Huskies Off Lead

[Langy91]

I've been wrapping a halti-lead around my actual work belt but it's not as easy 'coz the belt pulls out quite a bit I'll have to invest in a walking belt, recommend a strong one?

[Sarah]

I've been wrapping a halti-lead around my actual work belt but it's not as easy 'coz the belt pulls out quite a bit I'll have to invest in a walking belt, recommend a strong one?

http://www.indi-dog.co.uk/

[Langy91]

do you use those harnesses also by chance? sorry for interupting the thread btw

[Sarah]

do you use those harnesses also by chance? sorry for interupting the thread btw

on the walking belt i use the manmat ones

[Langy91]

Using an Ezydog one atm but it seems to slide around quite alot, may have to look at this Manmat and order the indi walking belt ty

[Sarah]

Using an Ezydog one atm but it seems to slide around quite alot, may have to look at this Manmat and order the indi walking belt ty

if you read the thread here - http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/threads/new-indi-dog-website-is-live.40195/

you can get a 10% discount with Indi dog too x

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Using an Ezydog one atm but it seems to slide around quite alot, may have to look at this Manmat and order the indi walking belt ty

If he's a strong puller I wouldn't recommend an ezydog blaze snapped the clips on his

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[Langy91]

Yeah will try get a manmat, my paypal doesnt work right now though, so it'll be a little difficult trying to get that + the indi belt

[Sarah]

Yeah will try get a manmat, my paypal doesnt work right now though, so it'll be a little difficult trying to get that + the indi belt

Sid_Wolf can chat to you about what's best for you harness wise if you message her on here x

[Kech]

I've been wrapping a halti-lead around my actual work belt but it's not as easy 'coz the belt pulls out quite a bit I'll have to invest in a walking belt, recommend a strong one?

Canadog offers walking gear specifically altered for Huskies. The equipment is all handmade and tested using Huskies. refer to their website http://www.canadog.ca/ for more information and pricing...

[Siberianski]

I also voted no

Reason been as a breed huskies are so prone to distraction and i dont care what anyone says they can have perfect recall one minute and the next minute there prey drive kicks in and bumph there gone.

Our husky aurora we used to let off the lead untill recently, bearing in mind our pups 4months old. She did recall really well when out with our two dogs (two staffies) but recently she did a runner when we were up in waskerly(countryside) and we spent an hour driving round trying to find her. We have now invested in a lunge lead 25feet long and she is fine now, i wrap it around my arm and she has abit free rain when the times right. Plus we spoke to our trainer in puppy classes and she told us some horror stories that have majorly put us off.

I personally dont see the point in taking the chance, our friends husky had spot on recall or so they thought untill it bolted and did the same as aurora one day only difference is it came back via the way of the vets. They had let her out up in some woods and she did a runner and unfortunately she got out of the woods and got knocked over by a car on a main road.

I aint as experienced as some people with huskies on this forum Aurora is our first sibe but she has fun on the lunge lead, i know she's safe, she would run and run if i let her.

[KimLeng]

Likewise! My husky is the first I've ever owned, and although I've heard many horror stories and walked with husky packs, I've also met other owners who have let them free and not had a problem. However, it does only take one time really doesn't it... And we've had some experiences that have made us stand there horrified as she's darted off.

I've done the same as Siberianski and bought a harness and a 50ft training rope for her. Yuuki also has special training classes for long-line training and we still practice recall, but are also aware of her wonderful apt 'deafness' when she wants to put it on. I let her off when I know we can grab the training lead, and I'm also getting a bungee for when she's bigger so we can run with her and she can still get plenty of exercise.

[Geo]

wow..this is making me sad. i have a doberman that we did nothing to 'train' to stay with us. she has no desire to run away from us!!! She always knows where we are and is mostly interested in her people. we have only had our new dog, husky, for one week and i am reading about how you can not let a husky off lead. Why is that? Dont they form a bond with their owner and want to stay with you??? I pretty much never have my doberman on a leash except to pacify people who are scared of her just because of her look... not that she is mean at all. i have a lot to learn about this breed.

[BlueWolf]

wow..this is making me sad. i have a doberman that we did nothing to 'train' to stay with us. she has no desire to run away from us!!! She always knows where we are and is mostly interested in her people. we have only had our new dog, husky, for one week and i am reading about how you can not let a husky off lead. Why is that? Dont they form a bond with their owner and want to stay with you??? I pretty much never have my doberman on a leash except to pacify people who are scared of her just because of her look... not that she is mean at all. i have a lot to learn about this breed.

You indeed have a lot more the learn. The problem with huskies is that they don't bond with a single person. They love and like everyone they meet. Your family, your friends, your enemies, random stranger on the street. This makes them bad guarding dogs because they love anyone coming in your house, even an intruder. When they are outside and start running away, it's not that they don't like you, it's in their genes to run, hunt and think independently because that's what they were originally bred for. They like everyone they see and no matter how loving your husky is to you, I bet it won't have a single problem walking away a random person it finds on the street.

I'd much rather have dogs that can get along with anyone I meet than have dogs that try to guard me and my possessions from other's - that's one of the things I like so much with huskies actually.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

They bond with you obviously , but the problem is no matter how strong that bond is they are just too friendly for their own good , that and their desire to run and hunt makes them bad offlead n willing to go off with anybody they meet

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[huskamute_heaven]

We let our 2 off lead every time we go for a walk and always have. When they were smaller they were always walked in an enclosed field - since we moved back 'home' we always tend to walk them in areas where there are not many people or other dogs - although they do go on walks with other dogs and are fine. These areas are not enclosed although are rather large areas (Sherwood Forest is one example!!)

With having 2 we find that Echo is always better behaved and more obediant than Milo, however both will always comeback - and it is rare for either of them to go far enough in front that they get out of sight. The less obediant of the 2 is actually the one that will check more that we aren't too far away.

Thats a pic of them walking in the snow we had earlier this year, they will occasionally go to other dogs despite being told no - however this is only occasionally and is happenin less and less as we go on.

As has been said in the thread earlier, it is down to knowing your dog and what you are personally comfortable with!!

[Geo]

You indeed have a lot more the learn. The problem with huskies is that they don't bond with a single person. They love and like everyone they meet. Your family, your friends, your enemies, random stranger on the street. This makes them bad guarding dogs because they love anyone coming in your house, even an intruder. When they are outside and start running away, it's not that they don't like you, it's in their genes to run, hunt and think independently because that's what they were originally bred for. They like everyone they see and no matter how loving your husky is to you, I bet it won't have a single problem walking away a random person it finds on the street.

I'd much rather have dogs that can get along with anyone I meet than have dogs that try to guard me and my possessions from other's - that's one of the things I like so much with huskies actually.

Well, to each his own. I am happy to own my new husky, because I can offer her a much better situation than she had with her other owner, chained all the time (apparently because she was always trying to escape and run away) and never taken for a walk (apparently because she would drag, pull, escape and run off), obvioulsy a hassle to that owner. I would say there are pros and cons about the different breeds. It is great to have a loyal dog that will and can protect you if you need that, and that you do not have to worry about letting off the leash so they can have fun and be free. On the other hand, it is nice having a friendly laid back dog, but 'loving my enemies',especially if they are breaking into the house, isnt really an asset. I will respect her breed however, and will appreciate her for what she is. I will try to find some nice enclosed spaces where she can run, but where I live there are not any.. I would say that each breed is 'different' and has their own value. One is not better.

[Martian999]

Although I was never planning to 'acquire' a Husky I did undertake some research a couple of years ago and the general concensus was that this is a breed that will tend to revert back to their natural instincts - once triggered!

I totally agree with Laine's comment that to see a Husky demonstrating both agility and discipline as it would be an awesome spectacle as these dogs are certainly one of the most attractive breeds but I suspect that in all but the most exceptional circumstances this just isn't to be unfortunately.

This is a very pertinent post as I decided to take my wife down to our local river, (last Saturday), with the two dogs Luna, (3 year old Husky), and Cassie, ('doo lally' Labradoodle), and it very nearly turned out to be a disaster!

As my wife suffers from severe arthritis the pace of the walk was more suited to a 'Sloth' pack walk so neither of the two dogs were allowed to walk at their normal pace, (although this in itself was not a problem as I have had a certain amount of success in getting Luna to walk 'at heel' and now it is the Cassie who is the puller)!

Therefore, after we had walked along the river and were then heading back to the car we encountered other dog walkers, (who were also taking advantage of the fine weather last Saturday), which is a regular occurrence when I am out with my two but I always get them both to sit, (otherwise they tend to rush forward to 'greet' the other dogs), and on this particular occasion, (as it has never happened before), I sat them down and I grabbed both of their collars, (this is where a second loop, that is fixed at the collar end of the lead, is useful), to ensure that they remained seated and, (you know what happened next), Luna 'slipped' out of the collar and ran towards the oncoming dogs.

From that moment onwards I had resigned myself to an afternoon of dread, (whilst I awaited any reports of Luna being found in the locality or something far worse), and I just remained motionless!

Julie then seized the moment and simply called to Luna and Luna returned to Julie and sat down in front of her!!

We were so very lucky indeed.

I have noticed that, (within our home environment), Luna is, by far, the MOST obedient dog we have ever owned as she will do exactly what we ask her to do and you can tell, (just by looking at her appearance and demeanour), that she is relaxed and comfortable within this environment and there is no immediate 'catalyst' to set off her more 'innermost' instinctive tendancies, (although that is not to say that it will not happen).

But, once we put her lead on, (and take her outside of this environment), her demeanour changes dramatically as you can see that she is now on 'full alert' with ears tilted forward and her eyes, nose and ears are scanning for anything of interest and that 'obedient' dog that had, (just a few steps previously), is no longer in existance as we now venture into 'her territory' amongst all of the wild countryside and the myriad of scents, sounds and sights that are there to tempt her.

There was a very interesting program on television, (during the weekend), that looked at how the Dog evolved from the Wolf and, (although a little tacky in places), it covered some very interesting issues such as the simple fact that certain traits from the Wolf's natural instincts were 'bred in' and 'bred out' to create the various types of breed, (traits such as 'Seek/Find', 'Stalk', 'Attack', 'Bite to Retrieve' and 'Bite to Kill' all form part of the Wolf's natural instinct and this set of skills allows it to be a very successful preditor - please accept my apologies for not being able to recall the exact names for the various skills).

Just as a simple example the Greyhound has the 'Sight' and 'Fetch' instinct reinforced to produce a successful racing machine, (once it has 'seen' something to chase), whereas the Retriever breeds have the 'Fetch' and 'Bite to Retrieve' traits emphasised, (and those Retrievers that have not had the 'Bite to Kill' instinct suitable surpressed do not make good game retrievers)!

Unfortunately the Siberian Husky would appear to have ALL of the traits, (hence the reason why the Siberian Husky is perfectly capable of looking after itself in the wild - if it isn't shot be a farmer or knocked down by a bus first - as unfortunate as tyhat may be).

It is for these reasons that I will never let Luna off, (unless we are in an enclosed space), but I am currently, (and eagerly), awaiting a VERY long 'training' lead so that she can have some real 'freedom' to play when we are out in the countryside and there is a suitable open space where I can still keep an eye on her whilst she runs as far as her lead will let her!

If it has arrived tonight we can have some fun!

[hornet]

Just wondering if anyone has tried a shock collar, i have been reading up on them and they are not shocks but a small vibration

to get your dogs attention

[Removed #5]

Just wondering if anyone has tried a shock collar, i have been reading up on them and they are not shocks but a small vibration to get your dogs attention

[MENTION=8394]hornet[/MENTION] Bob, if you'll do a search for shock collars you'll see a wide range of opinions - some of which have gotten a bit heated.

I think, in general the consensus is that they aren't all they're advertised to be. I used one with a lab ( in fact, I still have the collar and set-up ) but due to the depth of my dogs fur I wouldn't even think about using it. I *do* have other considerations regarding the two breeds ( lab -vs- Husky ) but I'm going to stop here.

A couple of the threads, just so you don't have to look too hard:

http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/showthread.php/22496-Husky-and-an-Electronic-Fence

http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/showthread.php/14288-SHOCK-COLLAR-TRAINING-SHILDER-AND-VAN-DER-BORG

Either of those should give you an idea ....

[LittleLuka]

@hornet Bob, if you'll do a search for shock collars you'll see a wide range of opinions - some of which have gotten a bit heated.

I think, in general the consensus is that they aren't all they're advertised to be. I used one with a lab ( in fact, I still have the collar and set-up ) but due to the depth of my dogs fur I wouldn't even think about using it. I *do* have other considerations regarding the two breeds ( lab -vs- Husky ) but I'm going to stop here.

A couple of the threads, just so you don't have to look too hard:

http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/showthread.php/22496-Husky-and-an-Electronic-Fence

http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/showthread.php/14288-SHOCK-COLLAR-TRAINING-SHILDER-AND-VAN-DER-BORG

Either of those should give you an idea ....

i have also used one for a lab but shock collars are a very controversial topic. our lab responded very well to a shock collar. so well that he never gets shocked. he just won't run away while he has it on. however, i'm sure we all know the difference in personality among other things between a lab and a husky. i don't use one on Luka and i would never.

[tgainsbrough]

I currently don't let me husky off lead but she is only 6 months. My parents dog has never been off lead but they never taught her to be. So she is wild when she gets out of the yard. (wild as in takes her normal walk down the park and comes back XD)

My parents bought a shock collar for their dog. She not only responded badly to it but had psychological trauma. :/ She normally will just run out of the yard while still being shocked because she knows it will eventually stop.

[Removed #2]

I currently don't let me husky off lead but she is only 6 months. My parents dog has never been off lead but they never taught her to be. So she is wild when she gets out of the yard. (wild as in takes her normal walk down the park and comes back XD)

My parents bought a shock collar for their dog. She not only responded badly to it but had psychological trauma. :/ She normally will just run out of the yard while still being shocked because she knows it will eventually stop.

Our departed Husky, Storm, could dig out of our yard with a 6 foot privacy fence in about 45 seconds...we added an invisible fence on the inside of our yard to keep her in...but she learned how to jump past the 4 feet of shock value, and dig, with only a few shocks (not really shock, but warning beeps, and she had such a thick neck, i'm not sure she ever felt it), so regardless of the cost and extra effort installing and training, she didn't care...took the pain, and still dug out. Any automatic device, whether it's shock or a pinch collar, does not replace plain old attention to your dog. My 3 got out of our yard about a month ago when one fence panel was ripped out during a wind storm and i got up to let them out in the middle of the night. Had no idea the fence was gone, and couldn't see it till it was too late. The boys came back within minutes, but our little girl, Jessy was gone for 5 hours, in the dark for most of it, and crossed 2 very busy roads, and ended up somewhere we would never have looked because none of the dogs ever went in that direction. Thank goodness for the lady that found her drinking in her front yard water feature and that Jessy loves everyone and stayed with her until she called us and we got there...it's a terrible feeling to lose your dog, and while this has been hashed over and over here, I personally, will never ever let my dogs off lead, nor will they ever be out in my own safe fenced yard without being supervised. Just my humble thought.

[Niki]

Well, I've read the first seven pages of this thread and the majority is obviously a "no". That makes sense to me, given all I know of huskies. My retired ranger friend who always had them (and how I fell in love with the breed) has an enclosed run but lets them off lead when hiking/backpacking. When she was still a ranger, it was a bit of a problem because she had no yard and let the two she had then off lead and they'd actually "take" deer...embarrassing when the park is a "leash only" state park... So she took to tying one of them up on the porch when they were outside, and the other never strayed alone.

To each his own, and I understand all the arguments pro and con. I guess we're "in the middle", ourselves. We have one area we can go which is far from traffic and we used to let them go there...longest I've had to wait was an hour and a half (so I guess that comes under the heading of "if you're willing to wait". which I am), but they've always come back, no matter what. Just "when they feel like it". We have coyotes in the area, and they've met them, no problem. Most coyotes I've ever seen won't go after two dogs the size of huskies.

The places they can be off leash are getting less and less...not because they run away, but because they go places they're not supposed to. Like we take them to the beach at Crissy Field in SF, and lately they've taken to running over into the lagoon, which is a no-no. That's true on another beach, too, which used to be our favorite and now we never go there. We let them off on certain other beaches with no problem, but never a beach near a road, and always have problems getting Kochak to come when she knows it's time to go home. She plays the usual husky game of "come get me", which I know better than to do, I just walk away or sit down and wait for her to realize I'm not going to chase, and eventually she comes.

There are a few other places in the woods where I let them go, only because I'm willing to wait and in my own opinion, huskies were born to run, and can only do so when hooked to the sulky or in the dog park otherwise. I want them to have the fun of sniffing and exploring, but that's MY OWN opinion, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone else...in fact I warn people who consider getting a husky (along with warning about all the, you know, other things!). I let them off at the dog park, which isn't totally enclosed, and it's no problem as long as I give Kochak a treat before she realizes we're going home, so I can leash her. Otherwise, she'll take off to explore and Tashi will follow (which has happened a couple of times!).

Other than those places, I'm a definite "no"--and especially where there's ANY roads. In other words, in a few places where I feel safe, it's my choice to let them be dogs and enjoy themselves, but never, never in places I dn't feel safe about it. The joy I see when they run, especially when they're running back to me, is something I'm not willing to give up completely.

We have a fenced back yard and dog door, so they are able to go out there and play, but it's not big enough to run. Tashi used to work at escaping before we got Kochak, but now that we have her, neither one of them has made any attempt to escape. The COULD, but only if they worked hard at it as I put chicken wire under the ground around the regular fence. We're VERY careful when getting them from house to car, as they've broken free in the past and wandered the neighborhood (terror!!).

I'd adore to find someone who would help me train a solid recall, tho' I know now that they've had it their own way that would be doubly difficult. But if I could, I'd let them off in some of the places I can't now--like the two beaches. But I'd still never, never let them off anywhere they could get to a road.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Niki

[Stranger]

If i lived in france, a place i used to go to i would probably let them off lead, as its in the middle of no where with little traffic, and in the winter no traffic.

I suppose it depends on location, and how you feel about it.

Where i live, i would never ever let them off, and besides, they have little recall when it comes to meet and greeting another dog

i guess i am too fearful to try again after they ran off after the horses, (not to chase, just to figure out what they were lol)