Hi all. We took Dre (10 month old husky) a walk along the beach this morning and whilst having his run he managed to find some squid that a man fishing had left outside his tent. He had nearly managed to eat most of it by the time we caught up with him (he was ignorning any call back). We dont know how much was there but we are worried about the effects this may have on him and will he be alright? Any ideas?

Thanks Sam

I hope your Husky was fine after the squid...a web search via google would possibly tell you if squid is poisonous in any quantity.....but why oh why was your Husky off the lead?  Did your breeder not explain that they should always be exercised on the lead :-(

Sarah,
I don't know the first thing about the husky breed and would like to learn more about all breeds,so may I ask why they have to be exercised on a lead?
Jacqueline :)

Because they are very difficult if not impossible to train on a reliable recall :-( 

As small pups they are very responsive and owners get more & more confident that 'they' are training their pup well and that the Breeder, who if they are worth while, will have spent hours drilling into puppy buyers that they cannot be let off the lead, do not know what they are talking about.

However with age comes the spitz mentality of 'why should I do that' - anyone with spitz breeds will know this :-)

With a Sibe this manifests itself mainly into 'why should I come back'?  Baring in mind they are a very primative breed, with their main purpose to run & pull, they run at great speeds, covering a lot of ground in a short amount of time.  They run straight, not quartering as a gundog might, nor circling like a herding breed.  They also assume they can outrun danger...be it a car a train or whatever :-(

Having run for a long time, they do not return, being of relative independent nature (not a one man dog) and also having quite a high prey drive, they will happily hunt...not good when it is sheep and the farmer is there :-(

That is why, in the past, most people serious about the breed in this Country worked their dogs in harness.  To be honest they are a nightmare breed in many ways, for all their beauty.

Due to films, press attention and general changes in breeding & breed popularity the world & his wife now breed huskies.  Whereas once unsuitable people wouldn't have got a dog, you can now find numerous web sites, order on line & have your own little furry bundle in no time at all :-( 

Welfare end up picking up pups as young as 8 weeks from homes that wish to put them down :rolleyes: who have signed contracts NOT to contact the Breeder

Ooops sorry....you didn't really ask for chapter and verse ;-)

Beg to differ about being impossible to get a reliable recall there is at least one(Rajarani Simply Red)sibe working in C in obedience & you don't get to C unless you have a reliable recall

Um....why don't you ask Irene if she exercises off the lead and if she recommends it for sibe owners?  There is a world of difference between a 'one off' sibe with one of the most talented obedience trainers in the UK and all the others, especially in a formal competition environment

Please do not use boards such as these, which the public read, to give out 'clever' comments that could very easily lead to the death of a much loved pet :-(

Sadly, at the cost of their pets lives, many potential sibe owners will ask the off lead question to 10 people.  9 say no, but the 10th says yes & because that is what they want to hear they ignore the other 9 :rolleyes:

Hi Sarah,

Glad to read your post.  I too find it very frustrating that some people seem to think that every breed of dog is responds the same way to obedience training.  Agree with you that insistence that *any* breed of dog can be trained to a reliable recall if only the owner/trainer tried hard enough (insert your recall training tip here) is irresponsible advice.

Cairns are not reliable at recall anymore than Sibes.  I've seen a few that are absolutely superb in obedience events, but their owners would never expect their dog to behave the same in an open field populated by rodents, rabbits, foxes .. name anything that moves.  Prey drive wins.  There were even a couple of Cairn breeders I knew who had puppy contracts where the owner was required to sign that their pet would never be allowed off lead outside a fenced area.  All it takes is one dash for a squirrel and one car that shows up at the wrong time -- and that's it.   Or a sniff and a sighting of a fox and the race is on faster than anyone on two legs can keep up .. and you just have to hope that you and your pet meet again someday.

Regards,

Stacey

On the other hand Stacey whilst it is true that not ALL breeds are as responsive as others and not ALL are going to be able to reach the level of obedience required for Test C for example it would also be irresponsible IMHO not to point out that most breeds can achieve a satisfactory level of control in public as long as a) the owner is aware of the predisposition of the breed and b) the owner actually does put the training in!  I meet far too many out of control dogs whose owners say "well everyone knows you cannot train a .......".  If this is so then by all means keep control by placing the dog on the lead :D 

One of the reasons you do not see certain breeds competing in disciplines such as agility, obedience and Working Trials is that however much you train them nothing will be as interesting as game, running, digging or whatever etc.  A lot of dogs were, after all, bred to fulfil a certain function and, when this is denied them, present with all sorts of behaviour problems.

Those of us who do work non traditional breeds in non traditional disciplines do so because a) we love the breed, b) we love the challenge :D and c) we are well aware of what they are likely to do in certain situations and competing attractions :D

If the breeders inform owners of these problems, and the owners choose to ignore them, they must live with the consequences. 

It is certainly true, as we have seen on the board time and again, that most new owners are lulled into a false sense of security with their pups and start to think that people who have advised them are "idiots", a phase that quickly wears off when their "obedient and well trained" puppies hit the "kevin" stage :D 

However, just as you are frustrated when you think that some of us think that every breed of dog responds the same way to obedience training and think that it is irresponsible for anyone to say that "any" breed of dog can be trained to a reliable recall; some of us are also frustrated when the opposite view is adopted (when applied to the vast majority of the canine world) when it is used as an excuse for dogs allowed to behave in an unacceptable manner.

Not all those who participate in  sports are ever likely to shine but that does not mean that we cannot train and fulfil our own personal potential and it is the same with dogs. 

It would be nice if prospective dog owners filled out a "want" page before they went dog shopping and then bought the dog that could reasonably fulfil their criteria.  So, if their first priority was "I want a dog with a reliable recall" they could erase a number of breeds right off their list :D  (As opposed to unrealistic expectations such as "I want a dog that only needs a 15 minute walk, hates the rain, mud, won't try and sit on the sofa, counter surf, chew my furniture or clothes, ............................." :D

A lot of breeds are hard wired with certain predispositions, so that you can have a tool for the job, but most CAN be trained to an acceptable level of compliance within certain constraints. 

ps I certainly would NOT let any of the "sled" dogs off a lead myself but then I would never want to own one in the first place; as one of the joys for ME as an owner is seeing my dog work free; just as it must be a joy for the enthusiast to see a sled dog pull :D

Tohme,

In my opinion, you train EVERY dog - regardless of breed.   You just need to set your expectations about how much control you can achieve, in what types of situations, based on the breed and the individual dog.  If you want a dog that is as close to 100 percent reliable as can be in any type of situation - then you should not own a Cairn.   That was my point.

Stacey

Then we agree :D

Oh dear what was clever about the comment I did say ALL sibes or ALL dogs

I trained an  american lady years ago who had brought her dogs with her & has now returned to the USA She too thought she could NEVER let her dogs off lead. She went back to the states with avery different view of her dogs & now does obedience trials to keep their minds active

However with careful training(my training is always carefjul in my eyes)they were taught my informal "happy" recall & she could in safe places let her dogs off one at a time.

I NEVER advocate people letting their dogs off lead if they are not in a safe place. Which means the public parks that do not have fences & CLOSED gates & unenclosed areas, why  ? Not the dogs I train or own but Joe Publics dogs that 9 times out of 10 are untrained & badly behaved. So if a "uncontrolled"dog meets yours a chase into the road etc is resticted to the safe area & not the road etc

I had a GSD who was savavged by a JRT & had his face & ears badly torn, the owner of the JRT had no control & if my dog had not been fully trained would have killed the dog & then been blamed. I reached my dog & stopped him killing the terrier.

Since then if I walk my dogs in public they are always on lead.

The only way to safely walk any dog is on lead sadly as Joe Public rarely has any control over their dogs hence the number of posts on here regarding dogs behaviour in public

Thank-you Sarah,very informative :D

Nice post Moonmaiden :-)  I now understand you

Tohme.....I sometimes find myself wondering if the training is a myth...but I do have a very well behaved gundog along with the naughty Sibes ;-)

squid is fine

Yup, especially when it's cut up in rings and deep fried, with a nice spicey tomato sauce for dipping. ;-)

If he ate too much he might get the squids!!