How to Train a Husky to Say I Love You

How to Train a Husky to Say I Love You
Hard difficulty iconHard
Time icon3-9 Weeks
Fun training category iconFun

Introduction

There’s nothing much better than hearing someone tell you they love you. Imagine those words coming from your Husky. Huskies are smart dogs. And they are eager to please. Your little fuzzball might not know exactly what those words mean, but he knows the love he gets from you. You can teach him to tell you he loves you using his words to go with all the affection he gives you.

Imagine leaving the house or heading to bed and hearing your Husky pup tell you he loves you before you go. This trick works really well for those dogs who already love to talk, howl along with music, and mimic noises or bark at everything. As long as your pup is vocal to begin with and knows basic and some advanced commands, you can teach him to tell you those three magic words.

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Defining Tasks

To train your Husky to truly speak beyond a simple bark, he’ll need to know basic commands and understand his role in the pack. Recognizing you as the leader of the pack will help him learn your expectations. You might first need to teach him to mimic sounds. Howling with you or another dog is a great place to start. Once he mimics sounds, you can work on pitch with him until his sounds mimic yours exactly. From there you can begin to teach words and phrases such as, “I love you.”

Huskies are stubborn learners, but they pay attention to details. Try not to overthink this command. Repeating it over and over will only tell him that it will take repetition before he needs to bother saying it himself. Though you will repeat the training for several weeks, give him time during each session to absorb the information before moving on to the next step.

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Getting Started

You will need some quiet time for training. Schedule sessions free of distractions so your pup can focus only on you and his training. Break training up with rest or play time to keep your pup engaged. He’ll like some tasty treats for rewards during and after your training sessions.

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The Mimic Howl Method

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Howl together

Teach your Husky to howl. Sit in a quiet room with him and start howling. Make a short howling noise and then look at your little guy. Keep it up with short howls until he mimics your howl.

2

Treat

Once he howls a short howl as you did, give him a treat. Keep practicing this short howl together a few times.

3

Three howls

Once your Husky has the one short howls down, begin to howl three times, sounding like the words, ‘I love you.’

4

Husky howl

After your fuzzy best friend has heard these three howls, he should start to mimic them the same way. Keep practicing with him until his howls sound like those magic words you long to hear.

5

Command

Once he gets it down, you can give it a command such as ‘say I love you.’ You can also simply tell him the same words and expect his response to be howling those words to you. To get him to connect the command with the three howls, you may have to use the command and howl with him. With practice, he should be able to howl the words on command.

6

Reward

Always reward this behavior, as it’s a trick he’s worked hard to master.

The Howl and Click Method

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Click and treat

If you are clicker training your Husky for other commands, it makes sense to keep this sort of click and reward training moving forward as well. Have your Husky do a trick he knows well, even as simple as sit, and reward him with a click and treat. This will set him up for a new training expecting rewards.

2

Speak to mimic

Say the words you want your Husky to say such as ‘I love you.’ You may need to shorten the sounds and repeat one sound at a time to get him to say it. Practice this a lot until he gets each sound. Click and treat each time he gets a sound down or even tries to make sounds like yours.

3

All together

Once he can say each sound, put them all together. You can give this a command or cue as well. Ask your Husky to say, ‘I love you.’

4

Rewards

When he says all three words together, click and treat. This time wait until all three words come out together instead of rewarding him for each word.

5

Practice

Once you have given this fun trick a command name, practice a lot. Try not to deviate away from the command. Tell your friends the command and expect your Husky say it to them as well. Always click and treat each time he makes the sounds.

The Pitch Makes Perfect Method

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Mimic

Say the words ‘I love you’ to yourself out loud over and over until you understand how the pitch of each sound differs from the others. These are simple words, all one syllable, so it’s not difficult to say them in a different pitch.

2

With Husky

Say the words to your Husky one at a time. Start with the first pitch with the first word. It will be a soft sound. Say it over and over and elongate the sound a bit. With practice, your pup should be able to mimic the sound you are making at the same pitch.

3

Second sound

Once he gets the first sound, practice the second sound at a different pitch. This pitch might be a bit higher that the first pitch. It should also be a longer sound because it’s a bigger word than the first. Keep practicing with your pup.

4

Third Sound

With the first two sounds understood, it’s time to move onto the third sound. This will be a softer sound with a lower pitch and shorter than the second but a bit longer than the first. Repeat it several times getting your Husky to mimic your pitch.

5

I love you

When he can make all three sounds matching your pitch for each sound, put them all together and practice saying the phrase. Your Husky has has lots of practice using these sounds, so he is familiar with saying each one. He just needs to say them all together as a phrase.

6

Rewards

Be sure with each accomplishment you are rewarding your pup for a job well done. This is a difficult task to learn. Treating him with tasty rewards will keep him motivated to keep going.

Written by Stephanie Plummer

Veterinary reviewed by:

Published: 04/11/2018, edited: 01/08/2021

Training Questions

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Training Questions and Answers

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Nakoa

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pure siberian husky

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Three Years

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Question

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How do I get Nakoa to howl on command?

July 3, 2023

Nakoa's Owner

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Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer

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1128 Dog owners recommended

Hello, I recommend following the Video method from the article I have linked below. With certain breeds, instead of the sirens and howling in the video causing the dog to bark, certain breeds like huskies will often howl instead, allowing you to use the rest of the steps to teach the dog how to howl on cue. Video method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-speak If you are still struggling to get them to howl to be able to train this, then go to a park near a hospital or fire station. Often a dog will howl when they hear sirens pass by. Be ready with treats to teach that command when they do. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

July 10, 2023

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Euro

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Siberian Husky

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4 Weeks

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Question

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he does not listen to me or i dont know if he loves me

March 7, 2021

Euro's Owner

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Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer

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1128 Dog owners recommended

Hello Nidhi, At this age I would not be too worried about either of those things. Pup is still developing their senses, their ability to interact with the world, and even many personality traits. This age is all about neonatal touch and taking care of pup's essential needs. More bonding and learning commands will begin close to 8 weeks. Check out the free pdf ebooks before you get your puppy, and after you get your puppy, which can be downloaded at the link below. www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

March 8, 2021


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