We purchased a crate on eBay, "EliteField" is the brand... it has a thin metal pan (thinner than I had hoped for) so hopefully it doesn't get chewed up like all the plastic ones. 47 zip ties and 5 mini locks later (our attempt to husky proof it, using all the knowledge we gained from the first crate), tomorrow will be her first full work day back in the crate, so we'll see what happens...

We came home early today so she only spent half a normal day in the crate. She seemed like she was in the middle of a panic attack! I'm going to try without the TV on tomorrow. Here I am trying to show her the crate is a safe place (yes I know the crate is a little tooooo big, but I can't stand crates as it is...)

I'd rather it be too big. I can't stand it when people crate them in crates that are too small and they can't stand up or turn around.

My GSD has never been in a crate he has the run of the house. He is really good
Now Thor on the other hand, if I cannot see him or hear him then I go looking for him...lol He has to be crated when we are not home. He has eaten a lot of stuff, I was lucky enough to find a huge one on craigslist for $35 both Thor and Nero fit in it if I need them both in it.
Thor loves his crate he lays in it all the time and when he knows we are going some where he goes in it without being told and tries to close the door. I always give him a treat when he does. So sometimes when he wants a treat he will go in it and bark at me...lol

She behaved that way when we took her on vacation in 2010, but I am guessing that's because we were in a new place / etc and the crate was the only thing that was familiar. Hopefully I can get her back to that space...

I kept Ava in a crate when she was little and had to be left alone. Now, she's allowed out in the house some. Definitely not free reign of the house though! We have a few off-limits rooms for the dogs, but they can get most places. She does destroy stuff on occasion, but that's always our fault for not exercising her enough. We kept her crate to be a bed and she loves it. Its also her place to hide stuff. Right now, one of the cats' bowls is "hidden" in the corner under the bed.



All the stuff wasn't in there when she was little because she would have shredded it, but now that its just a nice comfy bed, it can be pretty too

Awwww. I love that Ava's crate is so pretty!

That's cute what you did with her cage. Is that a baby crib bumper?

Haha, thanks I had to make sure that she had a very girly little crate. Its like a baby bumper, but I talked my mom into making it herself so it would fit just right and be the fabric and everything that I wanted.

Very cool... I might have to try something like that to Thor's he likes his cage.

O my gosh, if i left anything like that in Kale's crate it would be in shreds! LOL! I can't even put anything over it, he pulls it in and shreds it and eats it.

I like the crate "bed/padding" that goes up the sides, thinking I might try that out on cali's crate because she LOVES blankets in her bed...she gets very vocal when they are getting washed...so I wash them while playing with her, then dry them while we are out for a walk so she doesn't have a crate without a blankie or two

layla has done great at home by herself, we just close all the doors so she only has run of the living room and kitchen, so far (knock on wood) all she has gotten into is some cookies left on the counter and find her sleeping on the couch when we get home. the longest she has been left alone is like 2 hours though. we need to start gettin her used to bein in her crate again. she hasnt been in it in awhile so now shes whines about it.

We have left our 9 year old Shylo out with free roam of the living room and kitchen. We tried the crate but I don't think she is a big fan of closed in places. We also have to keep her calm for 8 weeks due to heart worm treatments....freaking out in a crate isn't very calm. She has not destroyed anything at all however she has pooped. When we are home she doesn't go in the house. We make sure we let her out before we leave and we only feed her at night. We left this morning for 5 hours she pooped. We left earlier for maybe 30 minutes, she pooped again.
Any suggestions on how we can teach her that this is wrong?!?

I've had this trouble too. I work a full day 8-5 two days a week and Mia is crate trained although it's hard to bare leaving her locked in there for that long of time. So I tried giving her the benefit of the doubt (3 times) and left her gated in the kitchen since there is all tile floors if she absolutely had to have an accident. She's 9 months old, potty trained and always let's us know when she has to go out. I came home to multiple pee accidents and a pile of poop

The thing is when we leave her in her crate for that amount of time she doesn't have a single accident, so I know she can hold it. Any ideas on how to help with this?

What do you need help with? She's crate trained and it works. What's the problem?

^^^ I agree with Jeff.

Thanks Lucy.

There are zero ways to teach a dog to not pee or poop while running free in the house for 8-9 hours. This is literally why crates were invented, as well as for keeping your belongings from being torn up by her mouth or ending up inside of her belly, costing you money or possibly losing her altogether.

Crates work perfectly. Dogs do not hate them or you for putting them in one if trained properly.

Jeff, being argumentative a dog that has been properly house trained and sees the house as his (obviously shared with the owner) won't mess in the house except in very extreme circumstances.

While I've had many dogs over the years and some have come to me untrained, I can't think of any who haven't had the run of the house whether I'm home or not. (Though I admit that this trailer is portioned off with a gate)

Sasha, when she came to me decided the kitchen tile was okay and it took basic potty training to help her understand that it wasn't.  I don't think I've had a mess from her in well over a year (but remember, I've had her for three so potty training was a long, arduous and frustrating experience).
Avalanche would also fit that bill except that I can't get it through his skull that marking the one plant I have in the kitchen is not something I appreciate (argh!)
With few exceptions, and none serious, I don't think either of them have chewed anything for a couple of years - it's their house as well as mine and they just don't mess up their house.

Quick story: Several years back I had a black lab ( Lady ) I was taking a quick motorcycle trip from Houston over to my Aunt's in Lake Charles, LA so expected that Lady would be housebound for 6 - 9 hours, longer than a normal work day, but I thought it would be tolerable.  As it was, my uncle had heart problems, we spent time in the hospital with him and it was the next day before I got back home - something like 36 hours.  Needless to say, as soon as I opened the door she told me she wanted out NOW! but there were no spots in the house.  

Now, that said, given the difference between a normally laid back lab and the exuberant nature of the Husky, if you can give a Husky free rein. Great!; if you can't, I see absolutely nothing wrong in proper crate training.

By the way, Jeff, given the situation I see nothing wrong with your response to Jena1ay ... if the dog is crate trained and it's only two days a week - leaving her in the crate is the best place.

aljones wrote:

Jeff, being argumentative a dog that has been properly house trained and sees the house as his (obviously shared with the owner) won't mess in the house except in very extreme circumstances.

Right, but this most recent post has a 9 month old puppy who is "potty trained" and pees and poops at will when alone.

For me it is never or years away if ever. With my lab and shepherd mix I always thought they are better, I'll leave them out. I felt bad about crates and tons was damaged. They would be good for days or weeks, then bang a step in my staircase gone. A hole in my concrete basement floor. A leg of a dressor, oh a nightstand too. It wasn't until they were 3-4 years old they could be left out and even then I think they may have still went into the trash occassionally. They were not huskies.

My huskies. Both know how to open every interior door in my house. If backdoor not closed, my youngest can open screen door. They would be out of house even if I locked it, they would figure out how to unlock. They would figure out lots of things. LOTS. And I'm just too old for that now and learned with the first two dogs I owned as adult that young dogs are like kids and can't really be trusted alone. Also, I have two cats and while my 5 babies all act friendly when I'm around and I have done much to socialize them and my kitties are very doggie friendly and have cat safe places, I cannot subject my cats to being left alone with two male huskies. You hear of huskies killing cats and the one thing that is consistent is if monitored it is way less likely to happen. Most times the people are not around when it happens. Thus, boys need to be crated when we all leave.