Training Huskies

I purchased my first Husky some twenty years ago from a show breeder with high standards. I purchased a red and white female and named her Sasha. I bred her at the age of two because I wanted her to have a companion when I was away during the day. She was mated with a beautiful gray and white that was an American and Canadian best-of-show winner that year. The resulting litter consisted of seven of the most gorgeous pups, all show quality. But I was not interested in showing any of the pups. Instead I wished to give two pups, a black and white male and female named Wildwood's Will'e Be Black , nicknamed Will'e and Wildwood's Abby's Song, a great home. Now with three dogs I could begin to train them to become a sledding team. So with the four of us not knowing much about the sport, I began a program of teaching the dogs and myself to pull a small red wagon. I worked with the three as the pups grew gently working them into a team of sled dogs. To my great surprise, Abby became my lead and we bonded from the day she came into the would. She was dedicated and prodded both her mom and brother into going the way I asked. We became the best of friends.

As the pups grew, I would often take them on excursions to a state forest not too far and we would roam for hours. I could let them both off leads when they were young because thy would not stray far. As the grew, however, I could allow Abby freedom but not Will'e. He would teas me and come back to four feet, just out of grabbing range, and unless I had a piece of bribery, he would not allow me to put him back on lead. Abby was just the opposite. She would venture off always checking back to make sure I was in sight, and always came back when I called her. On a few occasions, Will'e managed to slip away but he would always follow Abby back when I called her. The two were inseparable. Of course, I always carried those little doggy bones just in case. Bribery with a tid-bit never failed to bring Will'e running back.

One time I decided to take just Abby for a hike through a trail I had not been on before. It would be about a three mile hike and I decided to leave the water behind in the truck because the day was cool and the rain had filled a few puddles along the way. We were hiking along a point where one side of the trail sloped upward for about ten feet to a flat area that led into the forest. Abby was busily sniffing all around and I could just see the top of her head when I looked up. Suddenly, I heard stomps of hoofs take off into the woods, OH Oh! Abby had rousted a resting deer and it took off at her approach. She immediately went into hunting and chasing mode.

Now, her love of me and our bonding held strong as I immediately called her. As she headed after the deer, I called her back around, but as the instinct took over again she began running towards the deer. I called her again and again she turned towards me but immediately returned towards the deer fleeing. I called and she turned back. She turned to run again and I called her back. She was literally running in circles as her desire to chase and her need to stay conflicted. This action lasted for several minutes until all sound and smell of the deer dissipated. Abby finally came back to me. I was tremendously grateful because if she had run after the deer into the forest, she would have become lost as she was still very young. I could not take the chance of her taking off an not finding her way back. And I would have become lost as well. Turn me around in a forested area an I am lost!

My confidence on our bonding became extremely strong and I never put her on lead again in the forest. It is not to say that she heeled next to me. That behavior was reserved for our walk around the neighborhood. The forest held too many wonderful smells to keep her on track next to me, and as long as we remained in visual contact she would venture out and I did not worry.

When we had a 2 1/2 blizzard one winter, I decided to take both Will'e and Abby to the state forest to get some of their energy out in the snow. I let them both off lead together because of the deep snow I knew they could not go far. I did not have snow shoes so the three of us trudged thought the snow for about a mile before I got worn out. What usually took us about a thirty minutes took us allow two hours. We tuned around and when I passed another trail on the way back that had a nice resting place, I decided to take the dogs down the trail so I could have a nice place to sit and rest before going on. I put Will'e on a lead because the snow was not as deep because of dense evergreen cover. As I sat and rested with Will'e, Abby meandered around a bend in the trail. When she was out of sight, I began calling her back. She did not come. Oh, oh. That probably meant trouble so Will'e and I walked around the bend to find a really covered area where the snow was only two inches deep.
And there was Abby with a big 'ol porcupine hanging from her mouth. She was shaking it and it was just rocking back and forth and just thinking when was this thing gonna' let it go. It was a good thing I had Will'e on the lead or I would have had a double problem.

Abby just would not let it go and I had to grab her mouth to let the animal fall. It finally did and meandered off into the forest just as if it had never been interrupted. Abby, on the other hand, had a mouth full of quill's and was bleeding profusely. I had to carry her back out of the forest. It took up over a half hour to plow through the heavy snow. all the while Abby was bleeding and whining. I placed her into the back of the truck and went to a friend's house that was not far. From there, I called my vet who was located on the way back home. I brought Abby there right away and had the vet look at her. Abby would have to spend the night as there were well over 100 quills stuck in her mouth and throat.

She survived well, although a bit sore for a time. I thought that had taught her a lesson about fooling around with dangerous animals but I was wrong. A month later, Abby and I headed out to that area again and began our walk on the main trail the led to others. We had not gone far when she pounced upon another unfortunate porcupine that crossed our path. All the calling and bribery in the universe would not distract that Husky from her prime objective of pouncing on that small animal. She grabbed it and I grabbed her tail and she let the critter go immediately, but not with a few quills in her muzzle. This time she was not going to get put to sleep. I brought her home and a friend and I grabbed her and a pair of pliers and we pulled out the eight quills stuck in her nose and muzzle. She had slept through the removal procedure of the first encounter, but not this time. The quills were not in deep and we were able to retrieve all of them from Abby. But this time she felt the price for fooling with a porcupine. The only other times I took the three dogs to that state reserve was in winter for sledding the team. It is much harder for the dogs go get into trouble when they are all tied together as a team in front of a sled!

As much as Abby and I bonded and her love for me kept her within visual sight on our trail meanderings, the lure of the hunt is too strong and overpowered senses. She was a great friend and a most trainable Husky, but the instinct to chase and kill hold strong in the breed. Many of the owners of out pets have kept in contact and will often come to run the dogs together in the enclosure. No matter how well trained they are at home, all that disappears as they enter into huskyvilly. Owners are completely ignored until the dog is ready to leave after spending hours running.

Kodiak is one of the best trained of all the pups I have had the pleasure of helping come into the world. She is a beautiful red and white with blue eyes and has a small, well-muscled stature. She is strong. She is completely compliant when with her owners and is never put on lead unless around crowed areas. She has over 60 acres of roaming space, but never leaves the sight of her owners while outside. She stays close and comes immediately when called. She is in daily contact with two house cats that belong to the parents of one of the owners, and know who's boss inside. One week end a friend asked them to care for two very expensive show rabbits for a week. The rabbits were placed inside a chain link enclosure outside. They were well protected from the wild predators in the forested area of the property. However, this did not stop Kodiak from her primal instincts for hunting. Those rabbits became too much of a lure and one day Kody broke into the enclosure and killed one of the rabbits. She did not eat it, just killed it. This is a natural, deep instinct for this breed and even the best trained animal will kill if the opportunity arises. She would never venture towards the enclosure while either of her owners were within sight, but when she was alone outside, the desire became too strong and she acted on her instinct.

I love this breed but I have come to understand their natural instincts and work with them to provide a safe environment where they can run, dig and explore to fulfill these desires. Now, if only they would dig the holes where I need the new fence!