Husky Ran Away Then Came Back? Off Lead Training?

[nickyd]

so this mourning while i was in the shower i put sasha the 1 year old husky out on the cable to go potty. After i get out of the shower i relize she is gone after some panic i get clothes on and run outside before i get in my car i yell at the top of my lungs SASHA SASHA! Now i wait about 15 seconds and nothing then while im heading to my car i hear click click stomp stomp and one naughty husky running full speed around the curb back to the house and she ran right to the door! i was so happy i almost cried.

 

Then today i went to my grandpas out in the country left her leash on the collar but let go.
( please dont right negative comments i know its not smart but i want to train her for off lead) After some intense running around i called her while she was over 100 yards away and she came hauling @$$ all the way back to me with a smile on her face mind you i have had this dog for 5 days and it was being trained to be a SAR dog. But i find this incredibal that she has bonded this much with me and listens. I spent the next hour testing the waters with this puppy she would smell rabbits or squierrls but always come back when i called at grandpas that is.

 

I traveled up north a mile to my parents house ( they have outside dogs ) i let sasha go and she got on the smell of other dogs and would not listen to me at all.

 

I definately know the risk of this type of training but any tips would be appreciated as i think this dog does have it in her to be loyal and come back

[Removed #5]

Yep, I had one who came back - regular as clockwork - for over two years ----- then she didn't.  I won't say anything negative but you're really pushing your luck!

[Mazz]

My opinion, and believe me, I am not being negative, you are one lucky individual. What you experienced today was not what I would classify as training. Huskies love to explore, and they love to run, not to mention they are escape artists. You've only had Sasha a short time. She is not fully settled into her surroundings. Once she is, you may not be so lucky. She may decide that exploring is more fun than returning. I would strongly suggest that if you want to rely on her off lead, that you work with her in a safe and enclosed area. It only takes one rabbit, someone's small cat or dog, to trigger the prey drive in Sasha, and then all bets are off.

Granted, I don't know Sasha, her background, or what her temperament is like. After only five days, I would think you are only at the beginning of knowing yourself what makes Sasha tick. Again, I am not being negative, but if you learn anything from your experience today, and if you read my reply with an open mind, I think you will realize that my concern is not only for you, but for Sasha as well. Recall has to be consistent, time after time, after time, in order to be reliable. It is hard work to train a Husky for recall. Can it be accomplished? Yes, it can. But you have to put in the work and time. Until then, please be safe.

[nickyd]

thanks alot for the feedback i get what your saying keeping her on a leash is worth not loosing her. If / when i do train her it will be at my grandpas again. ( as he is surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but cornfields and she has no where to run. This pup has been really interesting to me I am very thankful for the training she got before me im slowly finding out what she knows and doesnt. I am definately glad she did not have a good enough bond with her owner to be a SAR dog =) and that i could become part of her life

[jmscott]

I would suggest NEVER letting her off leash on purpose. Save your totally off leash recalls for when when they count. Plus training on a long line tends to have them staying in that same area when they are off leash so a lot of circles around you.

 

Start out with a basic clicker training. these are broken down into weeks, but really its when the dog is ready but this is what can be done without me seeing the dog. And if you think she is ready, do it for another 3 days then move on

click treat, click, treat, click, treat. for the first week start doing this. Don't make the dog wait for the treat. just a shoveling of food. 

week 2: name click treat, name click treat, name click treat

week 3: Wait until she looks at you, click treat. Then no matter where you are, if she looks at you, click treat. Don't try to get her attention, it needs to be her idea. This is called "checking-in" behaviors.

 

sometimes when you have her on a long line. play hide and seek. just like little kids they will often become worried when mom or dad suddenly disappears. It will teach her that she can't depend on you knowing where she is at all times and she also needs to pay attention.

 

We do a lot of this with Nana. She is sometimes allowed to chase critters in the yard, but she has to sit and look at me before she does. A sort of "please, can I chase the squirrels?"

[jmscott]

[angelniki]

We let Loki off lead sometimes. But only after we'd had her for a couple of month and ONLY in the park IF her best doggie friends are out. She likes a good run round with her best friends but even when playing she sometimes sees another dog and wanders off a bit to see them, but when she does that she goes back on lead and isn't allowed back off until the other dog has gone, then she's allowed to play again - but if she wanders off again she's back on the lead and isn't allowed back off. We would never let her off if she was the only one there and we would defo never let her off in the woods even if her friends are there, there's just way too many distractions.

[jmscott]

[jmscott]

We let Loki off lead sometimes. But only after we'd had her for a couple of month and ONLY in the park IF her best doggie friends are out. She likes a good run round with her best friends but even when playing she sometimes sees another dog and wanders off a bit to see them, but when she does that she goes back on lead and isn't allowed back off until the other dog has gone, then she's allowed to play again - but if she wanders off again she's back on the lead and isn't allowed back off. We would never let her off if she was the only one there and we would defo never let her off in the woods even if her friends are there, there's just way too many distractions.

 

Unfortunately not allowing her to play may be making coming back to you not fun. Which means that her recall isn't as reliable because other things are more fun. Make seeing you MORE fun that seeing those other dogs. And as soon as she comes back to you, send her back out again. 

[nickyd]

wow that checking in click training looks like it would seriously work! thanks for the info. And angel that is good advice too bad sasha doesnt have any friends yet =/

[angelniki]

Ooops I shouldve stated she only goes back on the lead if she doesn't come back and we have to go after her which thankfully isn't too often. Then when she's back on lead we do let her play - but she's on her lead for a while - she has a best friend called Lucas and they're happy to play while on lead together, but I do see your point. We make a big fuss of her when she does come back which is most of the time.

[zoey]

a trainer in my area im considering hiring

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPQU85EfD6U

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzjP9UNJLVM

[Removed #5]

If you look in the thread "Where's Al live?" it doesn't come a lot more out of the way than here.  Misty and I lived here for over two years when she took off one day and didn't come back.

 

If you insist on letting her have her freedom, I'll be here to be sympathetic when the day comes that you go looking and can't find her ...

[jmscott]

I would wonder exactly what methods he uses if he is coming from a military background and doesn't enforce the commands with food. 

[zoey]

I would wonder exactly what methods he uses if he is coming from a military background and doesn't enforce the commands with food. 

 

are you talking about the videos I posted?

 

if so he says he uses behaviour modification through a balanced approach of positive and negative. but no punishment through pain. And he also does no treats just praise. 

 

 

Im going to see him this sunday to see exactly how it works and what he does. 

[Capolini1226]

I think you should listen to these people who have a lot of experience with Siberians and the example of the END RESULTS after letting a Siberian loose.

 

a few people know me in regards to honesty, being upfront and DIRECT!

 

I am a bit perplexed as to why you have a Siberian Husky? There are many other Breeds that can be set free and will come back,,,,,,,,,even those types of Dogs sometimes wander away forever.

 

I grew up with GSD. When the last one Died we got a GSD mix from some friends. For about One year we would just let him out loose on our 4 acre property,he would always come back,,,,,,,,,,,then one night he did not and we never saw him again. I always wondered what happened to him. He was only about 2 years old.

 

ciao,,,Roberto

 p.s. the last pic. w/ the dead Groundhog!!! Capo killed that while he was on a leash!! It was a tag team effort!!!I don't want you to think I let him loose to kill that!!!

 

[Elyse]

i strongly advise to never let your husky off-leash. The breed is too stubborn and too headstrong for any reliable recall training. Many members on here have lost their huskies, or they were severely maimed and had to be pts, because they thought theirs was the exception. Please don't think this way. Not to sound harsh, but that kind of thinking will get your dog killed or lost forever. 

 

[HuskyGuerl]

I let Echo off leash when younger and he came back when called..Never hinted at chasing a squirrel or anything he smelt. He always listened. But as he got older the more stubborn he became and it was three calls before he came back. and then it came to him catching a whiff of a dog and being gone and us jumping in our rigs on a man hunt for him..I will say ill never let off leash again inless in a fenced area...now once in a while the pack will get out like they did yesterday and they always come back or someone in the neighbor hood brings them back but I still wont let them off leash and the place the broke out of immediatly gets fixed

[Bob & Juno]

Juno stays on my 6 foot leash for our normal walks,   or if we go to a park near I hook up her 50 foot leash so she can run around like crazy and I work on her recall, but with the 50 foot leash I never have to worry if she is going home with me or not. I'm thinking about picking up a 100 foot leash next for a larger park that we visit at times.  All I know if she took off and I couldnt find her I'd be sick not knowing what happened to her.  I see other types of dogs where you can leave off leash and they stay near all the time, but when you look into a Siberian eyes, there is something in there telling you that, omg if I can get free, OH BOY can I RUN and RUN  lol

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

I'll be honest here , I HAVE let skyla off the lead before quite a few times tbh n I've worked on her recall n she does great (I use a long lead to train it her) but I only ever let her off with no distractions around so god knows how she'd do if she saw something small n furry to chase
However...
One day last year she slipped her collar n ran off towards the road at the end ov my street , she didn't run away but stood there like 'hey come on lets play! Why u just standing there!? Lets go!!' we kept calling her and she did come back but I was so scared that she might have bolted n we'd lose her or she'd get hurt that I've never had her offlead since , she means to much to me to risk loosing her or her getting killed just because ov my idiocy

 

however you should ALWAYS train a recall in this breed just incase they decide to escape or break/slip their leash 

 

this is Skyla and my friends dog Zeus offlead -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVW6K30pbg4

this is her playing with zeus with a lead attached but not being held - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWqahCRyVvs 

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8H0oBPUsaA

this is me training a recall with skyla on a long lead - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRgZayhZEcw

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

Im sorry but if you come on a husky forum with people with experience of the breed on it and say you are gonna train offleash even after Al has said about what happened to his misty, you are gonna get some negative comments. 99% ofofflead threads on here end up locked because people on here feel so strongly about it.

[Stranger]

I think training off leash is a very good idea, and I am planning on doing it with my boys....BUT

 

I only think its a good idea for the sole purpose of recall. Due to my fear of loosing my boys, their recall training has been next to none, as they are never off their leads. Although on the 1 occasion I went to an off lead enclosed area and they responded every time.

 

if you have an enclosed area, then training off leash, and recall is a great idea.

 

However in my case I would be too afraid to do it in an area which was not enclosed, no matter how well trained I thought they were.

 

There are people that do it, you see videos of people having them running around woods etc, but you just don't know if that area is enclosed or not.

 

My advice, train off leash and recall, but make sure it is in an area which is enclosed and safe. Never under estimate they desire to run (and this isn't run away from you, its just running) or their pray drive.

 

I would also advise, that you see if you can find a friend with a dog or two, so you can do some recall/off leash training where there are distractions, as this is when most owners tend to loose their dogs.

 

Good luck.

 

Hmm now i've read it, it isn't clear what I am trying to say.

I wouldn't ever advise you to do off leash walking, unless in a secure area, but I do think it is wise to train this just in case one day you need to put the re call and off leash training to use.

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

I think training off leash is a very good idea, and I am planning on doing it with my boys....BUT

I only think its a good idea for the sole purpose of recall. Due to my fear of loosing my boys, their recall training has been next to none, as they are never off their leads. Although on the 1 occasion I went to an off lead enclosed area and they responded every time.

if you have an enclosed area, then training off leash, and recall is a great idea.

However in my case I would be too afraid to do it in an area which was not enclosed, no matter how well trained I thought they were.

There are people that do it, you see videos of people having them running around woods etc, but you just don't know if that area is enclosed or not.

My advice, train off leash and recall, but make sure it is in an area which is enclosed and safe. Never under estimate they desire to run (and this isn't run away from you, its just running) or their pray drive.

I would also advise, that you see if you can find a friend with a dog or two, so you can do some recall/off leash training where there are distractions, as this is when most owners tend to loose their dogs.

Good luck.

Hmm now i've read it, it isn't clear what I am trying to say.

I wouldn't ever advise you to do off leash walking, unless in a secure area, but I do think it is wise to train this just in case one day you need to put the re call and off leash training to use.

thats a loooong winded way to say it toni!

[Stranger]

thats a loooong winded way to say it toni!

 

 

its going to be one of those days....I can feel it in my bones.....

[winterchillz]

Ares once managed to escape through our front door. He'd usually come to me when I call him in the backyard, but this was not the case. He rushed down the street and didn't even hear me while I was shouting behind him. The only way to get him to follow me was to initiate a chase play and run back into the backyard. He's not trained for recall but even if I do train him, I'd never ever risk it.