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So, do you think it's possible to teach a husky to chase of squirrels and certain birds in the yard? Or at least just the squirrels? Or would that confuse him and make him want to chase and bark at everything? Right now he just sits and stares at them. (which may be why he rarely gets into trouble - for some reason he's fascinated by watching them). I don't mind the pretty little birds that come into our yard, but we have these obnoxious black grackles that I often go out and yell at - they will come in huge flocks and kind of take over the yard. Right now we don't leave him out alone for too long at a time (b/c I'm worried at what he might find to chew up out there), but do occasionally when we are gone and spend alot of time out in the backyard with him....

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i don't think he'll need much teaching LOL LOL

Huskies have a high prey drive so i'm sure when he's a bit bigger - probably next week lol - he will start seeing them off but be warned, you may find a few don't make it lol

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I dont think teaching will be necessary as Sarah and Lucy have already said. I would be concerned, however, if you encourage this, how will he react when he's on a walk?

Mine is older, and the birds/squirrels no longer bother him at all (neither do cats or other dogs for that matter) he's totally content to live in harmony with most now -- still gets excited about the thought of chasing rabbits though.

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i agree that he wont need teaching blaze is 6 months and if he sees a bird he wants it im trying to train him to do the opposite lol n thats ignore them good luck 2 me with that 1 hey lol i agree also wit austinville that if u train him to chase them that when hes out on walks it will effect him

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OK. So far he just looks at them. We have what I would call a squirrel problem around here. We have a fenced yard and live in town, so there's really not alot of other wildlife to be worried about... You're probably right - don't want him pulling me after them on walks. Just sitting here watching him watch the squirrels and wondered if he'd chase them away. You'd think they'd just see a dog and run off...

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i dont even wanna try teach mine that... i remeber a few months ago walking with Tikaani and she disturbed a bird which flew off but not fast enough that Tikaani caught it in mid flight ... poor thing was injured and knocking on deaths door ... but me being a wimp couldnt bring myself to finish the job of on the poor thing... so i keep her away from birds lol

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as mentioned already. You probably wont have to teach sneakers anything on chasing!

Sibes have a very high prey drive (one reason why many owners will not let them off leash on walks) and will very likely chase anything that looks edible! Gizmo has had a small bird in the garden before when he was a few months old. He never ate it but killed it. I think he would have ate it but we took it off him and threw it away, poor bird I felt sorry for it.

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Well....

I think you should wait until you have a very bad week and feel like nothing is going right and then go outside ot train your dog to chase birds and squirrels... you will quickly reap the rewards of a job well done! LOL

seriously, no training required -there is something seriously wrong if your dog does not chase them!

Tala actually got a mouthful of squirrels tail hair once but that's as close and any of them have ever achieved -and they really work at it!

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Unfortunately you'll find all wildlife chased out too, but u'll def be rid of those you dont want!! x

very true!

We live on a street with all the houses nestled back into the woods with over 300 acres of forest in the back. The first day we moved here, we saw several deer coming to the pond in our back yard for drinks. That was the last we have seen of them, once they got a glimpse of Tala and Mukki LOL.

I have the only house on the street that does not loose plants to deer! And everyone has dogs, shelties, labs, mixes, we are the only huskies!

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Hmmm. Maybe I should clarify here that he is a mix, so maybe his other half is actually kicking in here? He's really not chasing much of anything (other than the kids) just yet. He will sit or stand and watch the birds, but I haven't seen him chase them yet. He's barked all of 4 times since we got him... Maybe he's young for that yet. He did try to eat an already DEAD baby bird today. Ewww.

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IMO - if you encourage him to get prey drive satisfaction from chasing small animals, he won't discern between squirrels and other animals and you could be making training harder down the track because he'll see chasing prey as the most rewarding thing there is (i.e. more rewarding than obeying you). If you ever want to train him to ignore the distractions around him, his memory of success when it comes to chasing prey will make doing so difficult.

But having said that my dog still catches the odd bat or possum, if they come into the yard and it is beyond my control unless I never let him out there! I do prefer to teach my dogs that I give them drive satisfaction, not that they seek it out for themselves, but that type of training is not for everyone :)

Pointers are very birdy and being a gundog I don't think that part of him will hinder him when it comes to chasing prey.

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Hmmm. Maybe I should clarify here that he is a mix, so maybe his other half is actually kicking in here? He's really not chasing much of anything (other than the kids) just yet. He will sit or stand and watch the birds, but I haven't seen him chase them yet. He's barked all of 4 times since we got him... Maybe he's young for that yet. He did try to eat an already DEAD baby bird today. Ewww.

Only 4 times ..... ohhhh get some ear plugs ready then!! lol my 2 have started howling at me first thing in a morning and when i come home from work - it's so cute :)

never killed anything yet though, so I thank my lucky stars for that!!

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We don't have to worry about diseases here.

Micha's never eaten anything he's killed, he just treats it like another toy!

Dogs generally kill out of prey drive, which is the urge to chase and grab a moving item. It isn't the desire to kill per se, just the instinct and drive pattern they go through when they spot the 'trigger' (a moving object). It is not an instinct driven by the desire to eat the object either. A dog chasing a tennis ball does so out of prey drive, so a dog isn't just triggered by 'real' prey. Prey drive training is a favourite subject of mine, LOL! :)

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Blizzard

Saw his first rabbit last night and he was totally transfixed. I think he maybe realised only after it had scarpered that he was on the long lead and could probably have caught it if he'd been quick enough.

Amazingly though, at least I think its amazing, he actually carried a frog into the hall and put it down without injuring it at all - perhaps he brought it for Me!! Anyway when I picked it up to take it outside he just walked off.

Don't suppose that'll last very long!

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Malamute, some dogs lose interest in prey once it has stopped moving, so once they catch it they aren't too fussed and don't grab it enough to kill it.

Remember prey drive is just the urge to chase and grab a moving item, it is not a drive to kill things, so some dogs may catch something but lose interest once the thrill of the chase is over.

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...some dogs lose interest in prey once it has stopped moving.

I have always found that true with sibes but when I lived in the city Tala and Mukki would go crazy barking at a white rabbit statue on a neighbors front steps. It was all I could do to keep them back, I finally had to let them sniff -then they lost interest! I suspect in their wild and free mountain days they had a few rabbit lunches!

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I have always found that true with sibes but when I lived in the city Tala and Mukki would go crazy barking at a white rabbit statue on a neighbors front steps. It was all I could do to keep them back, I finally had to let them sniff -then they lost interest! I suspect in their wild and free mountain days they had a few rabbit lunches!

It would be so different if they had to rely on prey for food, they would be hungry as well as prey driven! Maybe that's why Micha never eats what he kills, it doesn't taste too good and he's well fed LOL :P

My scent hound is very prey driven but it is all about the thrill of the chase for her, she has no idea what to do with prey once she captures it! She cornered a mouse in the house, she turned into the wild hound doggy trying to get it, but once she had it cornered she touched her nose to it and looked at me like "ok... now what?" :eek: LOL!

When I have done prey drive training I use a tug toy as the prey item, and in the initial stages of training to teach the dog 'give' when they are in drive peak, you bring the prey item close to your knees and hold it still... the dog loses interest once the 'prey' has stopped moving and they let it go. Always works well!

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a plumber in Boston left a hole in the ceiling over my tub open for a few days, to dry thing out.... my dog got a mouse that fell through and ate it in one bite! She then spent a week sitting in the tub staring up at the ceiling... very silly!

Tala gulps down the occasional field mouse while we are walking. It amazes me everytime! We will be walking along and she suddenly jumps straight up and lands nose down into a clump of tall grass or a bush, I hear crunch, slurp, swallow! I've caught a few glimpses of a tail hanging from her mouth. She will then walk down the path smiling and wagging her tail. When we catch up with the mushers they all lick her mouth!

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