I never thought I would use the words husky and slow down together, lol. I was prepared for years of high energy when I took in Frankie.

For the first year, Frankie HAD to get loads of structured exercise otherwise he was a nut in the house. We used to do 2 hours at the dog park daily, but he was still crazy when I had to leave, so I changed to more structured exercise. At least 2 very long walks a day wearing a backpack, swimming several times a week, bike rides a couple of times a week.....and he still had loads of energy to romp around with my other dog a couple of times a day for what seemed like hours. If there was somewhere I needed to take him (like to the nursing home for TD visits), I had to exercise him to burn the excess energy, so he didn't try to jump on people and he still had plenty for his visit.

He just turned 2 and in the past 3-4 months I have noticed a huge change in his energy level. I first noticed the nursing home visits required more energy out of him, so I stopped exercising before we go. He LOVES going to "work" and we visit for about an hour (1x/wk) then he comes home and passes out.
We used to take 30-60 min walk 2x a day. Now after about 15/20 min. he starts to slow down and he's chill most of the remainder of the day.
Romp arounds with the other dog are down to 2-3x a day for short periods.
He could spend hours jumping in and out of the pool. Now he'll go for about an hour and jump in and out a few times and he's done.
He stills seems very happy though:)

Now I know I should be happy about this....according to my mom "he's finally growing up and being a real dog". But he's just turned 2 and I thought huskies had very high energy for a lot longer, I was/am prepared for longer. It just seems to be a sudden change. The vet wants to run some tests, but $$$$ Ahhhhhh.

So I thought I'd throw it out there to see if maybe I'm crazy and he really is just growing up before we went through some unecessary vet expenses. Did your huskies ever slow down? How old?

Thanks
Dee

Has there been a change in his diet in the last few months around the time you noticed his energy level change? Some diets will result in decreased or increased energy, depending on the food.

Honestly, for a dog that young (especially a husky) I would be concerned about a sudden, noticeable decrease in energy the way you are describing. Maybe he is just settling down as he's coming out of his puppy to teenage years, but it's the abrupt change that bothers me more than anything from your description. Otherwise he's normal, happy and healthy? When was his last vet visit and was he given an all clear? Is he being regularly wormed for intestinal parasites and heartworm? I'm no vet so I can't touch on medical issues really.

Our sibe is 5 and a 1/2 years old currently and he's still got boatloads of energy, just like when he was younger. We adopted him when he was 2 and he is just as wild and crazy active now as he was back then. If he has slowed down at all, it is so minor that I haven't noticed!

I'm going to be a little different than Val here, so ie- I'm no help.

I never thought the change would be so sudden. Literally Koda hit his 2nd birthday and it was almost instantaneous. It's like he said "Well, I'm 2 now, I suppose I could calm down a little." Of course, getting a Hailey a few months later REALLY helped, but I'd be lying if I said that he didn't have a very noticeable change at the age of 2. I remember being shocked as well thinking that he'd be a "puppy" for so much longer! Hailey on the other hand was ALWAYS mellow. Always. She'd be content to sleep at my feet all day if she could I think....

Every dog is different. If he still has energy when you do things and seems otherwise happy and healthy, no weight loss, and non-lethargic, I would just assume he is "growing up." But you have to do what you are comfortable doing I will say that when Koda gets stimulated now--ie, we go somewhere he's never been with new sights and smells--his energy level does seem to jet back up. The difference between him in his puppy stage and now is that in his "down time" he now understands that it's down time, versus before it was just energy ALL the time.

Val brings up some very good questions about diet, and parasites, so I would also do a check-up on those if possible. Sorry to not help in being decisive here.... but that was just my experience. Koda's change felt very sudden and hit almost immediately when he was 2 years old.

Wow Tori, so I guess that could be normal! How is it that so many people end up with calmer and mellower huskies than I did?!

Mya is going to be 5yrs old the 23rd of this month and she definitely has energy to keep up with 6month old Kody, but she has calmed down A LOT. I'd say at about 4yrs old she started to "chill" a little more.

Huskyluv wrote:

Wow Tori, so I guess that could be normal! How is it that so many people end up with calmer and mellower huskies than I did?!

I think I just got two weird huskies lol.

Also- keep in mind that we got Hailey when she was likely already adult. I read my response and realized that I made it seem like she was mellow from puppyhood, but she was probably about 2 when we got her. However, she is still SIGNIFICANTLY more mellow than Koda is.

Anyway, just my $.02. I would still keep an eye on him and check up on normal things (parasites) and make sure he didn't have any dietary changes, cause those are definite possibilities. But Koda was like a light switch. It was bizarre!

I have another "weird" husky - the rescue thinks he was between 1 1/2 and 2 when we adopted him, and like you, we were prepared for the crazy energy... but my guy is super mellow. He has the occasional burst of crazy (we've dubbed them "the zoomies") but for the most part, he prefers a pretty laid-back existence.

My 2 cents is that any sudden "unexplained" change in behavior is cause for concern. I would have a blood panel done as it can rule out lots of different health concerns. To me it's worth the peice of mind.

Koda has been pretty easy to deal with since he was 2.. but keep in mind my dog gets way too much exercise to have a bundle of energy, and he is just adapted to where he knows when he is home he is to not be a nutcase!

Oh man, Embry turns 2 in October, please let him realize he needs to calm down

Thanks everyone.
No dietary changes. I've always monitored his food and stuff since he had those darn husky sensitive tummy issues. He's had 2 UTIs, but it never affected his energy, he just drank alot and peed in the house so I knew something was wrong then.
We were just at the vet on Friday because he chewed a hot spot so bad he caused an infection, but the energy thing started a few months ago so I mentioned it to the vet. Vet said the heart sounds good. That's when he suggested some blood work and xrays when his skin clears up. I'm sure I'll do it because I'd rather be safe than sorry. I don't know where he came from so I wouldn't be surprised if he was the product of a really bad BYB. Time to invest in some pet health insurance.

But I am gald to know that it's not totally abnormal for husky to slow down. I can't lie, it has made life much easier:) He still has the energy to do things and go on outings, I just don't have to work him so much before hand and he is nice and tired when we get home. Overall he still seems happy so I'm sure I'm just a neurotic mommy