Yard training

harborrat · 03-08-2008, 07:33 PM

Hello to all. I am new here to the dog forum but I have always had dogs. All have been mongrels. We have a male black lab mix who is 9 years old and we got him from the local animal control officer as a puppy. He must have been mistreated as he would cower all the time around everybody but he soon got over that. We live out in the country on a main road with 9 acres, a pond, and woods in the back. He never roamed or ran across the roadway as he just seemed to be happy to be here and we never had the need to contain him.

Now we have another male, who is 5 months old. His mother was a German Shepherd, who the neighbors had and they were going to breed her. The other neighbors' dog, a Wolf/Husky mix, got to her and he is the father. This puppy is unlike any of my other dogs I have ever had. He is absolutely a tightly wound spring who just explodes with energy. He has already got to be the size of my black lab and he is tiring him out, with rough play. He comes charging at me when I am on the sofa and jumps up on me and takes a flying leap over me and over the sofa and races around in circles. He is chewing and biting, but I am getting a handle on all of that. He seems to have a high intelligence level as he has already learned all of the basic commands. He just can't stay put once your tell him to sit or anything else for that matter. He catches dog treats when thrown and he is now leaping up into the air to catch them if you throw them high. He stays in the house with us but wants to go outside.

Now for my problem. I want to train him to stay in the yard and generally on the property. I don't want him to go into the road or run across the roadway because I am afraid that he will get run over. I dont want to keep a dog tied up all the time either. When I took him off the leash for the first time he soon found out that he could run and there is no way I can catch him. Now he is taking off every time I try it and I don't know what to do.

Does anybody have any advice? My black lab comes and goes in and out at will. This one is not interested in emulating him.

pamperedpups · 03-08-2008, 08:07 PM

Your first dog is unusual, and what he does by staying around your property is something I would never bank on. Letting dogs roam without some sort of secure boundary is a gamble, no matter how trained, good, old, tired or used it the dog may be. It's one of those things that's all good... until the day it isn't. I doubt you'll ever see that kind of behavior coming out of the new pup, as even with extensive training he is still going to be a young dog of a high drive breed mix, born to run.

From the sound of it your pup could benefit overall by more exercise, so it might do you good to look into some sort of electronic containment system to allow him the sort of freedom you want him to have. Training a good recall shouldn't be forgotten, and you could always look into some sort of doggy sport to keep him active and content, too.

Durbkat · 03-08-2008, 08:26 PM

I would fence as much of your property that you can. As the above poster said its very weird that your dog never left the property. But I'm sure he did when you left or were asleep. If you can't fence your yard then your dogs should only be out when they are on a leash. I understand you live in a rural area and its a common practice to let the dogs run free but if you truley love the dog you wouldn't let it run around with no fence.

RBark · 03-08-2008, 09:02 PM

Sounds like your dog took in 90% of the husky genes.

He really can't ever be allowed to roam, sorry to say.

My Husky gets ran on a bike 8+ miles a day almost at sprinting speed. It sounds like your dog has that gene too. And no, just letting them roam outside won't be enough to get rid of the excess energy. Soon he will find chasing animals, and livestock, killing them, and so on to be great fun.
'

Durbkat · 03-08-2008, 09:08 PM

Just so you know if your dog starts chasing live stock farmers legally can and will shoot him if he starts to chase his live stock.

harborrat · 03-15-2008, 01:58 PM

I have not got the means to fence in my property but I got a good length of rope from the hardware store and tied it up to a tree and put a brass clasp at the end. It is long enough for my dog to reach the back porch of the house. Every time we put him outside he would do his business and ram around like crazy and then we would bring him in. Now he has discovered that he is able to chew through the rope and he chewed right through it and took off again. He jumped all over one of the neighbors' kids and knocked him down. He is not mean at all, he was just playing and licking him. I am going to have to get some kind of a cable. I don't think that I will have a problem with that. I have an old wheelbarrow tire that is off the rim and he plays tug-of-war with me with it. He is an amazingly energetic dog. I think I need to get some professional training for him. Does anybody have any suggestions on electric collars or some such thing?

Renoman · 03-15-2008, 02:09 PM

First, until your puppy is 100% solid on his recall I would NOT let him off lead for any reason.

It is possible to boundry train a dog but it requires alot of time and work.

Have you thought of using the invisible fence for this pup?

RBark · 03-15-2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harborrat

I have not got the means to fence in my property but I got a good length of rope from the hardware store and tied it up to a tree and put a brass clasp at the end. It is long enough for my dog to reach the back porch of the house. Every time we put him outside he would do his business and ram around like crazy and then we would bring him in. Now he has discovered that he is able to chew through the rope and he chewed right through it and took off again. He jumped all over one of the neighbors' kids and knocked him down. He is not mean at all, he was just playing and licking him. I am going to have to get some kind of a cable. I don't think that I will have a problem with that. I have an old wheelbarrow tire that is off the rim and he plays tug-of-war with me with it. He is an amazingly energetic dog. I think I need to get some professional training for him. Does anybody have any suggestions on electric collars or some such thing?

Huskies are extremely sensitive to over-correction. Just raising your voice can send them scurrying for shelter, at times.

So you don't want a electric collar, nor will it help you in this case. Huskies are noted escape artists.

I'm going to be flat out honest here. Farm life is not for most Huskies. They have far too much energy, far too much prey drive, and love running far too much, and love people far too much.

You need to ask yourself if you are willing to put a incredible amount of effort into him. If you are not, you can't simply just tie him out all day. He needs adventure, he needs to go on long walks/runs. Needs to be able to go to places other than the yard.

You may want to consider finding a home that's more properly suited to raise a Husky.

harborrat · 03-15-2008, 02:13 PM

I have thought about an electric fence, but how reliable are they when you have a dog whose every move seems to be at an all out "charge"?

RBark · 03-15-2008, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renoman

First, until your puppy is 100% solid on his recall I would NOT let him off lead for any reason.

It is possible to boundry train a dog but it requires alot of time and work.

Have you thought of using the invisible fence for this pup?

Invisible fence doesn't work with most Huskies. They learn FAST that they can just run through it. Some learn they can take mild shocks over a long period of time and wear out the battery and then escape. They can get out of collars, harnesses with no problem. Scaling fences and going under them is also easy work.

There's just so much danger here.

Renoman · 03-15-2008, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBark

Invisible fence doesn't work with most Huskies. They learn FAST that they can just run through it. Some learn they can take mild shocks over a long period of time and wear out the battery and then escape. They can get out of collars, harnesses with no problem. Scaling fences and going under them is also easy work.

There's just so much danger here.

You're right. I thought about that after. This puppy sounds like he would have no problem running through the invisible fence.

Professional trainer sounds like a good idea.

harborrat · 03-15-2008, 02:37 PM

I know a police officer who has a working dog and his dog "shadows" him everywhere he goes. He is absolutely and positively trained to come when called. If my dog had training anywhere close to that then I would love to take him out into the woods and let him go into the pond swimming and play frisbee and all of that. Am I expecting too much here? Can I expect that level of training with a local professional trainer? There aren't many trainers around here that I know of. What kind of costs are involved here for professional trainers?

Renoman · 03-15-2008, 02:59 PM

No, you're not expecting too much. With good basics, hard work and alot of patience on your part, you could get there. There are trainers out there that are very very good, while some are not. You need to do your homework. Ask for references, ask to sit in on some of the classes before signing up.

As for the costs, can't answer those questions for you. Your best bet is to pick up the phone book and start calling around getting prices for basic obedience. Once you've mastered that you go on to advanced obedience and so forth.

Personally, I prefer the prefer the one on one training you get with a professional trainer. I think you get more out of that 1 hour a week than you do out of anything else since the trainer has all his attention on your dog and you. There are alternatives though.

Try local Kennel Clubs or you local shelters. Often they have basic obedience classes. They are a good, reasonably priced place to begin your training.

Focus your efforts on the important things like down, sit, come and stay. These are the commands that could possibly some day save your dog's life.

The 'tricks' like speak, shake etc are just the 'fun' things you can teach to keep your dog's mind exercised.

RBark · 03-15-2008, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harborrat

I know a police officer who has a working dog and his dog "shadows" him everywhere he goes. He is absolutely and positively trained to come when called. If my dog had training anywhere close to that then I would love to take him out into the woods and let him go into the pond swimming and play frisbee and all of that. Am I expecting too much here? Can I expect that level of training with a local professional trainer? There aren't many trainers around here that I know of. What kind of costs are involved here for professional trainers?

I really don't want to say that something "can't" be done. A lot of things can be done, it depends on your patience and time.

Huskies are well noted for not being obedient. It sounds like yours is also the type that's just bursting with energy and likely will not be a good off-lead companion dog. Police dog owner dogs have dogs that are loyal and protective, with instinct to be with the owner. At least, a instinct more refined than that of a Huskies.

A Husky is bred to run. He's bred to be on some kind of containment - harnessed to a sled, tethered outdoors, kenneled. There's a reason you hardly ever see any Husky off-leash. I've only seen it two times, and those two times were on video.

Walking alongside his companion goes against everything the dog is bred to do. He's supposed to be out front with you in behind, expecting you to always be keeping up with him like his pack can.

So you're fighting thousands of years of instinct by training him to shadow you. It can be done, but with lots of time and effort and patience. And lots of searching for your dog.

Ollie will come when called, every time, 100% of the time, even on a 50' leash. Most off-leash training revolves around that kind of leash. In a fenced in area where he knows he has no way out, he will come 100% of the time as well.

Open a gate or take the 50' lead off? Off he goes, no recall at all. They just are smart that way. He's more interested in running than a steak.

So it's a choice you need to make. I hate to generalize dogs by their breed, I don't know YOUR dog. So I can't say if this will apply to him. It's just "most" huskies are like that, with a few exceptions.

That's no reason to give up right away. You might as well try, why not?