Hello,

I've had Dakota, my 5 year old Husky, since he was about 3 months old. He was never a great off-leash dog to begin with, and there's definitely been a few times where I've had no choice but to chase him down. I've just accepted that his whole life he'll need to be on a leash at all times.

My question is, has anyone had any luck training their Husky later in life to stick around when off-leash?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

Hi, welcome aboard.

Here are the results of a search for Off leash

https://www.itsahuskything.com/search?search_keywords=off+leash&typerecherche=interne&show_results=topics

You will see tons of threads as this is a huge hot button and controversial issue with Huskies.  

The general theme though is that it gets worse as they age.  Typically, puppies under 8-9 months will generally stick around, the younger the more so.  Once the breed specific instincts kick in at 8 or 9 months, then their running drive and prey drive and genetic ethos will take hold, and they are basically going to be very untrustworthy at this point off leash.

Are there exceptions?  Yes.  Are there variations? Yes.  Is there a contradiction for every rule of every dog breed? Yes.  

But the rules come from experiences and experiences come from reality and the general rule is Huskies should not be off leash because their drive and their instinct renders them very untrustworthy and very unsafe, especially in cities.  You can't deny that dogs have instincts and drives, and that said, the cards are very much stacked against you if your ambition is to have an off leash Husky.

Browse through those threads though, there is a ton of good info and debates and theorizing and even success story videos.  

Cheers,

enjoy the forum

guys how do you put that profile picture?

What do you mean? You have one already...

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