Why your husky whines (and how to stop it)

If your husky is whining a lot then you’re probably wondering why. In this post, I will give you a number of reasons why your husky might be whining and a number of things that you can do about it.

So why is your husky whining? There are a number of possible reasons. It could be hungry, it might need to go outside, it might want something like exercise or attention, it might be in pain or it might be saying sorry for something that it did.

And, what can you do to stop the whining? There are a number of things that you can do to stop the whining you can give it more exercise, give it more attention, give it distractions, give it training and you can take it to the vets. The most appropriate thing to do will depend on what is causing the whining. 

Before trying to get the whining to stop it’s important to consider what might be causing it. By doing so you will be able to get it to stop much more easily.

Possible reasons that your husky whines a lot

There are a number of possible reasons that your husky might whine a lot. Below I will mention some common ones but it is by no means an exhaustive list. If you’re unsure about what might be causing it you should consider taking it to the vet to make sure that nothing is wrong.

Hunger

It could be that the reason that your husky is whining is that it is hungry. This type of whining is likely to occur around the time that you would normally give it food and is more likely in the morning. It could also happen if you forget to feed it or if you make it wait too long between meals.

Related: Why is my dog so annoying?

Needs to pee

The whining could be because it needs to pee or poo. This type of whining will likely occur when it hasn’t been let outside for a while and is more likely to occur in the morning. To prevent this make sure to give your husky the chance to go outside regularly.

Related: how to keep your husky happy.

It’s not getting enough exercise

The reason that your husky whines a lot could be because it is not getting enough exercise. Huskies are a very active breed that requires a lot of exercise if your husky isn’t getting much then it is likely that it will let you know about it.

Related: Why does my dog whine at night?

Pain

It could be that your husky is in pain or it is ill. If you think that this might be the cause then you should take your husky to the vet.

It wants attention

The reason that your husky whines a lot could be because it wants you to give it some kind of attention. If you haven’t been giving it much attention lately then it could cause it to start whining. You’ll also encourage the behavior if you reward the whining with attention. If it is whining for attention, as an alternative you should try ignoring the whining and then give it attention when it is being well behaved.

It’s saying sorry

It could be that it has done something wrong. When it knows that it has made you unhappy huskies (and other dogs) will start to whine as a way of saying sorry.

How to get your husky to stop whining

There are a number of things that you can do to prevent your husky from whining. I will mention them below.

Give it exercise

Huskies are a breed that were bred to pull sleighs for hours in freezing temperatures on a daily basis. With that being the case it is necessary to give them a lot of exercise in order to be properly stimulated. If they do not get it then it can cause them to become hyperactive and whining is likely to come with it.

Vets will often recommend that you give your husky at least an hour of exercise every day. However, many people find that even that isn’t enough so you might need to find ways to exercise it in a way that will wear it out more.

Below I will mention some ways you can give your husky exercise:

• Walk it

The most obvious way to exercise your husky it to walk it. You will likely find that your husky will be able to handle more than just a one hour walk so you will need to make it more demanding for your husky. You can do this by walking at a faster pace, walking further, walking in a hilly area, letting it loose in a dog park (if you can get it to come back reliably) or you could put a weight vest on it that’s designed for dogs that weighs no more than 10% of its body weight.

• Teach it to play fetch

Teaching your husky to play fetch is a great way to give it a lot of exercise quickly. It will wear it out fast since it will get your husky to do a lot of sprinting without much rest in between. It will also help to improve your relationship with your husky since it will involve having your husky respond to you in a positive way. It can be difficult to teach your husky to play fetch at first but I have written about how you can teach it to do it in the past here.

• Teach it to swim

Teaching your husky to swim is another very effective way to give it exercise. The act of swimming involves it moving its legs around a lot to stay afloat which helps to wear it out quickly. It’s also good in the summer months since it will help your husky to stay cool. Huskies often do not take well to water naturally but I have written about how you can get your husky to like swimming here.

• Walk it with other dogs

One way to give your husky more exercise while also getting it to socialize is to walk it with other dogs. By doing this it will wear itself out faster by playing with the other dogs and it will help to improve its behavior by getting it to socialize. Be aware, however, that huskies have a strong prey drive and do not always get on well with small dogs.

• Have it pull you

Seeing as its a husky a natural way to give it exercise would be to have it pull you along on a skateboard or bike. This will wear it out quickly since it will be constantly running and it will have to work harder to pull your additional weight along.  If you do it make sure to make it wear a harness instead of a collar.

• Use a dog walker

When you’re limited on time you could get a dog walker to give your husky exercise for you. There are apps that you can download now that let you book a local dog walker directly through the app.

Train it

You can also train your husky to stop whining using positive reinforcement training.

Positive reinforcement training is where you train it by rewarding good behaviors. You can use this to get your husky to stop whining by completely ignoring it when it whines and then rewarding it when it is being well behaved. When you ignore it you should make sure not to give it any attention at all and not even bad attention as this would be giving it what it wants.

Give it distractions

Another way to reduce the whining would be to give it lots of things to be distracted with.

One way to do so would be to give it lots of toys to play with. By doing that you will be able to direct its attention onto something that you don’t mind it being focused on instead of something like your sofa. Giving it toys to play with is especially important when your husky is in the teething phase since it naturally wants to chew things in this phase.

You could also give it puzzle games to play with. There are a whole host of toys now that you can buy for your husky that are designed to make it hard for your husky to get to the treats inside. If you do get a puzzle for it consider getting one of the tougher ones so that your husky doesn’t figure it out so quickly.

You could also give it some chews to chew on. There are actually some that you can buy that are designed to calm your husky down. So, you might want to keep some available for when you think that your husky might be about to misbehave.

Give it attention

To stop your husky whining you’ll also need to give it attention when it is appropriate. There are a number of ways to give your husky attention I’ll mention some of them below.

• Tug of war

Playing tug of war with your husky is a good way to give it the attention that it wants. Huskies usually love to play tug of war so you’ll be unlikely to find that it doesn’t want to play it.

• Training

One way to give your husky attention is to train it. Obviously, this has the added benefit of getting your husky to learn to behave in a way that you want it to. If you haven’t trained your husky before then you should start with the basics such as to teach it to sit and stay in an environment where there are not many distractions. Then you can teach it harder things in locations where there are more distractions like a park.

• Play fetch with it

By playing fetch with your husky you’ll not only be able to give it attention but you’ll also be able to exercise it in an efficient manner.

• Doggy daycare

If you don’t think that you will be able to give your husky enough attention at some point then you could take it to a doggy daycare. By doing this you will avoid having your husky get bored and start misbehaving.

If you think that your husky whines for attention make sure not to give your husky attention when it starts whining otherwise you might encourage the behavior.

Take it to the vet

If you can’t figure out why your husky is whining then you should take it to the vet to get it checked out.

Things to consider

Age

You should also consider how old your husky is. If it is a puppy then it will naturally be more demanding of your attention and its whining should go down as it gets older.

When it whines

When you’re thinking about what might be causing the whining consider when it whines. If it whines in the mornings then it might be because it wants food or because it wants to go outside. If it whines at a time when you normally walk it then it probably is reminding you of that.

Where it whines

You should also consider the location of the whining. If it’s where you normally feed it then it is probably hoping that you’ll give it food for example.

Related questions

Why is my husky whining suddenly? If your husky has suddenly started to whine a lot then consider recent events that have happened and changes in its normal routine. It is also possible that it is sick or injured and you should get it looked at by a vet.