What are some fun games I could play with my husky outisde, off leash, other then just fetch? I'd love to do something that would promote obedience, ie: recall(this is very important for huskies). I'd love to do something like agility, but I don't have any equipment and you can't buy any around here... What are some fun games, that Rex would like, and would encourage obedience.
Thanks, Alee and Rex

Hi rex and alee. Good question, will have to put my thinking cap on because they don't 'work' the same way other working dogs do. They aren't jumpers but that could be an idea too. Set up low jumps for rex, each one spaced so far apart. You must have something around the yard you can use. Huskies love a challenge but once they master them, become bored with the whole procedure, so you have to move onto something else.

Can you improvise a tube of some kind that he can crawl through ?

Think think think!

Tick

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Originally Posted by tickle

hi rex and alee. Good question, will have to put my thinking cap on because they dont 'work' the same way other working dogs do. They arent jumpers but that could be an idea too. Set up low jumps for rex, each one spaced so far apart. You must have something around the yard you can use. Huskies love a challenge but once they master them, become bored with the whole procedure, so you have to move onto something else.

Can you improvise a tube of some kind that he can crawl through ?

think think think !!

tick

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I'm trying to think, and I don't know what I could use for a jump... or a tube.

I can't either, just not our thinking day I guess !

Tick

Teach Rex to walk with you off leash. Then when you go for walks he gets to run around you and do dog things. I used Don Sullivan's training method with my Boston Terrier and it took about a week. She loves it.

When I picture a Husky going through a "tube" I see a concrete drainage tube. That would be too heavy to bring home though. Then I picture the kiddie play tube from the movie, "The Pacifier." We use saw horses, piles of stone and bricks and other makeshift stuff for an agility course. The dogs seem to enjoy doing things with their humans whether it's official.

Agility equipment is easy peasy to make.

All you need is some ply wood, screws, wood cutting materials (you won't even need these if your hardware store is helpful) hula hoops and fabric.

For an A frame ramp you just need to build an A-frame out of any sort of wood and screw it together, then attach desired length of plywood ramps to either side.
Then cut some strips of wood (or buy 1cm wide wood trimming) and nail or screw it on to the ramps at regular intervals (this prevents to dog slipping and gives their feet something to grab onto.

Tunnels can easily be made with just some hula hoops and some fabric laid over them... just stake the hoops into the ground so they don't fall over or cut them in half (if your dog will fit under them)

Jumps can just be as simple as 2 garden stakes with some pvc pipe sideways on them.
Just attach a small cradle (bit of wood sticking out) on the garden stakes for the pipe to sit on... make sure the pipe is sitting on the opposite side that the dog will be jumping from so that if the dog messes up the pipe easily falls off and he can't hurt himself while learning...

I have some more but short on time this morning ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by simoneaugie

Teach Rex to walk with you off leash. Then when you go for walks he gets to run around you and do dog things. I used Don Sullivan's training method with my Boston Terrier and it took about a week. She loves it.

When I picture a Husky going through a "tube" I see a concrete drainage tube. That would be too heavy to bring home though. Then I picture the kiddie play tube from the movie, "The Pacifier." We use saw horses, piles of stone and bricks and other makeshift stuff for an agility course. The dogs seem to enjoy doing things with their humans whether or not it's official.

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I love the ''idea'' off walking Rex off leash:)... However I couldn't see myself doing it. He is only aloud off lead in2 places, our camp (where there are no roads), and our house(which is fenced in with an ingroud fence). I couldn't take the chance of him getting hit... My brother's dog got hit by a car a few weeks ago(RIP Miles) and it really has opened my eyes, to the fact that it could happen any time. And I couldn't imagine losing my dog.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

Agility equipment is easy peasy to make.

All you need is some ply wood, screws, wood cutting materials (you won't even need these if your hardware store is helpful) hula hoops and fabric.

For an A frame ramp you just need to build an A-frame out of any sort of wood and screw it together, then attach desired length of plywood ramps to either side.
Then cut some strips of wood (or buy 1cm wide wood trimming) and nail or screw it on to the ramps at regular intervals (this prevents to dog slipping and gives their feet something to grab onto.

Tunnels can easily be made with just some hula hoops and some fabric layed over them... just stake the hoops into the ground so they don't fall over or cut them in half (if your dog will fit under them)

Jumps can just be as simple as 2 garden stakes with some pvc pipe sideways on them.
Just attach a small cradle (bit of wood sticking out) on the garden stakes for the pipe to sit on... make sure the pipe is sitting on the opposite side that the dog will be jumping from so that if the dog messes up the pipe easily falls off and he can't hurt himself while learning...

I have some more but short on time this morning ;)

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These ideas are awesome!! Thank you.

In the meantime, before you go and buy stuff...
Look for stuff around the yard, like bamboo or sticks from trees, make them into a T-P sort and line them down in a row. Cover with a couple of sheets. You can wash the sheets, they don't have to be old and most likely they won't even get soiled.

Round is perfect looking, but think outside of the box and just go for some kind of tunnel.:)

Oooh yeah, recycled would be better if you have stuff laying around.

We had an assortment of pine boards under our house when we moved in so we used them to make a bar in the shed! - got to love recycling!

Ummm... Just another question. I've started training Rex, drop on recall, verbally and with handsignals. I'm also teaching him different hand signals. And like always he's a fast learner.;)

However while doing research on dog training methods, I've come across many sites that talk about using corrections during obedience training. Personnaly, I like my sessions with Rex to be fun, therefore I try not to correct him if me makes a mistake. Instead I ignore when he does something wrong, and reward when he does something right. If he does something wrong I bring him back and ask him again, praising him highly if he succeeds.

SHould I be correcting him during obedience training sessions, if so, what for, and how?

I don't do corrections when training obedience.

I use a treat (piece of cheese or something) and only reward them for doing the right thing.

So if I say "sit" and they don't sit there is no correction... instead there is just no cheese.
If they sit when I tell them to it's an immediate reward.

Like you I am not really interested in obedience competitions or anything like that, I just wanted my dogs better trained and to have fun with them and the positive reinforcement worked really well for me.