Dun Dun Dun...

Probably one of the biggest arguments among Husky owners and one of the most asked questions... "Why does my Husky run off?" "Why don't they come when called?!" ect. ect. ect. The other forum i'm on always gets into a big brawl over this topic and i'm hoping we can be a little bit more mature here.

Mickey is in agility and we have to practice off leash. He is a dream. Distractions, people. dogs, whatever! He is an angel. We can practice obedience as well with the same results. I've been working on this for 3 years now and just in the past year has he made fantastic strides. Although, this is while we're working only. If I wanted to go camping with him I could not honestly say that I trust him 110% off lead in such an environment. He knows when we're working, and he knows when we aren't. The few times i've tried it (with a long lead on him) I can see his mind begin to wander and he will recall but it's at his own pace sniffing along as he goes. In reality, he's still recalling... but if there were a danger in which I needed him to come NOW... I wouldn't trust him.

I've been working with the others as well and they do have a recall. Mishka is probably the best after Mickey, and then Cheyenne followed by Odin (who I seriously think has hearing problems.) They have an emergency recall which i've used maybe once or twice and it worked, instantly. But that's an emergency recall. I'm not going to let them off to go willy nilly and just use the emergency recall when I want them back. In the dog park they are great. I can call them off of anything. But that doesn't equate to being off leash in an unenclosed place.

The thing that really upsets me is people who believe their dog is good off leash and then want to shove that down every random person who complains about their dog not recalling. That's irresponsible IMO because if this person hasn't taken the time to read anything about a Husky (and it's clearly stated on any Husky related internet article that they aren't off lead dogs) what makes you think they're going to dedicate hours upon hours into creating a off leash Husky.

What are your thoughts? Experiences? Opinions?

My position on huskies off lead? Personally I would never do it or recommend it to any husky owner.

Is it possible to have a husky be reliable off lead? Yes, I do firmly believe that it is possible but it requires a lot more training and dedication than most people are probably willing to put into it. Off lead training, even for the best most "reliable" husky, is a lifelong endeavor and there is always a chance that instinct will take over in any situation which is why I would never take the risk or advise anyone to do that with their own sibes regardless of how reliable their recall has been for any amount of time.

This brings me to recall training. I think recall training is probably one of the most important things that husky owners need to practice and reinforce daily if possible even if you never intend on letting your husky off lead. Life is unpredictable and odds are that at some point your husky will end up loose in an unrestricted area no matter how well we try to keep them safely secured. In these situations it's incredibly important to have a good recall and in some situations an emergency recall which could make a difference between life and death for your sibe.

I have a normal recall that I practice with my sibe daily since the day after we adopted him, seriously. His recall is great and he almost always comes running when called. He's gotten loose a number of times due to various different circumstances (twice we had family visiting and they left the front door open , another time the lead unclipped from his harness during a walk, and I can't even tell you how many times I've accidentally dropped the lead ) and each and every time I've been able to call my dog and have him come running promptly. Practice makes perfect! My most proud moment was when I called him off a full on chase of a squirrel and he stopped dead in his tracks and ran to his very happy momma! I can't stress enough the importance of recall training with breeds who are flight risks like the sibe. Another note is that it's also important to do recall training in the presence of distractions because if your dog ever gets loose it is unlikely that it will be in a perfect circumstance where there are absolutely no distractions.

Emergency recalls are just as important and have to be SOLID, no room for error or thinking about it. For emergency recall we use a different call name so our boy knows the difference between his emergency recall and a regular recall. I actually have 3 different recalls for my sibe, one is loose, the second is stronger and the third is his emergency recall. His loose recall is "Budgie" or "Budge". His stronger recall is "Dakota". And his emergency recall is "Koda Come" but when I call it out I roll it into one word so it sounds more like "kodacome". And of course our emergency recall training involves a jackpot reward that he only gets for his emergency recall. Luckily I've never had to use our emergency recall outside of training since his regular recall has been more than enough to get him back when he has gotten loose but I would never want to be without it as a backup.

Trusting a dog off lead also comes down to knowing your dog very well. I know my sibe and although he has excellent recall I would never ever trust him off lead in an unenclosed area, he's got too strong a prey drive and too strong a desire to run and is stubborn to a fault...and the biggest reason I would never let him off lead is I love him too much to risk his life for a stupid little off lead run. The few minutes or hours of his off lead "freedom" is not worth risking years of life without him. Just my two cents.

I love my dog dearly and deeply, but I don't trust him to come back to me when he's off-lead. Ever. Recall is *NOT* his strong suit, at all. The two times he's gotten out through the door and past us, we've had to tackle & trap him and haul his fuzzybuns back, because no amount of calling gets his attention. I'd LOVE to work on his recall skills, but he's not particularly food motivated, and without some sort of incentive to get him to come on his own, it makes the whole concept kind of difficult to train. I'd love for him to be an off-leash dog, OK with hiking and snowshoeing with us, but it'll just never happen, and I'm OK with that.

You really have to know your dog. There have been occasions where we have had our 9 year old with us and she has been off leash, but she does not go more then 10 - 20 feet away from us, and then she comes right back. She can walk very well in the woods off leash with us, but I would never trust her like in a city or anything, just out hiking, AND we only VERY RARELY do this.

But you really have to know your dog. I would NEVER trust Shelby off leash. Ever, but she is also only 3 years old. Shiloh is 9, and I think the first time we let her off leash was when she was 7, and before that we did long leash training (with a 25 training lead).

It my opinion, for the safety of the dog, it should always be on leash, but there are those times, such as when hiking in the woods, where its nice to let Shiloh have a tad (just a tad) bit of freedom.

And one more thing, when she is off leash, it's never for more then 15 - 20 mins at a time. She needs to know we are still in control.

I practice recall always. It started at the dog park, and it helped by taking G to the same dog park. By the 3rd time at the same dog park, she would come when called. However, if she was chasing another dog that was chasing a ball? She'd look at me, run a little more and then come. I remember when we first got her, she acted as if she had no clue who I was and she was deaf. She'll now stay close enought to keep us in sight (at the dog park), and come when called. I've also been practicing recall on our walks with a flexi-leash. I'll let her go 'loose' and call her back and she'll take a second before she catches up to me or slows down in front for me to catch up. And if she doesn't listen, she gets a slight tug and she's good.

Still a work in progress, however, like Val says, 'Is it worth risking something that could potentially be a life-threating thing for a few minutes of 'freedom running'? Not to me. I'd be absolutely heart-broken and devastated if anything were to happen to her. Period.

Ok, so this might be a stupid question, how exactly do you train them on recall commands? In the almost 2 months that we've had Kody my hubby has somehow dropped his leash THREE TIMES. I wanted to kill him! Of course, Kody hauled ass and I had to chase him with Mya and honestly I think he stopped eventually because I was running after him with Mya. Not fun!!! So, I really really need to try and teach him these recall commands

I have 2 recalls: regular and strong. I don't have an emergency, but we're working on it. When I call Ginger on a regular recall, I clap and call out 'Yih! Yih!' (because I can't wistle!). She usually will perk up and look at me. She kind of knows at that point to keep us in sight. If I call out 'Come on!' in a playful voice, she'll come. When she doesn't listen, I call out, 'Ginger, Come!' She usually listens, but this is at a big dog park, and on a 26-ft flexi-leash on our walks. So, we're still in training! We've only had her just shy of 6 months, so I wouldn't let her off leash until we've had her for a couple of years. By then she'll be around 6 yrs old.

I have a flexi leash for both and what I have been doing at the park while walking Kody is tell him to "wait" and pull him back. He'll stop and wait for me sometimes or sit when I tell him to wait, but that's about it. As I said before he's hauled ass on us 3 times I need a better strategy for sure!!!!!!

Here's an interesting article on training recall.
http://www.perfectpaws.com/recall.html

thanks Kate!

at least i know i've been doing something right by calling her and then giving her affection or treats! whew!

i didn't read the article entirely just yet, just skimmed through it, but i saved it to my favorites for reference!

Buying a long line (I have a 100ft lead) and using that to train recall works well. Generally we'll go for a walk in a big open field and i'll let them do their thing and then just randomly *insert dogs name here* Come! and kneel down. Generally they don't need more than a few reel in's before they get it. I've also just recently starting using their prey drive to get them to come and i'm seeing good results. I'll call them to me and then dangle a tug toy and start shaking it walking/running the opposite direction of them. Mishka absolutely loves it and comes hauling after it like there's no tomorrow.

If you have someone else's help you can play the hide and seek game which is also a great recall builder.

Hide and Seek-

Have someone with you to hold the leash (long leads are preferred) of your dog. As you're walking randomly run away and hide behind/around something. Make it easy at first and progress into more difficult places once they get the hang of it. (Generally I get better results -or they're more pumped up anyway- if I make a stupid noise as I run away) As you run away the person holding the leash stops and doesn't make any sort of communication to the dog, they just hold the leash (if it's a long leash hold it close- less than 5 feet.) As soon as you're hidden call the dog in a super excited tone. The leash holder drops the leash (remember it's a long lead) and the dog runs to find you. Once they find you, heavily reward. If they go past you, call them again.