How many people know huskies with reliable off lead recall?

Hi all,

This is following on from my post the other day about the neighbours who have 2 13wk old husky pups without researching the breed at all.

Yesterday i took my two for a walk around the fields with them. The puppies were off the lead and one of them is already running off (a good distance away) and not coming back. Yesterday he slipped under a barbed wire fence and ran to within 10 foot of a main road before we managed to get him to come back. The other pup had also followed him but came back quicker and didnt get as close to the road. I was about to slice myself to pieces on the fence to run after the pups cos i was terrified of them being hit by a car.

I know there are quite a few people with sibes on here and i think i have read before that at least one person knows someone who's sibe is ok with off lead recall. I was just wondering if those with sibes who walk them off lead could tell me if they did anything special to train the dog to recall.

I have stated more than once that sibes are renoun for poor recall, escapism and no road sense but these people (who are not bad people they just dont undestand - probably due to lack of research) are determined that they can train them to recall without a problem. To their credit they are training them already and have been from day one but they are not taking them to classes and i think they are over exercising them already.

Im concerned about the dogs but i dont want to alienate these neighbours because we are friends from way back and im concerned that if i do that they wont listen to a word i say. Also if the worst came to the worst and they cannot cope with the dogs i have more chance of them letting me take them if we are still friends. I really dont want to see these lovely boys suffer

I don't think there are many that have reliable recall the 3 we met are never allowed off lead because of this and they are 5 & the Brothers are 8 yrs old.

mine is fine off lead but we made a point of taking her to puppy classes very early and we keep up the training when giving them treats and things, even doing recall from the garden to the kitchen so she can be fed

we also always make sure that when we let her off lead the area is as secure as possible first i would never let her off where she could see a road let alone get onto it, but that isnt just with kai we do that with all our dogs

They can be trained to recall - however, the problem is that they have a very strong predatory instinct so once they are into that, it's very hard to get them back.

An example is a beagle I know of - very well trained, does agility, obedience etc but once was missing for 3 hours when it scented a hare - Mr Beagle's genetics went into orbit and he was off!

Totally agree, My mini Dacchie is the same, once she's on a scent you have a job getting her back, that's what she was bred to do and you will find all dogs have an instinct of what they were bred for to varying degrees, but unlike Huskies she doesn't have the instinct to run off, and keep on going. This is the dangerous part. It's not the bad recall that is dangerous as many people assume. They can have excellent recall but when instinct overrides their training, you have no chance.

So whereas I can give Dusty a fair few shouts back if she's on a scent and throwing a deafy, and even go and get her myself is she still doesn't listen, it's not so dangerous really as she's just sniffing about, but when a Husky is running and won't come back, it's a different matter and this is why many Husky owners simply never let them offlead unless in a secure area, they just will not chance it.

When I decided on a hound I knew what her instincts would be, the only thing really you can do now is try and educate your friends that this is their dogs natural instinct, and like it or not, it will always be a part of them.

Thanks for your replies. Maybe it wont be a problem then. I really hope not anyway!! Will keep you all updated anyway and maybe i'll buy them extendable leads as a present lol.

extendable leads are dangerous there are so many hooror stories about them snapping and as they recoil whipping people in the face, there was even a person who lost an eye and the chances of this happening will increase with a breed that was specifically bred for pulling

its all down to the owner and their confidence with their dogs recall, i have spent a lot of time working on it and i am now confident that kai will return so i let her off, if i wasnt then i wouldnt

if these dogs dont go to training classes and the owners dont work on the recall then they should keep them on lead, most of all they just need to be made aware of the problems they face if they dont put a lot of work into their dogs

sorry that was supposed to say horror stories not hoorah stories

my parents have a husky x rottie who has a very strong prey drive. to the extent that when he decides to go, he has been missing for hours on several occassions, and once even over night.
I have been helping them to train their dog now for the past 6 months or so and he has improved.

They have access to land straight from the gate on their land. When they first got him, they would open the gate and he was gone. Now, when they open the gate, he will wait patiently, only going through when told, and as he starts to run, they can tell him to wait and he will drop instantly.
We are still on our last hurdle where we are having a few problems with rabbits chasing, but on the whole he is very good and they dont lose him nearly as much. They used to lose him every day, now its maybe once every couple of weeks.

We took control of his food. This is a good way of achieving better responses outdoors with distractions, although its not a 100% resolve on its own.
This means that he has to earn every last morsel of food, which kicks in his instinct to eat when its available, regardless of if he is hungry or not. We have also integrated into his training taking control of his prey drive instinct by channelling it onto something more desirable like chasing his toys. And using food to do scent games outside on his walks. Alot of this has helped, but as i say its still a work in progress and he is still having to be kept on a long line for safety.

Apologies i over the extendable lead i'll correct that to 'long training line'.

Unfortunately while we do have fields at the back of our close the other side goes into town and there are numerous roads where people drive far faster than they should. There are also fields with livestock not far away and several busy back lanes where some cars speed like crazy. I always recall my dogs and put them back on leads some way before we reach the end of the fields where the roads is but they didnt seem bothered about their puppies.

I'll try and have a chat next time i see them and explain that if they want them offlead it is going to take a hell of a lot of time, practise and patience and they shouldnt take it lightly. Will try and take my camera with me next time and get some shots of the boys. They are very cute!