She's 1 and a half husky x malamute. Most nights I am waking up to mess in her room. She tells me during the day that she wants to go out, she has set meal times, she has lasted longer in the day without any mess. But most nights I wake up to both pee and poop in the morning. I take her out last thing at night, about 11/12, then first thing in the morning, about 6. I know she can hold it because she has held it before for longer. Can anyone help?

What time is the last time she eats and last time she gets water? Maybe try and move those times up a little. Can you hear her from where she sleeps when u sleep?

Yes as we're in the room opposite. The last time she eats is about 7 and water gets taken up around the same time, gets taken up after she has eaten

You say "her room", which suggests to me that she has the entire room to herself ... it's almost going to be natural that she defecates / urinates in there.  From my viewpoint, she doesn't see that room as part of her house so there's no restriction on doing her thing there.

First, I think she'd be more comfortable with you in your room - these are pack animals and want to be with their pack (which is you [all?]); but you obviously can't / won't do that as long as she's not "safe" through the night.  

Secondly: I'd suggest that you crate train her ( and I don't want to hear it, crates are the absolute SAFEST places for an unsupervised dog! ); once she accepts the crate as her space in a communal bedroom, I'd be quite willing to wager that you won't have to crate her overnight.

I won't go into how to crate train as there are several threads here already dedicated on how to (and how not to) crate train a dog.

She does have a room to herself and her 'brother', we have two dogs, which is big enough to house two dogs but not massive, a small utility room. That is what we are going to do eventually but won't unless I know she won't do anything in the night, or get into anything she shouldn't. I will be getting round to getting a crate set up for her but won't be able to yet

What I just read you as saying sounds like this:

"I have a problem with my dog; I won't do what needs to be done to solve the problem until she stops having the problem."

Is that right??

Here's my take on things, and is going to be similar to what Al says. Allowing your husky to have a spot to sleep in that is bigger than the amount of space to turn around allows your dog to have permission to go potty anywhere it wants. Most adult dogs will not go potty in there sleep space, that's why so many crate their huskies. My girl is a little over two and has her doggy bed next to our bed. No accidents because of several reasons - 1) she can wake us if she needs to go 2) she has her bed large enough to turn around and that is it 3) she's with her people and this makes her happy. Although I don't like it, but sometimes it happens, but, Miya can go as long as 12 hours without having to go potty and she has been this way since she was 9 months old, and fully house broken at 4 months old, possibly even younger than that.

Crates are important to all dogs, but I find even more so for huskies. They need their den, husky personality dictates crate training, for various reasons. I regret not crate training Miya, it makes leaving her alone not feasible, we can for max 2 hours, but where we live it takes at least an hour for drive time to do anything. Our next husky will be crate trained. Invest in a crate that is of correct size and place it in your room. I bet you all issues will disappear if you do. I will stress to get the crate and start training ASAP, don't wait until it is more convenient for you, otherwise the accidents at night will continue. She is telling you something, btw, in that in your first post you imply you are home during the day and you have no accidents, she wants to be with her people, her accidents leads me to believe that she goes potty at night as a mild form of separation anxiety.

If it is a mild form of separation anxiety then why isn't she doing it during the day as and when she is alone, which has on one occasion been around 12 hours? Even when she is on her own (without human supervision) she can hold it yet she can't at night.

Due to an unforseen circumstance I have found myself in a one bedroom flat with a big enough utility room for my dogs. As and when I can afford a crate I shall do but can not put it anywhere other than the same room they are in now which isn't what you are suggesting. However the crate size I am going to need to get is a bit smaller than the room they are in, which is why they were put in there. The door is open during the day and they have their food and water in there so aside from having an actual crate there is no difference, from what I have read and been told

Renee, Ziggy just doesn't seem to realize the difference between the dog knowing that he's gone and the dog knowing that he's in the house but closed off.

I can't think of any breed that is going to be content shut in a room where they have no access to their humans when the human is just the other side of the door.  

Ziggy, this is abrupt - but your dog isn't a toy that you put up when you're done playing with it.  It's a being with feeling of its own and one of those is the desire to be with their human when the human is home <period>

The sentence "can not put it anywhere other than the same room" say that your bedroom is too small to put a crate in, is it?; in my first reply, I said "she'd be more comfortable with you in your room" I think it safe to say that most of our dogs are in the same room with us at night - that brings comfort to both them and us.

I will reiterate - as long as you close her off from you at night when you're home, you're probably going to continue to have problems.

Yes my bedroom is too small for a crate in it. So you are suggesting that I allow my dog out to piss and shit anyway and destroy stuff she shouldn't have just because you have yours with you? I have never had a dog that has stayed in my room and never had them piss and shit in my house. I came on here for advice and all I am getting is you belittling how I bring my dogs up and expect me to let my dog have free roam of my flat at night cause she has apparent separation anxiety. Bullshit. I have never been told by my vet to put my dog in a bloody cage, their house is their den. So why don't you stop putting your dog away in a cage like a toy and get a god damn life.

Actually I don't crate but can see places where it can be beneficial.

I'm sorry if you feel I'm putting you down.  You came here asking for some assistance and, it seems to me that you don't want to consider what we've suggested you do.

I'm three times your age and have had dogs almost all of that time.  Sure, sometimes I've rescued a dog who's needed help learning that they're no longer "in the wild", but I do that by making them a part of my pack (of two or three dogs).  My two now will wake me up (well, most of the time) when they really have to go out - very rarely do I have a mess in my house now. (( My latest rescue, Sasha, took a liking to my kitchen floor and it took a while to convince her that I *really* didn't like that ))

Husky, more than most other breeds, *want* to be with their pack - and you're their pack.  When you force a separation on them, you can expect that they're going to feel that where they are isn't their home (hence the pissing, etc)

Time for me to take a break, I have two dogs who want fed and a walk ...

My dog lexi has anxiety Issues and has since puppy. She use to have accidents in kitchen at night occassionally. This was well after she was potty trained, but younger like your dog. I started to make sure she was closed in room with me at night. All accidents stopped. She never made mess in my room. After a few months, I opened door and gave her free roam. That was about 11-12 years ago and now she sleeps downstairs with no accidents ever. It sounds goofy bUT in my case it did work.

Ziggy, I was not attacking you, you were asking the why's and I was answering. So I will ask, if you leave your husky to roam the house during the day alone, why do you lock her up at night? if you reverse the scenario, and locked her up alone during the day, but aloud her to roam at night, you would have a mess during the day. My suggestion then is to just let her roam free. Miya's separation anxiety is to destroy things vs going potty wherever, and as long as we are here and she is close to us no destruction. I do not crate my girl, if we leave she goes in our garage which is cement floor and doggy proof 40 feet by 15 feet enclosed, we run her about 6-10 miles prior to leaving, we make sure she goes potty, and leave her toys and bones and chews, as I said Miya has never been crated. Crates are not puppy jails, however, since you oppose the crate idea adamantly, my suggestion is to lock your other dog up and allow husky to roam free, buy a bed (assuming beds are cheaper than crates in your area)and place it next to yours, the potty issue should be gone. Since I presume you live outside the US, since you call your apartment a flat, your situation may be different than ours. I am wondering if though, our harsh words, that were not the intention, was because English is not your primary language and/or we may be saying something that is lost in translation, if so I do apologize. Separation anxiety comes in many forms, and is a common problem amongst huskies.

Ziggy, I reread all of your posts, and yes your dog is away from you too much, if I understand your posts, she is locked up in the utility room up to 12 hours a day when you are gone, and then another what 6-8 hours while you are sleeping. That means your dogs are locked in a room up to 20 hours a day, this here in America would be the equivalent to your rage against a crate in your country. You can not ask a dog, any breed dog to be locked up in a room 20 hours a day and not expect some form of displeasure. No matter the size of the room, no matter the breed, 20 hours of no human interaction, no exercise, I can almost guarantee some form of destruction whether it be eating tile or rugs on the floor, scratching the door frame and or eating door frame or in your words "pissing and shitting" everywhere it felt like. Everything I mentioned is a form of separation anxiety, your dog is telling you she needs attention and at this point going potty in her room on your floor is telling you I need attention.

Renee, they have only ever been locked up for 12 hours once. There is only 2 hours, if that, where my partner goes to work and I get back so they aren't away from us until night time.

I don't let them roam the house during the day alone either as I don't want her to get into anything, however I am wanting to let her out at night but I don't know whether there is going to be mess again. I have tried it a couple of weeks and there was mess, not every night but there was. I think I'm going to have to be stricter when I take her out, meaning not come back in untill she does her business. Don't get me wrong I take her out and let her come back in when she wants, can be out for a good 20/30 mins maybe more but she'll wait to poop indoors most nights.

As for beds, they get chewed even when she was with us when we first got her. We gradually got her sleeping with our other dog. She has toys and bones with her at night yet she chews them. Have given them a few old towels and throws but still got chewed. She doesn't anymore but does a bed.

I apologise, I did think that you were attacking me and that I have to put her in a crate. I know you are helping

Ziggy, I'm going to try and help with a different approach.

Yes I believe a crate will solve, if crate trained properly, most husky issues. However, I would be a hypocrite in suggesting a crate and not using one myself.

Miya is not vocal when she needs to go out, so it was a "fear" I had allowing her to be in the house to roam free all the time, obviously during the day she will go to the front door and sit and that's her way of saying she has to go potty. Obviously that will not work when I am asleep. When I am asleep she will lick my face or hand, doesn't happen a lot but that is her sign. So with you you would have to figure out what your husky's clue to going potty at night is.

Separation anxiety, as I said before comes in many different forms. You can curb the problem though, and that is get your dog tired. Playing with her, walking her, builds a bond, builds trust, and makes her tired where she will not do destructive things. Setting routines are very important specifically to huskies, as well as many other breeds. I know just about what time Miya will have to go poop. She also only goes once or twice a day. I feed her once a day and normally that is between 4pm and no later than 8 pm. She gets a few snacks during the day, but her kibble is between those hours. Generally speaking, if she doesn't go poop after I tell her to go potty, I will run her around for a bit, play fetch, tugs, or I have her chase me and I chase her, this will work up the poop. Just standing outside and watching her sniff the ground will not get her to go in a quick fashion. Huskies are stubborn, it seems like they want to prolong their stay outside, so if they poop right away that means outside fun is over with.

What I can imagine with your girl, you take her out, and wait for her to go, she doesn't, you give up and go inside. You put her in her room for the night. She might take a nap, but I bet you she is pacing, and pacing and eventually goes on the floor, then sleeps.

Being observant, having a routine, and treating her as if she is a human child will make your life easier. You are lucky in a strange way, because with my girl she literally tried clawing her way through the garage door to get back inside with us. We originally were going to have her sleep in the garage. I placed an old blanket on the floor by our bed, told her "bed time", she curled up and slept all night no problems. I then bought her a bed, again I did "bed time", she picked up on that command quickly and understood it was time to sleep. I caught her nibbling on her new doggy bed, and did an "uh uh, be nice", and never destroyed her bed. Her poop time, because of feeding her at the times that I do is between 11 am and 4 pm, if by 4 pm she hasn't pooped, I up the play time and run and play with her more, until she goes.

It will take time to get a routine, to know when she has to go poop. My husband commented the other day that Miya is the most regular dog he has ever seen, but it is through knowing her daily routine, and when she eats, plays, and goes potty. Keeping a journal may benefit you, in that you can record when she does what, you will see a pattern, work with that pattern. Food for thought, you may find that you haven't been tiring her out enough, you may be over feeding, you may not have a set routine, you may not be spending the quality time that she needs.

A tired husky is a happy, well behaved husky. Understand her needs, and fulfill those needs, and she will be the husky you want.