Hi All

I have a query about how your Huskies relate to their "dens". Do they all willingly come out without luring?

Orion has claimed under the table (which is currently hard up against two walls) as his den. I don't mind this, I understand that it is just a nice secure space for him to chill. The issue is, occasionally when I go to leave the house he will barricade himself under there and refuse to budge - he will even bolt under there if he thinks I am about to go. Now if I lure him out with a treat he will happily trot out and I can put him away so I can go out, if I do not offer him a treat he will not move, sometimes I will tell him its time for me to go and he will happily trot towards me then upon realizing I have no treat will bolt under the table in order to get one.
Also just recently he has got a bit antsy if I get in his personal space while he is in his den space, is this something I should be worried about? I'm not trying to drag him out or anything I usually just crawl under there to either try get him out (by getting him to chase me) or just to check he has nothing that he shouldn't have (he always looks so darn suspicious!) he's not growling, usually he will just pin my hand with his paw if I reach towards him.
Today he was being a real little shite when I was trying to get back to work after lunch and in the end I got so fed up I moved all the chairs and shifted the table from over him so he had no where to hide and he threw a massive tantrum. I admit it was kind of childish of me I should have been more patient but it was one of those "you will not win this one dog" moments, Could I have made him more possessive of his space by doing something like that?
Do I just reneg and give him treats every time for coming out or how do I approach this?

Koda doesnt really have a den spot. But he knows where to go to make it hard for me if i want to leave. Koda does the same stuff. I will try to lure him into my room before i leave some where. Even if i have a treat he is smart enough to know its not worth it lol. So i will try to make a trail of treats and he always get the treat just fat enough away where i still cant get him lol. Im intersted to see some answers here also.

I, too, have no suggestions, only commiseration. Ami does something similar with the car, which, due to the big dog, small car and husbands desire to keep the seats all covered is very much a den. When it's time to go somewhere, he's very compliant - stands absolutely still while a put on his harness. Hops eagerly into the car (never saw an open door he didn't love  ). When we get to his destination - out he hops with alacrity. When we return to the car, he sits on the ground. "Not gettin' in that car until you produce the kibble!" Toss the kibble into the back seat, in the big boy goes. Get home, open his door - not gettin' out, no way, no how...produce the kibble - out he comes  

Last night, a variation...went out to his trolley for his last walk of the night and bedtime. He greets me eagerly, hopping up to kiss me, jumping around, play bow, all "let's go!" Bring out the leash, off he goes, just out of reach. I approach, off he goes, just out of reach. So, I think, I'm not playing this game, turn around, walk 3 ft and sit on his pallet. What does the big boy do? He turns around, walks 3 ft in the other direction, turns around, faces me and lays down as if to say "two can play that game!"  And he loves his walks, go figure.

He does a similar dance in the morning when I take him out of his crate - which also is very much a den - I have it mostly covered. Even if he really has to pee - he still does the dance with the leash. Always standing just out of reach and next to whatever door I am NOT near. He's not, however, possessive of the space - usually he lies there, stretches out and waits for me to give him his morning scratch, belly rub and snuggles.

I think the message in all this is - Beware of what and when you treat - once is enough to become a tradition  

Kenzi dens, but it's not as bad in the house. When she was going through a false pregnancy she would den under things outside and it was a real pain to get to her so I blocked all spots where she could den, off. In the house she would den under the coffee table between it and the couch and during the false pregnancy she would guard toys under there and get growly if some would get near. I scooted the table further out from the couch so that it wasn't as tight of a space and that helped. She now dens behind my husbands chair but she has never had an issue with getting her out when we need her. We work on the come command both indoors and outdoors. Whether we are going anywhere or not she gets called to come at random times and treated for it. It keeps her guessing a little, but she isn't crate trained. I look to get rid of dens. I would block the table or move it out from the wall so that he can't create such a strong hold. He feels secure because he essentially has the high ground and knows you can't easily get him out. Perhaps put his crate in that corner so at least if he's going to hide there half your battle is already done.

if not sleeping in my room furai uses the crawl space under the house.
I sectioned off an area with wood a chicken wire.
he keeps going in and getting trapped, even broke a water pipe that needs to be replaced.
(most likely making a hissing noise from a small leak)

I need a solution because he gets in there and gets stuck.
daily fortifying to restrict access; find the weakest point til he can no longer get in the section which isn't he's den.

doggy door mite be my only solution.

I only yell or am mean to him if he goes breaks into the wrong section, eventually he should understand rite.

FURAI wrote:

if not sleeping in my room furai uses the crawl space under the house.
I sectioned off an area with wood a chicken wire.
he keeps going in and getting trapped, even broke a water pipe that needs to be replaced.
(most likely making a hissing noise from a small leak)

I need a solution because he gets in there and gets stuck.
daily fortifying to restrict access; find the weakest point til he can no longer get in the section which isn't he's den.

doggy door mite be my only solution.

I only yell or am mean to him if he goes breaks into the wrong section, eventually he should understand rite.

You need to permanently and adequately deny access to the crawl space - yelling and mean won't change the behavior and will change your dog's personality...

noted. I have been working on it everyday.

Our trainer used to tell us that to train the "Come" command when you're at home (or wherever you think he'll ignore you), then to keep a leash on him and just let it drag around. Then when you want him to come, if he ignores you, then give it a light tug. This works for Gus. But when i don't have his leash tethered to him (which i never do anymore), he will do the same things as you all describe.

He either runs into his crate, or flips over onto his back. When he's in his crate, it's a lot easier to get him out. I just loop my finger into where his leash would've clipped on his collar and give it a light tug, and he'll come right out. if he's NOT in his crate though, he will flop over onto his back and NOTHING can get him up! If i try to tug lightly on his collar, he just keeps turning and wiggling, while pawing at me, and gently mouthing me. The other day, i got so fed up that i grabbed his leash to tug him up because that usually works. The second his leash was clipped on, he jumped up and ran into his room. I was worried that this would make him think we're going for a walk, but he didn't. Maybe because i always use a harness when i walk him? Not sure.

FURAI wrote:

noted. I have been working on it everyday.

Thinking about your problem - a possible solution: Pick up a fence charger from a farm store (would not need a very powerful one for just a dog - they do make portable pet exclusion kits), some fence wire or polytape and a couple of lengths of pvc pipe. Cut the pipe to lenght and drill holes for the wire in the pipe to use as posts, set posts around the crawl space, run the wire, attach the charger (talk to the farm supply folks - there is slightly more to it than this - you need a ground wire, too, I think). Anyway - one zap on the nose and puppy won't be using your crawl space anymore. Also, build him a nice den outdoors (I have a temporary one in Ami's favorite place using his portable doghouse (which he won't use unless it's bitterly cold and very windy, stupid dog does not know enough to come in out of the rain!), a tree, a pallet standing on edge and backed by a piece of OSB with a floor of straw, old satin quilt and some old wool sweaters. Basically a 3-sided nook sheltered from the wind. He chose the spot, I made it snug. Not pretty, but he loves it and its temporary until I can build something more aesthetically pleasing. He also has another doghouse in a different location we call the Dog Mahal and filled with straw bedding - he loves this one - located so he has view of house, the road, the neighbors pasture and cows and out of the wind. I move him around for variety, weather conditions etc...

Simon mostly only does this to my sister when she comes over to let him out he will hide under the futon when she goes to leave. Which might be funny if he tries to do it in a few weeks when he is to big to fit under there.

The first day I had Simon after our 10 hour drive.. Okay so the second day I had Simon but like as soon as we got home he hid under some blocks I think he was just freaked out. I sat on the steps with his breakfast and waited for him to relax and get hungry.

But if I want Simon out from somewhere I tend to try and distract him to get him to do it.

Have you trained a 'place' command for Orion? That might help with this. Dizzy's alcove command is either 'go to bed' or 'go to your room.' He also knows 'mat' so if I lay a towel out somewhere I can give him the command 'mat' and he will go to the towel.

I think if he were just clowning around and refusing to come out I would think of it as an opportunity to train a new command and use treats to do so. My strategy to do so would be to make it a training game and teach him not only the command to come out, but the command to go under. So maybe teach 'hide' and 'out' and play a game where you continually send him under and out and when the training session is done take him outside for a nice walk and some play with you so he doesn't associate coming out with you leaving, or being confined.

If he was being possessive of the space and getting tense or annoyed by my approach, or showing signs of aggression, I would put him in timeout and not allow him under there at all unless we are playing the hide and out game.