7 Reasons Why Huskies Don’t Come Back Inside (Solved)

Every husky owner knows this feeling, I bet! You’re at the door, calling for your husky to come in, and your voice gets more and more urgent. But they just don’t listen. It’s so typical.

Some huskies sit down and look away, while others just stand and look at you like you’re the odd one…

This post will go over the usual reasons why huskies won’t come back in, and what steps you can take.

Reasons Why Your Husky Won’t Come Back In When Called

There are several reasons behind this kind of behavior. Keep in mind, it could be a single cause or a combination of them.

1. Your husky doesn’t spend enough time outside anyway
2. The yard is more appealing
3. A lack of recall training
4. Their independant nature
5. Your husky spends most of their time outside
6. Lack of exercise or stimulation
7. Owners have let the behavior slide too long

1. Your husky doesn’t spend enough time outside anyway

Huskies love being outside, and if your husky doesn’t get enough outside time in general, this will be their opportunity to make up for it. Regardless of what you think!

This is particularly true for huskies than are left home alone on a daily basis. Even if you aren’t gone for that long, being kept inside can still get boring fast.

Dogs, in general, want nothing more than to roam around outside for a while if they’ve been indoors all day.

2. The yard is more appealing

The smells, sounds, and sights in the backyard are far more appealing than inside… All dogs agree!

Huskies are more adventurous and nosey than most breeds, and with all those smells, being outside is an easy win over being indoors.

So the next time you call your husky, they’ll be thinking “Pfft, no way, it’s much better out here!”

Related: Do huskies need a fenced yard?

3. A lack of recall training

What most owners attribute this behavior to is having a lack of recall training. Recall is when you call your husky and they come back to you on command.

As it happens, huskies have a notoriously bad natural recall, so it must be trained into them (ideally from a young age.)

If your husky has no concept or understanding of “coming back” when you call them, it’s not entirely their fault! Despite how frustrating it is.

4. Their independent nature is making them stubborn

In other cases, your husky might know exactly what you want when you call them to come back inside, yet they sit there giving you those smug eyes.

Huskies are definitely one of the most independent breeds out there. This means they like to think for themselves and basically do what they want when they want.

Huskies that have not been drilled with basic commands over and over will tend to be more stubborn.

Basic command training given on a daily basis will instill a greater desire to follow commands and appease.

5. Your husky spends most of their time outside

Yep, believe it or not, if your husky spends most of the day outside, then they might become more comfortable being outside than inside…

I know some owners (with escape-proof yards) that keep their huskies outside while they are out if the weather allows for it.

While this is a great idea and their huskies have come to love it, it created quite an issue getting them back inside!

6. Lack of exercise or stimulation

If your husky lacks physical exercise or mental stimulation, then ignoring your calls to come back inside will almost be guaranteed.

If a husky is overly bored, pent up, or inactive, they are going to find their own entertainment the moment they get let out.

They will also come to associate being indoors with being bored and frustrated, reinforcing to them that outside is better than inside.

7. Owners have let the behavior slide too long

If owners give up on getting their husky inside, they’ll quickly learn that they can get away with staying outside.

If your husky knows that after a couple of minutes of their owner’s calls, they get their own way, then this will be remembered for the next time.

Sometimes, even if a husky does want to come back inside, it’s like they’re programmed to ignore you, simply to complete the action of being left alone again. (I know, this sounds SUPER weird, but many behavioral experts agree that this happens).

Additional resource

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Psst. A quick update on training your husky pup! Brain Training For Dogs might now be one of the best training regimes suitable for a husky. Owners are seeing improvement in obedience, behavior, and stubbornness quicker than ever before.

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How To Get Your Husky Back Inside (When You Call)

It’s best to tackle this behavior from multiple angles, as your chance of effectively correcting this issue is greater. Thankfully, there are several tactics that I’ll cover below.

There are a couple of factors will determine how easy it is to fix this behavior. The first is your husky’s age, and the second is how long the behavior has already been happening.

If your husky is already an adult and has been doing this for years, you’ll have a tough time on your hand (I won’t sugar coat anything!)

1. Start simple recall training sessions

Throughout the day, while your husky is NOT outside, run through some basic recall drills.

A very good way to reinforce the idea of returning to you when you call their name, is to grab their favorite toy and initiate a play session.

Throw the toy away from you, and use the “come” command as your husky returns to you. Always reward heavily each time.

You can also do this without the toy, by simply asking your husky to sit and wait, before you move away, and ask them to “come” to you. Again, plenty of treats and praise are necessary.

2. Continue with basic command training

Learning the basics like sit, stay, down, paw, drop, and come are essential skills that should be perfected and practiced daily.

The problem is that most owners quickly stop the moment their husky learns a few of them, like “sit and stay” which won’t take long at all.

However, running through these basic drills every day for 15-20 minutes (total) will continue to build upon your husky’s obedience. It will also help reinforce the idea of obeying your commands rather than defying them.

3. Plenty of exercise and mental stimulation

As I say so often to owners, exercise and mental stimulation are the keys to a well-behaved and happy husky.

If either their physical exercise is off, or they are bored, problems happen (in many different forms).

Make sure your husky gets enough exercise, at least 90 minutes a day, and also lots of brain games. This can be training, meeting new friends, playing with toys that make them think, or sniffing games.

If you do this, your husky probably won’t want to stay outside longer than the 90 minutes they’ve been running about. Also, if they’re happy and their brain is busy, they won’t feel like sniffing around outside for a long time.

4. Try to avoid leaving your husky home alone

One of the quickest ways to get a bored, frustrated, and disobedient husky, is to leave them home alone every day.

If this happens, there’s no telling how their behavior and temperament can change.

While all huskies are different, most will not like to be left alone for more than 4-5 hours max. For puppies and seniors, it’s much less.

Whether this means changing plans, hiring a dog sitter, asking friends of family to come over, or obtaining a home-lunch break, it’s important to minimize the time your husky spends home alone.

This will reduce stress, anxiety, boredom, and frustration and result in greater obedience.

Related: How long can huskies be left alone?

5. Give your husky plenty of interaction and “fun times” inside the house

Another great thing to work on is having more fun with your husky inside your home.

If your husky doesn’t associate being inside with anything good, then why go inside at all?

Owners would likely see a quick positive change if they start playing, training, and interacting with their husky inside the home more frequently.

The next time you call your husky to come back inside, your husky might just actually be more excited to get back in, than to stay out…

What To Do When Your Husky Ignores You?

What should you do the next time your husky ignores you? Which could even be right now!

Should you ignore them? Let him stay out? Or go and get him?

Playing with them outside first BEFORE asking them to come inside

This is the best thing to do If the weather allows for it. By going outside to engage and play with your husky first, you aren’t instantly greeting them with a confrontational action (like asking them to do something)…

If you go outside, walk around with your husky, talk to them and play for several minutes, they are far more likely to follow you back inside.

Simply standing at the backdoor hollering at them, isn’t the best first move.

Check your tone

It’s proven now that dogs really do understand the tone of our voice. Dogs produce different emotional reactions depending on how we say a word, even if the word remains the same.

Asking your husky to “come” should be in a calm, positive, happy tone, not a stressed or frustrated one. It’s easy to start with a happy tone, but then change it to a frustrated one! I know, been there myself!

Avoid grabbing or pulling them inside

Sure, this is definitely the most immediate way for you to resolve the issue, but it is not helping the situation. It is making it far worse for the next time.

This is a negative interaction, which can stress your husky, make them anxious, and much less likely to obey you in the future.

Having interactions like this with your husky can cause a negative effect in many other areas of daily life too.

Do you have this issue? Have you resolved an issue like this? Please let me know so I can share your experiences and advice with other husky owners! Thanks for reading. Back to My Happy Husky