bed
It could be the case that you or someone else has been feeding it things that it shouldn’t be eating right before bedtime. This would be more likely if it is not hyper of nights where it is not fed certain foods just before bedtime.
It could also be the case that its diet is lacking nutrients or that it is not appropriate for dogs. This would also be more likely if it started getting hyper at around the same time that you changed its diet.
You can look here to see what you should and should not be feeding your husky.
It’s not getting enough exercise
Siberian huskies are a breed that is meant to be getting a lot of exercise on a daily basis. When they do not get enough exercise it can cause them to become hyper and it could be why yours is hyper at night. It is recommended that huskies get at least an hour of exercise per day. If your husky is not getting that much exercise it would help to make sure that it does.
Separation anxiety
It might be the case that your husky has separation anxiety. This is where it does not like being left alone and being left alone causes it to become anxious. This would be more likely if your husky is not hyper when it is allowed to sleep in the same room as you or if it starts being anxious when you are about to leave it.
In this case, it would help to avoid leaving it for extended periods and to periodically check up on it if possible.
Also, it would help to train it to be less anxious when you are leaving and when you are away.
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
If it starts being anxious as you are leaving it at night you could also train it to be more comfortable by following a similar process as above.
You have been encouraging it
It might also be the case that you have inadvertently trained it to act hyper at night by rewarding it when it does it. If you tend to give it things such as extra attention, treats, toys or other rewards when it does it then it might have learned that acting hyper gets it rewards.
Instead of rewarding when it is hyper try to avoid doing so and to reward it when it is well behaved. It would also help to avoid giving it attention when its hyper at night unless it seems to be due to something such as needing to go outside to pee.
There is a problem with its sleeping environment
It could be the case that it is having trouble falling asleep at night because there is a problem with its sleeping environment. It could be that it is too hot, it is not comfortable for it or that it is too bright. It would help to make sure that this is not the case and that its sleeping environment is comfortable for it.
Things to consider
Below are some things you can consider that will help in figuring out why your husky has been being hyper at night.
If it has always been hyper at night
It would help to consider whether or not it has always been hyper at night. If it has not always been hyper at night it would help to consider if anything else changed when it started being hyper since it could be the case that there was an event that triggered it to start being hyper at night.
Possible things that could have happened would be:
- You stopped letting it sleep in the same room as you (separation anxiety)
- You moved home
- Animals started breaking into the yard
- It started showing signs of being ill
- You changed its diet
If it has always done it then it could be due to its diet, eating too late, its sleeping environment, separation anxiety or not getting enough exercise.
What is different when it is less hyper
If it is not hyper during every night it would also help to consider what is different when it is hyper.
If it is only hyper on some nights it would make it more likely to be due to things such as getting less exercise or being fed different foods.
How old it is
If your Siberian husky is still just a puppy it is likely that it will become less hyper as it gets older. However, it would help to ignore it when it is hyper at night unless you think that it needs to pee so that it doesn’t learn that it results in rewards.
If your Siberian husky is not a puppy anymore it would help to consider the two things mentioned above. However, it would make it more likely to be due to things such as its diet or not enough exercise.
How to get your husky to be less hyper at night
Below are a number of options you have when getting your Siberian husky to be less hyper.
Make sure that you are feeding it correctly
As mentioned above, it might be the case that there is an issue with its diet that is causing it to start being hyper at night. You can look here to see what you should and should not be feeding it. Consulting with your local vet when you see them next on the diet that it is currently getting would also likely be helpful.
Give it lots of 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 by getting a dog walker to do it for you.
Another option would be to train it to learn to play fetch since it is something that will get your husky to do a lot of running which should wear it out even more.
You could also take it for an additional walk in the evening so that it can burn off any excess energy that it has before bed.
Consider crate training
Crate training is where you teach your husky to be comfortable inside of a crate designed for dogs.
If you crate train your Siberian husky in the right way it will give it a space where it can feel safe. This will give your husky a space where it will be able to feel secure at night without you being around which should reduce how anxious it becomes.
Avoid negative reinforcement
As mentioned above it would also help to make sure not to reward it for being hyper at night. Instead, it would help to consider what might be causing it to be hyper, to take measures to correct it but to avoid rewarding it for being hyper at night and to reward it when it is well behaved.