recalling a husky?

i have been told it will not ever be possible for me to take Quin off of the lead as she would not come back if allowed to run, thats not a problem really but was just wondering if anyone knew of a husky that does run off lead and still re-call?

I think there are a few members on Dogsey who are able to let their huskies, or husky crosses off the lead. Hopefully they will be along soon to share their experiences.

I know of a few people who have Husky's that can be allowed offlead.
My Husky mix can be allowed offlead in a secure place but anywhere else and she gives chase to anything small n furry and its just not worth the risk.

quin is a husky X we think GSD dont know if this will make any difference?.

I still let my 18mnth Husky cross off lead. Many people think it is not worth the risk and I think that is personal preference. I would never let her off lead anywhere near a road, but I do let her off on the large field we walk regularly and in the woods. Her recall is very good, better than many of the other dogs on the field actually...

She was harder to teach recall to than maybe another dog, but as I have three notoriously hard to recall dogs and have never had an 'easy dog' I never noticed the difference. I have a 13 yr old Samoyed with perfect recall, a lurcher I can recall even from a hare pursuit and a Huskamute who still recalls even from a bunny chase at 18 months...

With Kismet I started by using a long line and high value rewards. I always have a combination of rewards for when the novelty of one wears off. I usually have two high value food choices (cheese and chicken are faves) I also have a whistle, a furry ball on a string (cat toy) which I jerk about like a falcon lure, and a squeaky ball, I change which one I use so she knows she'll get a reward, but is never sure which one. I have taught her the 'watch me' command to get her attention, then once I have her eye contact I can bring out the treat to bring her back, or run in the opposite direction if I need her to come away quickly from something. She also knows drop and wait, if I just need her to stay put till I get there. Throughout the walks we go on and off lead and have games both on and off, so she doesn't think on lead always means game over. Huskies are mainly just too clever for their own good and exteemely independant. It is a constant battle to remain always the better option. Better than half a dead bird to roll in, better than a bunny to chase, better than that other dog to go see.... While she was still a little pup, I also used a bungee lead attaching her to Pharaoh my lurcher, so that if for any reason she didn't recall, I could recall him. He will still 'get Kismet' if all else fails, but I haven't needed to use that for ages.

I walk on a field with two other off lead huskys one 12 yrs old never run off and one 5 yrs old and three other husky crosses all allowed off lead with no problems.

It can be done. But I know the breed experts and rescue organisations still advise against it.. So at your own risk I suppose... Personally I don't thik Huskys are much worse than any other high prey drive dog..

Although I suppose there is an argument that once you have trained them to run in harness you have effectively trained them to run away from you at high speed and never look back. Probably not wise to let trained sled dogs off lead... Maybe that's where it comes from?

There are lots of huskies, including some of my own, which are extremely good off lead. The problem is that they can never be trusted 100% off-lead. No matter how good your dog is off-lead, there will always be that one occasion when they do not listen and that might be the time when they are knocked down by a car, when they kill a sheep and are shot by a farmer, when they kill a neighbours cat and become subject to a neighbourhood vendetta. It is just not worth putting your dog at risk. We have been in the breed for 16 years and in all that time we have come across at least one owner each year whose dog has been killed on the road, shot by a farmer or just disappeared without trace. Every single one of those owners said almost word for word the same thing - "I don't understand, he/she'd always come back before."

Every single Siberian Husky related organisation in the world -bar none recommends that huskies are not let off lead in unenclosed areas. They don't recommend this for fun, or to upset people, or out of arrogance - they do it because, based on bitter experience over many many years, it makes sense and saves husky lives.

Mick

But can't the same be said of all dogs?

My Nan's Yorkshire terrier was run over chasing a cat, I know a friend's Golden retriever just ran off and dissapeared. Most of the beagles on the field never recall to their owners. Surely hundreds if not thousands of dogs get run over, kill sheep and cats or run away every year.

Is it really so much worse or more likely for Huskies? Or should all dogs be kept on lead all the time?

Our neighbour has a young husky that follows him everywhere always off-lead, I've not seen or heard of him ever having problems - he's done this right from getting her as a tiny puppy. I've never actually seen her on a lead.

I think there are alot of caveats to this though and alot of it depends on where you are and the type of surroundings. I believe dogs are meant to run and be free and obviously you make sure that they can do this as safely as possible. For example, as puppies, all my dogs are always off-lead walked from the very first day I get them. This does seem to "tie" them to me and they never seem to lose that even though they all fall into the high-prey drive class. They don't get taken on proper lead walks until they are much older.

I think it's a bit like having children in the sense that you have to find a comfortable line between wrapping them up in cotton wool and trusting them to be sensible within the set rules. Being permanently wrapped up in cotton wool is no fun I'm sure!!

I agree with Ziva, it depends on where you live to a certain extent. I have dogs that don't recall very well. OK, they aren't particularly high prey drive, but they will run after cats and probably sheep etc. just to play with them. I happen to live in an area that is really good for off lead dogs. There are lots of safe walks and it doesn't really matter if your dog's recall is iffy. I know people who have Estrelas who never get to let them off lead because they live in areas which are unsuitable, eg. lack of proper open spaces, lots of livestock etc. My guys run free on the beach and country parks, but if I lived in Wales, or North Yorkshire etc, I might have difficulty exercising them off lead.

But surely with husky's its better to be cautious then regret it when something happens?x