Sydka was 8 mths when we adopted her. She is now a 1y.o. she had vet care and we were told she had obedience training, was crate and potty trained. The best guess we have is that she may have German shepherd in her as well. She is 46lbs.

Reality - She HATED the crate. Obviously she was put in when naughty. Marginally potty trained. She was raised by a young girl who kept her with her constantly. The girl moved out of her home and into the grandparents and then to LA without Syd. Sydka snapped in fear, is terrified of brooms and long things, runs away when off leash and will not come when called much of the time.

We do not yell at her. She has tons of things to chew on and despite her destructive path (shoes, skis, bikes, pulling things off the engine out from under the car, trim on the house, garden tools, etc) this is what puppies/dogs do and we are forgiving and preventative. She has 2 of our 8 acres fenced to play in with another dog and 2 tweens to play with. She is exercised nightly but she doesn't play fair. She grabs toys and runs away. We are left with tug of war as a play activity. She chases (eats!) squirrels, turkeys, rabbits, moles to entertain herself. She jogs 3-4 miles daily with my teen daughter and has it pretty sweet. She sleeps in my bed or the chair next to it at night.

She is responding to the love she gets in some areas. She no longer snaps at us.

My problem - She cant be let out at night because she bark/screams constantly and refuses to come in. If approached to come in she runs. as a result, potty training is useless. i DO take her on leash out at all hours of the night. She wont go in front of me. I assume because she is fearful. I have her in obedience training and we use the extra long leash and treats. It isn't helping. she simply gets so over excited and hysterical. Treats, loud noises to capture her attention or throwing things (acorns) to make contact don't shake her out of her hysteria.
She will jump in the car to go somewhere but it is loosing its appeal since i dont always take her somewhere when i catch her. At 2 or 3am I am too pooped.
I did some research and understand that huskies are notorious for not coming and being off leash isn't recommended. I hate to put her in the dog run all the time.
I'm at my wits end - any advice? This is my first husky and we really like her. I don't want to have to return her.

Our husky wasn't treated very well either for the past 4 years (she's almost 8 now). We've had her for about 7 months and shes still getting better with every week that goes by. Gwen wasn't really abused from what we can tell but she was neglected and scolded heavily.

After 7 months of having her we are just barely getting to the point where we can let her off leash in our 5 ache backyard. She'll still run away and pay no mind to our commands if thats what she feels like doing even if there are no distractions (its a 50/50 chance now but getting better). She always comes back about 10mins later and there's no danger around here for her to get into. I don't think we'll ever really trust her off leash as most other husky owners don't trust their dog off leash either even with training. Especially with a young husky!!!!!

Bike joring has been fantastic. It lets her run and pull all she wants without getting us tired out. She has gotten my mountain bike cycle computer to top 28mph. Not bad for an old dog! I take her up and down our road and on mountain bike trails. Its also a good constructive activity that needs some training too. Of course she isn't running free, but its much better than a backyard or just a walk. We do take her to a dog park as long as its empty. We still need to work with her social skill.s

Gwen took months to settle in with us and its only really been the last 3 months that we've been able to do some good focused training with her. Huskys seem to like having a strict routine and be sure to use tons of positive reinforcement with small treats. Our dog WILL NOT respond in a good way to negative discipline and it only makes things much worse. Now she does respond to the tone of our voice and knows immediately if she did something wrong or not so there is no need to discipline her. That took her some time to get accustomed to though.

She sounds like a typical husky to me.
I have a two year old rescue husky for over a year and we still have issues with her but she has come along way from when we first got her. I do not trust either of my huskies off leash I know they will take off and I am not sure I will see them again. They do have some what good recall in the back yard only. My male which we got at 9 months old is a really terrible about coming when it is time to leave at the dog park he only wants to come on his terms.

I wish you the best with her. Thank you for rescuing her and stick to you guns with her and she will get better I would think.

Yup, you have a husky to the max. And it sounds like she's had a pretty traumatic experience early in her life. I've seen lots of dogs who have been abandoned act out like that. Plus it sounds like she was badly spoiled with little to no discipline...

I feel for her, that breaks my heart; I'm so glad she found you. Luckily she's still young and there is still time to turn her around! As was suggested previously, a "job" would be fantastic for her. It will provide the mental and physical stimulation that she appears to need. Also keep doing what you're doing- stick to a routine and get her confidence back.

I have a rescue with abandonment issues (BC mix, not a husky) that had similar behavior when we first adopted her. She has gotten, and continues to get, soo much better. Hang in there!

THANKS to all of you for the encouragement. I have no doubt. She IS a TRUE husky! I like the idea of a job. I don't get what that would look like so can you help??if i can give her a job at night, maybe she will focus on that. We adopted her for 2 reasons: to rid the yard of critters that were a huge nuisance and to be a companion to my son who is really having a hard time with his sister going away to college. She has done those two things.
In addition to "job" details, How did you eventually get your rescued dogs to come back??
i would never take her to a dog park. Empty or not, she would enjoy me chasing her too much and i cant catch her. When she slips out at night, It's a 3 up to 4 hour ordeal. Daytime she is fine (at least tolerable). Its the night time that is a problem. its happened about 10 times over the past 4 months. What started to work was for me to walk away. That surprised her and in 10 minutes she would come. Im not comfortable doing that anymore. Last week, the propane delivery guys accidentally let her out of the gate. (She is fearful of men in baseball caps.) They opened the gate and she bolted. She killed a neighbors chickens. They can insist on her being "put down" but are not doing that. I am frantic that she will escape again. The running seems to be more like she is scared and unable to self regulate or soothe herself. She gets frantic, wont make eye contact, her bark changes. Its sad. i've even considered a shock collar but my trainer and i both think it will traumatize her more. I thought my reliable dog who is her constant companion would be a role model. So far - no go. She is in the house but given her poor potty training, I have set up our kennel and am going to try putting her in there. It seems counter-productive so i would prefer not.
i'm not giving up - i know i need to be creative and consistent. i'm just out of ideas and sleepy.

The only way I am able to get my pups to come in from the back yard it to make sure I give them a high value treat everytime. When I take them to the dog park I always have treats in the car my rescue will come to me at the dog park but my male pup only comes when he is ready to go not when I am. I show him the treats before we go into the park sometimes it helps getting him to come when it is time.

High value treats for my pups are string cheese, Petco cookies with frosting and sprinkles, hot dogs, liver snacks, etc.

Could you use a cable for her at night? We dont have fences where i live so mine are on cables to go out. We used a cable or small chain for my aunts dog when we got her because she didnt want to come in, that way we could slowly pull her towards us. I think using the kennel for going out at night should be fine at least you know shes secure then.

Kennels aren't a bad thing...huskies need a place to treat as their den that they can go and hide in if they feel insecure. My husky LOVES her kennel. Always make it a positive experience, that will help.

I always take my dog potty on a leash. Its just easier that way for us. She lets us know when she has to go and we take her out. Huskies can learn recall (and for some reason she's all of a sudden decided to come inside when we tell her to) but that doesn't mean they'll listen to you when they don't feel like it (they are stubborn.) And once you get her potty trained, you wont have to take her out in the middle of the night. Also, a crate will help keep her from peeing at night because dogs don't normally pee where they sleep. Keep up the good work and thank you for adopting her!!

I was also going to suggest a line for night time. And give her a treat every time she comes in, you want her to associate you and coming back to you with good things.

With my rescue, I play flyball, disc, agility, and we dabble in lure coursing. With my husky I do weight pull, bikejoring, and lure coursing- she also likes to play around on the agility equipment, and sometimes she can be convinced to run a course!

You could build a few agility obstacles for her to play on. It could give her something new to learn, some mental and physical stimulation. Or teach her to pull, she is a husky! If she has the high prey drive (mine does too) she would probably love lure coursing too, but maybe wait on that until you can catch her a bit easier!

Thanks to you all for the great ideas! I'll start adjusting her schedule and let you all know how it goes. Here is what struck me.

I like the highly desirable treats. i was shying away from treating her frequently because the trainer said she will quickly become reliant. At this point, reliance would be fine. i can adjust her reward later. I was using hotdogs and those treats that come in a sausage like roll. She loves them. I was just being judicious when i give them. At this ooint I am more interested in her seeing me as a source of security.

The cable- I have one and was considering it but didnt know how it would work. I live in a HOT area so i know she will want to be outside at night. She has a kiddie swimming pool she lounges in. The cable would give her the opportunity AND allow me the ability to pull her in if she gets hysterical. I actually think it will help her to gain trust. I can pull her in, show her support and that I am not going to hurt her. Love it.

Excercising and havinlg her pull. Its intriguing. Would I use a regular harnes?. Its what I use now and the only thing she pull is me! i recently had shoulder surgery and i weigh 110 lbs. so its real hard to hold on to her. If i could giver her an outlet it would help. Are there websites or resources to know what to do. In my mind I am thinking of hooking up my little red wagon and having her pull me!

Im glad to hear the kennel is something she can learn to love. I have avoided it because she was in 4 different sheltersand in kennels for 2 months before being picked up by the rescue groups. I thought she had been caged long enough. I will do some hard work around using it. I feed her in there with the gate open and she exits right away. i'll start closing her in for 10-15 minutes after eating..

Looking forward to giving you a PROGRESS update.

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Excercising and havinlg her pull. Its intriguing. Would I use a regular harnes?. Its what I use now and the only thing she pull is me! i recently had shoulder surgery and i weigh 110 lbs. so its real hard to hold on to her. If i could giver her an outlet it would help. Are there websites or resources to know what to do. In my mind I am thinking of hooking up my little red wagon and having her pull me!

For pulling you'll need something a little bit stronger than a walking harness. There are x-back harnesses (ruffwear has them and a couple other places) that are perfect for biking/roller blading with her. You could also look into a waist leash (I got mine from ruffwear) that would keep your shoulders from hurting because it goes around the waist (that would be for walking not pulling.) There are a couple people who have built their own karts on here for their dogs to pull them in, those might give you ideas! Can't wait to hear about your progress!!!

I had Alpine Outfitters make a custom sized harness for Gwen. It fits far better than any of the other harnesses I've tried. They make an X-back and an urban trail harness. The urban trail harness is great for biking, and rollerblading where you will be helping the dog a bit (Gwen has pulled me up minor hills with it and didn't seem to mind at all!). The X-back harnesses are good if they will be pulling the full weight with no or little help like scootering or dog sledding.

The x-back harness is only really good for pulling. The urban trail harness can be used as a normal walking harness or for minor pulling so it is more versatile. For a custom fit harness made in USA they are still very affordable and alpine outfitters is an excellent company to talk to. They really work with you to make sure things are right.