Mals/Huskies off lead (split from Have Your Say) Controversial

Near a busy road one would presume?? How irresponsible and downright dangerous!

Well, after everything I read about Mals (and knowing what my own dogs would be like !), I was impressed with her training but I can see that you can look at it as irresponsible, depending on your viewpoint. Ref the road, it was away from the road but if the dog took off obviously and didn't recall , I am sure it could've found the road.

NO matter what. people will always be split on this i have owned a mal and yes he was aloud off lead,BUT i would way the place up first ie the park near me he would run and play with lot of other dogs,but when we went to tatton park no, to many deer running free.
that said my freinds mal is ex show and walks of lead in most places (not near main roads i would not do that even with my golden).the flip side there is another mal round the corner from me and that never goes off lead even in there own garden which seems cruel to me.

What happened to your mal?? have you got any pics?

Mine only get offlead in enclosed spaces...cruel?? no..responsible?? yes

Thanks Carole

The bit that got me about the original post I quoted (nothing to do with you Werewolf ) was the fact that the Mal was off lead at a service station - now service stations are situated very close to main roads or motorways - this to me is the height of irresponsibility.

My Aussie is almost permanently off lead, except for when we are near a road - then he is always put back on. I would never dream of having him off lead at a service station.

Not allowing them off in their own garden is a bit extreme - I assume it is not securely fenced which begs the question - why do they not fence it so the Mal can have some freedom? The fact that a dog is ex show has no bearing on whether or not it can be walked off lead - I have done agility competitions with one of my Mals (obviously off lead) but I still won't trust them off lead in forests, woodland and common which is where we normally walk - they have deer and horses on and whilst they are trained to recall, I can not guarantee they will do it everytime, certainly not from running deer hence why they are not allowed off lead unless the area is secure (that is not to say we don't do a multitude of other activities with them though that allow them to run ).

9 times out of 10 they would be perfectly fine, but I am not willing to risk their lives for that 1 time.

he died,:-( brain tumor.miss him like hell

no they have a fence just dont like it digging,

Beautiful dog, Paul.....

that last pic is stunning!

I own rotties not mals, or sibes, but I wouldnt have my lot off lead near a road or at a service station and I have a brill recall with them all.

I think if you put enough work into whatever breed you have you should let it off lead if you are confident it will recall when called.

I saw a mal/huskie (sorry, I'm pretty naieve and don't know the difference to look at one) running free at Sutton park before and its recall was brill and it was lovely to see it running free

No dog should be off lead at a service station ......

My Malamute is off lead much of the time as she has excellent recall and zero prey drive but never by roads or at service stations or the like - even my remote controlled Border Collie is always on the lead at roads - as every dog should be.

in all honesty, whats a dog got to gain from being off lead near a road or at a service station?

not much, IMO
its not like they can run around and sniff or play, so whats the harm in having a lead on

I have a great article from an old SHCGB magazine which graphically illustrates why a Sibe/Mal should not be let off lead, I will scan it in and then let you decide....

sadly i feel the people that let sibes off lead in unsecure areas truly do not understand them :-( its not about 'recall' or 'prey drive'

often they learn the hard way,and if not are extremely lucky,either way i dont think they will change their minds untill......................

This is me I have to admit.....
I know very little about the breed so I am ashamed to admit I do not understand why this is such a controversial issue at all?!
Why is off lead with these types off dog any different than off lead with any others?
I am not trying to be provocative just have no experience of the breed so if someone could explain ...........

one word.... 'independence' ;-)

So is it that this breed cannot be trained in recall reliably?

My breed is independent, as was my last dog, an Elkhound. They go off lead, but I'm careful where I do it. Their recall is not always instant, so I have to take them places where they won't bother or upset anyone. The way I understand it, Huskies, Mals etc. have a strong desire to run and may go selectively deaf whilst running. They also have a strong prey drive (Loki had a chase drive, but wouldn't have actually made the kill). Other than that, not sure what the difference is?

exactly!! enclosed ,fenced in no probs!!
i love elkies!!! ;-) ;-)
think of sibes more as a cat;-)
many including mine have been obedience,agility trained etc its not that they are 'untrainable'
not only did sibes have to fend for themselves part of the year,they had to be indipendent enough to think for themselves,as in if you told your lead dog to go over 'unsafe ice' they should be able to judge it and not blindly obey, thus saving yours and the teams life;-)

It's not necessarily enclosed. I take them on the beach and various parks etc. but if they did really run off they could find a road eventually. They are not the most obedient off lead, but they do like to stay in sight of their mummy too!