I'll start off by saying our yard isn't 100% Husky-proof. It's HUGE, and Ghost loves playing outside, but the back fence is only about 4' tall picket, not the 6' privacy like the rest of the yard. The last couple months we've had a hell of a time getting her in from the yard when we need her too, and I think Aaron is getting to the end of his rope (since I can't really help right now). We had been bribing her with treats, which was working some time, but now we can't take her out back unless she is on a leash and expect her to come in when we call. Like, absolutely zero recall... She will just run around the yard away from us, and God help us if she finds a pile of cat poo back there (strays in the neighborhood). That is apparently QUITE the delicacy and if she finds that she has to either be picked up or dragged in on a leash. I personally think she just needs a little play time back there, but Aaron doesn't want to spend the time. Any suggestions on how to work on her recall outside? She's good in the house and during training classes...

Aaron comes in with her so completely irate, I really want this to stop.

Can you get a tie out back there? willow is on a tie out when she goes potty and sometimes she would rather stay outside. She likes to make me come outside before she will come in. I did use Slimey to get her in the other night so I wouldn't have to go outside. One squeak and she came a running!

We haven't used a tie yet, but I'm not opposed to the idea. I just get a little nervous about leaving her unsupervised. I will have to try squeaking a toy. That's about the only thing I haven't tried yet. Thanks!

My husky took a little while to come in. I enticed him with peanut butter stuffed into his kong toy or a hollow bone, whenever I'd want him in I would say "inside" and let him get a wiff of the PB while back up towards to door so he had to follow me. Works for him! Now he knows both "in" and "out"

I never leave Willow unsupervised on the tie out. I have very little yard and tons of people walk by the house so I always stand at the door while she does her business. If you are wanting her to be unsupervised in the backyard, i would think the tie out would be a better alternative than chancing that 4' fence. Is Ghost a jumper? Dakota was not so I would never be concerned with a low fence with him but Willow is definately a jumper!

Blitz our husky can and has on many occasions jumped our 6 foot fence. We used a tie out for a while and now he has gotten to where he's fine out there alone. Good luck!

Ghost hasn't tried to jump the fence or the baby gate separating the laundry room where we keep the litter boxes, but she can hurdle the couches fairly easily. Once she figures out she can hop the fence, then it's pretty much game over in our yard and we will have to get a tie. I asked already, and the landlord isn't overly keen on me putting up the 6' stuff along the back. I took her out tonight because she asked while Aaron was out at karate, and she came right in when I bribed her with a treat. Aaron tends to lose his temper pretty quickly, and I suspect she runs around so much and doesn't listen to him because she's scared of him.

I used a 30 ft. leash to practice recall. I would let him wander around, then call him, if he didn't come then I would give a little tug in the leash and give the command again and give a treat when he would come.
In the house, I would keep treats nearby. I would randomly call him throughout the day/evening and give him a little treat everytime he would come. I wanted him to associate being called with good things.
He has a pretty decent recall for a husky. But if he is after a cat, forget it.

I also reward Willow whenever she comes when I call her no matter when or why I call her but she still has those stubborn moments.

That's what we did initially, and we throttled back when she seemed to get the hang of it. Once the weather started changing though, it was game over. We looked for a long flexi leash at Petsmart when we were there yesterday, but they were out of stock on the long ones for all but little yapper dogs. Aaron was looking on Amazon earlier.

On a side note Dee, are you on Facebook? I'd love to pick your brain about how you got Frankie involved in the Therapy program, and I like FB better for one on one interaction rather than PM's. My last name is Albrecht if you feel so inclined to look me up. Thanks!

Friend request sent

They are huskies so they will always have stubborn moments. I learned that if I give Frankie an inch, he takes off. So training is constant because he totally takes advantage when I slack, and I tend to slack

Agreed! Willow is always testing! LOL!

yeah, we are definitely learning a lot from her. I love her to death, but she's a stubborn little handful

I know how you feel with the cat poop issue! Our yard seems to be the neighborhood litter box for the strays. Those cats better pray I never catch them in the yard. So far they have been smart enough to only come late at night when the dogs are sleeping!

We also worked on recall training with the 30 ft lead. I recommend them to my dog class participants quite often.

Ghost almost caught one not too long ago, but we're discouraging that because of the cats in our house. Don't want her to get the idea that chasing kitties is acceptable...

Ha, Mya is horrible with coming in, but she's gotten better with Kody around. Kody for the most part comes in when I ask if he wants a carrot or a treat. Sometimes when I'm calling him without bribing him a treat and he completely ignores me I say, "fine, BYE, Mommy's going BYE BYE" and walking inside. He comes shooting in like NOOOOOOOOOO don't leave me here..lol. I've NEVER left him outside unattended for more than 10 seconds so not sure why that works

blueeyedghost wrote:

and God help us if she finds a pile of cat poo back there (strays in the neighborhood). That is apparently QUITE the delicacy Suspect

Lol! Cat poop is my bain. The neighborhood is littered with it. (ha, I made a pun!) It doesn't matter how vigilant I am--I think she may be such a finicky eater lately because she fills up on poop on our walks. x_x

The backing into the house and starting to close the door almost always works for me, too. Sometimes it's the only thing that will catch her attention!

I would say that Ghost is being this way becasue he wants to play. If I even walk into the yard when Libby is outside on her chain its fair game, She wants to run around and jump and play with sticks. She loves it and all I would have to do is stand there. Its like watch what I can do mom. Its a hoot!!
I would definately try a tie out for now, if your not going to be out with him

pixipanda wrote:

The neighborhood is littered with it. (ha, I made a pun!)

I think she wants to play too, and when I'm able to I'm going to spend some time back there playing with her before calling her in. We really don't plan on leaving her unattended back there, mostly because if we did we'd wind up with a hole to China... We need to get a sandbox, but Aaron rolls his eyes any time I mentioned it. I think having dad bring it up last weekend (he did that for theirs) might have helped. Sometimes she falls for the treat thing, but not often these days. We got her once with a toy and once with just a little squeaker yesterday, but she wised up real quick to what we were doing and didn't respond to those again. I think we're going to try the 30' lead and work with that, I just need to find one.

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the advice!

I'm officially in trouble. I couldn't even get her in to "do you want your breakfast?" Which has always been the sure way to get her inside. Aaron is gone to his grandfather's funeral, and I was the only one awake to take out the dogs (still have houseguests). She refused to come in for me before I put her to bed last night, but she finally came in when I got my brother to come outside and call her. There is no way I can handle her on a leash, and I'm at my wits end when I stand outside and call her to come in for 20 minutes to no avail. This really sucks. This is her only obedience problem, and it just keeps getting worse. I'm screwed until I can walk or Aaron comes home.

Lulu is regressing too. Aaron decided about a month ago to teach her speak (not working at all), and I really think the dog is so stupid that she forgot how to lie down. Seriously, we stepped up NILIF with her, and she now refuses to lie down for her breakfast. She's so food obsessed (been on a diet since summer so nothing has changed there) she just sits there and whines, refusing to do anything. WTF dogs?!?!

You could try putting a catch lead on her. I used one for my sibe who wanted to play a game of hide and seek/chase when it was time to hook her back up at her house. The leash gave me something to grab so I could call her, grab the leash, and reel her in. Then I would praise her when she got to me.

Another thing, instead of just catching her to bring her inside, you might want to try catching her at random times to pet her and give her treats, then let her go and go back inside. That way, whenever she sees you, it's not going to be like "Oh moms out here again--must be time to go inside! Run away!"

+1 for you Piper, that's good advice about catching her at random times so she doesn't always think it's time go inside.

Thanks Piper, I will probably try that when I can finally walk without crutches again. Thats my biggest problem right now, I can't chase her around the yard and then drag her in. Ever since that one time this morning though, she's been really good the rest of the day. Lulu, however, has apparently forgotten every command she's ever been given...

Do you have a long tie out cable you could clip to your steps? You could use it just like the leash and use it to reel her in if needed. You wouldn't need to chase her around because it would be clipped to the steps or some other immovable object. I know that having her on a cable kind of defeats the purpose of a fenced in yard, but it would help until your healed and ready to chase after her!