Malamute Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Had a 'one - on - one' with the dof trainer today and she totally dismissed the idea that 'Husky type' dogs could not be taught to recall - even if in a field full of sheep! Watch this space for how I progress with Blizzy on the issue.... but, Does anyone's Husky, Malamute etc etc readily return to you when of the lead and running free. I'm sceptical but have to trust Cath's opinion!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowSpirit Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Amigo and Bella come back when i call them - without dog school or professional training! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val (Zebedee) Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Myshka recalled till she was about 16 months then it got harder & now we have no chance! But I have heard of a few huskies / mals that recall no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex T Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 We are currently training Isis to recall - i did add a short clip into the members video section! But we use a lot of treats at the moment as she is very food driven! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majormom2u Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Nina and Shiloh have a 100% recall... but!... they were trained by a professional who also thought huskies did not belong on a "breed of their own"... but because they are stubborn, it takes a controlled enviroment (with a trainer experienced in huskies)... Nina's trainer has been training bomb sniffing dogs, police dogs and guard dogs for over 20 years and has trained huskies for many, many years... sadly, he retired this past year, but we still bother him once in a while (he had Nina for 2 months in his training camp... and Shiloh, because he was so small, we would take him to the camp every day and would pick him up after the lesson...) You need to feel very comfortable with the trainer you pick, need to watch him/her work and check how comfortable your dog feels around him/her... I do not and I repeat... DO NOT accept many types of training where fear or aggression are training tools... Nina totally adores her trainer and will happily go towards him every single time... she has great recall, but I have never and will never let her (or Shiloh) off leash around the neighborhood or near traffic... we go to the trail, park and once we are far from the roads and parking, I let her off... she comes on command and Shiloh will do as she does (making her the leader!)... there are plenty of distractions on a trail (all kinds of smells and little critters, and when Nina starts to get all excited, I call... and she comes... she may look towards the distraction, but she comes and sits... I use hand signals and not voice, to force her to pay attention to me and not the other way around... once long ago, she did not immediately returned and I just laid on the grass, she couldn't see me and came to me like a bullet!... Every dog is different and huskies are certainly more difficult to train... I believe it's not impossible... Nina is proof of that... in my opinion... I don't include Shiloh because we still have not walked Shiloh alone to try his recall without Nina's influence... we will be doing that this summer... Take your time and interview trainers... listen to their technics... watch how they interact with the dogs before making your decision... That will be my advice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Had a 'one - on - one' with the dof trainer today and she totally dismissed the idea that 'Husky type' dogs could not be taught to recall - even if in a field full of sheep! Watch this space for how I progress with Blizzy on the issue.... but, Does anyone's Husky, Malamute etc etc readily return to you when of the lead and running free. I'm sceptical but have to trust Cath's opinion!! She said the same to me and with a lot of patience it can work, not always 100% i've found but each sibe / mal is different This was taken tonight at watergrove reservoir, as soon as i call them they come running back to me, i only let them off here as it's enclosed, ok, HUGE area but still they can't get out. [ame] [/ame] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majormom2u Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 PS... I choose to have a professional because I know I'm not experienced enough (actually... not at all!) to pretend I could train a husky to listen and obey on commands... Some people have that skill, and their dogs do very well... I don't have that gift, therefore... it was a trainer or nothing... and "nothing" was just not acceptable... at all!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Nina and Shiloh have a 100% recall... but!... they were trained by a professional who also thought huskies did not belong on a "breed of their own"... but because they are stubborn, it takes a controlled enviroment (with a trainer experienced in huskies)... Nina's trainer has been training bomb sniffing dogs, police dogs and guard dogs for over 20 years and has trained huskies for many, many years... sadly, he retired this past year, but we still bother him once in a while (he had Nina for 2 months in his training camp... and Shiloh, because he was so small, we would take him to the camp every day and would pick him up after the lesson...) You need to feel very comfortable with the trainer you pick, need to watch him/her work and check how comfortable your dog feels around him/her... I do not and I repeat... DO NOT accept many types of training where fear or aggression are training tools... Nina totally adores her trainer and will happily go towards him every single time... she has great recall, but I have never and will never let her (or Shiloh) off leash around the neighborhood or near traffic... we go to the trail, park and once we are far from the roads and parking, I let her off... she comes on command and Shiloh will do as she does (making her the leader!)... there are plenty of distractions on a trail (all kinds of smells and little critters, and when Nina starts to get all excited, I call... and she comes... she may look towards the distraction, but she comes and sits... I use hand signals and not voice, to force her to pay attention to me and not the other way around... once long ago, she did not immediately returned and I just laid on the grass, she couldn't see me and came to me like a bullet!... Every dog is different and huskies are certainly more difficult to train... I believe it's not impossible... Nina is proof of that... in my opinion... I don't include Shiloh because we still have not walked Shiloh alone to try his recall without Nina's influence... we will be doing that this summer... Take your time and interview trainers... listen to their technics... watch how they interact with the dogs before making your decision... That will be my advice... Great post Sandy added to rep. I use the same trainer as Malamute (Ian) and think she's great. Very calm and she looked after Kimba when we went on holiday last year and did a bit of work with him, he loves her to bits lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 my boys used to come back off the lead and according to Sherie and Lee (Jamies Sister and Partner) they still let them off the lead (even though I say I dont want them off the lead ) and they still come back when called. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 wow how annoyin if you dont want them off the lead even if they come back if you dont want them offlead they shud respect ur wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Absolutely I think it's possible! Micha with very very minimal work from me has a great recall. If you understand about drives and how the motor pattern works in their brain you will begin to understand why people say teaching a husky reliable recall is difficult, but with the right guidance you will also realise why it is possible to teach them 100% recall too. High drive dogs are often turned away in training because standard trainers find them too difficult to train, they go into 'drive' (i.e. prey drive) very quickly and therefore lose focus easily. My trainer has trained owners to be able to train their Sibes to have bomb proof 100% recall, these dogs would recall away from a prey item like a possum, sheep etc any day. I've actually found my beagle harder to teach recall to because she goes into drive very easily (she just puts her nose on the ground and her hearing is all but turned off) - I could shove food under her nose and she doesn't even realise it's there. Whereas my sibe has a high drive but is very food and prey driven so it's easy for me to be the one getting him into drive and working nicely. So I do a lot of work with Daisy (the beagle) to teach her to look to me for drive satisfaction, whereas Micha didn't take as much effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeptalker Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 my two arn't great at recall but are improving. they will not respond to 'come' but if you say 'this way' they are pretty good. however reno is very very very prey driven, wants it , may not be able to see it, but it may just be there like it was two weeks ago so am going to check!!!!!! small, high energy dogs fall into this category. mikito on the other hand loves all other dogs totally!!!! they were put on this earth to play with him, for him to love and be with, especially black labs, lol. so we are very careful when out, only off leash in secure fields near me, far from roads, etc and scanned for other small dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malamute Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Watergrove!! She said the same to me and with a lot of patience it can work, not always 100% i've found but each sibe / mal is different This was taken tonight at watergrove reservoir, as soon as i call them they come running back to me, i only let them off here as it's enclosed, ok, HUGE area but still they can't get out. Never thought of going there - and it's so close!! Cheers Sarah I'll be up there this weekend!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Never thought of going there - and it's so close!! Cheers Sarah I'll be up there this weekend!! It's great there, let me know when you're going up and if i'm not doing anything will bring my two up for a run about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice and Cripton Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Alaska is 10 months now and her recall is great, i do sometimes have to change my tone, so say she sniffs something and i say Alasksaaaa and jump around like a nutter and it's a no go >>> sometimes (like the other day) it's because she's found something gross to roll in, like fox poo or a dead rat or bird:sure: so i lower my tone say 'leave it' and 'come' and she does and i lavish her in praise. She did used to be useless though, it used to be her game to run off lol, so we took her to a professional trainer ad have been going weekly ever since she was 3 months and this has made the world of difference. Sometimes i find that alaska would rather play with another dog than come back and get some cheese so if your puppy is not soo into food or ignores them when outside heres what you ca do: Usually these dog would rather play, so get your dog hooked on 1 particular toy, and only allow him to: a: play with the toy >> with you and you only b: only play with this toy outside so he knows it's a treat only for outside so he should make the most of it! c: end the game quickly to keep it fun and fresh so alaska loves tennis and rubber balls with string on the end, so when she is playing and i want her to come i say 'alaskaaaa' run away from her with the toy in my hand and she speeds towards me and we have a quick game of 'tug of war' and then i'll throw the ball and we'll play footie for a while >>> this works all the time!!! if however your dog will do anything for food!! i find cheese or sausage works best, practice in the house and garden that each time you say his name and the command 'come' he gets some cheese or sausage and then extend this idea to the park and so on... You must trust your dog though, we have another sibe who is not so good at recall, and only recently have we let him off, he follows alaska has she is the alpha of the two and he's doing great and i trust him a little more, and if you think about it why would a dog want to come back to an anxious and nervous energy >> well in my case anyway:rolleyes: Also it takes maturity, now alaska is 10months she's a little more mature, so stick with and and it can be done..good luck And sara i love the videos, i looked at them play fighting and the big one? is soo gentle with the puppy lol, he's very good like that, im not sure alaska would so accepting, she's great with really little puppies but when they get to that rambunctious, over-confident age she hates it lol!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 wow how annoyin if you dont want them off the lead even if they come back if you dont want them offlead they shud respect ur wishes! they wont let them off when I come but if we are busy and Im needed at the shop they willl take them and let them off! It annoys me so much, someday they may actually listen. Lee is really stubborn (as you could probs tell by the post about him leaving rudy in the car) and he lets Rudy off the lead and thinks he can let my 3 off! They haven't been taking them for a while as Rudy has a skin problem on his hind leg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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