How To Deal With An Aggressive Husky?

PosiIt can be difficult to deal with a pet who becomes aggressive, especially if they are large.  Let’s discuss how to deal with an aggressive husky and the reasons behind why your husky might be showing aggression

Dealing with an aggressive animal can be a difficult task. Huskies can start barking and become aggressive when they sense danger or threat from someone or some situation. They can behave in an unsettling and disturbing manner that would scare off you, your family members, or even your guests. 

Sometimes they think that acting aggressively can be the only way to survive. However, the fatality rate of Huskies belies the common assumption that they are aggressive. According to the CDC, the fatality rate due to bites by huskies is less than 3%. 

With proper training they are harmless, and you can assist your husky in behaving correctly instead of showing anger and rage. Furthermore, you can make sure that the husky feels loved and cared for with the presence of you and everyone around.

Why Is My Husky Aggressive?

Your husky can be aggressive due to many reasons, especially if he may feel a threat towards someone. Temporary aggression shown by the husky does not make them aggressive by nature. You can figure out various ways to calm them down. Some of the multiple reasons justifying the aggression of a husky are:

Low socializing

It is not mandatory that all huskies love to socialize in their surroundings. If they aren’t allowed to socialize with people or other animals, they instantly fear them and consider them a threat. 

To save themselves and to survive, they act aggressively and might sometimes lose control. They can also show fear and anxiety when other animals surround them.

Dominating nature

Huskies are dominant by nature. They tend to be in charge at all times. Some huskies do not listen to your directions to calm them down. 

They are possessive of their belongings and do not quickly calm down. Biting, barking, and snatching are some traits that they show to other people or dogs around. 

Lacking physical activity

Depriving huskies of physical activity would eventually lead them to become aggressive. This can be attributed to the hormonal changes inside their body. 

Huskies are energetic, and depriving them of activity leads to the storage of that energy which in turn is vented out as a hyperactive and aggressive behavior in dogs. So you need to get your husky running and playing around to keep their aggression in check.

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Search for prey

Huskies are wild animals, with their natural habitat being a snowy forest. In the ecosystem, they find their survival by preying on small animals. 

So when they are in a domestic environment, being near a small animal or rodents they are not accustomed to would set their mind to preying. In that case, the husky would become aggressive due to its strong prey drive.

Your behavior towards them

If you or the previous owner has mistreated your husky or has not showing them enough love and affection, they are bound to become aggressive.

If you show aggression near or towards a husky, they will most likely adapt to that behavior and show aggressive traits in response to your behavior towards them. In that case, they will be accustomed to your behavior and reciprocate a similar aggressive behavior. 

Different Types Of Aggression In Dogs

Depending upon its surroundings, any dog can show an aggressive temperament. Namely, three types of aggression are seen in a dog: dominant, predatory, and territorial. 

A dog can exhibit a single kind of aggression at a time, but sometimes it can also exhibit more than one reaction at a time. So you must look closely at their response and find ways to calm them.

Dominant aggression

Aggressive traits can be seen in your dog from a very early age. If you see them wanting to control you or your environment, make sure you don’t let them do that. Dominant types of aggression start from an early age. 

This could be recognized as dominant aggression when you see your dog biting, snapping, and aggressively barking at people or other animals. Dominant aggression is inborn in dogs due to their evolution where competition over resources lead to the most dominant ones becoming survivors.

Keeping a check on your dog and correcting their behavior while they are puppies could compensate for this behavior. Correcting this behavior can be done by regular exercise and activity. Fixing up a training session with a professional trainer can be a better option to deal with that.

Predatory aggression

This is the most common type of aggression seen in a husky. Huskies are the kind of dogs that live in a wild habitat and grow a sense of praying for survival. If you have other small animals like rodents, cats, other small dogs, or even tiny babies, keeping a husky wouldn’t be a good choice. 

They can attack children or other small animals. It is better to always keep an eye on the husky. If they show signs of snapping, erect tail, severe licking, erecting body posture, or charging at a group of animals or babies, make sure you immediately correct their behavior.

Territorial aggression

You must always make a dog feel loved at your house. This type of aggression starts when your dog demarcates a territory and thinks it is his sole responsibility to protect and save it. 

If they keep on with this aggression, they will build up a habit of protecting you and your family at any cost. In one way, it is a good thing, but it would mean an aggressive attitude towards any stranger, be it your friend. 

You can allow your friends or other strangers to pet them while they meet or take them out in a park for a walk. This way, he will learn that protecting his family from every stranger he sees is not always necessary. In other words, they would show aggressive traits to your friends and relatives as they are not as accustomed to the other people.

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How To Deal With An Aggressive Husky?

Huskies should be made to feel that they are in a safe place where no one will hurt them. In the case of an unsocialized or rescued husky, they can find difficulties with people and become aggressive around them.

They can react to the situation aggressively if they sense a threat toward other dogs and people. But it has to be made sure that the husky is treated with love and affection, making them feel secure. Below mentioned are a few ways why which you can handle your aggressive husky:

Direct their attention to various things they can do:

• You can show your dog what you want from them. 
• You can do this by showing them to be calm and content instead of barking, snapping, etc. 
• Teach them to sit while they learn to obey you. 
• Direct them to sit on the mat or stand when asked to. 
• You should teach them but without rage or anger.

While following the above rule, you must keep in mind that if they are aggressive by nature and get excited about tiny things, try to keep them away from aggression-provoking or reactive games. 

Treat them with love and not rudeness:

The key point to making your husky listen to and obey you is treating them with lots of love, just like a small baby. Avoid being rude or portraying harsh behavior. Nowadays, so many healthy exercises and lots of training are possible without treating aggression with aggression.

When training an aggressive husky, finding calming ways is better suggested than using punishing exercises and physical work. Some of the aversive and punishing exercises are:

• Usage of ear pinches, choke chain, or shock collars
• Shouting or screaming at the dog.
• Hurting them by punishment or physical abuse.

Doing any of the above will make the husky aggressive and violent and make them not trust you anymore. 

Start the change:

You have to look closely at the factors that trigger the aggression of your husky. 

You can identify all the trigger points as the different types of aggression they possess. It can be among the above types of aggression, like predatory, territorial, and dominant.

If you get to know what exactly the trigger point is, you can easily look up that section and then correct the behavior of your husky. Manage the dog’s environment and do not let them be in a situation where they can show aggression and violence. 

Keep them in a friendly environment:

Make sure your dog is in a friendly environment. Let strangers or your relatives take the husky out for a walk in the park. This way, they will get acquainted with the person and then learn to like them. Furthermore, regular health exercises that teach them discipline will make them calm and content. 

Positive reinforcement:

It is important to discourage bad behavior, but it is equally important to reward good ones. Positive reinforcement by giving your Siberian husky their favorite food, treat or toys when they listen to your commands will go a long way in mellowing down their aggression and helping them understand what is considered “appropriate” behavior. 

Mental stimulation

We discussed earlier – husky’s were born and bred for the hunt. They need to be challenged through both physical and mental stimulation, otherwise their boredom can quickly turn into aggression issues. Give your dog a regular dose of fresh air and toys and games that help stimulate their minds. 

Obedience training

If nothing else works, you can opt for obedience training from a professional dog trainer who has worked with and understands husky’s and their behavior issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wrap Up

Aggression is a sign of internal damage; no one wants to see their dog behave aggressively and cause harm to anyone. Always ensure that you can figure out the underlying cause of that aggression and then work widely towards mending them. Allow them to obey you and make them feel loved and cared for under your keep.