Huskies have an unusual relationship with their food bowl, sometimes they eat, and sometimes they don’t! Believe it or not, this is one of the most common questions husky owners have, so you’re not alone there. This article will explain everything you need to know.
The 6 Reasons Why Your Husky Won’t Eat:
1. Disagreeing With Their Food
2. Lack of Exercise
3. No Daily Feeding Routine
4. Not Comfortable In His Environment
5. Bored of The Food
6. Other Health Issues
6 Reasons Why Your Husky Isn’t Eating
1. Disagreeing With Their Food:
If your husky feels unwell after eating, they’ll avoid that food next time. Huskies often have sensitive stomachs. Ensure their diet is high in protein, which digests easily, while keeping fat and carbohydrate levels low. Avoid common allergens like soy, wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, chicken, lamb, and beef.
2. Lack of Exercise:
Huskies need substantial exercise to maintain a healthy appetite. Aim for at least 2 hours of intensive activities like running, hiking, and agility training daily. Without sufficient exercise, your husky’s efficient metabolism means they won’t be as hungry.
3. No Daily Feeding Routine:
A consistent feeding schedule is crucial. Grazing throughout the day can lead to a lack of hunger at mealtime. Establish set feeding times, ensuring there’s a gap of at least 2 hours before and 45 minutes after exercise.
4. Not Comfortable in Their Environment:
Huskies need to feel safe and comfortable while eating. Distractions or unfamiliar noises can deter them. Try moving their food bowl to a quieter room to see if it helps.
5. Bored of the Food:
Your husky might simply be bored with their food. Occasionally changing their diet can help, but avoid frequent changes to prevent stomach upset. Find a diet that works and stick with it as long as your husky enjoys it.
6. Underlying Health Issues:
If your husky isn’t eating and you can’t identify a reason, consult a veterinarian. Huskies are prone to zinc deficiency, which can cause a lack of appetite among other health issues. A vet check-up is essential to rule out medical conditions.
Related Article: 5 Ways To Help Your Husky Gain Weight
Are Huskies Picky Eaters?
In short, yes. Huskies are considered picky eaters compared to most other breeds. Not all huskies will have difficulty eating but most owners will eventually have to deal with their husky being fussy.
The good news is that this can be overcome. There is always a reason behind a picky husky, and once you narrow down the cause, the solution will be made perfectly clear.
5 Ways To Encourage Your Husky To Start Eating Again
1. Eliminate common allergens from his diet
Make sure you are aware of the common food allergens and then work to remove them from your husky’s normal food. This could be the necessary change your husky is waiting for. In this article, I recommend the 4 best foods for huskies with sensitive stomachs.
2. Change the protein source to fish, duck, turkey, salmon
While people often think their dog loves chicken, beef, and pork, they’re actually all common allergens to most dogs. Protein that comes from either duck, turkey, or salmon digests better and doesn’t cause reactions. Of course, all huskies are different so it’s still important to introduce these slowly and in small amounts to gauge their reaction.
3. Add in extra flavor to their food (healthy)
There are many healthy ways you can increase the flavor of your dog’s food. I have a full article on helping your husky gain weight, which includes healthy ways to make his food yummier. You could add some healthy meat broth, dog food toppers, peanut butter, or add a small dollop of wet dog food on top of their dry kibble. (just be sure to watch their calories).
4. Create proper feeding times and stick to them
Train your husky to be hungry at certain times of the day. As dinner time approaches, his body clock will be getting ready to eat. You can even take this further by limiting the time you keep his food bowl down. This is a clever method that plays on his instinctive behavior. I go through this in more detail on my other article helping huskies gain weight, linked above.
5. Increase your husky’s exercise
A no-brainer way to increase your husky’s appetite is to exercise him more. The breed has been bred for thousands of years working very hard on small diets. Huskies need a lot of exercise to ramp up their appetite. Without intensive exercise, it’s extremely likely he won’t feel hungry.
How Long Can a Husky Go Without Eating?
A healthy adult husky can go 5-7 days without eating, as long as they are still drinking water. If your husky refuses water, seek veterinary help within 24 hours. For puppies or senior huskies, any refusal to eat should be addressed by a vet within 24 hours.
Consider Switching To Human-Grade Dog Food
It’s argued that one of the best forms of dog food is human-grade dog food. This diet is considered a step up from traditional dog food, but not as extreme as the raw food diet.
This is a particularly interesting topic and I’ve got a great review of a company in another article. It’s worth checking out. Pet Plate For Huskies.
This runs through the pros and cons and takes a detailed look at the food and the company behind it all.
FAQ Section
How long can a husky go without eating?
Huskies, like most other dogs, can go around 5-7 days without eating, as long as they continue drinking fluids. If they aren’t consuming fluids either, this time is dramatically reduced.
What foods can huskies not eat?
Huskies should avoid a lot of human food including table scraps, and other ingredients like onions, garlic, grapes, raisins, figs, currents, avocados, cherries, tomatoes, mushrooms, chocolate, coffee, salt, and anything sugary.
Do huskies eat less in summer?
Many huskies experience a slight decrease in appetite during summer, but it shouldn’t be a dramatic change. Assuming your husky is still receiving a sufficient amount of exercise, their appetite should remain fairly consistent regardless of the weather.
How can I get my husky to eat?
You can make your husky’s food more appealing by adding meat broth to it, mixing in a small amount of wet dog food, or adding a dog-friendly seasoning topper.
What do huskies eat in the wild?
For thousands of years living with their Chuckchi Tribe, a husky’s diet would have been what their tribe’s diet was. This means, a lot of meat with a moderate amount of vegetation. This is exactly why most huskies thrive off a diet that’s high in protein and fat, with minimal carbs.
Summary
Thank you for reading!
The best way to really deal with these issues is to be attentive and arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible. Catching this behavior early will better help you solve it quickly, and catch health issues before they develop into something worse (if health issues are the cause).
Always monitor your husky or any dog and if he refuses to eat completely for more than a day, I recommend being safe and visiting your local veterinarian for professional advice and help.
Related Articles
- Best Dog Food For Huskies: Top Brands Reviewed
- Can Huskies Eat Ice Cream
- Safe and Unsafe Fruit For Huskies
Most Recommended For Huskies
Best Harness For a Husky
The Kurgo Tru-Fit Harness remains to be the best harness I’ve seen for a husky. It’s affordable and reliable.
Best Online Training Program For Huskies
Brain Training For Dogs has become very popular with Siberian Huskies in the last few years. Owners that have tried it say amazing things about the incredible results and how easily implemented the training is.
Best Husky Puppy Book
If you would like an easy to read guide for training your husky puppy, check out my book The Husky Puppy Handbook on Amazon. All purchases are greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer
The advice given in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice in any context. Before making any decisions that may affect the health and/or safety of your dog, you should always consult a trained veterinarian in your local area. For the FULL disclaimer Visit HereCopyright Notice: The content produced and published on My Happy Husky is unique and original. My Happy Husky makes an active effort to search for plagiarized content using plagiarism detection software. If plagiarized content is found, action will be taken.
