I'm a newbie to the forum and wanted to say hey to all you Husky lovers. Also about a month ago I adopted an eleven month old Siberian husky (Rosa) from the local humane society. While training has gone well, I've had issues with her running off into the fields and over to the neighbors house to check out his cats. I don't think the neighbor is too fond of her over there. I'm aware the breed is known to take off but I was wondering if there was any training tips to curb this behavior. She always seems to want to run off when she gets bored playing with the other dogs etc. I also own a cat as well and occasionally she does try to play with him by trying to grab his neck. She has never hurt him but I'm alil weary that one day she might. I do quickly grab her by her scruff and pull her off while yelling Rosa No. Is there any tips as to help me in these two situations. Does A husky really always need to be on a lead outside?

Huskies don't do well off leash as a general rule. Especially a rebellious young 11 month old you've just adopted. Please keep your husky contained- you don't want to fight animal control or your neighbor if something were to happen.

I have cats and huskies- the rule is that they are never allowed to harass or put their mouth on the cats. 0 Tollerance. The cats need to be protected, especially since huskies have such a prey drive.

Agreed, I've heard one too many stories of people letting their Sibes offleash and the Sibe accidently injuring a cat or livestock and the dog being shot, or removed from the house by animal control. There's no reason for your dog to be off leash, your dog will be safer, and you'll have peace of mind knowing where your dog is at all time. 30 foot tie outs work great..

I don't know I allow my dogs to play with our cats, they do get mouthy with the cats, including a 6 month old kitten, but obviously its always under my supervision and if it starts getting out of control, i stop it immediately. But my cats all have claws and safe spots and initiate play with the dogs, but again it's all going to depend on how gentle your dog is, and how tolerante your cat is.

There was only one instance of her running off to the neighbor, the other time she chewed through the tie off and ran off into the bean field only to return 20 mins later. since then I've had her on a tie off outside under supervision. I was just wondering if there was any way to establish boundaries so to hopefully curb the urge to run off. As far as the cat is concerned, the cat is quite tolerant of the husky's playfulness and even seems to put her in her place at times. Cat seems to be *Alpha* of the animals as strange as that seems.

I'm not so sure you can curb the desire to run if its active in your dog. It's instinct after all.

There is variation and there are exceptions to any generality,but it sounds like you have a roamer on your hands.

Now what you can do is proactively take control of your dogs exercise, both mentally and physically and greatly reduce your dog's energy level. But that is generally done in structured ways, on leash or a line, and not by a free roam.

You can train your Husky to be calm and less energetic but you can't train away instincts all together.