Husky Exercise

How to Exercise your Siberian Husky

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Siberian huskies must exercise

If you’re thinking about Siberian huskies, then you are thinking about exercising a lot. Siberian huskies are active dogs that need to exercise daily. The amount of exercise depends on many factors such as the diet plan, physical condition, environment, age, health, and many others. Exercising your dog shouldn’t be a chore for you or your dog. Every activity should be a fun bonding activity between you two.

You need to closely observe your dog during exercising and see when it is enough for him. Don’t work him too much. Start from 20 minutes if you have a puppy. Gradually add minutes and see how he’s taking it. Siberian Huskies are working dogs. They need to exercise. Yet, if you don’t gradually exercise your dog and train him, you can’t expect him to run 20 miles.

Exercise and Training period

Dogs need the training to walk or run longer distances. It is the same for humans. Think about a person that is training for a marathon. That person can run a marathon while an average person can’t. You need to build those muscles and grow that endurance before you even start thinking about running in a marathon – that also applies to your husky puppy. Though, with training, he will outrun you. 😊

Siberian Huskies are high endurance, energetic and working dogs. If you have a sedentary life, it’s better if you don’t get a Siberian husky. Choose a dog that doesn’t need to exercise so much. For the times when your dog has more energy than you do, try to play fetch. He will run more than you. You just need to praise him and keep his spirit up.  

Also see: The history of Siberian Husky

Siberian husky puppy exercise

siberian husky puppy walks
Siberian Husky Puppy first walks

You just got a Siberian husky puppy, and you are wondering what to do with all that energy and how you can properly burn it before your dog will start destroying your house. A Siberian husky puppy will get into a lot of trouble, like chewing furniture, ripping the bedsheets, stealing absolutely everything, jumping on you, and the list can continue.  Let’s see how we can entertain and exercise your dog.

Let’s talk about “zoomies”

Zoomies are when your husky puppy starts to run like crazy around in circles in the house or in the yard. It’s nothing wrong with zoomies, and is a normal dog behavior. It’s normal for your husky to have “zoomies” and act like that. This can happen several times a day. Dogs are simply burning the excess energy. Remove all the obstacles and make sure that your dog wouldn’t harm himself and let him run. Don’t try to stop it, because it will just make your dog more restless. Your husky puppy will forget about training and commands when he has a “zoomie”. If you start to run after him in order to stop it, he will think is playtime. So, just let him burn all that excess energy and have fun.

If there are kids or guests in your house when your husky start running in a circle, the best thing to do is to call your dog outside. You should do this with a really happy tone while caring for some tasty dog treats. I’m not sure this will work every time, though.

Why do dogs have “zoomies”?

The husky can have a case of “ the zoomies” if you don’t let him act upon his natural energy levels or when he is highly excited. Examples are many, such as when you’re bathing him or grooming him. Or even while he waits for food.

You can exercise your Siberian husky, and still see your dog running in circles at top speed. The husky puppies need to exercise in short bursts, so you will see more cases of zoomies at a really young age.

A puppy that receives enough exercise will have fewer zoomies and will generally be more obedient. When the puppy starts to grow, you can add more exercise to his life. Playing with that little and curious buddy will do the trick at first.  Even playing with his toys, to be more specific – chewing on them will get him tired. After a short nap, he will be up and ready to play again.

Exercising until the first vaccination period it’s over

You must keep your husky puppy in a safe environment until he has had all the vaccination done and your vet says it’s OK to take him outside – during this period, contact with other dogs is not recommended. Still, he needs to exercise until that time will come. If you have a garden, you can play with your puppy outside, or even walk him around the garden with a leash. This way, he will get used to the leash, before even going outside. Your pup will already know who is the leader, and he will know to focus on you more.

When it’s safe to take him into the big world, you can take really short walks or have more play sessions outside throughout the day with your husky puppy. You can just slow walk and let him sniff. He will try to sniff everything.

The cases of zoomies are more often in puppies than in adult dogs or seniors. Though, you can expect to see your dog zooming at any age. Only less frequent with the age.

Summer fun activities for dogs
Fun activity during summer

How much should you exercise a husky puppy?

Well, I hear a lot of rules about how much you should exercise your husky puppy. You might know about the 1-2 minutes per week of age or 5 x number of months of age x 2. What is right for your dog? This is tricky. Dogs are different individuals too. They have different genes, different diets, they grow in different environments, and they have different routines. Observe your husky puppy after different exercise sessions and even talk with the vet. Watch out for signs of fatigue, such as panting, slowing the pace, or stopping. This way, you will know what is best for your energetic husky puppy.

If you are keeping your puppy only in the house, you need to take him for walks outside and gradually add more minutes to the walks or to the play sessions.      

When can a husky puppy start to run?

Siberian husky summer activities
Siberian Husky at the lake

Don’t start to run long distances with your Siberian puppy until he is at least 6 months old. You can run with him a short distance, like 20 feet, to build up the spirit and to make him more energetic. Until one year, the puppy’s body is developing. Let those joints and muscles grow first, and then you can go for miles. His muscles will keep growing after one year. The difference between now and after one year is that he will be able to exercise more safely.

These can vary too. As I said before, every puppy is cared differently. 

Siberian husky puppy exercises

You need to keep your Siberian husky puppy busy during those short bursts of energy. Let’s see some fun activities for husky puppy:

  • Play with the puppy in the yard
  • Teach your puppy how to walk on a leash
  • Walk the husky on a leash and give him commands
  • Teach your puppy new tricks
  • Play with fun toys
  • Use puzzle toys
  • Give him many chewing toys
  • Play tug of war
  • Play fetch
  • Hide-and-seek
  • Chase
  • If you have a family member with you, you can call the puppy from one to another
  • Gardening – well, gardening for you, more digging for your husky 🙂

Don’t forget to praise your puppy every single time. Give him happy praises and encourage him to be active. All these exercises will create a strong bond between you and your husky. Besides this, being a working dog, an exercised Husky is a happy and healthy husky – and you want your husky puppy to be strong and healthy.

Siberian Husky exercise

As I said before, exercising your dog should be fun for you and for your buddy. When you are doing the same thing over and over again, you will get bored. Your dog will get bored too, or at least, not that entertained. Let’s see more ways to exercise and to keep you and your husky happy. You can do plenty of exercises with your healthy adult husky:

  • Teaching new tricks
  • Walking
  • Fetching
  • Chasing
  • Playing with toys
  • Play tug of war
  • Hide-and-seek
  • Pulling carts
  • Weights
  • Biking
  • Rollerblade or skateboarding with your dog
  • Dog sledding
  • Agility training
  • Obedience training
  • Gardening
  • Camping
  • Hiking

Why is it so important to exercise your Siberian husky?

You need to exercise your Siberian husky because you want to offer him a healthy and happy life. By exercising your dog, you will prevent obesity and health risks, strengthen his cardiovascular health and muscles, and you will reduce behavioral problems through fun activities. No more chewing your furniture and destroying everything.

Don’t forget about the number of burned calories during exercising. You need to feed your dog accordingly with the exercise plan. Don’t exercise during warm weather and always keep your dog hydrated, and don’t fatigue him – if you walked too far, take a 5-10 minute break before taking the walk back home to ensure he’s not overly fatigued. Give him a treat, some water, and some commands during this time.

Enjoy these hours of activity. You and your Siberian husky will exercise and live a healthy life.

Dog and Siberian husky lover. I love training, exercising and playing around with my three huskies. Always trying new foods, recipes and striving to give them the best possible dog life.

Write A Comment