Hi all,

We have an almost ten week old puppy who has generally been doing very well. We have have him for almost two weeks. He was, as expected, very upset being put in his crate for the first few days, whining and howling for quite a while, but for probably the past five days he hasn't really made any noise when being put in, and maybe just barks a little bit in the early morning, about 30 minutes before we wake up for the day.

So, he had been doing remarkably well with not having accidents in the crate. He went ten days with no accidents in there and has generally shown that he holds it longer than I would have expected (only goes about once every 3+ hours, at night or during the day). However, for the past three days when I have let him out in the morning I have found that he has defecated in the crate on the towel that is in there. I'm not sure if the crate is too big and that is what allowed him to do that without being really upset, but I don't think it is too big as it doesn't look like he has more room than he needs. I know we were very lucky for those first ten days, and I'm wondering if a "regression" like this is normal, because it just kind of came out of nowhere, and it has been three consecutive days. He didn't alert us to it, and we can hear him barking most of the time. When I let him out during the night each of these days he happily went back in the crate and laid down, so he wasn't giving me any signs that he had done anything in there that I had missed. I have no idea what time during the night he is doing this, but neither my wife or I have "caught" this until we let him out in the morning. Any advice?

Puppies will be puppies. My suggestion, everytime you see it happening or just see it, stomp on the floor or clap your hands. Shout/say "No" very firmly, and immediately go outside to the potty area. Huskies are very smart so they will pick up what you are telling them, but as I said puppies are puppies, they aren't considered potty trained until, I think it was, 8-10 consecutive weeks with no accidents. It takes a lot of consistency and corrections from you. Another suggestion I have, keep him tethered to you or barricaded in the same room as you until your sure he is fully potty trained. This way you can correct any accidents immediately, and any other behaviors.

Please note that this is occurring in the crate sometime at night, not while he is wandering the house in our sight, so those suggestions aren't really relevant to this behavior. We cannot correct the behavior right at teh moment because we have no idea when it is happening even though we get up multiple times each night to let him out to go to the bathroom. We do, however, follow those suggestions during the day while he is awake. I am asking if this is unusual for him to suddenly start doing this in the crate for a few consecutive days when this previously was not a problem.

I suspect the crate is too big - also, now that he has gone in there, those smells and cues are still in the crate. I would not leave a towel in the crate for the time being, maybe get some nature's miracle to remove all traces of scent (I've never used it but others on here swear by it) and put up some sort of barrier to reduce the space available.

Also, when is his last feeding time? maybe move it back an hour or 2.

Please note - it has been over 40 years since I pottytrained a puppy, so take what I say with skepticism

It is perfectly normal to have set backs. Like Amy said, enzyme clean, crate barrier, take the towel out and try feeding a couple hours earlier.

I would advise to take the towel out as well until he's a little older. Malu peed/sprayed on this little stuffed monkey we left in his crate for the first 2 weeks we got him, but once we removed it, he stopped. I could leave a kong in his crate at night but nothing soft like a towel or it was damp whenever I checked it. I've heard it's more of a male thing but not entirely certain. Also read that for puppies, sometimes this act is looked at as claiming their territory because it's a new place for them and they're marking it. At four months, we can now leave a few more things in his crate but it did take a little bit of time and practice. It could just be anxiety in an unfamiliar place and the puppy is getting used to it. I woke up with Malu 2 times a night until he was 2 months, then once a night at 3 months, and now he sleeps in until around 6:00 am and starts to bark. I have read things on crate size, but I am unsure if that is linked to pottying in the crate.