Your husky came back at 8 months old, off lead, across the park, first call. At 12 months old they look over their shoulder and keep going. The walks have turned into a negotiation you are losing.
This is one of the most common stories owners of arctic breeds tell. It lands harder if you were warned at puppy class that it was coming.
What actually happened
Around the onset of adolescence, dogs respond less to the cues of the person who raised them. That responsiveness returns later in the stage. It is a developmental finding, not a verdict on your training.
Independence is what these breeds are known for, and adolescence arrives on top of it. A puppy who checked in because you were the whole world becomes a yearling with other plans.
Why the recall gets worse rather than better
Checking in is a habit, and it has to keep being paid. The park pays your dog in smells and movement every second. You pay once, at the end, when the fun stops.
Adolescence raises the price of that. Your dog is now fast enough that 1 detour puts them out of reach, which makes you optional rather than relevant.
Check 3 things before you train anything
Pain first. Pain frequently presents as a change in behaviour rather than as obvious lameness. Ruling it out is cheaper than 6 months of training around a sore hip.
The reinforcer second. If you are paying dry biscuit in a field full of smells, you are not competing. Try roast chicken, cheese or a squeaky toy, and see which one your dog will work for.
The long line third. A 20 to 30 foot line on a well-fitted harness is not a training tool. It is how you stop rehearsing the version where your dog ignores you.
What your dog will actually work for
Many adolescent dogs will work for the chance to keep going, and a recall that ends the fun gets slower every week. Paying a recall with a release back to sniffing is a fair trade, and it costs you nothing.
Call once, feed, then send your dog back out to sniff on 4 of every 5 recalls. Coming back should not predict the end of the walk.
Move the trade up if food is not enough. Offer a game, a chase with you, or a run in the direction they were already heading.
Practise in a fenced space, or on the line, so you are never in a position to lose the check-in.
Working below the point at which your dog can still take food from your hand is the condition for learning outdoors. If they cannot eat, they cannot learn, and the distance is wrong.
Tonight, indoors, 8 minutes
Stand 10 feet away in a hallway with 20 small treats in one pocket. Say your recall cue once, in a bright voice, and open your arms.
When your dog arrives, feed 3 treats one at a time, low down beside your knee. Arriving should be worth more than leaving.
Do 6 reps and stop while your dog still wants a seventh. That is the whole session.
Reward-based training has been associated with higher reported responsiveness and fewer reported problem behaviours. It is also what makes arriving worth repeating.
Behaviour change is built from management plus reinforcement together, and the long line is the management half. Neither half works on its own.
Why not a remote collar
These are the tools most often sold to owners of big, fast, independent dogs. A review of aversive training methods found them associated with worse welfare outcomes and no training advantage. Dogs trained with aversive methods showed more stress-related behaviour than dogs trained with rewards. Punishment-based approaches are also associated with fear, avoidance and defensive aggression.
Reward-based methods are what the veterinary behaviour guidance recommends, and they are what gets a recall back. Fear does not make a dog cross a field toward you.
Safety note
If your dog's recall collapsed over days rather than weeks, book a veterinary examination before you train anything. Sudden behaviour change warrants one, and pain frequently presents as a change in behaviour rather than as a limp. Get help now if your dog has growled at, snapped at or bitten a person. That is not a recall problem, and it needs a qualified behaviour professional who works with reward-based methods.
What to expect
Nobody can promise you a husky with a golden retriever's recall, and anyone who does is selling something. Responsiveness comes back later in the stage, and what you practise now is what it comes back onto.
Owners usually describe the indoors coming back first, and the park taking months. Keep the line on, and keep paying.
If the ignoring is one of several things going on at once, the Assessment will name the pattern underneath. It is free, takes about 3 minutes, and asks for no email address.
Tonight's version, in one line: 6 hallway reps before dinner, chicken in the pocket, and the long line on for tomorrow's walk.