Hi All

Just wondering what people think about what happened today.

We have had Tala for 3 weeks now, she is a 15 month Husky x GSD (we think) Rescued from Bath RSPCA. She always pulls like mad on the lead, especially before she'd been toilet! Well, today hubby and I took her to some fields nr where he works (away from any roads) I was armed with doggie sausages wrapped in foil (which I had shown her before we left for the walk)

We let her off the lead, and she LOVED it, she was running flat out for about 30 mins, she didn go very far from us, and kept stopping and checking she could see us. When we called 'Tala come' and I held up the sausages in foil, she came back to me, and sat. Now I know that having food with me is not the IDEAL situation, but is this the right way to train to come back?

The fields were mainly enclosed, and to be honest she didnt go close to the edges, she didnt even enter the next field (through an open gateway) until she knew we were coming too.

There werent any other dogs about, although one did walk across the other side of the field we were in, and she looked, but stayed near us, in the direction we were going.

Is this progress or am I getting ahead of myself? I think she has so much energy, and we dont have the time to walk her 5 miles a day, so her running around flat out for 30 mins would probably be a great way to expend her energy surplus!!

Any comments or suggestions going forward would be appreciated

Sounds like she did realy well .As long as you're confident that she will come back everytime for the treat then I'd carry on like this.I think it's good for every dog to get an offlead run as long as they or no other dog/person can come to any harm.

:-) Thanks Amelie

I dont think she's had much walking training, on or off, as far as we can tell from the home (as she was a handover) she was tied up outside all day, and came in to the conversatory to sleep. I think the whole concept of walkies is totally new - she certainly doesnt know the word 'walkies'!!

She always pulls to go and see other dogs when we are on walks, only to have a sniff, but i'm not convinced she'd come back if another dog took her fancy as a new playmate!! She's nervous of new people, so I dont think she'd get close enough to hurt anyone. My friend came over for tea in the week, and it took Tala 3 hours to allow Claire to stroke her!!

Maybe the fact she is off the lead helps, I think when she is on it, she thinks that mummy or daddy are there so they'll look after me so she's more confident, off lead in the house or otherwise she appears to be more worried about making sure we are there - as we arent attached

Julie

Everything sounds fine. I've had Arnie from a pup, training in my opinion is never over, refreshers are always good, and I always carry treats as rewards for good behaviour

__________________

• Arnie and Alf - The A Team

Sounds to me like she had a great time and did very well.

Keep reinforcing the recall although not always with treats, gradually phase them out and use other rewards when she comes back, a big fuss, a game of fetch or just being allowed to go back to running around is a reward in itself.

Keep the best treat (food, toy etc) handy in case of emergency until you are confident you can overcome anything that may distract her and above all, enjoy seeing your dog happy.

As others have said sounds like she had a great time, but and I dont want to be a negative person, this "could" be a settleing in period, where she is still a little clingy to you because she has only been with you for 3 weeks, this may change once she knows you are keepers. she is part husky, and I know some say that they have good recall with their huskies, its not the norm so dont be surprised if one day selective hearing comes into play.

mo

Hi

Yes, I think she is a little too clingy, which may be why. I took her again today, and she decided to eat cow poo, how gross is that!! I would rather she ate it than rolled in it, but nevertheless it is minging!

She wouldnt flippin 'come' when she was eating that

the location is ideal..... the cow pats are not!!

Sounds good so far!

My dog started like this at 5 months old, but by 8 months old had selective hearing and wouldn't come for toffee! He is now 14 months old and still not offlead..!

__________________

Sound pretty regular - If shes only coming back out of interest you need to put a command in to have her come back when you want, this will help when shes interested in other dogs/birds, approaching a gate, road etc etc. It sounds like she likes you though which will make things easier - but its still not an easy thing to get hold of and needs to be done regulary. Having her steady beside you heeling offlead will be ideal - theres lots and lots to get your teeth into really

im glad it worked well for you, but please remember that she is part husky, and you could be playing a very dangerous game letting her off the lead. huskies have very high prey drive and when they see something and decide to chase you will be VERY lucky to get them back...

i have a husky and have let her off twice, 1st time she was a young pup and with another dog, who was older and had good recall. being a pup she followed him everywhere and it was fine, so we decided to try it without him ther a month or so later, she had grown up a bit and we now had no power over her, even tho we had been doing well with recall in the house. she saw a rabbit and chased it onto the train tracks (we thought the fence was secure... looks like some kids damaged it ) we managed to get her back but not thru recall.
she is now never offlead, and never will be. it is in her instincts, her prey drive is in her blood, its not something we can train out of her.

some people can let their huskies off lead, however you never know when they might decide not to listen to you. i recently heard from someone who had his sibe off lead for her whole life, thought she was 100% reliable, then one day something clicked and she ran, over a road and got hit by a car. she was PTS

i dont wanna put a dampener on this thread but please take into account the breed you have, it is in a husky's blood to run (for miles without stopping) and to hunt. do you want to risk her life??

__________________