Are Huskies Hard To Own: (What Owners Must Know)

How hard are huskies to take care of? If you’re considering getting a husky, this is a great question to ask before making a final decision. This article explains exactly what it takes to raise an obedient and happy husky.

Although Huskies have many positive traits that make them great to take care of, like being naturally friendly, social, and kind, they can also be rather difficult.

Huskies are known for being stubborn, require a lot of training, and in general, are not ideal for inexperienced dog owners.

I’ll continue to break this down in much clearer detail below. Let’s get into it!

What Makes Huskies Easy to Take Care Of ✅

Let’s first cover some positives about this amazing breed, and why you should be interested in getting one in the first place.

1) Friendly and Sociable

Having a friendly dog who you aren’t worried about being aggressive or biting a stranger is a big weight off your shoulders.

Even if Huskies aren’t trained, they are naturally friendly and sociable with dogs and strangers they have never seen before. In fact, they’re so accepting of new people, they make bad guard dogs, which is something to keep in mind.

2) Loving and Affectionate

Huskies are a loving breed and thanks to the way the Chukchi tribe bred them for thousands of years, like to be a part of the family.

Huskies often make strong bonds with their owners and love to show their family members their care and affection.

3) Great with kids

As they’re such a naturally friendly breed, they are great with young children. The energy of a young child matches perfectly with that of a Husky and they’ll likely be the best of friends, playing all day long.

Although you can never leave any dog unsupervised with a young child or baby, at least you know that the natural temperament of a Husky is friendly and loving.

4) Intelligent

Once trained, you can expect a Siberian Husky to be very understanding of situations, your commands as well as knowing what’s right and wrong. It may be a long road to reach this point, but it’s reassuring to know that Huskies do have the ability to be trained to a high level.

5) Naturally Hygienic

Siberian Huskies are a naturally hygienic breed of dog, and it’s very uncommon to find a smelly Husky. That typical “dog smell” is something Huskies do not usually have.

They often act much like a cat does and will lick their coats to clean them. This is a great bonus, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have to groom them!

7 Questions To Consider Before Getting a Husky

This section should highlight to you whether a husky will be hard to take care of, depending on your normal routine and lifestyle.

If you see it like this, it will be easier for you to understand just how hard (or easy) it is to take care of a Husky as it ultimately depends on you.

Let’s go through in detail what you should know about Huskies:

1) Are You Fairly Active?

Siberian Huskies are born to run. They’re literally considered the ultra-marathon runners of the dog world, capable of running 100 miles in a single day.

I’m not saying this is what you have to do too!

But a Husky only suits someone or a family that is very active, every day. Is exercise a big part of your life? because it sure is for a Husky and without it, they’ll likely become destructive, disobedient and very hard to manage.

Huskies ideally need 2 hours of exercise per day, one hour in the morning and another in the evening. Their activity shouldn’t be a light stroll in the park as this won’t satisfy their strong desire to run. A Huskies preferred exercise is anything that’s fast pace and with high intensity.

If you can fit this is to an activity you enjoy every day, this is perfect! Huskies would love nothing more than to pull you along for miles on a skateboard (don’t worry, I can’t skateboard either!) But hopefully, you get my point!

2) Are You At Work All Day?

Huskies require a lot of attention, so if you work all day, every day, it’s not only unfair for your Husky, but it will also lead to destructiveness and other behavioral issues, as well as separation anxiety.

This is a really important one to think about, and unfortunately, it can be the hardest to adjust, even if we want to.

If you’re in a household with a partner and/or with kids, this can work out perfectly fine, just as long as there aren’t entire days where your Husky will be alone.

One thing to note: Of course, there are many people out there who have a Husky and work a fulltime job. However, special arrangements are likely made, you can either obtain an hour break to go home and spend time with your Husky, or you have people come over to your house and give your Husky company.

3) Do You Have Experience Training a Dog?

Firstly, having previous experience in dog training is NOT mandatory, but it is recommended.

I believe that first-timers can manage and train a Husky just fine if the commitment, focus, and attention are always on point. But you should ask yourself and be honest, are you ready for a battle? (literally).

The advantage of having experience in dog training is that you likely understand better how a dog learns. Once you actually try training a dog to do something and they don’t do it, staring blankly back at you, you realize, this could take a while.

Remember that Huskies are notoriously stubborn, which makes training a significant task. Most people with experience owning dogs already know the challenges ahead.

So, not that it’s absolutely necessary, but you have to ask yourself if you are ready to do the research on Husky training, carry out training exercises every day from day one, be consistent, firm, and expect it to be a rough ride.

4) How Much Quality Time Can Owners Give?

While similar to attention, this is slightly different. How much quality time will you engage in?

Will you bring them with you when you go to your friend’s house, or when you go to the store? Throughout the day will you sit with them, play games and make a fuss of them? This time is pretty significant for any Husky.

So, if you know that you aren’t going to give your Husky as much of your time as possible, maybe a different breed is best suited for you.

As most Husky owners say, you should really be into Huskies, if you want to get a Husky!

5) Are You Ok With Dog Hair?… Everywhere?

Siberian Huskies are shedders! They have thick double-layered coats that will usually drop hair all year-round, with two big blowouts per year. Sometimes, depending on where you live and the climate your Husky may only blow out once.

A blowout, just in case you don’t know is when the undercoat sheds in preparation for the next season, and new hair coming through. It can last around 1 month, sometimes less or more than this. It’s quite a spectacle and you can be sure that there will be dog hair EVERYWHERE.

You have to be honest with yourself, are you someone who is ok with dog hair on your floors every day?

Grooming is very important and will play a big part in owning a Husky. So you should be ready to have a solid grooming routine with your Husky around 2 or 3 times per week. More so when they have a blowout.

6) Is Your Home Secure?

When you read the heading, you probably thought about intruders or guard dog type situations…

That’s not what this is about! Siberian Huskies are known as the Harry Houdini of the dog world. They are true escape artists and love nothing more than to find a way out of your home.

Huskies are a curious breed with lots of energy, so if they can hear, see or smell anything interesting outside of your property, they will try to find a way out.

One thing to know about Huskies is that they can jump high, and dig deep! If your home isn’t secure, you can “husky-proof” it, but you have to be sure that it will stop them.

Husky owners often have to raise their fences and gates higher than 6ft, and insert chicken wire deep under the perimeter of their yard.

7) Are You Living In a Hot Country or State?

Huskies were bred in arctic conditions for thousands of years. It’s safe to say they not only thrive in cold weather, they much prefer it.

Having said that, I live in a sub tropical climate, where there is a surprisingly high number of Siberian huskies.

Many of the Huskies I have seen living in tropical countries are just fine and are all comfortable, but they ALL have air-conditioned houses for whenever it’s too hot outside.

Where you live isn’t too much of a problem, but you should always consider it and be ready to have AC on throughout hot summers or all the time if need be.

This article contains excellent tips on taking care of huskies in hot weather.

So, Are Huskies Hard to Take Care Of?

As mentioned above, for some owners, huskies will prove to be too difficult, but for others, it may be a walk in the park!

It depends on how well a Husky matches your normal lifestyle. If you have to make a lot of adjustments for the Husky, you may end up getting tired, fed up, or even giving up on your new fluffy friend. That’s why it’s important to consider the questions above.

A very sad, but true reality is that huskies are one of the most abandoned breeds. Each case is different but a lot of people put this down to just how difficult it is owning a Husky.

It’s easy to get blown away by their beautiful features and appearance that we forget all of the challenges that lay ahead.

Summary

Now you know what having a Siberian Huskies entails. It’s time to make an important decision!

If you have any helpful advice you can give to someone thinking about getting this wonderful breed, please comment below! You may just give them the help they’re looking for!

Most Recommended For Huskies 🐶

Best Brushes For Husky Shedding

My two favorite brushes for a beautiful coat are a simple Undercoat Rake and a Slicker Brush. These brushes when used together will de-shed and maintain your husky’s coat better than anything else.

Best Online Training Program For Huskies

Brain Training For Dogs has become increasingly popular with Siberian Huskies in the last few years. It’s now recognized as perhaps the best way to train a husky, in the most stress-free, positive way.

Best Husky Puppy Book

If you would like to support My Happy Husky directly and have an easy to read and entertaining guide for training your husky puppy, check out my book The Husky Puppy Handbook on Amazon. All purchases are greatly appreciated.

Other Resources:
https://pages.wustl.edu/dogbreeds/articles/26202 (Social Behavior in Huskies)
https://www.pdsa.org.uk/taking-care-of-your-pet/looking-after-your-pet/puppies-dogs/large-dogs/siberian-husky