Its not an easy thing to correct, at least not with mine Katie. What i find great about my pack, is when the oldest wants to leave, the others follow her lead, it is her pack of course. Today we only went for an hour or so, usually we stay 3 at the park. I enjoy a quiet house at home so I invest in them. Mine will walk around the park to find the weakest area of the fence and try to make a run for it, like most say, mine love to run and its not in a circle. They go miles away.

Although Yuki's only 12 weeks old and probably couldn't get far on her own, I've never let her off leash :S She's great at recall in the house or yard, but I've never tried testing it outside of an enclosed area, and I don't think I will. I have a feeling she'd immediately inherit that 'selective hearing', so it just seems simpler to leash her rather than for something disastrous to happen.

Delilah has great recall at the dog park or in the yard - but believe me she totally forgets her name if she gets out. It's terrifying.

After watching Embry almost getting hit my numerous cars last month when he got out of the park, I would never risk it. I let Ares off leash when we get to the dog park in the parking lot because he stays right next to me since the other two dogs are with me, but once he hits a year I probably won't do it anymore.

You never know what's outside that might catch their attention, and next thing you know they're both gone and have no intentions of coming back...Not worth it to me.

Now I know this is a very debated topic and I usually never let Anna off the leash. The only exception I have made is to let her off once or twice when she is playing with Molly. She doesn't leave Molly's side, by the way she is a lab puppy in my apartment complex. IF they start to get a little to far for my comfort I just call Anna or Molly and they come back. I am sure Anna might not always be like this but I honestly say I don't think Anna would leave me. Whenever she is tired of playing with Molly she comes and sits by me. She doesn't leave my side no matter where I go. She still follows me in the bathroom, she never wants to be alone. But even letting her off for a few minutes I get very, very nervous. I understand that she can run and it is a huge risk that's why I only let her off when she plays with Molly, she is so focused on Molly she doesn't know what else is going on.

Titus is never allowed off leash, not even in a dog park as the fence is only 4 feet high. I know Titus can easily jump over the fence. I realized that if I put him on a 30 feet leash, his recalls are great. But if the leash is not clip to his collar, he will only come back on occasion.
Lycan on the other hand is always off leash. He will even come back from playing with a dog if called. But he is a Malamute.

jbealer wrote:

i want to say something but im keeping my mouth closed......

Ha, nobody wants to hear my opinions I am sure!

One thing I have learned in the past 10 months is, there is a time and a place for both sides of the coin. (on and off) And they NEED to run. Of course huskies that are always kept bottled up are going to take off and run when given the chance, and probably scare their owners a bit. When it's a routine thing, the ones I know, seem to chill out a bit because they are getting one of their needs fulfilled. Of course if you live in an urban area, like I assume most folks here do, it's always a bad idea to let them run free. Take em out on day trips to forests if possible, and with other dogs like some folks here do and let them be themselves, it's a pretty amazing sight to see

I'm pretty sure if I let Saber off leash he would stay by me. But, he loves to go after squirrels and such so I would never take the chance he would bolt and get hit by a car. I would be guilt stricken. To each their own.

No No off leash for maggie. She would run off. High prey drive!

Never ever ever ever Never would I let any of mine go off leash, Axel already got hit by a car once when he darted out the door and I would never risk anything happening to any of my furbabies, they are just as happy on leash outside and off leash IN THE HOUSE hehe.

My former roommates (couple at the time) had a husky and an eskimo that were surprisingly good off leash. It's mainly due to the fact that the eskimo is very attached to his mom and the husky just likes to follow his brother around everywhere.

Well one day we were all at one of my friend's parents house and they have a dock in the back yard. His mom let the dog out for a bathroom break and he didn't come back right away. His mom got scared and they all freaked out.. hours later he came back all wet and literally passed out from exhaustion.

Their theory is he ran up the dock and jumped in, swam all the way across to the other side and swam back.


I don't think that answers any questions about whether to let your dog off or on-leash, but I figure that story might humor some, lol.

massak wrote:

jbealer wrote:

i want to say something but im keeping my mouth closed......

Ha, nobody wants to hear my opinions I am sure!

One thing I have learned in the past 10 months is, there is a time and a place for both sides of the coin. (on and off) And they NEED to run. Of course huskies that are always kept bottled up are going to take off and run when given the chance, and probably scare their owners a bit. When it's a routine thing, the ones I know, seem to chill out a bit because they are getting one of their needs fulfilled. Of course if you live in an urban area, like I assume most folks here do, it's always a bad idea to let them run free. Take em out on day trips to forests if possible, and with other dogs like some folks here do and let them be themselves, it's a pretty amazing sight to see

I agree that there is a time and a place, but with a highly prey dirven dog a forest is definatley not one of these places.

Hey Laura,
I read through all this and decided to throw in my own experience. My fiance and I have had Bear, our 2 year old purebred Sibe, since he was 7.5 weeks. We started extensive recall training with him from the second day of having him. We started with him on a very long lead, then worked our way up to allowing him off in an enclosed area, then started adding distractions, then worked our way up to an off leash dog park on lead. Once we were comfortable with his recall on lead at the dog park, we allowed him off. Since day 1 though he never ever strayed more than a foot from us, even when on a long lead. He never wanted to be far from us that's for sure. Once we started allowing him fully off at the dog park, he ventured a bit further to play with other dogs, but always looked back to ensure we were still there. If we went in a different direction, he came tearing after us. In the 2 years of having him, we have never encountered a single issue. As soon as we call his name, he's at our side, and I've never had to call more than once. Bear goes to the dog park nearly every day, and we've made friends with about 4 other Sibe owners, all who have their dogs off leash trained. I really think it depends on the amount of training and work you put into the dog, as well as the dog itself. Every dog is different, ours especially. He is the laziest husky in the world to be honest! LOL

That said, I do know that there is always the chance of something happening in the future. That's why we never take him off leash anywhere near the city. We live in Ottawa, and our dog park is well out of the way of traffic and people. We also take him hiking with his, but won't allow him off until we're well on our way into the trail.

Anyways, that's just my experience. A lot of hard work and training can go a long way, but I'm also not saying it's possible for every husky. Some have that urge to run and never look back more than others. Good luck with your two, they're gorgeous btw!

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there is a time and a place for both sides of the coin.

Well said.

Like Kelly said we live both sides of the coin every single day.

Tika:

Recall training with Tika was done and focused on from day one forward. We started out in a field with both of us at different ends with treats and just calling her one at a time. It was a game to her and she loved it.

Everyday we worked on recall.... Never an exception. Maybe for 5 minutes, maybe for 30.

We then moved on to perimeter training where she couldn't be more than a certain distance from us and enforced her boundaries on the front lawn. Again this was just turned into a game and was done as safe as we could.


And that was it. We were happy with that. We never wanted anything more then a puppy that had a higher chance to comes back when we called if she ever got loose.


Then we realized one thing.... Our dog parks suck.... Like really, really, really, bad. No on goes to them.... ever.

Except an old golf course that was modified into a dog park. This had a wooded area right beside it with trails and loads of people went there. The catch was it was unfenced. Wanting the best life for Tika that we could provide that meant we wanted to dearly socialize her with as many other dogs as we could.

We never intended Tika to be off leash trained. We accepted the fact she was a Husky and would be leashed forever.... But this was kind of a game changer. So we dropped the leash and watched her; letting everyone know that if we needed her back could they please try and get the leash for us (we figured if she grew defiant of the recalls she would still be around other dogs and playing and another owner with better recall would help us get her back).

That was it. She was so good and came back when we called... Maybe not every time but she always stopped and looked and if we insisted she would come back.

From there we started Hiking off leash and running in fields by the house or around parks.... We grew in trust and allowed her more room as she grew.

She has never once ran off. There have been times she got a bit far away, and I got nervous, but never has she ran off. We've met a number of husky owners at this park that let theirs run free as well.

She has even escaped from my yard once and my inlaws yard once. All she did was walk down the street slightly and come right back to the house.

We still work on her recall and off leash walking every day by our house. When our house is within view of us we unclick her, check for cars, we off leash heel for a bit, and then we tell her to go HOME and she trots off down the road.

She prances off onto our property and sits right down and waits there.


So Can a Husky be off leashed trained???? Yes.
Can they all? No. I don't believe they can.

Are other breeds prone to running off as well? Yes. I don't see it as just being ours... Though other breeds have a lesser prey drive and can control it better some dogs are just prone to running off... Now this maybe the exception rather than the rule but it still applies.


Ripley:

We've tried.

From simple perimeter training to off leash heeling... If she thinks for a SECOND she can get away she will. She loves to run and her prey drive motivates all she does in life. She is also too stubborn to listen at the best of times.

Her recall is lacking, and her sled head is just insane. I truly believe the day will NEVER come I will let her run free, which is truly a shame for her socialization.

On rare occasions we will attached both pups to my double end leash and let them run off together as Tika's recall is good enough to bring Ripley back. But those are very rare to say the least.




I sit on both sides of this fence. I understand both points of view and believe both are correct.

All I'm saying is that with enough time, effort, training, and THE RIGHT DOG AND HANDLER, a great many things can be achieved. I'll be the first to admit, and have on many occasions, Tika is the exception and not the rule when it comes to many a things Husky related. She however isn't the worlds smartest / best dog. It was a lot of time and training put in on both Kelly and my parts to allow us to trust her in the manner that we do, and WE UNDERSTAND the risk we take every time we let free.

To see how happy she is when she gets to hike free, run in a field, or play with other dogs in the manner in which she does is why we take that risk. She has given us no reason in which to doubt her.

For those that say "Well the day she gives you reason is the day she could get away or worse"; that can be said about many things... I'd rather give my pup the benefit of the doubt.





Again this is my pup. I would never, ever, recommend someone off leash their husky or any dog without completely trust and a lot of training.

~Chris~

I agree completely with everything Chris said. Not every husky is the same. Some can be trained off leash, others cannot. it's as simple as that. To a degree it is how much effort and training the owner puts in, but I believe it's also very much the dog. Some have a higher pray drive than others. Our boy Bear would never in a million years hurt a small animal. We recently rescued a 2 month old kitten, named Mittens, and since that first day they have become best friends. Bear was 2 when we adopted the kitten btw. The two of them sleep together, whether it be on the couch or together in Bear's crate. They also clean one another on a daily basis.

As far as recall training goes, Zach and I work with Bear daily. Just because we think he's trained perfectly, doesn't mean he is. We work every day with him to keep him well trained. It's definitely an on going thing, that's for sure!

Bear is taken off leash every single day as well. I don't know if that has anything to do with how well he behaves off leash or not, but it could. We've gotten him to the point where we can walk into the center of a busy dog park, tell him to sit and wait, take off his leash, and he won't move an inch until we tell him "OK".

Training is something that needs to be done daily I believe. Even to this day we work on sit, lay down, stay etc. Just to enforce it. If you have the time, energy and commitment to offer, and are willing to continuously train, then I believe a dog is really capable of anything, husky or not.

Good lord I grow tired of this subject.

Rogue is great off leash, Koda is dependent on the situation. However, I will NEVER let my dogs off leash intentionally. It is a risk, and I would much rather keep my dog on a 60ft lead or something than be that "cool husky owner with that super cool husky who can be off leash look at me everybody!" We've had members of the older forums who have dead dogs because their huskies got hit by cars (and they lived on a farm with a good amount of acreage) and other stories. The only situation I find acceptable is what Jenn and Eddy would do at summits, where there is virtually nothing and no distractions or change of harm. There is NO reason ANY breed of dog needs to be off leash. There are leads with plenty of roaming room, there are dog parks, you can leash-walk them on hikes and walks around the neighborhood/park, have them run inside your fence. It's not even worth the small chance of a freak accident happening.

I don't say this because "huskies can't be off leash," I really don't believe "huskies can and cannot do" certain things because of their breed. They are just like any other dog. Dogs are unpredictable. You can NEVER guarantee something with a dog. Keep your pet safe, there is no reason you need it off leash anyways.

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Good lord I grow tired of this subject

There are a great many subjects on the forum that get repeated time and time again from Crate training to what to feed. All are equally important and the people who ask the questions are not just doing so for "THE ONE ANSWER" but instead insight into the pros and cons of all possibilities.

I think we all know and agree there is no one RIGHT or WRONG way to raise a pup.... If there was this forum would be null and void. Instead this is a place we can all come together and discuss what is the best, or safest possibilities , for the normal handler.

If there was one right way we would have a Walk through and no community.

Quote :

It is a risk, and I would much rather keep my dog on a 60ft lead or something than be that "cool husky owner with that super cool husky who can be off leash look at me everybody!"

I'm not sure being a "Cool" Husky owner comes into play when some of us decide to off leash train.

Myself personally I'm getting close to 30 years of age... Cool doesn't really equate into my everyday life any more. I love my wife, I love my friends, and I love my dogs. They give me enough out of life that I really could care less about what Joe random thinks about my dogs or how they act. The only person I need to be cool for is my wife.... and I do that in many other ways then letting my dogs run free.

Quote :

We've had members of the older forums who have dead dogs because their huskies got hit by cars (and they lived on a farm with a good amount of acreage) and other stories.

I agree 100%. As I said WE understand 100% the risk we take every time we off leash Tika and we accept it. She has given us no reason to miss trust her and that means a lot to us. Ripley on the other hand has shown us she is not to be trusted off leash and will not be trained as such.

Quote :

There is NO reason ANY breed of dog needs to be off leash

Though I agree with this statement in principle, it is not close to true in reality for a number of reasons. Training a pup to be off leash responsive doesn't mean they are always walking around without a lead on. There are few places I allow mine to drop, and I know those places well.

For one thing I would much rather prefer my pup are accustomed to being off leashed for that time they got free. EXPECT THE BEST, PLAN FOR THE WORST my father always said. Escapes happen to most of us, dogs slip their collars or escape from the back yard, and when they do happen I want to know that verbal commands are enough to bring them back. If nothing else there is that.

There are other reasons I have personally to having my pups off leash trained... But they are for our situation only and for the well being off my dogs.


This forum is built around differing views coming together... A community understanding there is no one way to do things.

I will state it again no breed should be left off leash without the proper training or handler and complete trust between the two.

But that doesn't mean that for the people who are willing to work at it every day and train hard it isn't possible and should be dismissed. Like anything else if you devote enough time and effort to it it is possible....

Though I would never NEVER recommend it to the average owner of any breed of dog.

~Chris~

And I will repeat, I grow tired of this subject and I wasn't posting to argue my stance on it or read a novel-sized post trying to diffuse it or tell me a life story. But I will reply since you personally addressed everything I said and challenged it. You're not budging me on this one- there is no good reason, any potential risk of my dog being put in a negative situation is not a risk I am willing to take, and quite frankly I feel like hitting my head against a wall when people say "I understand the risks and still do it," because it comes across cocky and I can't comprehend "putting my dogs in potentially risky completely unnecessary situation and being okay with it." I will keep my dogs close to me and safe, regardless of the fact that one of them is 100% trustworthy, as there is nothing I need her offleash for.

Also, recall training and just letting your dog off leash for the fun of it = two different things, and recall can be done in enclosed areas just as effectively to prepare for those times mistakes happen. I've done it with several clients I trained back home and it work just fine, and I know others on here who have strengthened their dogs recall using the same method.

That is my last preach about dogs being offleash and I am going to occupy myself with other subjects to avoid driving myself insane.

We let Daisy off leash with a long 50 feet leash attached at all times. The field that we let her off leash is somewhat fenced in, it has big open gates on either side of the field for walking in and out and a river to the side of it.

We have trained her to come back and she does a great job at it although not super great. She comes back about 70% of the time. Also, it's always my boyfriend and I that take her to run. I stay behind near the open gates and my boyfriend runs with her and I call her to come back. She'll come running as fast as she can and when she doesn't my boyfriend (who is always close to her or within reach of the leash) will grab the leash and run towards me making Daisy come back. He will stop running half way and Daisy will still come all the way back to me.

My boyfriend will then call her to go back to him and she'll almost all the time run back to him. If she doesn't instantly, he'll usually start to run and act very excited which works all the time to get her to come back to him.

We BOTH always have treats on hand and always give her a treat EVERY time she comes back. She is almost 8 months now and we have been doing this since she was 5 months old.

Also, the field is very big but she has never traveled too far and has actually never seen or wandered to the other half of the field. She is always in our view. We have only done this with ONE field and we trust her.

The other night we did try a different field because the one we always go to had some game going on. The new field we tried was a baseball field that had most of the fencing also with two open areas to walk in and out. Daisy still did very good.

We have been to an off leash dog park where it is fully gated but Daisy doesn't do much but dig, she'll also just walk around and smell around, not so much run. If someone starts running (me or my boyfriend, or another dog) she will follow and run too but other than that, she doesn't run much.

Overall, I do trust her running free but with a super long leash and as long as my boyfriend is with me to run with her or stay close to her.

Our problem is when it's time to go home, she'll lay flat and not move. LOL, we are having to physically pick her up. It's funny because she knows that if she walks on the cement (parking lot) then its over, so she always tries to stay on the grass when we are at the park.

Although, once we get her on the cement she does start walking towards to car.

Quote :

I grow tired of this subject and I wasn't posting to argue my stance on it or read a novel-sized post trying to diffuse it or tell me a life story.

Who was trying to diffuse it? You have your point of view on the matter and I have mine. Never did I say mine was the course that should be followed or the correct one by any means.

What I said was this course could be followed given enough time and effort, and it has been working best for MY DOGS.

never once did I try and sway you or say that your view was incorrect...

However people will always come here looking for answers on this, and just straight out dismissing it helps no one at all.

Quote :

. But I will reply since you personally addressed everything I said and challenged it.

I'm sorry you feel that way, as I was simply expressing my point of view on the matter. This WAS NOT a challenged on you or your beliefs, and if you reread my post I only disagreed with one aspect of dog training. The other things I disagreed with where in no way related to training...

I did not / would not want to challenged how you run your house hold. That is your prerogative and the point of my reply was NEVER TO SWAY YOU.

It was to point out that this forum wasn't made to flat out dismiss different approaches, or differing views on matters. Just because you may grow tired of a topic doesn't mean that it isn't important to the person who started the thread.

How you chose to train your dogs is your prerogative, as is everyone else on this forum. We can only, as a community, recommend what works for most of us. That however doesn't mean differing points of view should not be examined or expressed.

Quote :

... quite frankly I feel like hitting my head against a wall when people say "I understand the risks and still do it," because it comes across cocky and I can't comprehend "putting my dogs in potentially risky completely unnecessary situation and being okay with it."

But that is their choice.

It really has nothing to do with you at that point. The forum is here to educate and inform. I think we all agree that the safest form of action is to keep your pup leashed 24/7.

However there are a number of people on the forum who don't, including me, and they aren't going to cower and hide because there is a differing point of view on the matter.

Instead they have all shown restraint and avoided conflict by simply agreeing; seldom if ever should a dog be left free.

Quote :

Also, recall training and just letting your dog off leash for the fun of it = two different things, and recall can be done in enclosed areas just as effectively to prepare for those times mistakes happen. I've done it with several clients I trained back home and it work just fine, and I know others on here who have strengthened their dogs recall using the same method.

Again that is your experience and your welcome to it.

I however respectfully disagree on that training method.

In theory recall training works well in an enclosed area, I think most people on this forum will agree that their pups "Listen oh so well in the backyard or some other fenced in area but as soon as they break free in a normal setting they run for the hills".

I'd rather mine not try and play "catch me" in the middle of traffic, and instead be ready for verbal cues anywhere... not just inside the space they are accustom to it.

Again that is OUR approach, and we take full responsibility for our pups and what happens to them. Never did I say anyone should follow my example. In fact in every post on the matter I've always expressed that people should leash first, always.

Quote :

Our problem is when it's time to go home, she'll lay flat and not move. LOL, we are having to physically pick her up. It's funny because she knows that if she walks on the cement (parking lot) then its over, so she always tries to stay on the grass when we are at the park.

Hehe.

I have indeed seen a couple of people have the same issue at our dog park. It seems the have too much fun they just don't want to go home.

I would try keeping a very high reward treat, like a marrow bone, for when she gets home. After a couple of times she SHOULD, hopefully, start to put the two together..

IE when you call to go home a LARGE TREAT IS WAITING FOR ME.

~Chris~

We should start trying that. Thanks for the tip!

This topic will never be settled. The fact is every time you unclip your dog (irregardless of breed,) you could lose them. Flat out never have them in your life again. Gone. Granted thats not as likely with some breeds, and is more likely with others. Sibes aren't the only one.

Chris you have to understand that not everyone is going to agree or even tolerate your response as acceptable. There have been OB titled dogs who blew off recall just once and were never seen again. Or people have lose their dogs to cars or have lose them to selfish other people who found them and never searched for their owners. There's a lot of heat and emotion on this topic. It's nice that Tika is so well behaved with this- but she truly is the minority.

I could go on for 8 pages how I trust my dogs in the bed of my pickup and how I KNOW they won't jump out. But there is going to be a large amount of people who disagree. So instead of rehashing myself every time you just have to let it go.

We have emergency recall trained. Rewards are super high and awesome. Cue word is something odd and never used unless I NEED TO GET THEM BACK RIGHT NOW. A leash slipped out of my hand while unloading them by a lake, Mishka took off towards the lake to go attack some duck and practically tripped over herself recalling with the emergency recall.

I know she is just a pup but if I take genesis out to the front yard (not fenced in) she stays right by my side (off leash). Once I let her go off her leash in the back yard (fenced in) she hardly won't come to me. I have only done the off leash twice when not fenced in and won't do it again if its not fenced in. I just don't want to take that chance.

I let mine off, but i definitely take the same precautions as i would with any other breed of dog. They are allowed off leash at the dog park, <- we have two, once is fenced the other is not. They're allowed off when we visit our property which is 25 1/2 acres, and they're allowed off when we go hiking. I think it depends on the individual dog- i know people with goldens who can't let them off. We're also smart about it, they can be off as long as we aren't near roads. But again, every dog and owner is different.