Hi, I just rescued a 8 month old husky from a local shelter and he does not like to be in his crate, for most of the day we are outside with him, playing and walking and at night we try and put him in his crate. Tonight, he has not wanted to even set foot inside and he is sleeping outside as I write this, is there any advice to try and make it easier for him to sleep in his crate or should I just let him sleep outside, which I do not want.

Where is the crate at night? He might like it better if in your bedroom. Also, how warm do you keep your house? Since you just got your boy, he has some adjustment time so things can be a bit rough at first. My guy would be happy as a clam if he were allowed to sleep outside at night. We started to let him stay out then he killed a rabid raccoon so now he's inside at night, out all day except when we eat (hubby shares his meals with Mr. Dog.

Which, incidentally, is how I get him inside at night - we have a bedtime ritual. He goes out to pee, comes in and we sit on the floor while I hand feed a few tablespoons of kibble. Until last week, he used to stay out until somewhere between midnight and 2AM - that changed last Thurs after the 2nd skunking this spring. Cleaning up a skunked dog at 2AM is NOT my cup of tea. So now, I bring him between 9 and 10PM and he's in for the night except for one last pee.

The best thing you can do is to establish a predictable schedule for him. It will become habit. It took 3-4 days to change Ami's night time routine. You have an 8 month old teenager. He's going to test you on...EVERYTHING for a while. Especially being new to you. Decide now what you want his routines, habits and behavior to be and be consistent. He will, maybe not in 3-4 days (Ami is older and we have history together) but in a few weeks, now what you expect and, with less and less "argument" start to comply.

As for the crate - I actually use to crawl in there and feed him treats while petting him. Other things are you can cover it so its like a den, put some favorite toys in there, put it in your room...

Good luck

The whole night has passed and he slept majority outside in my front yard till my brother carried him inside and we had to sleep in my living room, not even close to his crate. His crate is in a hallway that everyone walks thru, we have a cover and a blanket down for him in there. He doesn't really take treats or really eat since we got him on Monday. I know I shouldn't force him inside or close the door in his face and you tips will definitely tried out when I sleep tonight, or when I leave for work.

You have to make the crate worth being in for him. Frozen kongs if you can get him interested in them is a good option or bones to chew on only when he's in the crate could help also. If he came from a place of being outside and hasn't ever really had any rules then it will take time as Amy said. When I first got my girl she had been loose on the streets for an unknown amount of time and she was nervous of being 'trapped' in the house. The house had different humidity, was warmer than she was used to, and very dark compared to outside where she had come from. She slept outside for nearly 2 months at night until she acclimated to us and the new place and routine and then she became more comfortable being in at night and now sleeps in bed with us. To an extent you need time, routine, and eventually a little tough love and he will come around.

So I had Cloud's crate moved to my room, so I can study. I got him into the crate no problem and two hours later he broke thru the crate and got his head stuck. I know it takes time but I'm definitely feeling really defeated at this point.

How did he break through the crate? Got the door open partially, or busted a seam on the crate?

Busted the seam

jackiediones wrote:

Busted the seam

Carabiners or stanley quick links on all seams Hint from the shelter I adopted Ami from...breaking through crates a rather frequent occurrence. If you can tough it out, it will be worth it - I thought my son was going commit hari kari the first few months he had Archer. And you have adopted a pup at the worst age possible (the height of teenage years.) It can only get better...after then next 2-4 months.

If you don't need to break the crate down very often zip ties might be an option also. Escape attempts are very common. Just gotta tough it out and up your cleverness to match what they throw at you. You'll make it though.

Thank you for all the tips, I have been reading throughout the forum and it says that I need to put a lot of time into training my dog and myself or my family doesn't have that kind of time. I don't want to give up because he is a beautiful dog and a kind soul but I'm almost at that point of giving up