Evo is an excellent pup. He is fairly well behaved indoors and on a leash (finally) but when he's playing or on a "mission" he doesn't come when called. He's in the zone and it's a hell of a time to break his concentration.

He also springs straight up in the air when he sees other dogs and people he knows. He is almost uncontrollable when he sees his girlfriend (large terrier mix who is more ADHD than him and I swear you can hear violins playing when they spot each other!) and that's ON the leash. Any suggestions on how to handle this? I've never seen a GSD do these things and the pull is DEFINITELY at Husky strength!

Thanks!!!

Wow I'm surprised you're getting that part of him. I would have figured you'd have an easier time with training a shepherd mix over a full husky. Lucky you! Best advice I have would be working on recall and not pulling on the lead during walks. Hope someone else has a little better advice to offer.

Edit to add: This is probably a worthless piece of advice but it's something I noticed a change in with my boy. Before we started taking him to dog parks and letting him meet just about every friendly dog we came across on walks he would go crazy when he saw another dog. Now that he meets so many on walks and plays with tons at the dog parks, he generally could care less about other dogs we see when out on walks. Just something I noticed with mine, I don't know about anyone else.

Edit to add: This is probably a worthless piece of advice but it's something I noticed a change in with my boy. Before we started taking him to dog parks and letting him meet just about every friendly dog we came across on walks he would go crazy when he saw another dog. Now that he meets so many on walks and plays with tons at the dog parks, he generally could care less about other dogs we see when out on walks. Just something I noticed with mine, I don't know about anyone else.[/quote]




I hope this happens with us! I just found out the dog park near me that used to be not fenced in has been fenced in so I am going to take them there this week and if it is a nice park will try to make it a weekly trip and I hope they will settle down when we come across other dogs while walking. Sierra will jump up into the air on to her hind legs and just pull me; it is like taming a wild horse!

Huskyluv wrote:

Edit to add: This is probably a worthless piece of advice but it's something I noticed a change in with my boy. Before we started taking him to dog parks and letting him meet just about every friendly dog we came across on walks he would go crazy when he saw another dog. Now that he meets so many on walks and plays with tons at the dog parks, he generally could care less about other dogs we see when out on walks. Just something I noticed with mine, I don't know about anyone else.

I put something the first time and it's disappeared. Ugh.

I think this will happen with Evo as well! He's just so used to medium and smaller dogs that the big dogs intimidate (GSDs for example) him. The smaller dogs don't understand how to play his way - his favorite game is "Does your head fit in my mouth?" and dogs and owners don't like this! It's been like this since he was a pup and hasn't stopped - no matter what we do. Very hyper medium sized dogs don't seem to mind this play but our cats do! He was very pleased to find that the new kitten fits entirely in his mouth! LOL

My other concern is at the dog park letting him off the lead. I'm afraid he'll start running and just keep going! Or intimidate another dog and be so far away I can't intervene - does that make sense?

I can understand your concern about your first time at the dog park. I had the very same concerns myself the first time I took mine. First off I'd make sure you take him to a fenced off lead dog park since his recall is not all that great right now. If he's in a fenced park you don't have to worry about him running off. Our dog park has like 8 ft fences and are double gated so it's pretty secure.

I made sure my first visit to the dog park was a day and time when it wouldn't be too busy so that I had "less" to worry about so to speak. I took him on a Tuesday afternoon around noon or so I think. Our dog park is divided into big dog and small dog sections so I took him into the big dog section and kept him on lead to see how he'd react to the other dogs that came over to greet him. The sniffed each other just fine and no signs of aggression from anyone so I let him off the lead and he was off. He had so much fun and of course I no longer existed once he was off the lead but after about 30 minutes of nonstop running and playing he was more than happy to come back and see mom once he was exhausted. And he doesn't come back to me every time but he's generally so tired that I can walk right up to him and put the lead on and leave. I just always go with the mindset that I'll be there for at least 30 minutes before he's ready to leave.

Occasionally there are little spats at the dog park and most owners are quick to intervene. Generally a loud distraction noise (could be an "Ah!", a clap or even shaking a can of coins) and getting between the dogs resolves things pretty quickly. Just make sure to always keep a close eye on your dog just in case so that you can intervene immediately before things escalate should anything happen. Our dog park also has a nice little "timeout" box that you can use if your dog gets too rowdy or needs to be separated temporarily.

LOVE the can of coins idea! That should wake him up! That may also work on walks - he is much better and doesn't pull anymore when we are alone. That only occurs when he wants to say hello to EVERYONE! LOL He's the most wonderful dog but just a lot of energy!

We met Danielle and Gunny at a dog park on Sat and it was the first time we had taken them to a dog park and I had all the fears you do, I even got a muzzle for Sierra because I was afraid she might bite another dog! We got to the park and walked in with there leashes still on and let the other dogs come up to us and we watched how they reacted and when we felt it was good we let them go. After some time and Sierra digging her head into the ground we took off her muzzle and she did fine no aggression at all. When we called them they did come to us which is something we did not think they would do since they never seem to come to us at home. I think you will be fine taking him.