# i want trillion to be an active dog who enjoys sporting!



## jaspah (Jan 25, 2012)

Trillion is just a puppy now, but as a husky malamute mix, which sports do you think she would be better suited for? I hear a lot of people saying to not ever let her off the leash because theyr're a running breed and she will take off and not come back for a few days.. but to me that just sounds like an unexersized dog with bad recall...
What are your opinnions? 

I realize some dogs are better in some sports than others, but is it uncommon to have a dog that isnt made for a certain sport to really enjoy that sport?


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## Alerondogs (Mar 23, 2011)

My friend has a Husky who has his MXJ and is working towards his MX - those are some of the higher level agility titles in AKC. He runs really well for her and works well in obedience too. 

I will say though that when you have a "non-traditional" breed, you have to tend to work harder at getting them to want to work with you from the start. Have fun with your puppy, teach her tricks, teach her that chasing you and coming when she's called is fun, use positive training methods such as clicker training and really work on building a great relationship. Since these types of dogs have no been selectively bred to have the inborn want to work with you that some breeds have, trying to force them into working with you is usually quite counterproductive. 

I think the book When Pigs Fly would be a great starting point for you: http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB919

Also Silvia Trkman's website (check out "our training"): http://www.silvia.trkman.net/


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## CrazyDogLady (Dec 9, 2011)

I don't have any personal experience with Huskies/Husky Mixes, but when my trainer was explaing how she sometimes tailors her traing for specific breeds, the example she used was a dog that was having real trouble developing a solid recall. When the owner sent out a DNA panel and found out that it had a large percentage of Husky, they stopped working on the recall and started working on better leash manners. 

My point there is, from what I've been told, many Huskies just aren't capible of a reliable recall, no matter how hard you work at it.


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## jaspah (Jan 25, 2012)

Ill defnantly have to check that book out  thanks! 

My boyfriend wants her to excell at frisbee, lol. Which iv never really heard of one of her breed being real good at, id like to be be able to be off leash when we go on hikes or camping.
Id also like to look into pulling for her. I think its something she may enjoy


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## Niraya (Jun 30, 2011)

Malamutes are a freighting breed. Heavy loads on a sled over distances. Siberians are a distance breed - light loads over very long distances. These dogs were bred to pull and bred to run.
If given the chance they WILL run - and they probably will NOT come back after a few days. As they can cover many miles before ever realizing that they left you in the dust.

It has nothing really to do with under-exercising that causes them to run. It is what the breeds were bred to do. It takes an immense amount of time and effort to develop a very solid (there is no such thing as perfect) recall. Like Alerondogs said - the breeds are not selectively bred to work with humans. They're bred to think on their own and if they do NOT want to do something - they won't.

For example - I took Bella out biking a bit ago for about an hour and a half of straight pulling/running. Her drive is insane - and she STILL wanted to keep running. She ran probably 3 miles which is nothing to her. Siberians in particular were bred specifically to be like energizer bunnies - to just keep running and running and running.

Along with being bred to not work with humans - they have an incredible prey drive. Which is their desire to hunt (chase) down small animals. This also makes training recall a pain because no matter what or where you go there are ALWAYS small animals. And just SEEING a squirrel or cat or bunny can excite the dog and there is absolutely NO guarantee (even with near perfect recall) that you'll be able to call your dog off of that animal when she gets excited and there is no guarantee that after the chase if over she'll return to you. (they just keep running). Remember, the world out there is usually a hell of a lot more interesting than you are.

Now - that isn't saying that she CANNOT be trained to be off leash. It just takes an immense amount of time, effort and dedication to get her to that point.
For the simple reason that my girl is a Siberian - even though I work with her quite a bit and I know that if she ever got away from me I can call her back (because she has gotten away) - I will NEVER trust her off lead UNLESS I am in a fully fenced in area that I know she can't get out of.


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## Finkie_Mom (Mar 2, 2010)

I am currently training a non-traditional breed in agility (Finnish Spitz) and I will tell you that it's definitely different from some other breeds. They, like Huskies and Mals, are independent and tend to have a decent prey drive (Finkies are hunting dogs, so they have a very keen eye for bird and small game). But it can be done, as long as you are willing to put the work in. You may never get to Nationals, but you can most certainly have fun! My older two Finkies might never do agility, but that's mainly because I didn't get the chance to raise them from pups, and they might never have as solid a recall as I would like. The one that I run I raised from an 8-week-old, and decided when she was 5 months that I would like to give agility a shot, is the one I'm currently working towards competing with. 

You also have to gauge it by the dog, too. Part of the reason my older two would most likely not be suited for agility is that they just don't seem to like it (I've tried messing with them with some equipment), whereas my youngest LOVES it. Agility class is the happiest thing ever to her, even more so than playing with other dogs or meeting people. Just keep doing basic obedience stuff, and you can always work in some agility foundation work anyway just for fun and see where it goes


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

I have two huskies. I got Denali as an 8 week old pup and she was constantly offleash. I taught her recall early. Puppies naturally want to follow you so reward that! Lots of treats and praise every time. There is a park right across the street so I would take her over there and let her run around offleash. I was plenty fast enough to catch a 9-10 week old puppy if needed; she was on a long leash at first but I soon moved to totally offleash. That's how it's always been with her and since I've been consistent it's worked very well. I worked extremely hard every day on recall and now at almost 2 years old she has perfect recall 99% of the time, and the other 1% she is still controllable. I always reward her for coming, and when we're offleash in an unfenced area I let her know that I have treats before I let her loose. I never call her to "punish" her, and I never call her unless I'm sure that she will respond. If she doesn't respond, I go get her (don't chase, it's not a game.. just go get the dog), reward her for letting me get her, lead her to where I called her to originally, reward her there, get her focus back, then let her go play again. One of the best games to play is "catch and release." Every time your dog randomly comes up to you, give him a treat, then let him go again. Once he knows the Come command, call him, treat, and immediately release. Come does not mean the fun is over, Come means get a free treat! Another great game is to have two people call the puppy back and forth. Don't spend too much time doing that in one session because puppy will get bored. Be extremely cautious as first, you don't want to let a dog be in danger. Stay away from roads and KNOW that your puppy will follow you and come to you before you even think about taking the leash off. Know the area- if there are squirrels, rabbits, etc, it's not a good place to practice until you know you can get your dog's attention off of those critters. Long lines, like 20 feet long, are perfect to practice with. Then you can let the puppy drag that great long line, Denali drug the leash for months before I would completely take it off and trust her.

You are right about being underexercised. Huskies and mals are bred to be able to run all day. A 20 minute walk 3x a week is not going to cut it, so when they get out they will just RUN. I had that issue with my recently adopted husky, Kaytu. I now take her for bike rides 3x per week that are at least 5 miles and she pulls the entire way. We also do regular short walks (mostly to work on leash manners) and go to the dog park a couple times per week.

I do agility with Denali, she's not as into the bike rides but I will bike shorter distances with her to let her get a good run. Also short walks and dog parks with her.


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## Alerondogs (Mar 23, 2011)

Sibe said:


> You are right about being underexercised. Huskies and mals are bred to be able to run all day. A 20 minute walk 3x a week is not going to cut it, so when they get out they will just RUN.


 This is an issue with many dogs of all different breeds. If they are never given a chance to really run off leash, they tend to have poor recalls in off leash situations because "wow running is so much fun!!!".

Supposedly Greyhounds have to always be on leash too but this trainer, who's had lots of success with her in agility, obedience and other fun stuff wrote a good blog post about the subject:

"As you know, if you have adopted a greyhound, that all the ex-racing greyhound adoption manuals, books, websites, FAQs, meet & greet attendees, screening & placement coordinators, the adoption contract, and dedicated greyhound adopters will tell you that you are never to unleash your greyhound in an unfenced area. "Get a Labrador Retriever if you want to take your dog off leash" they say. What do I think about this rule? At the risk of causing an uproar, I think it is silly. There are so many factors to consider.... the trainer, the dog, and the area, but not the breed.

The truth is that most people should keep their dogs (regardless of breed) on leash. Most people do not allocate the time necessary to train, reinforce, proof against distractions, and practice recalls. Most dogs are simply not conditioned and trained well enough to deal with distractions one encounters outside the home and backyard."

Read the rest here: http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/2010/04/off-leash.html


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

CrazyDogLady said:


> My point there is, from what I've been told, many Huskies just aren't capible of a reliable recall, no matter how hard you work at it.


Disagree.

Never say never. .... EVER !

But that's just me, personally, I always embrace a good stiff challenge . Glutton for punishment ? I suppose, lol


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## jaspah (Jan 25, 2012)

My mom has a greyhound mix who can go off leash in a lot of areas, anyways, we dont normally put trillion on a leash unless we are going to take her out to potty just because its easy to see her and praise her right as it happends. And maybe she will associate the leash with going out to potty.


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## jenz (Aug 20, 2010)

The Alaskan Malamute Club of America has several titles you can put on a Malamute: Packing, Skijoring, Sledding, Carting.

http://alaskanmalamute.org/events/working-dog

I'd get your ILP for Trillium and start training when she's old enough. 

Jen


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## MusherChic (Nov 6, 2010)

> Trillion is just a puppy now, but as a husky malamute mix, which sports do you think she would be better suited for? I hear a lot of people saying to not ever let her off the leash because theyr're a running breed and she will take off and not come back for a few days.. but to me that just sounds like an unexersized dog with bad recall...
> What are your opinnions?
> 
> I realize some dogs are better in some sports than others, but is it uncommon to have a dog that isnt made for a certain sport to really enjoy that sport?


Well, the obvious sports/activities are sledding, bikejoring, skijoring, and canicross. However, I know huskies who do flyball, lure coursing, agility, obedience, the list is pretty much endless. Find something that you and your dog enjoy doing and do it! 

A word about recall; it is a rare thing to find a husky with a good recall. It isn't that they aren't trained, it's that they're huskies and huskies LOVE to run. Not much is going to stop them once they get loose. 
I'm not saying it can't be done but you have to do A LOT of training and your dog has to get a large amount of exercise so they aren't desperate to run every time the leash comes out. Even then, I still wouldn't trust a husky off leash like I do a Lab.


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