Why Does My Husky Bite My Hands?

By Bethany Tate

“Why does my husky bite my hands”? You can be sure you’re not the first person to ask that question. For this fairly common problem among husky owners there’s a simple answer (lack of training) and another not so simple answer.

Understanding any animal’s behavior takes some practice and when it comes to huskies biting hands there’s a number of details that will help paint the full picture. 

One thing’s for sure, a husky’s tendency to bite is largely defined by their age: we all know puppies bite. But since huskies are bred as sled dogs they have instincts that play a role as well. 

Reasons your husky is biting your hands

Age

All puppies explore with their mouths, just like babies do. They chew on things because they haven’t been trained not to or possibly because they’re teething. So, if you find your young husky biting your hands a lot it’s probably just them being playful or using you to soothe those feelings of teething.

Instincts

Huskies were bred as sled dogs with a strong prey drive which makes them instinctually bite. If you don’t train them to not be mouthy when they’re puppies odds are it will remain a problem due to their instincts. 

Boredom

 A bored husky can lead to many unwanted behaviors. If your husky is biting your hands it could be that they have pent up energy that they can’t control. So, if you notice the biting tends to happen on a day that you missed a walk with your husky or they didn’t get a chance to let off steam, boredom might be the cause. 

Aggression

I’m assuming most people researching this topic aren’t being aggressively bit by their huskies. But, just in case, I’ll cover this too.

Huskies showing signs of aggression are quick to bite. If you see your husky baring their teeth or hear them growling before they bite, then this is a big problem. Your Husky is being aggressive and you should contact a dog trainer to help you understand why and fix the behavior.

Fear

It can be hard to tell if your Husky is being aggressive or if they are scared sometimes because they tend to act similarly. One difference is that when a Husky is scared their tail will go between their legs and they will crouch low to the ground.

Call a dog trainer in this case as well would be the best course of action because there is always an underlying cause for their fear.

Is your husky biting your hands a Problem?

A mouthy husky isn’t necessarily something to worry about. Given the information, I hope you’re able to make that distinction, although it’s mostly likely the remnants of puppy behavior they were never trained out of. 

If you have a husky puppy now with this issue, you can get ahead of it by getting a teething toy to focus all their biting on, but don’t forget training your Husky not to bite is the most important part.

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AUTHOR
Bethany Tate
Writing and analyzing data are her superpowers. Dogs, nature, and trail running are her oxygen. Bethany passionately believes pets make the world a better place. Her world is made better by Nemo, her pet dachshund.