He's about 3.5 months old, boy, active, feisty personality

I live in a house in a cul de sac that is surrounded by woods. For the most part when I let him out to potty he goes down the stairs, potties, and comes back up to me.... but here comes the issue

Sometimes after he potties he'll just bolt off and wander around -perhaps to poop. He'll sometimes poop in my neighbors yard which is fine but he won't return to me after he poops. Once he's a certain distance from me it's like I can't get him to come back to me unless I use his food bowl to make the noise and he'll come running over (cheating though). I can get him to come when it's just him and I in a close proximity or in my house, but once he's out in the nature he's a lone wolf and I have to go get him like 80% of the time.

Sometimes he'll go behind my house into the woods/jungle, chase a deer super far into the woods, then see a bird and chase that super far... I kind of give him some time hoping he'll return to me but he just stays in the woods. Then when I check out what he's up to he's just munching on deer poop everywhere, when I try to approach him he runs around the woods like it's a game. it is extremely frustrating.
Sometimes after walks I let him off leash when we enter the cul de sac, sometimes he'll follow me like a good boy all the way to the house but sometimes he just stops in the middle and eats/licks junk on the ground and won't come unless I lure him with a treat or try to retrieve him.

What I'm essentially trying to say is - is this his inner husky wanting to explore and bolt off? is he being a naughty boy? how can I prevent this ? is this even preventable?? he knows 'come' perfectly in the house (granted i use food/treats) but it's like he doesn't even hear me when i say 'come' outside the house when he's far away. do I reprimand him for not returning to me by 'call' or running away from me in the woods? or is that pointless because of his inner workings as a husky??

need advice/suggestions/help before I lose my mind!

Leash him and keep him on it. If he is a runner at 3.5 months then I can promise you he'll run like the wind once he grows into "teen time."

have you missed all the threads on KEEPING YOUR HUSKY LEASHED? please keep him on a leash, fence in your yard, keep him safe. and yes this is him being a husky.

I'm confused though, isn't that like counter intuitive for when he's older?

I thought I was supposed to have him off leash as much as possible while he's young so that he gets comfortable with it and around me (off leash).... If I leash him his whole life until lets say 2 years and then take him off leash he would surely run like the wind because of the freedom he has and never been off leash for 2 years.

or am I just supposed to always have him leashed? what happens if I always have him leashed and want to go on adventures to the mountains or lake or river etc. I want to give him the freedom to explore on his own as well as have control over him

He's a husky. Huskies should never be off leash, they're not bred to be kept off leash. They're born to run, not stay right next to you like a Lab or Retriever.

Keep him on leash, one day he won't come back and you won't find him. It happens more then you'd think.

As Len said, if he is doing this now, wait until he's older! OMG!
Most pups are like velcro to their humans.

Get a super long lead, like 50 ft. and let him explore to the end of that with you on the other end.

Many, many threads on here about huskies being off leash and the terror that follows when they don't come back. The predominant feeling on here is that huskies should be leashed all the time.

jesselpark wrote:

Or am I just supposed to always have him leashed? what happens if I always have him leashed and want to go on adventures to the mountains or lake or river etc. I want to give him the freedom to explore on his own as well as have control over him

Yeah, that's what you're supposed to do. Huskies are a highly curious breed with a intense prey drive and a knack for developing conveniently timed hearing loss... Coupled with speed

I have taken my dogs out camping and they must remain leashed at that time and when we hike or walk trails. That's just part of the breed.

You may want to purchase siberian huskies for dummies - it covers all of the major issues....running...digging..etc.

spare yourself pain in the future and just least him. I will never allow mine off leash. Period. the end. It's not at all worth losing them, no mater how many people tell me I should "train them better." People don't know the breed, or they would never suggest it. My dogs are trained - if they can walk on show lead in ring and pay attention and free stack, believe me they are trained - running is in their blood.

Yea you want to keep him on a leash since he likes to booked it :p.

Not sure if this will work for you but since I got my pup I've been putting him on umbilical with me twice a day for about 20-30 mins (excluding walks) while I do things around the house or in the backyard. This exercise is to get him used to being by my side and so far it's given me some really good results off leash.

As part of our adoption contract, we signed that we would: Always keep the dog securely contained, never allow the dog off-tead outside a fenced area and to never transport the dog unconfined in an open vehicle. They gave us a leash that snaps into the seatbelt for our car and a coupler to use in the back of our Jeep that has a pet gate build into it. This was actually new to us. A lot of huskies bolt out of the car and are gone. So we do it and I think it is a good idea.

You might find that exploring on lead is fun and you are doing it as a team. Plus - he'll eat a lot less "roadies".

To avoid such situations, as all the others said, keep him on the leash. Although Huskies are no off leash dogs it is possible to train them to be off leash, but I tink that only a real professional dog trainer can do this, also leadership has to be a 100 percent in your hands..
He is only 3,5 months old and is running away and not coming when you call him, so please forget the dream of the off leash Husky, this train has left the station already. You don´t train a dog to b eoff leash just by letting him off as much as possible right form the start. So please do you and your dog a favour and keep him leashed.

Definitely keep him on a leash at all times unless in a securly fenced in area. You should've read all about that before you decided to take on into your home. Huskies are notorious for being strong willed, stubborn, and not very well behaved off leash. Please for your sake and his, keep him on his leash.