Hi all, just my two cents here- When I got my husky at 8 months old he would let himself out of his crate. Ironically- he LOVES his crate (he's now almost 4 and is currently sleeping in their with the door open.) SO this is what I did. I had a sturdy metal crate and I put Carabiniere's (clips) on each side of the crate to make sure he couldn't pull the ends down- this is how he got out. Then he started opening the latches on the door (smart ***) so I put a clip on their too. I always exercised him to tire him out before asking him to go into his crate and I think this helped some. What really did it for us though- I taught him "crate games." It teaches the dog to stay in the crate and not come out until asked- even if the door is open. So to the dog (psychologically,) there is always a door there, even if the door isn't physically closed. This made a HUGE difference with Rig. I also started giving him frozen kongs stuffed with peanut butter and treats that he ONLY gets when he's in his crate- now if he even sees me pick up a kong he runs in there. As for the bedding in his crate- he's never destroyed anything, but he does sometimes push it to the other end of his crate. I think he just gets too warm sometimes. We used to cover his crate in the very beginning- but one day he pulled the blanket in and had chewed a small hole.. his head got stuck in the hole and he must have panicked trying to get it off because he had it wound so tight around his neck we couldn't even get a finger between his neck and the blanket. We ended up cutting the blanket to get it out of the top of the crate and then continually chopping at it to get it off as fast as possible. I got REALLY lucky- if we had gotten home even ten minutes later, he probably wouldn't be here.. So just be careful. Patience is key- I got lucky, Rig has never really been very destructive so he was in his crate less than 6 months from the time I got him. Good Luck!

i like the ideas of crate games! And sorry, i should have been more clear about my crate training too. We did not give up completely We just knew that crating him all day while we were at work was not going to be an option for him because of the severity of his separation anxiety, and crate anxiety. And in order to tackle one at a time, separately, we decided not to crate him while we were not home.

However, we did continue our crate training in that we fed him every meal in there, and most importantly, we made him sleep in his crate. At first, we put his crate in our bedroom so he could see us, and slowly moved it out of room. For a month or so, he would wake up every night at 4am and cry until i told him to go back to bed. I knew it wasn't a potty cry because ever since we brought him home at 4mths old, he has never had to potty at night. He was just testing to see if i would let him out Then one day, everything changed! He willingly goes in there to take a nap during the day, (sort of) willingly goes in there to sleep at night. We keep his door open now, and he will go sleep in there at night all by himself. He loves his crate now!

We still do not crate him during the day as his "room" is bigger and he has learned to be alone in that area, so i don't really want to mess with that. But don't give up on the crate training! Even if it's not to crate her all day, it's a good idea for her to be comfortable with being in a crate because at one point in her life, she will be crated whether she likes it or not!

Thanks for the advice. I think we will try some crate games since I'd like for her to nap in there during the day on weekends but I could understand if she didn't want to because the crate is in our bedroom and we would be out in the living room. A little update though since we've been video taping her throughout the day. A long walk (30 minutes-1 hour) before crating really knocked her out. The Kong distracts her while we left and then she slept all day. Kind of made for a boring video. We only had her crated for 6 hours each time but not a single howl or cry. Today, I left a pair of old sweatpants in her crate and she slept with her head on them for most of the day. So, I'd have to also suggest the piece of clothing in the crate (if you can spare it).

Down the road, I'd like to leave her out of the crate in a confined hallway when I know she could hold it the whole day. I think she has a good understanding of what things she can chew on plus I'd never know if she was destructive if I never try. Most of the time if we aren't paying her attention, she will play fetch with herself so I'd think she would keep herself entertained along with the puzzle toys we give her.