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Teaching your dog the re call cue does pay off at the end...Decota one of my 4 dogs have been living with us for the past 2 years and from the beginning was such a wild character. He never really knew where he fit in the pack, we had to do lots of exercise, training and implement a routine. As most of you know by now, we go to farms often for weekends with our dogs and let them run and explore all over. Every couple of minutes they would return to our cabin just to see that we are still there. But for some reason Decota struggles with recall when we go to places for short periods as I suppose in his mind he is not done yet. So knowing this we treated him different as he needed to have more boundaries then our other 3 dogs. A while back we went to the sports ground and let all 4 dogs loose. There where lots of distractions like birds other dogs and kids. As always the 2 Huskies and Labrador came to us when we called them and to my amazement the moment I turned my back to Decota he ran up to me sitting in front of me so that I could put his lead back on. I didn't even have time to run in the opposite direction as he came immediately as I recalled him. Since that day he knows that coming when called is not a bad experience, but my guard is not down. They all are dogs and it could happen any day that they decide not to listen. The trick is to be more interesting then what they are doing at that moment if your recall cue is not working. As a trainer I tell all my Husky owners that training your Husky recall starts from the first day...but I also tell them that training a Husky recall starts off with exercise and bonding with your Husky. Bonding with a Husky and most other dogs happens through exercise and spending QAULITY time with your dog. A tired dog is a trainable dog. Or should I say a satisfied dog is a trainable dog. And being able to train your dog will let you bond with your dog. Some breeds are a little less complicated then other breeds. Intellect does play a role, but also breed traits, some breeds are bred to please their owners, where as others are bred for working and the heart to do that work. Those are the type of dogs whom you first need to satisfy physically before being able to really start training them. But no matter the breed the principal stays the same it’s just easier with some dogs. So once you are on your way with establishing a relationship, one day at a time you would also be training the re call cue. For Husky owners and most other breeds I would advice to first not let your dog off lead. Some dogs just don't feel the need to stay with you until the bond has been established. And also just like with kids, they push their boundaries. Take your dog to your back yard on a long lead and recall your dog to you. Every time he gets to you make a big fuss and give him a treat. Then as he gets better you can let go of the lead and do the same. This is with little distraction. With more distractions as time passes you can move to a bigger enclosed area like a school play ground. Start training on lead again as you did at home .This you would keep on doing until you know it's safe to let go off the lead. Then when your dog goes to the beach or dog park you can do the same. Eventually letting go off the lead, but when you recall your dog let him come to you, praise him and let him go again. So that he is never to sure when it means that his fun is over and it's time to go home. The same principal applies letting your dog wait by the gate. Most dog owners and even more so Husky owners cannot drive out of the yard with the dogs being there as they would escape. Teaching your dog recall as well as something simple as wait for their food can help you when teaching your dog to wait while the gate closes. Or even something like wait by the door. We taught our dogs to wait for their food while we take the car out of the yard. I would then come back and tell them they could eat. So they got a huge golden reward by letting breakfast work for me. Dogs need exercise but they really do need mental stimulation and for some dogs it's more then for others even of the same breed. There is no set limit to exercise, training or enrichment. Try to make an effort by using your day to day activities to help train your dog. If you would like to write about your favourite, sadess or funniest dog story on my web site you can do it here by clicking on this link below. Also read what other people wrote. Also remember about our dog first aid course and our mushers convention.
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