jbealer wrote:

Chris_C wrote:

My husky is 99% wolf and 75% dinosaur and she doesn't need a crate, a leash or a collar. She has instant recall and likes to obey commands without treats. She's so smart she actually learned how to stop shedding. In her spare time, when she isn't positively contributing to the amount of money I have, she likes to split her time being nice to the local neighborhood cats and not being freaked out by toddlers.

nice Chris, now are you breeding that husky/wolf/dinosaur, cause you know there should be more!

This is awesome!!! I needed the laugh right about now!

Chris_C wrote:

I may be new here, but of the handful of posts I read, it seems that every so often someone posts some thread posed as a question but they're really just trying to brag for some reason I don't understand.

My husky is 99% wolf and 75% dinosaur and she doesn't need a crate, a leash or a collar. She has instant recall and likes to obey commands without treats. She's so smart she actually learned how to stop shedding. In her spare time, when she isn't positively contributing to the amount of money I have, she likes to split her time being nice to the local neighborhood cats and not being freaked out by toddlers.

I'm pretty sure that most huskies should be on leashes most, if not all, of the time. Doesn't seem that controversial to me.

that's awesome! had a hard day and needed a smile :

massak wrote:

Why are huskies characterized as being "not off-leash dogs"? Is this some notion that has been handed down over time that has everyone terrified so they don't give their huskies a chance? I rarely use one and he always stays within ear-shot of me. I have had him 2 and 1/2 months and started him on a 50' lead at first, but within a week he was running off-lead. He will chase things but always comes back. The only problem I have is getting him to jump in the car voluntarily, but if I toss a treat in and he will jump in after it.

Good for you, and that's awesome that it only took you a week for you to feel comfortable having him off leash and trust him that when he runs off, he'll come back!

I just hope that the times he does go off chasing things, that thing he is chasing doesn't lead him to something bigger that could get him hurt....

I personally wouldn't really trust any dog off lead reguardless of the breed. Okay, maybe out in the middle of no where going on a long hike with a breed like a lab or aussie, I would trust them, but not anywhere near a road. Case in point, the lady who teaches the puppy class I went to is a really awesome trainer. Her dogs are amazing! She does very well in obedience, rally, and agility. She had a young irish setter who was very well trained. One day someone was coming by and held the door open a little longer than usually to let her little toddler walk in after her. Well the dog took this opportunity to run out. The trainer called her name and she looked back like she was saying, "Hey mom! I'll be right back! Just a sec!" and she didn't even see the car coming.

Why I really would not trust a husky off lead is the same reason for any dog plus their drive to run and their high prey drive. Siku has gotten away from me once and she has a pretty good recall at the dog park, but as soon as she realized she was free she was gone. Thankfully I had treats on me at the time and followed her and threw them in front of her when she stopped to sniff something. Elara is very different than Siku and would probably be fine off lead 80% of the time, but she has a very high prey drive and would go off chasing something if given the chance.

To the OP, do be carefull! I do hope you the best and do keep training recall for as long as you plan on going off leash.

Kota's mom is often left off-lead, but only at our apartment complex. As well-trained and obedient Snowfox (Kota's mom) is, I see how easily distracted she can be if she wasn't JUST in her comfortable complex. It's just a risk we're not all willing to take. It's always nice to hear of a good husky off lead though, I just hope accidents can be avoided to all animals off-lead.

the first time Brewer was off leash, was in my backyard. Within seconds he spotted a rabbit and was off to the chases. Thankfully he didn't look up to notice the fence...oops.

After that, we are always careful to check for resident varmints prior to letting him out to roam free in the backyard.

The only other times Brewer has been off leash, have been at fenced in dog parks. Otherwise, he is never off leash for reasons already discussed.

I've had three huskies.
The first one was intact, and I let him off leash a lot.
I was young and dumb.
I wanted him to be "free."
That worked pretty well until he chased a deer when we were running in a forest.
He was gone for about five hours; finally, I found him sitting on top of my car.
That worked so well, and I learned so much from that experience that I let him off leash another time when we were running in the same park.
Guess what, he chased a deer again.
This time it took me longer to find him, but I finally did- sitting at the place I lost him after I had gone back to the car, searched all over the trail system and basically had a major breakdown.
So, no more letting him off leash.

With my second husky, I was older and wiser- more experienced with the wiles of the breed.
So I didn't let her off leash.
Except for that one time at the beach when I could see for miles in either direction and no people or dogs were around.
So I let her go off leash.
For about three miles she stayed with me as we ran along the sand as the sun set over the Pacific.
It was great.
I thought why haven't I trusted her to stay with me?
All of a sudden she started sprinting.
She wouldn't heed my screams or even look back.
She ran up some stairs.
I lost sight of her.
I ran through a yard, across a street into another yard where I heard screaming.
A family was BBQing and Tasha was jumping around, trying to get some steak too.
Mucho embarrassment and difficulty corralling her.

Now I am 63 and am supposedly wiser than my younger self.
My dog Bodhi is a very rambunctious and enthusiastic 2 and half year old.
Will he ever be off leash except in a fenced area?
('')
I think not.

So here's the real story... all of you people (admittedly there have been maybe one or two in this thread) that "trust" your dogs offleash... how old are they? How long have you had them?

The classic mistake we see time and time again is people "trusting" their dogs when they are young and as puppies want to stay close to their owners. This false sense of security is IMMEDIATELY regretted when said dog turns into the "rebellious husky teenager" and decides to test his or her boundaries. Then you can forget your nice little "trustworthy" dog.

The second mistake is trusting rescues. We've said it over and over. Rescues take a good 6 months to show their true colors. Many of you will remember when we got Hailey. She was neglected and had AMAZING recall. In the house, she still does. At the time, when hiking or in the woods, we'd let her off-leash because the moment you said her name, she'd turn around and run back to you, ESPECIALLY if you said "Cookie!" However, now? Fat chance in hell she'll ever be off-leash. I can barely get her back inside from the yard. Once she got over her "rescue blues" she turned right back into that independent husky.

I'll repeat myself and what others have said because some people just can't hear it enough: huskies are by nature and instinct independent, free-spirited dogs with a high-prey drive and prone to wanderlust. It's not that they don't love you. It's not that they can't be trained. It's that the moment they decide there is something more interesting out there, they will not stop until they have explored it to his/her satisfaction. The truth is that huskies are bred to RUN. And they will... and often by the time they WANT to come home, they are too far away to know how to get home, they've been hit by a car, or attacked by another wild (or domestic) animal.

Take a LONG hard think about what it means to you for your dog to be off-leash. How much would you bet? Would you bet your dog's life that he/she will listen, not get distracted and come back? You better be prepared to... because that's exactly what you'll be losing if you're wrong.

Even for a breed like an aussie or border collie that can be well-trained, it takes a long time to train a perfect recall. It seems easy at the beginning because the dog keeps on coming back, but then it gets more secure and/or becomes a teenager, and it dares to venture further. That perfect recall is gone in a flash and you have to start training again - so that the dog will recall instead of running after a squirrel/to steal a sausage from a picnic/to play with another dog etc etc. That takes hard work and in the meantime some embarrassment is guaranteed when the dog runs off.

With a husky, all that is worse because it has such a strong prey drive and a drive to run.

I would never let Ghost off-leash. In an enclosed area he has great recall, and also when he's escaped, so I know that most of the time he would come back. But I also know that all it would take is the scent of a bear or coyote and he would be off after it. He'd be in the Yukon or Alaska before I knew it.

Ghost wrote:

He'd be in the Yukon or Alaska before I knew it.

This comment lost some steam when I realized you are in BC, lol.

Haha, it's still a long way!

Quote :

Even for a breed like an aussie or border collie that can be well-trained, it takes a long time to train a perfect recall. It seems easy at the beginning because the dog keeps on coming back, but then it gets more secure and/or becomes a teenager, and it dares to venture further. That perfect recall is gone in a flash and you have to start training again - so that the dog will recall instead of running after a squirrel/to steal a sausage from a picnic/to play with another dog etc etc. That takes hard work and in the meantime some embarrassment is guaranteed when the dog runs off.

Our daughter has an aussie that she lets off leash alot he has great recall. He is young just turn a year in January I am sure he will change as he gets older.

On a side note I have neighbor who has a Akita mix his dog will walk himself around the block because the owner had walk him there before.

Aussies are also herding dogs... they are bred to be off-leash. There ARE breed differences. Although I would probably never feel comfortable with an off-leash dog, there are breeds that are designed to be good off-leash. Huskies. are. not. one. of. them.

I trust that the general consensus for a breed did not arrive from the experience of a few individual, but from the collective experience of many owners of such breed over a long period of time. And even within the same breed, different dogs have different personality and temperament. Therefore, just because one dog does well off leash is not evidence that every dog in this breed can do well off leash. It also doesn't mean that your method of training will work for all the dogs in that breed.

I let Polar off leash when we are in the mountains. She's a malamute, so we are talking about a different breed here, but still, I don't tell other malamute owners that they should let their dogs run off leash, because I understand every dog is different. Also because I think whether you should let your dog off leash or not, is entirely a personal choice (when it doesn't break the law, anyway).

There is risk of letting a dog off leash, no matter how well trained. It's up to the individual owner to decide how much risk he's willing to take. Some owners will want to make sure there's no chance their dog can get hurt by keeping them on a leash, and that's totally fine. I think it's akin to any outdoor sport, I do rock climbing, mountaineering, freediving, I've had some close calls, even one near death experience, but it does not prevent me from doing the things I love. However, there are many who think these sports are too dangerous, and on the other hand, there are some who makes what I do seems like a walk in the park. I wouldn't tell you to go climb a rock simply because I enjoy dangling on the side of a cliff a couple hundred feet off the ground. So I wouldn't tell another owner they should let their dog off leash simply because I enjoy letting Polar off leash.

When we adopted our dog from the local shelter, she was the epitome of a velcro-dog and listened very well. So we let her off leash all the time. Everyday on the 1/2 mile walk to the dog park she happily trotted along beside us, sometimes running ahead or stopping distracted by something, but always returning to our side. This lasted about 6 months, while she built up our trust. Other dog owners would see us and compliment what a perfect Husky we must have had to let her off leash (in reality we just knew nothing about the breed). Then after she felt truly at home with us, truly comfortable, and (I think) had *us* trained to trust her, she plotted her escape. She pooped and waited until I was distracted with scooping it and then off she went like a bat out of hell. As I ran calling after her I saw her stop about a mile across a field, clearly turn her head towards me and then continue into the woods. I chased her (in the random direction I hoped she went) for 2 miles into the woods. Eventually I found her trying to get a squirrel up a tree. By that point I was so emotionally drained, convinced I lost our dog, our baby, I really learned my lesson. She is only off-leash in fenced in areas now.

I wish anyone the best of luck training dogs to be off-leash. But I also caution against a false sense of security, especially if you haven't had the dog for very long.

After having purebreds and mixes the the Husky ilk I've come to the conclusion that the higher the Husky content the less you can let them off lead.
Anything above oh lets say 25% and your begging for a run away.

well I guess we are in "the honeymoon phase" then. will have to wait and see what happens as he gets older. he would be severely limiting his play time if he can't be off leash because its not really an option with the activities we do and excursions with other dogs etc.
in the mean time he has a collar with my number and a registered microchip thing the vet recommended I put in him. but i am also in such a small rural town that pretty much everyone knows him and if he was even seen running around, i would get a call. I have a shock collar to train him with also, but haven't used it yet. thanks for your advice.

massak wrote:

well I guess we are in "the honeymoon phase" then. will have to wait and see what happens as he gets older. he would be severely limiting his play time if he can't be off leash because its not really an option with the activities we do and excursions with other dogs etc.
in the mean time he has a collar with my number and a registered microchip thing the vet recommended I put in him. but i am also in such a small rural town that pretty much everyone knows him and if he was even seen running around, i would get a call. I have a shock collar to train him with also, but haven't used it yet. thanks for your advice.

While I appreciate that you have been willing to listen and will acknowledge that things might change, if you can't give your dog proper exercise unless it's off leash, then you got yourself the wrong breed of dog. I'm sorry, but that's really not an excuse.... plenty of us are still active with our dogs hiking, camping, and being outdoors and we do those activities leashed. It may not be as easy or convenient, but needing a leash is no excuse to deny our dogs pretty much any activity.

Koda wrote:

if you can't give your dog proper exercise unless it's off leash, then you got yourself the wrong breed of dog. I'm sorry, but that's really not an excuse.... plenty of us are still active with our dogs hiking, camping, and being outdoors and we do those activities leashed. It may not be as easy or convenient, but needing a leash is no excuse to deny our dogs pretty much any activity.

Truth!

I even use a 20 foot leash to make sure my dog is able to roam about, but always have a leash!

For hiking get one of those belts that you can connect a leash to. It helps sooooo much! Makes hiking a lot more fun. Though I know those who went to husky camp and saw my two dragging me by the belt are probably laughing, but with just Elara or my dad's dog, it's really nice. Siku just needs to be taught not to pull so much!

SaraB wrote:

For hiking get one of those belts that you can connect a leash to. It helps sooooo much! Makes hiking a lot more fun. Though I know those who went to husky camp and saw my two dragging me by the belt are probably laughing, but with just Elara or my dad's dog, it's really nice. Siku just needs to be taught not to pull so much!

I just tie my leash to my big thick belt, and I love it too. You can adjust the length of loose lead they get, and leaves you hands free to treat them, or what have you. Keeonah's heel got 100x better with the leash this way. Doggie bluetooth:P

MyKeeonah wrote:

Doggie bluetooth:P

^LOL! Exactly!

In the beginning I also thought you could train a Husky to be an off leash dog.
Well not every Husky will run away in the moment you unhook the leash, but if he sees something that catches his interest he probably will, no matter if you are the alpha to him or not.
You got to keep one thing in mind although a Husky accepts you as th ealpha if you do it right, this breed has no will to please, so if he does not want to listen he doe snot listen. If you got one with no or low prey drive I would say no problem, but tht´s the minority of the Huskies

With the right training a Husky off leash can work 99 times but the next time it could end up in a desaster.
So if off leash is a priority to you go get a German Shepard not a Husky.

Its not the breed its the training.

I would actually argue that. Some breeds generally do better as off leash dogs. Herding and hunting dogs for example. Those breeds were bred to work closely with humans. Range from very highly biddable to decently biddable which coupled with need to work closely with humans makes training recall much easier than training a northern breed.

Working breeds (especially northern breeds) were bred specifically to do a job. In the case of the Siberian it was to run while pulling a sled. Mushers didnt train recall because their dogs were always attached to something because of their inherent need to just run. They are (for most) a very high prey driven breed - in short, their need to chase after a small animal is greater than their need(want?) to respond to a cue they would otherwise normally respond to. Siberians were also bred for their intelligence - a musher had to trust in his dogs and his dogs had to be smart enough to make decisions on their own and if needed disobey a mushers cue. A highly biddable dog such as a border collie or retriever would make pretty terrible sled dogs.

That's not to say that they absolutely cannot achieve any kind of off leash training. But no one should expect their dog to be 100% reliable off leash with 100% recall 100% of the time because it's unrealistic. For me - I train her in recall but I will never willingly let her off leash in an unenclosed area. The risk isn't worth it to me. She has gotten away from me in her own. She ran out the door a couple times, she backed out of her harness once, she ran out the back door because she had to go potty and then came right back. But the other times when she got out I was thankful to have trained recall - however I know for a fact I cannot call her off of a small animal if she ever got off her leash - after one - not from experience but I know her drive therefore I would never risk it.

It very much comes down to the breed in terms of training.