Ami is 2 and has excellent recall...regardless of what she is doing (playing with other dogs, sniffing something interesting, or chasing squirrels...). That being said, we started recall immediately with her, first in the house, then in fenced in areas -mostly the dog park-, and we never let her off leash in an area that we thought would be too distracting when we were training her...we always set her up for success, and now we get it no matter what the situation. We always used a lot of treats...and if she ever paused and thought about not coming, we would run the other way and she would come running (right as she would come up to us we would re-call her so that she understood that "Ami come here" meant that she was running to me...I would say that she was reliable off leash before she was 1 year old. We also never allowed her to pull on the leash, so we have great heel work...so if we are on an off leash walk, and I spot something that might cause her to wander off, I make her heel and she focuses on me (watch) rather than whatever is happening around her.

That sounds brill xxxxxx

I wonder if there are alot of owners in this mindset. The ones I have met out and about, or know about through people I know (dogs I have not met) have been allowed off lead (all but one, who used to be let off but then ran off one day and nearly got killed as she got shot by a farmer, she came home three days later and she actually survived, lucky girl x) , same with the Mals being let off (though I have met less people with these).

2 pups from the same litter???

that would effect your training for obedience and recall before you consider the breed

Having been in the breed 15 years now, I have lost count of the number of tragedies I have heard of when huskies have been killed in traffic accidents, shot by farmers etc etc. "He/She's always come back before" is a pretty sad epitaph for a much loved family pet.
Every single Siberian Husky organisation in the world - bar none - will tell you that Sibes should never be let off-lead in unenclosed areas, but still people insist they know better and that "their" dog is 100% trustworthy on recall. Personally, I don't believe that any dog of any breed will be 100% trustowrthy on recall - let alone Sibes.
We do a fair bit of photo and advertising work with ours and they are all trained to recall and they are extremely responsive most of the time. We would still never let them off lead in an unenclosed area. They are much too precious for us to take that risk.

Hi Mick

Do you think it is because the dogs you mention are Sibe's or do you think it is simply that they are dogs.... If you get my drift eg you say you 'don't believe that any dog of any breed will be 100% trustworthy on recall' , so is it because the dogs you metion are Sibes or is it that most dog breeds would have similar stats over the years or do you think the Sibe is more likely to take off if it sees a temptation than lets say a breed that is very unlike a Sibe in its 'thinking'?

I think there are two different issues.
Firstly, I don't believe any dog/breed can have 100% perfect recall at all times and in all circumstances.

Secondly, I believe that the Siberian Husky (and some other sled dog breeds) has particular issues in this regard simply because of its history and the behaviour which has become hardwired into it as a result of that history. The Chukchi people who first developed what has now become known as the Siberian Husky were winter nomads and summer village dwellers. In the summer, the dogs ran free around the villages and were seldom fed - the Chukchi expecting them to catch and kill their own meals. As a result, the dogs became extremely effective hunters with a highly developed prey drive. They also developed the unique talent of being an excellent and obedient sled dog which retained the ability to ignore instructions if they felt that they were inappropriate (stories abound of dogs which refused musher's commands which would have led to disaster at the bottom of a crevasse for example).

This combination of inbred behaviours is what makes letting huskies go off lead particularly problematic.

Mick

We also have a good friend who has a mal, who we do off leash walks with...he's an even more super star than Ami...he comes and does a perfect "front" when he is called. Seeing as we did off leash walks nearly every day or every other day for the year and a half that we lived there, I think I might know my dog a bit...

One thing that I have learned, thanks to reading cesar's books, is that you should always treat your dog like a dog first, breed comes much later. Just because everyone says that this breed behaves this way or that way, doesn't mean that a good Alpha can't shape their behavior to fit their pack.

My point of view is that..it only takes a second for them to be under a car so why take the chance??

Unfortunately, at least a dozen people I know of whose huskies are now dead thought the same!

Mick