Hi everyone!
First of all, I love this site.
Second, I know there are a lot of mixed opinions on kenneling in general from my research. My boyfriend and I have decided to kennel out now 10 week old puppy during the day. She lives her kennel so I'm fine with that. She's in there the full work day and I come home on lunch let her out to take a break and I'll pop by a few times during the day to let her out and stretch. I feel bad because at night we kennel her till she is potty trained then she will get free roam. So she is in her kennel alot. We plan to take her to doggy daycare but she has to be 14 weeks. So my thought is because our bedroom is off the kitchen, the kitchen is the same size as our bedroom, can I put her bed and toys in there, block off the other door and let her free roam. There is no carpeting so if accidents happen it's easy to clean up but it won't be cold because she has her bed and blankets and such. I've talked to a few Co workers with dogs and they say no because they dog needs her kennel, her "cave", I'm not sure Oakley needs it 100%. I asked my boyfriend and he just shrugged his shoulders and that was the end of the conversation. So I am reaching out to you friends and seeing what you're amazing options are. Thanks much! Courtney and Oakley (I'll post a picture of her soon.)

My thoughts are no until she is potty trained. Stick to the plan that you had. Crating until she is potty trained at night. By putting her out there where she can potty on the floor without it being an issue has the potential to set her back in her training. As long as she is getting plenty of exercise and mental stimulation while she is out then the amount of crating that is going on shouldn't be a problem. When I first got my boy he was crated the same as you are doing with yours now. We crated for chewing reasons and play reasons, but the time was the same. All day, with breaks at lunch, and all night until we could trust him not to silently chew stuff in the room or our girl wanting to initiate play at 2am.

That honestly really helped. At least I know I'm not doing something wrong. What you said makes sense with putting a set back on the training. Thanks for the information.

I've always hated confining a dog to a crate for any length of time.  It's the equivalent of confining you to a 4ft x 4ft x 6ft room....which is smaller than a jail cell that we use for dangerous criminals.
And dogs are more active than people.

But, some times you need to do what you need to do.

I personally think your kitchen idea is pretty good if you can contain her there easily.  Put her crate in the area with some padding for a bed and he'll go in there naturally if he wants to rest.  But this gives her more room to move around, play, run, etc.  Be aware though that puppies (huskies definitely included here) are chewers.  She will likely nibble on every edge of every counter she can get to.  Anything she can get her teeth on will get bit.  Liberal treatments of bitter spray a few times a day may help keep this to a minimum though as long as she has other things to chew.

We do a similar thing with puppies.  We have a large bar downstairs and the area behind the bar is easily closed off with a child gate.  The linoleum floor is easy to clean if there is an accident, they can't get out, and they have way more room to hang out in.  They stay there till they are acclimated to the outdoor kennel, can navigate the ramps, and are 100% comfortable around the other dogs.
The husky pup turned the destruction up a notch over our ACD and ACD mix.  They just went after the bar for nibbles.  The husky ripped up the linoleum and started clawing the drywall!  Just remember that you could come home to some damage, or an escaped dog.  My brother's lab once chewed through the back of a cabinet.  Not on an edge, just straight through the wooden back of the cabinets.  The ACD at 8 weeks pushed his crate 6 feet to get it next to the child gate, then used a foot rest on the bar to get enough height to climb onto the crate, and then was able to jump the child gate.  To prove his point, he destroyed a $100 headset.  So make sure you thoroughly vet the area to make sure it's safe for a puppy (easily opened drawers with knives?).  

I do suggest you continue to check in and let her outside from time to time though until she can go to daycare.  You don't want her getting bored.

I assume you mean crate? WHich is another word for kennel? I would keep her crate trained at night and during the day while you are at work - will keep her potty training easier AND keep her from getting into anything she should not, that can hurt her.

While I don't crate (kennel) my pups, I'm also retired so I'm home most of the time with them. (and excuse me, but I have the gender of your pup wrong through my response)

Dogs can get into the oddest places and things; putting a dog into a garage so they have more room leaves them where they can also get into poisons, paint, all sorts of things they shouldn't have access to.  Leaving them in a kitchen gives them access to the 'stuff' under the sink and if you think the stuff in a garage can be hazardous to your dogs health - just read the warnings on the stuff under your sink.

Until you're completely satisfied that you can trust your pup to not get into things and not tear up the house when you're not around the safest place for him is in a crate.  If you crate train properly - and there's plenty of information here about how to do that - he'll come to treat the crate as his home.  It's the place he'll go to when he has a special treat, it's where he'll go when he wants to take a nap - it's  his safe place.

People here have had cameras that allow them to watch their house when they're gone. Most of the time their pup - given proper exercise before they leave - is doing nothing, sleeping and waiting for their owners to get home. One respondent gives an example of how intelligent these pups are and you'll find one thread where a non-crated dog essentially destroyed a house (and couches seem to be especially desirable) while uncrated at home alone.

Take the time to crate train her and when she does reach the point of being able to be left alone, you can still use the crate when you're visiting friends, camping, etc.

Thank you everyone for the information. I just want her to be comfortable but yeah I could see her destroying stuff if she is unsupervised especially because she is 10 weeks old only. It's not that she hates her kennel.. I guess it's technically called a crate. Whoops. Haha. She likes her crate it's just that I want her comfortable and not cramped in a small space all day and night. But she does like her crate and doesn't whine anymore like the first week. Now she knows that she gets her treat in there.

Thanks again everyone!

I'm so happy you will be utilizing doggie day care. I do not use crates at all as some people do as I was raised in a different animal culture. But I definitely see why you need one with a busy schedule. I'd say that she is spending a lot of time in it since it is day and night but she is still young and it is temporary. I set my alarm and took my pup out every 2 hours thru the night to potty train but I know many people are not into the sleep interruptions. My animals have always been like children hehe.

My 2 year old husky has to run about 5 miles everyday! This amount at least...keeps him out of mischief. I put an hour aside every morning before work...sometimes 2....and always 3 or 4 when I'm not working...to take them out walking.

I look forward to pictures of your baby!! And good job trying to be the best furmomma you can be!!

Thanks! Yeah growing up I never used crates but everyone has recommended using them and so I have with her and my past pup. I walk her as much as possible. I can't wait for her to be potty trained so I can give her free roaming privileges. I am also excited about taking her to doggie daycare. It will be so good for her. Lol

Update: so my boyfriend and the puppy are really close. He leaves for work during the week and doesn't come home till Friday. She's normally slept thru the night besides waking up once to go potty. Then she would lay back down and fall right back to sleep. I'm not doing anything different but now I take her out, put her back in and she starts to climb the cage, whine a little bit and wants out. This is what she did when we first got her, we're going backwards. What am I doing wrong here? Her crate has a divider in it because it's a big crate. Should I extend it and give her some more room? Thoughts? I feel like I'm failing. Haha. Thanks!

I had the worst time crate training Zhukov.  Every night, for weeks on end, he acted like we were locking him in a cage with a horrible monster in there with him.  Howled, cried, romped around, fussed, and screamed.  I swear to God, he would howl out "NOOO! NOOOO! NOOOOOOOOO!" for hours and hours.  I tried everything.  Toys in the crate, a pad in the crate, treats in the crate, a blanket over the crate....  nothing worked.  He would destroy the toys, the pad, pull the blanket into the crate and shred it...  Then one day, at about 3 months old, he DESTROYED the wire crate we had him in.  I mean, it looked like a sasquatch had been inside that thing and fought its way out.

Now, in his defense, I was not being consistent.  I actually started not putting him the crate, however at night he would poop and pee all over the house and, being bored, would chew on things that he wasn't supposed to.  So, we went back to basics.  Started over like it was Day 1.  I would feed him in his crate, give him a special treat when I put him in his crate, put him in for the night at the same time EVERY night.  If I let him out of the crate at night, it was right outside to potty, no wandering around or playing, and then right back inside the crate.  I would let him out first thing in the morning only after he stopped clawing and biting the gate and then praise him.

We switched him to a large, heavy duty plastic, airline carry on crate.  Eventually, it all just clicked.  He started laying in his crate with the door open, all by himself.  Now, he will hop right in whenever I say "kennel up".

TL/DR version...  Stay consistent, don't fall for the crying, and have a scheduled bedtime for her.  Oh and maybe invest in ear plugs.



If you look at the carpet, you can see where he ripped it up while he was in his wire crate.  He would push out the bottom "tray" and then shred the carpet.  Wife was not happy at all.....

Oh my! Oakley isn't that bad. She wasn't howling or anything last night. She was sleeping through the night no problem last week. Now she is trying to climb her way out. Yes I am staying consistent. What you suggested I do is what I have been doing so that makes me feel alot better. Thank you so much for that. The only thing is that her crate is in the bedroom across the house and she doesn't just randomly walk in there and lay in her crate. But she doesn't fight going in there when it's time to leave for the day or to go to sleep.

You guys rock and this site rocks!

I crate trained my dog since the second day she came home with us. Now she's 2 years old and we can completely trust her to not destroy anything when we're not home. We can leave her in the room with the door open and she usually just sleeps or hangs out all day until we come home. Sometimes she pulls out all her toys and plays with them but we haven't had any instances where she got into something she shouldn't have while we were gone.
I honestly believe this is due to consistent crate training over the last 1 1/2 years of her life. The past six months we've let her roam free for the most part. Crating is important not only for your house but for the health and happiness of your dog. What happens if your dog eats something toxic while you're gone or if your dog swallows something and chokes?
Stick with the crate training! It's hard especially when they're puppies because when they cry you just want to pick them up and apologize for ever putting them in there. When we were crating training our baby we read online to not even look at them when they cried. She crate trained incredibly fast and she usually lounges in her crate these days.

Right now her crate is by my side of the bed so she can see everything. It is partially covered. So like I said she doesn't go into the bedroom besides when one of us are in there with her. Then she walks into the kennel no big deal. Do you think I should move it to the living room or kitchen where she is more often?

Courtlynn, I think most people (since I don't crate, I have to speak from the experience of others) find that having the crate near where you are most of the time is most beneficial - and remember you sleep 8 hours (more or less) during the time you're home.

These dogs are really odd (how's that for an understatement?) in that they were historically bred with a family. When the Chuckchi were on the move, these pups were the engine for their transportation; when they were in one place for a while, these dogs were the baby-sitter and bed warmer. They expect to be *with* their human as much as dogly possible.

Since she knows that the crate is her home and bed, you're probably better off just leaving it where it is. She's comfortable with it there since she's near her humans. If you don't have any other reason to move it than to give her a place of her own outside the bedroom, don't move it ... if you need to use it for training then move it - permanently - to where you want it. She sounds like she knows that your house is her den so I don't hear you saying you need it for obedience or potty training ... so I'd just leave well enough alone.

Thank you so much for the information. This is reassuring that I'm doing it correctly.