Siberian Husky off lead walking??? Controversial

Please leave the out personal remarks and discuss the topic in a adult manner.

What a load of Cr@p, do you know how many huskies are rehomed each year by rescues. Totally agree with the Mayhew we would never ever rehome a husky to someone who intended to exercise them on lead only, how cruel :smt021

LOL your funny!!!

High prey driven husky:"oh look a sheep- YUMMY" *gives chase*

Owner: "HEEEEL WOLFY!!!"

Mr Farmer: *BANG* shoots wolfie dead

Owner: "oh what the hell at least he had a good run!!!!!!!"

So much for your trianed husky!

Oh, get a grip... Either you're trolling or are genuinely incredibly naive.

no one is disputing a Husky has the ability to learn recall. Huskies are an incredibly intelligent breed, up there with Border collies in terms of brains. the difference is INSTINCT: A border collie does things to please his owner (I have owned and trained 3 working sheepdogs) and is incredibly loyal. a husky on the other hand is loyal to everyone, wether they know them or not.
A border collies instict is to herd, an instict that is formost and very apparent when you watch them 'rounding up' their owner in circles.
A huskies instict is to RUN, and he does just that.
Both can be taught a perfect recall, the difference is RELIABILITY, and Im sorry, but as someone whos owned the breed for a few years, currently owns 9 of them, and is involved with a lot of likeminded people, some far more experienced and time-served than me, I can say in an informed manner that very few huskies can be relied upon to have a 100% recall. they may return perfectly 99% of the time, but its that other 1%, when instict takes over, and selective deafness kicks in, that will kill him. mine will carry on as they are, running flat out in harness, beside their pack mates, and gaining total enjoyment from it. If the fact that the rest of their exercise within the confines of a 50ft lunging rein makes me a bad owner, then so be it!, though I doubt many time-served husky owners would agree

Anne, Mayhew.
Would you run Afghans loose? Have you rehomed them into homes that run them loose?
Dawn.

Yes all the Afghans we have rehomed are safely exercised for a minimum of an hour off lead daily Same for Greyhounds, Beagles, Malamutes etc. The majority start off on 100 foot long lines until their recalls are perfected.

Can you show me any? NOT in the confines of the rescue please, and how do you KNOW that the one hour rule is adhered to? How often do you do spot checks? Where does the "off lead" training for recall take place? Would it be in a confined area? (I assumed it would) Do you then (once your recall is perfected) take these dogs and run them loose in a public area with the distractions they will see when rehomed? Its only fair you should, and how long afterwards do you keep these dogs to see if their "training" is 100% all the time?

I have been around Afghans for 15yrs, my boss has owned them for 35yrs, she once ran them loose, but due to their "instinct" and lack of reliabilty, one almost got killed, and of course sometimes you dont have 3hrs to spare trying to catch them! I wondered if you had some "knack" that many Afghan owners lack (and Husky owners of course) Hope you dont mind all the questions.

You added bits!!!!

So every single dog ends up with perfect recall? I'm assuming that is 100% recall, 100% of the time?

I didn't think that was possible! Surely some dogs you come across are unable to have/obtain 100% recall (for any number of reasons)?

To be honest I've spent more time on here today reading through all of this thread than I actually have time for, but if you would like to visit us at The Mayhew I'd be more than happy to show you our dogs being exercised off lead and the photos from adopters of their dogs off lead, we do regular spot checks and keep an eye on our dogs for the rest of their lives :smt001 Yes they are exercised in open unenclosed areas (local parks) before they are rehomed.

Some dogs are of course more difficult than others and like previously mentioned they stay on their 100 foot longlines until the can be trusted to be off the line. Some never come off the line for example dog aggressive dogs.

borderdawn if you would like I can contact you when the next Afghan comes in, if you would like to observe us training him/her to go off lead. Same for anyone else on here that truly believes Huskies can't go off lead safely, let me know and I'll happily invite you to the Mayhew to meet and observe them being trained to go off lead :smt001

(This is not intended as an insult just an invitation so people can see for themselves :smt001 )

So never owned ANY yourself.. that is wholly yours?

four pages added since I last logged on, this thread must be a record

Running in team and pulling a sled is what a siberian needs and wants. Running free is not NEARLY enough.

Lazy? You're more than welcome to come over and try your capacities in my kind of dog training. After a few weeks of training at -20 to -30 degrees Celsius, minimum of two hours at a time and done 5-6 times per week I guarantee you'll have a different view of what is lazy and what's not. I think people who get a siberian for a pet and never put the dog in front of a sled are lazy and cruel.

I think they have the capability, they just don't bother :-(

Me too, it's one of my biggest bug-bears

Very emotive subject it would appear, though no matter how long we debate it, i doubt agreement will ever be reached. will just have to agree to differ and do our own 'thing'

Yes providing the protection isn't in-turn harming the dog

Absolutely fair, it's the reason we train them to go off lead safely, it's for their benefit. They are all trained to the level that they will return when called, even in mid chase.

I would never risk the welfare of any dog, either my own or rescues. I have seen for myself that Huskies can be safely exercised off lead, I have heard from Husky experts who agree that with proper training they can be exercised off lead. What would you suggest I ignore this and listen to the majority, who they themselves have probably never trained a husky to go safely off lead.

How is protecting your dog by keeping it on a lead.. "harming" it??

Sorry but I disagree. They are dogs at the end of the day, forgive me if some take offence to this, but I've always found a lot of the 'Husky people' (amongst a couple of the other breeds) seem to be egotistical and holier than thou, trying to make out their breed is so exclusive and different to anyone else's breed, you would think they were talking about another species. Huskies are not wolves they are dogs.

Because their bloody hard work Huskies aren't the easiest of breeds to train just like the vast number of other breeds that wouldn't be suitable as service dogs.

sibes have been domesticated and established for over a century, roughly around the same time German Shepherds we established. Are you sure your not talking about the Saarlooswolfound or the Czechslovakian Wolfdog ;-)