It has been a HOT minute since I've posted here. Life is a hectic little beastie.

My family owns 100 acres of rolling hills and woods in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. We are building a house on the land for my grandad, so My family went out there to move in some furniture and just hang out. I usually keep Koda on a 20-30 foot lead while we are out there so she can run a bit.

We were standing around and my dad said," why can't she just run a little bit." Naturally, I protested, but he persisted. "Just let her off, if she runs, we will bring some treats and go find her on the four wheeler." With much hesitation, I walk over and un-clipped her.

My initial expectation was for her to bolt as fast as she could in one direction and that would be the last I saw her. To my amazement, she ran a little bit and then came right back to my side for some loving. She would run into the woods for a minute and I would freak out, but after a minute or two would come sprinting back to us to make sure we were still there.
She dug a few holes and ran as much as her little heart could take.
I began to trust her throughout the day, to the point that we went inside for dinner and I left her outside. (I checked on her every few minutes.) She would run into the woods and I would think to myself," this is it... this is how it ends..." but without prevail she would run full blast right back to me if I whistled or started walking.

I was so proud of her. I never imagined I could trust her off leash even for a minute, but she sure proved me wrong. We are going hiking and camping in a few weeks, and I fully expect to let her off leash for most of it.

Fast forward to yesterday and she is STILL exhausted. She slept so much yesterday and Sunday, I was starting to worry something was wrong. She was back to her hyper self this morning though, so all is well. Time for another day in the woods!

Does anyone else have a husky that's generally good off leash?

Tyler, Miya is very good off leash. We do use her e-collar when going off property off leash for the just in case. To be honest we have never had to use it, because if she ventures a tad too far she comes running back. When we walk she typically will turn around to check on us and make sure we are there. Although I don't recommend it, some huskies are ok off leash and many are not. I think it was great y'all had a great time, and Koda got to do her thing, it does tire them like nothing else. Now there may be a difference from where you live and where I live, in that I would never allow her to be out of sight and ear shot, simply because of the critters we have here, I would not want Miya to get in a situation where a rattle snake, coyote, bob cat, or wild boar could get her, let alone a raccoon, skunk, or possum, to name a few. so my only advice, if you are not out with her, you may want to get a runner for her to stay outside while you are inside. Great story, and good job on training her, you indeed have a solid bond with Koda.

Koda and Miya sound VERY similar. Almost like personality twins.

We don't have any poisonous snakes here. I've only seen one garden snake in the 8 years we've lived here. We don't have much of any of those animals you mentioned. We have racoons, but they usually stay far away from the house because my family has deer feeders far away from the property. When I say I left her outside, she was asleep on our outdoor table, so maybe it doesn't count!

My brother pushed rocks in her hole and she looks pretty pissed about it...

Haha, the greatest husky pic ever, er, well today, lol!! Love the pic Tyler. Yes I think they are, personality twins, I like that!

Those of use who live in the back end of nowhere really do have the advantage when it comes to letting our dogs run.
Avalanche us beggin' to be let out and I'll probably let him out for a while. He's not good about coming when I call him, but he is good about generally staying close enough I can see the tail above the scrub ... at least enough to have some idea where he is.
Sasha is excellent off lead; she seldom goes very far away from me - 100 feet more or less - and even when she decides to harass a rabbit she still keeps track of where I am.

The disadvantage comes when we start trusting them too much. If Avalanche doesn't check in every 15-20 minutes, I go looking for him. The first Husky I ever had was excellent about running - I had reports of her from as far as five miles away - I could go out and call (hit the metal porch rail - she could hear that) and she'd be back in a few minutes - - - until one time she didn't. I still have no idea what she got into, I never got a report from a vet (she was chipped) ... and I still want her to come home!

I'm adamant that those who live in any city / town / etc should keep their animals on lead since it only takes one simple "accident" ...

And yeh, I love the picture "What'd he have to go an' do that for???"

lol love the muddy face, that's a good picture.

That muddy face pic is priceless. The true expression of a frustrated pup! I'm envious that Koda is able to run free and you're both very lucky to be in the country. I live in a semi country-esque part of NY but the main road runs parallel to my yard and we have tons of coyotes here.

Al, That story breaks my heart. I only let her off if I'm going to be out there with her. She gets a treat if she comes back to me for any reason. I think she loves the freedom, but I don't trust her enough to just let her off without me watching.

Ronin, she's getting a bath soon because she's still yellow...

Amanda, He kept throwing stuff in the hole. He filled it with rocks for the picture, but he also threw leaves in and she was NOT a happy camper. I would NEVER let her off at my house, but out there in the middle of nowhere, there are few distractions, and she loves the freedom. We have coyotes, but they are few and far between. Very rare.

You are a brave soul lol. That's great she came back! It sounds like she knows who her person is.

On a side note what is it with parents? They can't hear the word "no" or something lol.

Good for you and Koda! Its really nice to see your amazing bond. Sadly I live in a big city or rather the biggest city in Canada so off lead Cora is not happening! I do train her recall pretty hard though in the house, in the backyard and at dog parks just in case one day we get to go somewhere where I'm not worried about a car hitting her! I love the picture! very cute!

Danielle, I will confess, she looked pitiful all tied up. She was very unhappy with being tied up so they felt sorry for her.

Zoe, thanks, a dog park is probably the same idea, a big field to run in. I don't think she's missing out not being able to run free.

Wow Koda is a champ
I sometimes want to try Mylo off leash in the huge park we take him too but nope I can't do it, maybe if it was fully enclosed but its not. I regularly see people with their dogs off leash to the far end of the park (it's not a dog park but its a regular park with three soccer fields). However there have been various times when theres rabbits around and Mylo goes nuts, so I can just imagine him off leash and spotting a rabbit and stopping at nothing until he catches it lol