Condemned if I do, condemned if I don't.

I personally believe it is cruel to condemn huskies, mals, in fact any breed of dog, to a life on the lead.

I know many husky owners, 1 or 2 mal owners and many owners of northern breed mixes, most of whom let their dogs off the lead.

With dogs, I firmly believe in never saying never. ANY dog can be trained to be let off the lead - where it is safe of course.

Before I get attacked, can I please state for about the millioneth time that:

1. I do not let my dogs off the lead around livestock.
2. I do not let my dogs off the lead near or on roads.
3. I do let my dogs off the lead in fields where there are no livestock, in woods, parks, on beaches, anywhere I possibly can.
4. Both my dogs are obedient and have a reliable recall and are friendly and well socialised.
5. As Carole keeps reminding us, this thread is NOT about ec's, and I will not discuss or mention these again.

I do indeed have crossbreeds.

There is no GSD in any of their lines.

No, I am not cross with you for answering for me, but I am cross for you misrepresenting me! Because:

1. I do believe in keeping dogs on leads around livestock and roads and other places where you are obliged to.

2. You do indeed have crossbreeds - but I believe you have a CSV, and correct me if I am wrong, but the CSV was originally created from crossing GSDs with the carpathian wolf.

Not only do you misrepresent my dogs, you cannot even get the breeding of your own correct

Otherwise, I still loves ya

lol soz did i put GSD when i meant collie

where have i got my csv's breeding wrong? show me? i know exactly what a csv is...i live with one doh!!

i havnt even mentioned i have crossbreeds

sorry, didnt mean to start a scrap...just very very curious. Every single breeder/rescue of Northern Breeds (and their x's) have said that these dogs should never be let off lead. Their is a very good article somewhere, about trust being the biggest killer of Huskies and Mals.

Thing is, you dont have to condem them to a dull life of lead, their is scootering/rigs/ enclosed safe areas etc. Which begs the question (not meaning to be nit picking) why did you get these breeds, if you wanted dogs that you could let off lead

dont worry no scrap i think G got her wires crossed

exactly!!! safe enclosed spaces,rigs,scooters,bikes,swimming the list goes on

I have a dog who is a danger to other dogs when she is off lead, so she has to be kept on Longline/Lead/Flexi in heavy areas, gets to come off in enclosed areas, tennis courts/menages and the like 5 x per week, and I have just starting biking with her. Life on lead is not the dulldom that somethink...its simply keeping the dog safe!

that's fine, I bike with mine too as well.

However, my dogs are not a danger to other dogs, on or off the lead, therefore I choose to let them off the lead where I consider it to be safe, which luckily where I live is right outside my garden gate.

this thread has gone all over the place, and a bit nit picky, but back to the lead tug. the tug is a pull to the side, not backwards or up, a pull back could definitely make the dog pull the opposite way even more, and i wouldnt count that as punishment, just an oi and a sideways tug to distract them, to remind them your not happy with there actions. but as always the praise part is the most important, if you walk past another dog without any probs then lavish the praise,
some dogs are more sensitive than others and the tug and voice tone could vary from no tug to a firm tug and low voice to a raised voice, sometimes a whisper can be more affective than a firm voice, but all of this must be done with completely with no frustration or aggression.

But here's the thing: pulling at all, any tension, can often make a reactive dog REACT. Or react more. It didn't matter what kind of tension I put, which way I tugged, if I added tension, she reacted (and I added tension a LOT in the beginning, from tugs to my tensing up when I saw other dogs coming and pulling the leash taut).

And how do you know the dog associates that tug with your being unhappy with his actions? You have no idea what the dog associates it with.

i give dogs a lot more credit to how a human feels, and like getting tense and worried when another dog is coming, the your dog will pick up on that weather the lead is tight or not,

but any who, all dogs and people are different, i was just saying how the vids should of gone using those kinds of "training" not the abomination that took place