Hey friends,

My Husky Ghost is 4.5 months old now, and almost everything is going well.

We decided to crate train her, and it's never been her favorite thing in the world. The biggest issue, however, is her pulling the blanket / comforter I have on top of the crate into the crate with her through the little openings in the crate. I don't even know how she does it, but most mornings I find at least halfway in there with her.

Well, this morning was the final straw. Not only did she pull it in with her, but she destroyed it. I don't care about the damage, it's just... not an ideal quality. I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for a thicker / heavier fabric to put over the crate, or maybe I can go without a cover, but the one night I tried that, she wasn't a fan.

She also gets up at 5:00 AM in the crate no matter what time I put her in there. It could be 2AM and she'd still get up at 5. I know it's not because she has to pee, either, because I had to spend some time away for work and I brought her with me, she slept great on the floor next to my bed until 8 AM! I had to wake her up!

So I guess my second question is, if she seems to like sleeping out of the crate, and is behaving well doing that right now, would it be a bad idea to abandon the crate during bedtime? She is fully house trained at this point, and the damage she can do in my room is minimal anyway. If you think it's a bad idea to abandon the crate... any ideas on how I can solve the waking up early + pulling the blanket in issue?

I'll also point out that I do leave her in there with a few toys and a relatively long lasting snack, so while I bet the destruction is boredom related, I'm not sure how to make her less bored in there. And I don't think she's not tired, as she'll gladly sleep until 8AM outside of the crate!

What's also strange is that she spends one night a week with my GF because I have to work extremely late once a week, and she NEVER does this in her crate. She'll sleep until 8AM over there INSIDE the crate with no issue. I must be doing something wrong!

Thanks!

I suspect she has you wrapped around her little paw, at least in some instances, and she knows it. There's some novelty in being at your GFs house so she doesn't push it and the change of pace may even wear her out some enabling her to settle in better. The crate serves as a known in an unknown or at least less known environment so she's more comfortable with it there. But at home on HER turf she's comfortable trying to get her way.

If she is fine sleeping in your room and won't bother anything and you don't mind her doing so then you can always let her sleep in there at night as long as she doesn't get bratty about being in the crate during the day when your gone or the other times you require her to be in it. Since you mentioned that she could do minimal damage to your room I am guessing you do expect some damage perhaps if she is out at night? If she does anything she would lose her bedroom rights.

There are crate covers you can buy that velcro or snap into place. Something like that should be harder for her to pull through. Or if you have or know someone with some sewing skills you could probably fashion such a thing for an old blanket so if she got to pulling on it she couldn't get it through. You could also look into using cardboard as a cover instead. Something stiff she can't really get a hold of and pull through and if it's destroyed it's not as big a deal since it won't hurt her and is cheap to replace.

That is really good advise. Shortly after I dropped this message, I thought about 'boxing' the crate with plywood, or like you said, cardboard.

I have no issue letting her sleep in my room. In fact, I like it. It lets me sleep longer, and THUS FAR, no damage. The only reason why I would suspect that she could damage something is that I've caught her biting and chewing some of the end pieces of carpet downstairs. She hasn't tried that in my room yet.

My only concern with keeping her out of there at night is sending her mixed messages, or hurting other areas of her training in some way. She's currently going for the AKC puppy star thing, and I don't want me giving in to her to lead to other bad habits forming, but at the same time - I read that a lot of owners eventually transition to out of the crate sleeping, so I'm a bit torn.

She will also be getting fixed soon, so I worry that during those couple of weeks when she is recovering, if having her in the crate at night is a good or bad idea. If I SHOULD keep her in the crate while she recovers, I don't want to train her out of it just yet. If I it's better for her to be in a space that is a little more comfortable / where I can keep an eye on her, like my bedroom, than I guess I don't have a problem transitioning her out of the crate now.

Anymore feedback would be wonderful! I'm just thinking out loud here.

My experience with fixing and crates is that I can't sleep through the sound of the cone of shame smacking into the side of the crate all night long. Might not be an issue if she is crated too far away to hear though. Carpet chewing is a silent task so I would want to be very aware of where she is and what might be in reach if you do decide to let her stay out at night. I would close the door or gate her in your room so she can't sneak out into the rest of the house. At 4.5 months old she hasn't hit her horrible teens yet, so while sleeping out at night right now would probably work there's no guarantees once her teens hit. Every pup is a little different. Many here who crate during the day don't crate at night and don't have issues with it. Huskies are all about routine. If it becomes routine to be out at night and in during the day she will eventually make the transition. I wouldn't completely abandon the crate though.

Hmmm. Ok, that gives me something to think about.

I don't crate her during the day because I am fortunate enough to work from home, so I either have her in the home office with me, or I bring my laptop into the living room and work there, or if I'm particularly busy i'll tie her up in a little safe play zone I made for her downstairs where there is nothing to destroy.

I've had her sleep in my room the last two nights, with the door closed, and again, no issues, but like you said, I don't want to train her out of the crate entirely, so I may stick with the crate overnight after all. Ugh. I hate sending her mixed signals. And the teen phase... I might want to wait until she grows out of that one.

When / how long does that generally last?