Training advice needed

My parents have a shepherd/husky cross and a purebred husky. Does he look at you when you call him and just doesn't come or does he not even turn his head? If he doesn't turn his head, you have to either work on holding his attention or he has a hearing problem. It is a different issue whether he turns his head and you know he hears you and decides not to come versus doesn't acknowledge at all. Also, does he only not come when outside with all the stimulus that is out there enthralling him, or does he not come to you when everyone is sitting around in the living room either? those may be two seperate approaches too. What you are talking about may be "everything good comes through me". It is a method where you keep the dog close and make the dog work for everything. They have to sit or properly respond to another command in order to get their meal. They need to only come up on the sofa when invited. Basically you are re-establishing yourself as "leader" and that everything good comes through you. I would read up on the entire method before you try it because if you just tie a larger dog to you and are not sure what you are doing, all you will get is knocked over. I also want you to think about - if your husband was the actual one who went to adopt the dog and you had no hand in it so the dog bonded with him first? And does he seem to listen more to your husband or does he ignore both of you equally? Sometimes it happens where the intended person that the dog is supposed to be a pal to is not the one that the people want them to. In my home, we have two dogs and one of them just believes the sun rises and sets on my husband and thinks that my husband is number one, he is number two, and I am number three when it should be people, then him. We have done a lot of work on that. But with my parent's dogs, the husky/shepherd is VERY clear that she is my dad's dog even though she was supposed to be my sister's dog. She got really disappointed in that and ended up letting my parents keep her as there was just no way to seperate her from my dad, and when she moved out she adopted another dog from the shelter. The husky is young and tends to gravitate towards my mom.

Sounds like our Husky at first. Eventually she 'knew' her name and comes when we call her. I don't know of any faster methods though :( Good luck!

My first bit of advice is to GET HIS HEARING CHECKED OUT. It could be that he is not ignoring you, but rather that his hearing is at fault. I tend to think that this other method of training is, at best, probably not a good idea. At worst, as you stated, it could contradict all that you have accomplished up to now. The inconvenience factor could also rear its nasty head. Good luck.

Get yourself a long lead...piece of rope tied to his normal lead is ok and get some dog treats. It's good that he can sit and stay. Put his lead on and get him to sit and stay, let him have a quick sniff of the treat in your hand as you back up continue to make him sit. Then call him and tug on the lead till he comes then give him the treat. Repeat often over a period of time, days probably till he comes with out you pulling the lead then keep going till you are not using the lead. By the time he is at this stage he will be coming when you call him.You need to start off and repeat the command many times till he is doing it automatically, each time you move further away till he comes without pulling, repeat often. The message needs to be firmly ingrained. The smarter he is the quicker he will learn, you will be the best judge of this. You must be consistent. Train every day at the same time so he has a routine...dogs truly love routine. Good luck.

Once you know what the problem is, there you find the solution. The dog doesn't listen because outside, he is the alpha. You are a part of his pack as much as he is a part of your family. The following tactic assumes that the dog is able to hear and should only take a short time to show results as long as you are consistent. Maintain your status in the home by limiting his space in the house. Keep him off the furniture as the higher ground belongs to the higher positions in the pack. It would also be a good idea to pen him in a separate room from you, for at least an hour, twice a day. This enforces your authority as you are not allowing him into your space. A subordinate dog will never impose on an alpha's space and when he pushes your boundaries, he is letting you know that he is in charge. The next step is to stop letting him out, if that's what you've been doing, and take him out. Put him on a leash and only allow him to follow you through the door after you have called him. This would be a good time to reinforce the stay command while you are entering or exiting and expect him to wait. While he is on the leash, enforce the heel command. Never allow your dog to lead you. The alpha leads, always. While you have him out, whether in your yard or on a walk, do not allow him to urinate whenever or wherever he wants. He needs to acknowledge the outside as your territory and in urinating as he pleases, he is marking his space. You need to tell him where and when he may and may not go. Following the above, use a leash or line that is at least ten feet long and use that to train him to come when you call him outside. Command your dog to sit and stay, walk as far as the leash will allow you to go without pulling, and then call him. If he comes to you right away, praise him well. If the dog does not respond, walk back to him, grab his collar, and make him walk with you to where you were when you called him. Repeat that several times a day, every day. Never pull him to you as he knows that you can't pull when the leash is off and may begin to resist being put on a leash at all. When your dog has a good response rate to the ten foot leash, use a longer one to continue the exercise. Your dog will learn to come when you call and perhaps even surprise you with obeying to commands you didn't even know he knew. Dogs are happier when they know there is a strong and fair leader around to tell them what to do. Prove you are that leader and your dog will gladly follow.