Recall Command For A Husky.

[~*Shell*~]

Hi all,

I have a nearly 4 year old husky that we adopted about 18 months ago from the pound. While he's learnt sit, drop, shake (and is learning "other paw" so we can handle both paws) and will stay (to some extent) we can't seem to teach him "come". I've sent him to a trainer (who told me he would use the clicker method but ended up using a choke chain on him till he threw up because Zero refused to do the command) but because Zero has some dog aggression problems (we've nearly cured him of them and are going to see a behaviourist in july to work on the last couple of problems) we haven't been able to take him to classes like i would have liked. I haven't used a clicker before, though would like to start working with one with him. How would i go about teaching him a recall command?

I've heard that huskies are notoriously hard to train (because they don't listen to you) and while i haven't had a problem teaching him things like sit, i just can't think of how i would teach him this one!

[huski]

My Sibe has quite good recall (now, it took awhile - LOL).

The key is to find something to motivate them. Does Zero like squeaky or tug toys? Is he food motivated? I am lucky with Micha because he loves both squeaky toys and food - I always use something high value when training like chicken or sausage or kabana.

With Micha I found teaching recall like you do in obedience class quite helpful. We would go to the local playing field when it was quiet, and I would put him on a long lead. I would get him to do the commands he knows well like sit, down etc and reward him with the food/toy so he knows that I have something exciting. I would also throw the toy for him and get him to run with me (short bursts of running, quick changes of direction etc to get him excited and revved up).

Then I would get him to walk beside me and I would change direction by running backwards and would yell "COME!" - the goal here is to get them to turn around and follow you, then once he was in front of me I would get him to sit and reward him. You may need to lure him with food at first to get the idea of what the command is asking for, but I found if I revved him up with a toy before hand he was quite eager to "work". You may also need to lure him in with the leash so he learns where he needs to go

[Luke W]

and remember, a dog is most likely to come when you are walking away, not standing still.

I've found that even a slight turn of the body away form the dog and shift of weight away from the dog is more likely to cause mine to come. If that's not working I actually start to walk away - my pup notices this and then starts running toward me.

Also, whenever your dog comes of his own accord (not on command, just gennerally coming to you) - reward and let him go back to what he was doing. He'll come to associate coming to you as a good thing.

Try to avoid recalling your dog and ending his walk. Never recall and punish. Make recall fun! Recall, treat, let him go.

I never call my pup to me to immediately end a walk. Usually I wait till he's hanging around me for a bit - then end the walk. I mix up the precursors to a walk's end to avoid associating the end of a walk with anything specific. I try not to assocatiate coming or being near me as a bad thing.

Edited May 27, 2008 by Luke W

[petmezz]

how well bonded is the sibe to you?? i have found the best way is to have a line about 6m attached to you and the dog, gain the dogs attention and focus through known comands and reward with high value treats, as soon as the sib looks the other way turn and run calling the dog in an excited tone, mack it out their is some thing of great interest that your running to, praise the dog for following you and stop when it's attention is on you get the sit and reward.

the running is a reward for the dog, your praise is a reward and getting the treat is a reward, i would also mention giving lots of praise with the treat = yet another reward.

i would do this once or twice and then leave it untill next time, the thing that makes sibes so hard to train is thay bore easily, all training needs to stop when your dog still wants to do more, you need to stop with a high leavel of excitment/drive. if you don't do this you will be weakining the behaviour, and the value of the treats and creat an unmotivated dog.

keep training short, when i started training my sibes i would train for 2 min then have some fun 20min later i would train for another 2 min and have fun. this worked well for my siberians.

Good luck

[~*Shell*~]

Thanks for the fast replies!

Zero loves his squeaky toys, but tends to get over then quite quickly (only a few retrievals before he gets bored) and because of his diet we have to be very careful of the treats - though i might get him some chicken mince or something to train with! I might ask the behaviourist (who is also a trainer - Steve at K9 Force who comes highly recommended. Can you tell i'm excited to meet him?) and see what he recommends to help zero get over a few of his fears too and see if that helps with recall.

We have a feeling that his old owners used to call him to them and then abuse him so i think i'm going to have my work cut out for me!

i think i'll try and get him a long leash tonight - or i'll at least order one so i can try different techniques and see if anything helps!

[huski]

Thanks for the fast replies!

Zero loves his squeaky toys, but tends to get over then quite quickly (only a few retrievals before he gets bored) and because of his diet we have to be very careful of the treats - though i might get him some chicken mince or something to train with! I might ask the behaviourist (who is also a trainer - Steve at K9 Force who comes highly recommended. Can you tell i'm excited to meet him?) and see what he recommends to help zero get over a few of his fears too and see if that helps with recall.

We have a feeling that his old owners used to call him to them and then abuse him so i think i'm going to have my work cut out for me!

i think i'll try and get him a long leash tonight - or i'll at least order one so i can try different techniques and see if anything helps!

Steve is great, I would be excited too!

Instead of feeding him for the day, give him his food via treats. This is what I do with Micha and Daisy - Micha puts weight on just looking at food, and by feeding them through training treats they will be nice and hungry and food motivated

To keep it lean, I steam a chicken breast (I know, lucky bloody dogs) and chop it up for treats.

[The Spotted Devil]

I'm lucky to have a dog highly motivated by food.....so, although taking off in the opposite direction is a trait common to Dallies, I've managed to train a really good recall (both formal for trialling and at the beach). The long line is a great place to start and all the ideas about being excited and turning/running away are great. For food rewards I use steamed chicken thighs, boiled egg, tinned salmon, ricotta cheese, yoghurt, apple, carrot and Nature's Gift training treats. I find alternating the type and amount of treats is great for keeping him guessing. The other really important thing is that once the dog really understands the command, alternate the treat reward with praise - the more unpredictable the better. Today, towards the end of Zig's beach run I called him back, praised him and gave him a scratch - when I released him he just hung around waiting for his food reward He came back like a bullet the next time too! I do at least 6 recalls at the beach and when he's put on lead he gets a bonus - it means that when I pull out the lead he bolts towards me instead of the opposite direction

Be patient - it's one of the more difficult commands to teach if your dog adores smelling and leg-lifting and meeting other dogs!

Edited May 27, 2008 by The Spotted Devil