Hello, I am new to this site so I hope this works!

We have a 12 week old husky named Kato. (Picked him up at 8 weeks). This little guy has been amazing so far! Very compliant, knows all of his commands and extremely mellow. Even the vet cant believe how calm he is. I know this could change, but hopefully this is his personality. It also didnt take too long to potty train him either. He already goes and sits at the door. Not a huge chewer, even though hes teething right now, but he knows which toys are his and goes for them.

However, the issue is his anxiety when in his crate. I am 99.9% sure this is seperation anxiety. He does have good days, but then he will have bad days. We understand that he is still a puppy, and we come home to let him out to go to the bathroom and break up the day. On days that are bad he is thrashing like crazy in his kennel, drooling just pools of drool, knawing on his paw, howling and crying! At times he bangs his head as well and will urinate in the kennel. This is unusal for me because dogs don't typically like doing that in their home. He does love his kennel though. He sleeps through the night and will go in it when we are home.

Is there any advice to help with this anxiety? We have been practicing and keeping up with routine on the weekends. He gets a very good amount of exercise before he goes in as well to hopefully make him tired. I know hes a puppy and I might just need to be patient, but anything we can do to help this little guy at all before it turns into an even bigger problem?

Thanks
Jenna

Hey Jenna, we had the same problem with Mila. She still pretty much hates going in her crate, and she'll plant her feet on the floor and make me drag her to it. When we got her in March she was perfect, just like your little guy, except her crate. We actually did an experiment one day and put her in her crate on our apartment balcony while we were home. She literally howled and cried, and dug at the bottom pan and bit and pulled at the door for four hours straight. She never calmed down. So of course, we couldn't leave her. How could I leave her when it was that traumatic? Granted, she is a year and a half so she's much older than your guy. I think I have discovered, however that she has confinement anxiety not separation anxiety. She couldn't care less who she is with, as long as she's with someone. So I knew she wasn't attached to me I just thought she hated being alone. Until one day I took a HUGE risk and left her on our balcony (3 floors up) on our apartment while we went to dinner with the in laws. I had all kinds of bloody visions of about 10 different ways she had killed herself while we were gone. We got back and she was completely fine. She couldn't have been finer hanging out outside by herself. It was the craziest thing.

When we moved though, and I got a job I had no choice but to leave her in her crate all day. I still don't trust her to leave her for 8-12 hours out in the house by herself. She would probably be fine, knowing her, because she's also extremely calm and pretty much just lays around all day. That's all she does when I leave her out for just an hour or two while I go to the barn or something, just lays there. But still I don't trust her. So I have to crate her when I go to work. I didn't really have a choice so my attitude was, she'll just have to get used to it. And she did. She still hates going in there but she's just hanging out when I get home now instead of completely losing her mind. She goes crazy if I crate her while we're home though. She's also a brat, did I mention that? She doesn't like it if she's locked up while we're around. She also doesn't like being put in her crate if SHE doesn't think it's necessary and will chew her collar off into a hundred pieces.  

What kind of crate does Kato have? Is it a plastic one that will fit him at full grown or a wire grow with you crate? Do you put toys in his crate with him? Mila completely ignores anything I put in her crate with her, but I hear with other dogs this works  Also you can try leaving music or the tv on (didn't work with Mila). Not making a big deal out of leaving, de-sensitizing him to you picking up your keys, putting on your shoes, etc. You can also try putting a sweaty shirt of yours (gross I know) in his crate with him, so it smells like you. I never tried that with Mila (I finally came to the conclusion that she's just a brat) but I did this with my semi-ferile cat I rescued and it worked fairly well. You can also try an analog clock in the room with him, it simulates a heart beat so he thinks he's not alone. Two things I've never tried but read that they do work, so it's worth a try for you. As a last resort you could also try Rescue Remedy, which I know you can get on Amazon and at Fresh Market if you have one of those near you.

How long have you had this issue? Since you got him? I would say continue with your routine and let him work it out for himself. I think he will eventually calm down. Believe me, I know it's distressing but other than everyone quitting their job and sitting at home with all the dogs all day every day, there's not a whole lot you can do. That's where I was and it's not as bad anymore. I have faith he'll eventually calm down.  

Hope I helped! Keep me posted

Hi Heather!
Thanks for the tips and advice! Kato has been having these issues since we got him and we picked him up a couple of days before he turned 8 weeks. It's just odd because he doesn't mind his kennel. He sleeps through the night in it and wants to be in it. It is def. when we leave when he flips! He does have some good days though and I am hoping that soon this will pass! He is one on the plastic kennels with the wire doors! I was curious because I have talked to a few people who have said some of this behavior is the breed and wasn't sure how much of that was true!

Haha that's so funny cause Mila is the opposite. I would just keep doing what you're doing and he'll settle soon enough. Some people told you right, this is just the breed. They're definitely very special dogs, that's for sure!