ISDW Posted September 5, 2010 Report Share Posted September 5, 2010 I know this has been discussed ad infitum on husky forums, but I'm just going to say please don't let your husky off the lead. I have a lot of dogs, so most definitely have a pack mentality going on with them, but when Sky and Diesel got to a certain age, off they'd go and nothing would bring them back. Diesel got very, very good at coming back for the treat, getting it and then going again immediately so that I couldn't get the lead on him. I would then put the lead on before the treat, so the treat no longer worked, as even liver cake doesn't compete with freedom for that boy. I trust Diesel more than any of my other sibes, in the big, enclosed field he will always come back when called, and in harness and working, he will follow all of my commands, he is a very well trained dog. But, I will never, ever let him off lead in an unenclosed space, he's far too special to me for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted September 5, 2010 Report Share Posted September 5, 2010 i dont belive it helps with another dog - i can let my staffy offlead but even with my two sibes on 100ft leads - they dont follow him at the moment being ten weeks old to your pup your the best thing since sliced bread! as she gets older more things become intresting and you loose your appeal! thats when your gonna have to start keepin her on a lead - i got my 2nd pup at 14 weeks old - but her prey drive was AMAZINGLY HIGH when we got her no matter what she saw she would stop and stalk it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renniwano Posted September 5, 2010 Report Share Posted September 5, 2010 I can only second everything about leaving your husky on a leash.. or only letting them offleash in a well secured area.. But also please remember as much as we all love our pups/dogs there are people out there who for one reason or another are petrified of dogs.. and wouldn't take too kindly to having your dog running up to them if you are a mile or so back still running. Sometimes with our sibes we have to think of those who have no knowledge.. and as much as we know our dogs are loving and would possibly lick someone to death before hurting them.. not everyone knows this.. plus if your pup/dog does hurt someone or damage property - it is you as the owner that is liable.. and we all know that isn't something we want to happen.. Unfortuately 100% trust isn't always good enough.. Enjoy your pup and you'll have many good years.. and there are some fantastic training leads and long leads out there for their roam of freedom.. Hugs Nikki xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmiles Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 We went hiking over the weekend at one of the local ski mountains with the local husky owners group. There were a total of 8 huskies there for the hike. For the most part everyone kept their dog on a leash except when the dogs got to go swimming in a pond at the top of the mountain. There was one husky (3 year old male) that the owners allowed to go off leash for almost the entire hike (about 2.5 miles each direction). He had an incredible recall, and would never go more than 50-75 feet up the trail. That dog probably went at least twice the amount of distance as everyone else. It ran back and forth on the trail (parts of which were really steep and rocky) at an amazing speed. The owner had a special whistle that they would do, and the husky would immediately turn around and return to them. The trails were all through the woods with lots of little creatures running around. The same owner had a 6 month old puppy, and they would not allow her off lead because her recall was not very good yet. I think it was not the breed norm, but the owners were really confident that he would return every time (and for what I saw he did). I think that if you have an area where you can safely work with your dog off lead on recall skills, there may be a time where some huskies could be trusted to be off lead in area where there are no close roads. Our 8 month old female has a really strong emergency recall, but her normal recall is not the greatest. The only time where we will allow her off lead is when we take her to the dog park which has a 8 foot secure fence. It was one of the characteristics that we were aware of before deciding to get a husky, so we deal with it. I wish that she could be trusted off lead, but all of the other positive characteristics of the breed outweigh the few negative ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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