Hi. I have been a husky owner since 1978. The last one (Mira) just died on November 27th of cancer. She was seven years old. She had separation anxiety really bad. We have husky #6 now, 13 wks old Neeka. I don't want to fail her too. I was looking for some help in handling this puppy better. We have had her for about 4 weeks.

We also have a 10 year old who is allowed complete freedom in the house and is not crate trained. They are both females. I'm trying to crate train Neeka. It's not going well I leave her alone in the house in the crate for a half hour everyday for weeks. She screams! The rest of the time she’s in a 5x5 pen also in the kitchen, she does much better there, but she potties there too. She has diarrhea. You never know when she will go.

I'm mostly worried about separation anxiety and being able to leave her in the create when leaving her for long periods and not have her freak out. Mira was so bad she broke out of windows. I've never had any luck crate training.

It's a really long story I'll just leave it at this and see if anyone has any ideas... I would be ever so grateful...

BTW: I’ve read at least 5 books on this issue, none have helped.

From my own very limited experience, I believe that pups will need "pack" interaction every 2-4 hours until fully matured. If the dog needs to be crated for longer times (when bladder retention is reasonably expected), it will need to be at maximum security. Northern breeds originated in an environment that included almost constant human company. That cannot be ignored.

My best advice would be to measure how much time the dog gives you before really freaking out in the crate. Then when you have this number, you can anticipate the event and preempt it by removing the dog from the crate. Over a few days I would gradually increase the time before removing the dog. Dogs definitely learn in baby steps. If she's fine for 30 minutes one day, you will have a very difficult time trying to get 40 minutes the next day.

There are of course other things you can do (like the filled Kong), but I have no experience in raising puppies. Hopefully the advice others give will help a bit more.





...Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Are you making the crate as pleasurable a place to be as you can? I.e. do you make it a special place where wonderful things happen, like feeding, praise, attention, treats, toys, etc?

30 minutes is a long time for a pup undergoing SA to be left alone in the crate. I would start out with really short times like 2-3 minutes each time so she gets used to the idea but doesn't feel abandoned. Keep her crate times varied so she doesn't pick up a pattern or learn to expect to you to return at a certain time. You can start at 5 minutes one time, then do 10 minutes the next time, then 3 minutes next, and so on. Continue lengthening the time she has in her crate but also mix in some shorter times regularly too. When she is crated do you have other dogs in the room with her or is she alone? Have you tried a DAP (dog appeasing phermone) spray or diffuser in or around her crate? What kind of crate are you using?

Okay... I'm not trying to just point to old threads, but to save me the time of retyping, have you tried all the methods here:
Crate Training

I agree with both of the previous posters. If you can anticipate and lengthen slowly, like Eddy said, that will help.

I also agree with Val when she suggested creating positive associations with the crate. Do you play music? Keep a blanket or shirt in there that smells like you? Save a SPECIAL treat for just the crate (we use a peanut butter filled kong)? If the crate is just a place where you leave her, then she WILL freak out.

I also think that having the other dog loose may be part of the problem. What about crating her in a room where she can't see or hear your other dog. Do you get the same results?

First off thank you so much for responding. I can't thank you enough!!!

I've done all that was mentioned and more I think. The first two weeks we had her she did well in the crate. We even left her for two hours once. I think she slept or had enough to interest her. Yes she has toys, a string toy and a nylon bone. I was leaving her bully sticks but shes bigger now and might try to eat too much as once. I have given her a bone filled with peanut butter but she has had diahrrea all along so I don't think that would be real good right now. That did work with Mira somewhat. So I know that is a good one for the future.

There is a puppy water bottle attacted to the best quailty metal cage. I always feed her in it, which is no problem, she goes right in the cage but she makes a hell of a noisie production when she knows shes getting fed.. I keep Kira in the other room and a gate blocks Neekas view of her.

When we first got her I would take Kira for a walk with me everytime I left Neeka alone. It seems to make no differance if Kira is here or not. I don't leave a shirt or towel in there becasue she would eat it. I always take her potty first. I only let her out when she is calm. I never have to force her in. And I try very hard to always make it a possitive thing but that's pretty hard. And I have tryed leaving the TV on but that doesn't seem to matter.

I was having a big problem with her pottying in the cage so I made her area smaller. Just enough room to lay down, possibly that's the problem. Just how important is that?

She sleeps in a very small crate by the bed at night and has never had a problem with that one. I give her a bully sticks then cus I'm right there. Well she did potty in that one too a few times but not in the last two weeks.

At first it would be quiet when I left and when I got back. That's not happening anymore. So I have been leaving a tape recorder on while I'm gone just to see if she screaming the whole time. And I mean screaming, it ehco's off the kitchen walls. And yes she is screaming about 50% or more of the time. Possibly now she hears me leaving.

The vet told me flat out I should keep her in the crate most of the time. Like 80% of the time. And I do keep her penned up but not in a crate that's only big enough for her to lay down in. She does still potty in the pen. In fact just a minute ago I heard her complaining and instantly went to take her out but she had already peed. She cried after she peed!

It really upsets me that she can't be with us. It doesn't seem right but I dont want SA. I spend time in the kitchen with her often but she spends a lot of time in there all by herself.. I find stuff to do. I take her out and work with her. Handling her and come, sit and praise her when she being good.

She was horrible at biting me. She is so fast! My husband wont even touch her and I have to keep her away from Kira beacuse Neeka does nothing but attack Kira and rip out her fur! Kira is very tolerant but she gets mad and has really hurts Neeka sometimes. i finally tried growling and snaping at her meanly and she stopped biting me. She licks me more often now but she bites everyone else.

I'm just at a loss. Does anyone elase have this problem or are just my 6 huskys a problem? What do I have to do? Start all over and just leave her for the time that she wont scream? That's about the only thing I havent tried.

There's a couple of things I can think of. The first is that she's only 13 weeks old. That means that she's only about 3.5 months old. Puppies can only be expected to hold it for one hour for every month they are old. If she is ever alone more than 3-3.5 hours, she is going to need to be let out because she CAN'T physically hold it. That could have been your potty problems before.

YES the size of the crate makes a difference. She should only have enough room to stand up turn around and lie down. If she has more room than that, she may be tempted to go potty in one corner and try to lay in the other. Dogs generally will NOT potty where they sleep unless they are absolutely unable to hold it anymore. So that probably made a HUGE difference.

It can take months to potty train, so make sure you are taking her out as often as she needs. Every 2 hours, every hour... set her up to succeed and make sure if she messes in the house you are cleaning it up with an enzyme cleaner!

One thing you can do for separation anxiety is to desensitize her. Take a weekend day and do the following:
1. pick up your keys/coat (assuming she gets excited because she knows you're leaving) and then put them down.
2. Repeat this several times with a couple of minutes in between.
3. Pick up your keys/put on your coat, go to the door, then take off your coat, put down your keys and sit down. Wait another few minutes.
4. Repeat this a few more times.
5. Pick up your keys, put on your coat, go to the door, walk out and shut it behind you, then do it all in reverse again.
6. Repeat a few times.

Keep this going until you leave the house for 5, 10, 15 mins. The idea is that you don't want her to think that every time you get your things that you are leaving for a long time. You may need to do this for a few weekends. It takes some time and effort, but it DOES help.

Why is the vet suggesting to keep her in the crate 80% of the time? Is this to ward against SA? If so, I don't agree with that at all, but I am unsure if that's why. Can you explain that to me?

Huskies are first and foremost pack animals and they get VERY upset when they can't be with their humans. It's odd because when they're with them, they usually want nothing to do with them, but they HATE being separated from them. Make sure that the time she DOES spend with you, you are lavishing attention on her and playing with her. Also make sure that she is getting some GOOD (1 hour a day) of one-on-one time with you. Each dog should be getting that, especially at the beginning.

Sometimes it's just the smallest thing with the crate. Koda whined and cried when we kept a bed in his crate. He would dig at it, eat it, destroy it, and SCREAM. Took the bed out, he curled up and went to sleep. It's amazing, so a lot of this is really just trial and error to see what works for her.

Try putting a blanket over her crate to make it den-like. They sell canvas covers too if you're afraid that she'll eat a blanket.

I hope I've given you some stuff to work with. Try these things and see if you don't find some improvement. It sounds like she's been improving a little already!

I kept Siku and now keep Elara in a crate most of the time. If I'm not there to watch them, they are in a crate. But I do let her outside at least every 3 hours (4-5hrs if I've already gone to work and my bf isn't back from work yet) and I let her and Siku play and train her (almost everyday on the last one). Thankfully Elara is great in her crate. She will whine sometimes, but it's usually cause she has to go pee or wants to play with the cats or Siku. Siku, however, was terrible in the crate when I first got her. I just gave her the tough love treatmeant. At night I would keep her in the crate in a different room and she screamed the first 3 or 4 nights. I would let her out to go pee throughout the night, but inbetween I just put in ear plugs and slept through her screaming. She got over it after the first few nights.

I wouldn't recommend putting rope toys in with her, cause they can rip those things apart pretty easily and then they can be a choking hazard. A kong stuffed with peanut butter or cheeze works great for my two to keep them quiet in the crate. When I first had to leave the house for a while and Siku was still pretty young, I stuffed about 5 kongs and put them in the crate with her while I was gone. I don't even think she noticed I left. lol. She LOVES her peanut butter filled kongs!

That's a lot of peanut butter! I have little doubt that five kongs filled with pb would do the trick but Neeka has had diarrhea since we got her. I don't dare give her pb. Her Auntie Mira ate nothing but pb in her last days. She never turned down the peanut butter. I kept one of the jars and put her collar around it.

What food are you feeding her? The diarrhea concerns me...

While I'm not discounting food as a possible source of the diarrhea, stress and overfeeding are other possible culprits as well if you've already ruled out parasites.

She came home with Taste of the Wild Salmon and 5 days metrondosle (sp?) from the breeder. When it turned to pretty much water I did white rice, chicken and pepto. That worked pretty well. Then we switched to Pro Plan Puppy rice and chicken. That is not working very well either. We are back on Metrondolse again since yesterday. Which of course helps. It forms a little sometimes anyway. She was checked for all the bugs two weeks ago. We think it is emotional. The vet is still giving her excellent health reports. He said to feed her 1 3/4 cups twice a day. She eats like she is starving! And drinks a lot of water. She will be 14 weeks (3 months) on Monday.

Why is she on Metronidazole if you don't mind my asking? I've had to use it for two of my dogs in the past and I hate giving it if I have a choice. FWIW, when my sibe had tummy issues because he is extremely food sensitive the vet gave us Metronidazole as a "fix". It did nothing but make him worse and lethargic and loss of appetite. Really hate using products like that if it's not medically necessary like for an infection or something. It kills the anaerobic bacteria in the gut which your dog actually needs, the good intestinal flora are something you want to keep. Now if you're dealing with infection then that's another story.

It might help to try giving her 4 smaller meals a day, it's a little easier on a puppies stomach and it will give her a better chance to absorb the nutrients from the food. Hope this helps!

Rhet wrote:

It might help to try giving her 4 smaller meals a day, it's a little easier on a puppies stomach and it will give her a better chance to absorb the nutrients from the food. Hope this helps!

That is good advice, even spacing it out to 3 meals would be better on such a young pup than 2 meals if 4 times a day is not convenient.

We did that too. Feeding her four times a day. Didn't help. Kira and Mira had diarrhea as puppies too. I always give them bottled water. At least four of our huskies have taken metrondozale at one time or another for diarrhea and never had any side effects from it. It's tramidol that I hate. That does dreadful things. I hear you on the meds thing though. I'm apt to not give all of them. I'm real picky on the shots too.

How long did you try feeding her 4 meals a day? It can take a little time for it to settle into their system. When Konrad had Giardia my vet had me feeding him 5-6 meals a day to ensure he was getting at least some of the nutrients out of his food. This lead to one of his most interesting quirks, he almost never actually empties his food bowl, he always leaves a couple bites for later, he actually free feeds now (sort of anyway, I put down food twice a day, he just never finishes all of it, or even really eats much at one time). But I digress, at first we treated him for coccidia because I was unable to get a stool sample (there was nothing solid to get...), the vet put him on albon with no effect. By the time he was done with the albon my roommates dog and one of the cats had diarrhea as well, so everyone got a round of metronidazole. By day 3 everyone had reasonably firm stools, and by day 5 it was all back to normal.

I think I remember reading somewhere that metronidazole is a potential carcinogen, but I'm honestly not sure and I can't back that up. I could easily be confusing it with something else.

I personally don't think the bottled water is necessary, save certain circumstance, like where I used to live in middle-of-nowhere Missouri and we got our water from a well (we had a fancy reverse osmosis filtration system so we didn't have to worry, but some of our neighbors didn't have good filtration, or any at all....).

I agree 1 3/4 cups at one time is too much. I only feed my 12 week old about 3/4 to 1 cup each time. That may help. I switched mine to a different food when I got her and she had the runs too. I switched her to another food and she's fine again. So you might just have to try a lot of different foods until you find a good one. Just so you know Elara did fine on Acana, Eukcanuba (what the breeder fed), and the Honest Kitchen. She reacted poorly to Merrick kibble for some reason. My other sibe does fine on it though.

What is carcinogen?

We live 30 minutes south of LA. The tap water here makes me sick. I have been giving our dogs bottled water for 30 years.

I wrote the breeder and asked her what her feeding schedules are for her puppies. She kept one from this litter. She's been breeding and showing huskies for nearly thirty years. We have been to her place twice. Both times she has had about 15 to 18 adult dogs many of them champions.

How old is Elara now? What do you feed now and how much? Anybody else too...

I fed my Sasha nothing but Eukanuba all her life. She lived 15 1/2 years! That was back in 1984 though. I think that food was better then, then it is now. We didn't have all the nice foods we have now back then. Too many choices now.

Back to the crate problem. Today I left her in it twice. Once for fifteen minutes and next for forty-five. The fist time I didn't leave the house at all and I took her potty first. She had a special chew and messed with it the whole time. Not a single complaint. When I let her out she had peed in the crate. I cleaned the crate and rinsed her off. A few hours later I put her in again and took Kira for a walk. Bud was home the whole time and she was screaming when I got back and covered with pee from head to toe. I cleaned out the crate and gave her a bath. I feed her and took her out for about 30 minutes. I kept her company. Then she got a little free time in the kitchen with me too. Then I put her in her pen. She didn't make a sound. I came in an hour later and she had peed again and had walked allthrough it. I mopped the floor and rinsed her off and put her back in. She's in the crate by the bed now trying to destroy the bottom of it. Any comments?

I was having very similar issues with my puppy Loki, he will pee in his crate and lay in it. I also discovered he is not only laying in it but he is eating his own feces and licking up the pee. Sometimes they do this because of lack of nutrition and its also a behavior they pick up from their mom's trying to keep the pen clean. Since he is so skinny we are thinking its both. We are feeding him 3 small meals a day, trying to schedule times for him to have water since if he has free access we can't control a pottying schedule. He has already gained weight but still tries to eat his poop. I am being vigilant, taking him out every 2 hours or less and making sure I thoroughly clean his crate and make sure he is clean so he doesn't feel the need to clean it himself. The people we got him from and the breeder he came from must have been truly horrendous because this poor pup has so many issues. I can see the improvements in him though. As he becomes more attached and bonds closer to us he listens very well, he doesn't guard as much, and he is wicked smart!

I would take her out every hour. Its a lot of work but it will make it easier on her. If she continues to pee in the crate at every hour potty breaks then try every 30 minutes. Closely monitor her, if she isn't tethered to you then crate her. Try playing soothing music or nature sounds. Loki screamed for 2 nights in a row but ignoring him and only taking him out after he stopped for a few minutes worked. We had to do this again after we switched from a plastic crate to a wire crate. We were covering him but now I no longer have to.

Thanks for that!

Myproblem is I don't have the heart to put her in the crate that often. When we got her she was in a small fenced in area with her litter mates. So I did the same sort of thing (a play pen) in our kitchen figuring she would be most comfortable that way. And she's does like it well enough. But she has a five foot area there. I also have a crate right next to it. She is in the play pen most of the time cus she cant be trusted on the carpet yet. Well to be honost i got furstrated today and locked the dogs outside all morning. They did rather well actually. She probably ate all sorts of stuff she shouldn't. The breeder said she is feeding her pup 2/3 cup 3 x a day with a tablespoon of yogurt. I started that this morning but i havent got the yogurt yet. So far i havent seen any poop at all today. We don't have the poop eating problem. Wow.

So if your taking him out every hour then you must be waking him up to do that?

We take him out every 2 hours and I do wake him up to take him out to prevent accidents. The one time I didn't and let him sleep he peed and walked through it. He used to just lay in the pee and get it on him and I had to bathe him a ton. I still need to give him another bath. But since I've been taking him out so frequently he isn't sitting in it or getting it on him and he still has accidents when I am not home but that isn't his fault. I've been slowly increasing the time between taking him out and he can hold it for around 3 hours to 3 1/2 depending on if its morning or night. He has to pee more in the morning. He is no longer drinking his pee either which is good. I do not know why he was doing that he did it for the first 2 weeks we had him and then he stopped. I started giving him less water more times a day and feeding him more often and it seemed to help. I just think the people who had him before just didn't know how to care for him at all. He is at a much healthier weight now and almost ready to be neutered. He gets his 3rd vaccine this week too. I give the vaccines myself so he gets 1 a month until he is 6 months old.

I feed him dry kibble only otherwise he gets diarrhea. I tried mixing wet food with his kibble but he got nasty diarrhea so I stopped. I feed him a cup in the morning, 1/2 cup in the afternoon, and a cup at night. Plus water 6 times a day or more depending on if i am at work or not. I only work 3 days a week so its not so bad. Water with each meal and inbetween feedings.

He will be 4 months old on the 1st of february and he is around 22 lbs. He is going to be a big dog LOL!

Lots of good advice in there, Amber

Thank you very much ^_^

Yes thank you so much for that...

What do you make of this?

Two days ago I put Neeka in the crate. Pottied her and gave her a huge compressed bone that I dipped in peanut butter. And turned on the TV. I had to leave her for two hours to take my Kira in for tests. When I got back she was covered with pee and screaming.

All I can think is we were doing a whole lot better before I put that divider in to make her area smaller. Well I don't really care about the potty training. I can work that out. It's the screaming upset that I must get past. I have to be able to leave her in the crate and she be calm. And you know if that was all the space i had id be upset too! So I took the divider out!!! And removed the puppy water bottle. Now she has twice the space.

I had to leave her again almost right away to go pickup Kira. I did the same thing. Took her potty and gave the bone with out the peanut butter. I was gone for a little over and hour. When I got home it was perfectly quiet. Neeka was laying BELLY UP perfectly happy and the cage was dry!

And guess what? The diarrhea is gone.

So I did the same thing yesterday. Except i crammed some kibbles into a long thin doggy soup bone! I was gone about forty five minutes with the exact same results. It was quiet, dry and calm. She hadn't gotten all the kibble out of the bone either. Kira tried later and couldn't get them out either but it kept her interest.

Then last night just before bed I let Neeka come in on her own and much to my amazement she dashed in the bedroom and hopped in the small crate and stayed there!

So if I'm not concerned with the potty training how important is the crate area?