Hey everyone,

So this is only day 2 with my little Aurora, so we've had one full night together so far but I just wanted to get some opinions to make sure things are going in the right direction. I'd want to catch any bad habits (hers or mine) as soon as possible.

On day 1, yesterday, I tried putting toys and treats in her cage to get her comfortable going in and out and that seemed to work fairly well. when we got home for the first time it was already evening so I didn't have too much time to practice closing the door while she was in there, but when it was time to go to bed and she was tired she laid down on the large floor rug outside her crate and started to fall asleep. I waited a few minutes and picked her up and placed her in the crate and she laid down right away. I closed the crate door and she only whined for a few seconds until I put my fingers through the crate and then she was OK and went to sleep.

Throughout the night I set my alarm every 1 1/2 - 2 hours to take her outside to go potty. a couple times I'd wake up to her whining and she would stop once she saw me coming toward the crate. I'd then take her outside to her spot, and when she was finished I'd carry her back to the crate, shut the door and she'd go back asleep. Sometimes she'd lay right back down, she'd whine for 10-30 seconds until I put my fingers through the crate again, and she'd go back to sleep. I felt like it was a successful night.

on day 2, today, I could still get her to go in the crate for treats or toys. Occasionally she'll walk in and walk out to check for treats/toys but when she wants to sleep, she'll usually lay down next to or near me on the rug. I'll then place her in the crate but during the day I'm leaving the door open. She doesn't seem to have any problem with it and she lays right down and gets comfy and sleeps but currently she won't go in there to sleep on her own. I figure she'll get more used to it and eventually do that, it's still new to her.

Sooo, sorry for the longer than expected post, but does that all sound like a normal process so far? Definitely trying to keep it a positive place for her and not making her go there for any reason.

Thanks for any extra tips/advice. and yes, I've read the crate training sticky on here as well as many other sites too for reference and it was definitely a good help to get me started.

Jaime, we never crate trained, however sounds good with what you're doing. This will sound girlie to you, but I put a stuffed bear with her to snuggle with her, she didn't decide to destroy it until she was 3 or 4 months old. For some reason it did keep her calm when she was alone. I've read where people use wind up clocks and hot water bottles. I guess for me getting her "teddy" was to imitate a litter mate.

Will you always be using a crate? If not I don't see anything wrong with her hanging out with you. There were plenty of times that I held her in my arms and let her nap, I guess I'm a ubber bonder. We just went with giving her a routine. I do want to let you know that there were plenty of times that we would move her to her bed, and started to use the command "bed time" and she goes directly to her bed, they are smart so it didn't take long for her to learn this. So maybe you can start with that training so she knows what you're asking of her, she'll know her spot. Throwing some ideas out for you, but it does sound like things are going fantastic.

I am relearning things with you and some of the newer people here, we are planning on getting husky number two, hopefully in the fall, and I want to see where I may have gone wrong, or maybe where I could have done things better. So please keep posting.

Renee

Renee, thanks for the tips! I never crate trained my last dog and he always slept with me. He was a little guy though, only about 12 lbs but still, I loved having him with me all the time. Obviously Aurora will get a lot bigger haha but I still want her to know she can hang out with me. I don't plan on always using the crate but I do want her to be used to it. And right now it's a huge help with house training since she won't go potty in her crate. I really like your idea of using the command "bed time" when placing her in the crate, I'll start using that.
I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but sometimes I "think" she'll sit by the door if she needs to go then I'll take her out to go potty. So that's hopefully a good sign =) She's had one accident so far where she pee'd on the floor, but I expect some accidents lol. I just picked her up and took her outside to her spot and she continued.

Good luck with husky number two when the time comes and I'm sure we'll all hear about it. Thanks again for your tips!