I have good news and bad news.
The good news is huskies rarely bark. The bad news is that they fill the barking deficit with a whole range of weird and wonderful sounds.
Most dogs bark to draw your attention to something, or to scare off intruders and threats. Some dogs may also bark when they are distressed or nervous, again this is a way of scaring off whatever is making them nervous.
The reason that huskies don’t bark is that they are abysmal guard dogs and couldn’t pick out a threat if it smacked them in the face.
Huskies aren’t territorial, so they don’t bark when people enter their property or encroach on their space. They’re more likely to hug an intruder than attack them.
They also think that everyone who approaches them wants to have fun. For this reason, they’re pretty useless as protection dogs on the street.
While they might not like to bark, huskies are big on vocals. These vocals can range from yips and yaps, to drawn out howls, and even sounds that resemble words.
Humans have lovingly referred to these noises as ‘talking’ in order to differentiate it from barking.
The fact of the matter is, talking is coded into their DNA. Huskies are primarily pack dogs and as such they have to communicate lots of different things to the others in their pack.
While other dogs use barks to communicate, huskies just prefer to howl and talk. In this sense, they are much closer to their wolf ancestors than other breeds of domesticated dogs.
Wolves howl because the long, drawn out sound is easier to hear and follow. It also gives the wolves more time to pinpoint the location of the howl. Huskies howl because they have retained this wolf like instinct.
In the harsh, snowy conditions they worked in, howling and yelping carried further than a short bark.
You’ll notice that husky puppies become very vocal when they need attention, food, water, or more attention.
You’ll also hear them practicing the different sounds and vocalizations that older huskies can do. There is nothing quite as heart wrenchingly cute as watching a husky pup attempt to howl!
Huskies tend to find it much easier to make the howling and talking noises. They can struggle with short, sharp barking sounds.
Why Does My Husky Keep Barking at Me?
It is unlikely that your husky is actually barking at you. Even though adult huskies are capable of barking, many prefer to howl or talk instead.
If your husky is making a barking noise similar to what you’d hear from other dogs, it means that they are trying to frighten something off or make themselves seem frightening.
Huskies are not very protective, nor are they good at detecting a threat. When they do detect a threat, they will bark and make a lot of noise to try and scare the person or thing off.
The other reason why your husky might bark at you is to get your attention. If you don’t respond to their talking in the way that they want, they might bark as a last-ditch attempt to get your attention.
Also, if you have previously responded to their barking, they might have worked out that the way to get your attention is to bark.
If you don’t want them to bark, you need to be careful about rewarding or giving attention when they do bark. It is best to ignore bad behavior as this teaches them that they don’t get the response they’re after.
If your husky is howling, yapping, or talking at you, this could mean a wide range of things.
First and foremost, it’s important to remember that huskies are vocal dogs, and they will tell you when something bothers them.
Your husky might start talking to you if you’re late to feed, walk, or play with them. They might howl the house down if they need to go outside for a toilet.
If you aren’t giving them enough attention, they are likely to shout or scream at you until you give them attention. Huskies adore a fuss.
If you’ve previously rewarded or fussed over your dog for howling or talking, then they are more likely to keep doing it. For example, if you make a big fuss every time your husky sounds like they’re saying, ‘I love you,’ then they’re going to do that when they want attention.
It is incredibly hard to train a husky to stop talking or howling. It truly is just part of their nature. You’re just going to have to embrace the wacky noises that come out of their snouts! After all, it’s part of the charm of the breed.
