Hello from Ontario Canada! My husband and I adopted this adorable fellow a few months ago. We thought GSD x with some Husky as he hails from Northern Manitoba. DNA says 75-90% Husky and 10-25% GSD. He's got quite the personality! I'd love any tips for recall and heel training. Thanks!

Funny i would have guessed hound mix. Welcome though. I have 2 mixes 2 non huskies. With the recall and heel squirt is 90% on the recall and heel doesnt exist. After about 10 mins she will walk with the leash loose slightly in front of me. Spider has no recall and nothing in the heel dept.

Personal experience - recall is a 30 ft lead!  Recall, generally, isn't a part of a Husky's vocabulary.  Heel though is within the realm of workable - as long as you're not asking for off leash heel.  Of my three, two will do a good on lead heel; the other one wants to see what's beyond the end of his leash!

You MAY luck out if the GSD overpowers the Husky nature but simply put, Huskies are bred to run and they will, every chance they get.  The first one I had seemed to like going cross country to one place that was about 10 miles down the road ... they were very good natured about it when they brought her home.

Even though I live off road (the road past my place gets maybe 10 cars a day now) my dogs are on lead unless I let them off to run.  Then I hop in the Jeep and lead/follow them down the road for a few miles ... and then back.  We have cougar and bear that don't mind a dog for lunch and then we also have coyotes who'll grab a small one and gang up on a bigger one --- I prefer them on lead so I know where they are.

Thanks guys! His recall currently depends on 1) whether the rodent he is harrassing is more interesting and 2) whether I've got the good treats in my pocket. Heeling does seem to happen after a bit so that may be what we have to live with! He's sweet as pie, and my little rescue from Mexico loves him so all in all I think we lucked out!

Congrats on your new puppo! Your pup may be easier or harder to teach depending on if he leans more GSD or Husky. They're pretty different in terms of obedience. Both are fast learners, but huskies notoriously ignore commands they know because they know there's no reward in it. After you take away the treats he may lose interest in following the commands you taught.

Teaching huskies to not chase small animals is difficult. Anything small that moves quickly triggers them to give chase without a thought.

A 30 foot lead is a great idea to teach them to stay and come over and over with treat training in an open area. You could also take him out on a walk with a retractable leash. Randomly call him and give him a treat when he comes. Or call his name when passing people/animals and if he looks at you or comes to you, give him a treat. It's easy enough to hold the treat at your side and say heel over and over while he follows and give the treat to build association.