Having a pretty big issue with Jasper. When we lived in the city he was very easy (would come as soon as we were ready) to get from the dog park but since moving to back to our hometown he has become impossible. It usually takes an hour to catch him, sometimes more ... like today when it took over 4 hours and a group of people to catch him. We've tried treats, toys, pretending to leave, everything. But as soon as we try to get him he won't come within 5 ft of anyone.

Were stumped on what to do. I know not taking him to the park is a solution, however it doesn't solve the big problem of no recall, because now my biggest fear is that he'll get off his leash or accidently get out and we'll never be able to catch him again.

So basically were looking for ideas on how to fix this or if you think a trainer could benefit us, keeping in mind we're in a very rural area and trainers (especially good ones) are hard to come by! Were desperate and open to anything.

The only way to train bomb proof recall is with an e collar.

You can look for videos on either solidk9training or the good dog training on YouTube.

in the meantime if your dog gets away from you and you want to call him back simply act like a prey animal, run the other direction flailing and screaming

How old is your husky? It's hard for teenagers to focus and have a good recall.

I second the ecollar - we use the educator mini with Ami. Look at Lou Castle website.

I agree with everyone. E collar. But please, do your research about timing. Buzzing at the wrong time can be detrimental to getting their behavoirs toward it correct. Sometimes calling in a trainer that specializes in the teaching you the timing for what you want to use it for, or a good handful of youtube videos might be helpful.

Lol about flailing and running away.. I'd be the crazy lady at the dog park hahaha. But it's worth a shot
He's almost two years old, I should add that his recall used to be fairly good but he's regressed since we moved.
I've considered an e collar, however there is a huge stigma attached to them where I live and basically if you use them people consider it 'abusing' your dog. That doesn't stop me from being willing to try, however it makes it hard to find a trainer willing to work with one and I also know next to nothing about how they work, if they're harmful, and how to do timing like you've all suggested. Definitely something I'll have to research, I just really do not wanna hurt him because of my ignorance or stupidity.

There is also a huge stigma to endangering your dog or watching him get killed when there are tools available for the job that can save his life, yet choosing not to use them because of what others might think.

seattlesibe wrote:

There is also a huge stigma to endangering your dog or watching him get killed when there are tools available for the job that can save his life, yet choosing not to use them because of what others might think.

Oh no I totally agree!! Sorry if I made it seem like I didn't want to use them, I do! I'm just stating that hardly anyone around here uses them so I can't get first hand look at how to train with them, or find a trainer who knows how to use them properly. Personally I Dont care what others think, he's my dog and I'll do what I think is best for him.

That's common even in cities in the states.  It's really unfortunate.   People can be very fascist about dog training by insulating themselves from things they don't understand or misunderstand, including their own methods.

Nichole, do you have any sport dog groups in your area? I ask because here in rural Texas many use an e-collar to train their hunting dogs. I too use an e-collar, and I feel that it has made a happier dog out of Miya. We have about an acre of unfenced property, with careful training she respects the property boundaries and will not leave with out permission. My neighbors have asked if we have an invisible or e-fence because of her control. I have not used the actual stimulation(the shock ) in over a year, I have used the tone a couple of times, and that's because I don't have a loud voice.

Strict retraining of his recall, and I too suggest the e-collar, both Amy and Jeff gave you great sites to look at concerning the e-collar, and my extra find one with stim, vibrate and tone and one at an appropriate distance. I did look at Lou Castles site, and he has a couple of recommendations there to help you, though Jeff's site probably does too, haven't looked at that one as in depth.

Ignore the negative comments from people, living in the country I personally feel better with the e-collar, my biggest fear of having a husky in the country specifically, is for her to take off and be shot by a rancher, because they mistake her for a coyote or wolf, with the e-collar I know I can prevent this if for some odd reason her prey drive kicks in, and my voice isn't loud enough to grab her attention, I know I have her e-collar to do it for me, just in case, like I said she is a husky after all, nothing is ever sure proof, as in she will never leave my property, there's always that chance, and I never want to have to take that chance.

There's no sporting dog groups that I'm aware of, and dogs are not usually used for hunting here.
The more I look into it, the more I'm willing to try it out. Everything I've read seems to be encouraging for training dogs that no longer respond to positive re-enforcement.... which is where I think we are now with Jasper.
Moving seems to have really regressed a lot of his training. Since we moved here at the end of October the recall has totally relapsed and over the past month he's also begun chewing things again. Nothing major, just sheets on the line or mittens/hats that were left in his reach in the shed. Something he would've never done in our old place. He's also afraid of fireworks all of a sudden?? Makes me think he's developed a bit of anxiety and it breaks my heart
... or maybe this is all cause he's getting older?? and trying to test us in his new territory.

The move probably effected him, making him more anxious perhaps, which in turn can be the cause of some of the behavioral issues.

nichole.1990 wrote:

There's no sporting dog groups that I'm aware of, and dogs are not usually used for hunting here.
The more I look into it, the more I'm willing to try it out. Everything I've read seems to be encouraging for training dogs that no longer respond to positive re-enforcement.... which is where I think we are now with Jasper.

This is a common problem that develops with food based training without aversion and corrections.  The value of the bribe must keep increasing, then, what often happens is that the training collapses when there's no treat worthy of obedience available to the handler. The dog then tunes out and the impulse control and bratty, entitled behaviors--plus lots of excitement--get out of hand.

Many dogs end up in rehab for this reason.

Nichole, a quick look through Google shows two trainers in St Johns. Going strictly from their web iste, I like Dynamic Canines the other TopsailStar seems more aimed at breeding / boarding than pet training.

Even if these are outside your area, you might want to chat with them.

St. Johns is actually pretty far out of the way for me, that's the city we moved out of. We're now in the western/central region of the island.
However, I actually have been in contact with the trainer at TopsailStar and his exact response to my issue was "you have to start recall training from scratch. Trying to get him back now when he is running is like closing a barn door after the horse is gone...it is ineffective.
You need to do some boundary training, working him through controlled and heavily rewarded recalls building up distraction levels and allowing him to generalize to any situation.
You do that, than you won't have any issues" not sure how helpful this is since Jasper has no issue with recall in the house or when he knows he's attached to even a long lead. And I've told him that rewards of any kind do not work with him anymore.
And Dynamic Canines is a fairly new training facility, they focus primarily on clicker training and puppy socialization/foundations.