Hello all!

I am a owner of a 7 month old husky/malamute puppy. I got him early, when he was 6-7 weeks old, and it has been really fun since. I understand a lot of people might judge, but I do keep him outside, most of the time. We have this huge yard (20 something acres), and even though he is outside mostly, he is rarely alone except at night. We spend a lot of time outdoors.

Anyhow, he has been spending nights outside for the past two months or so, and he never seemed to mind at all. Even the first night we left him outside, when he got his house, he never howled or whined at all. But two nights ago, he suddenly started to whine, usually around midnight-1AM. After that, he would calm down and go to sleep, and I did not hear him for the rest of those two nights.

Other than that, he seems completely normal throughout the day. As usually, he has a lot of energy, we play a lot, walk him daily. He is eating like usually, nothing is changed, except for the sudden howling/whining.

Could anyone more experienced share their insight?

Also, I have one more question. Since we keep him outside, we were thinking of getting another dog. My parents really want a dachshund, but with their sensitive backs and how roughly huskies can play, I don't think it is the best idea. Can someone recommend a breed that would be a good fit for a husky (a smaller breed preferably)?

Thanks in advance.

Hey Nikola, welcome to the forum. Most of us have our pups as inside pets but there's nothing wrong if your boys happy outside - and you'd know if he wasn't!

I don't *know* why your boy's started whining but I'll offer a suggestion - it's that time of year when nature changes, getting ready for winter. It's quite possible that some varmint (coyote / big cat / ??) is making him nervous. He's not free, he can't get to it so it's fight or flight and he can't do either - that's nervous time.

Up in NY state, where I'm from originally, early winter is the time that the bears come out of the swamps looking for a few good meals before they go hibernate for the winter (and don't be a pedant, I know that bears estivate not hibernate!) and all the local animals get nervous. Possible???

Pet friends are really different, some Huskies take to smaller dogs and some take after them. Most recognize a dog as a dog, but some few will see a smaller dog (chihuahua / dachshund) as prey. I think many of our dual breed homes are a medium size Husky and a bigger Lab / GSD. We do have some small dog homes ... but, I think, it's going to be a case of expose the Husky to a small dog and see.

I think something is roaming around out there at those hours. Do you know what kind of wild animals you have out there? I'd guess that Al is correct, and it's an animal that makes your pup nervous.

My dogs are inside dogs. I'm on the edge of a canyon and have multiple circumstances that prevent me from ever leaving them outside unattended. There are some nights, mostly in the spring/summer when my boy, Kohdi, will wake me up in the middle of the night and want out, I always let him out cuz I'm thinking he has to pee, but 9 times out of 10, it's because there is a coyote hanging out by the fence down in the canyon. How he knows this from inside the house I'll never know, but it's almost always the case.

Several members here have huskies along with Chiuahah's, and seem to be really good together!

Welcome to the forum! I'd love to see pics of your pup! I used to have a Malamute (best dog ever!) and of course I have always had huskies.

I'm assuming since you have 20 or so acres you live somewhere rural, I too believe there might be predaters roaming and that's why he is howling and whining, he's nervous, those other animals would easily take him, until he grows up, also be very leary of big birds. I know about outside dogs, are you going to use him for hunting? If not, then consider bringing him in, huskies very much love being around people, I too adopted a husky early, 5 weeks, sometimes they do have separation issues from mother and siblings, although in your case, it's noises which are probably an animal stomping around. As for another dog, get another husky, either male or a female.

@jc68 - you caught something I didn't, at this young age - 7 months - he's real apt to be prey. And have a real good reason to be anxious.

If the OP (@Nikola13) has some decent outside lights, and I were in his position, I'd be looking to see why his dog is barking. It's more difficult when you're inside and the dog's outside but you should still be able to get a direction that he's looking when he's whining - if you don't see anything in your lights, go out the next day and check for tracks. If he's looking toward the house, it's probably "Dad, I don't like this any more, please take me in!", if he's looking at some spot on the acreage, take a good look and see what's been there. There's something that he's nervous about.

If you'd said that he started whining from day one then I'd say that you had a case of separation anxiety, since he has been comfortable out there, I'd not consider that too seriously.

Hello everyone and thanks for your comments.

I have to apologize, I live outside of U.S. and English is my second language so I messed up my surface units It is not 20 acres, it is more like 2 acres. Way less, I know...

So, actually, we live in suburban area. No wild animals around here. It could possibly be some stray cats, but nothing larger than that could roam around here.

I was thinking it might be separation anxiety, but it just happened suddenly. One night he was all good outside by himself, and the next night he was whining. Last night he was silent the entire night, but it is now midnight where I am, and he is whining.

Btw, fun fact, we have the same birthday

I'll post a few of his images as soon as the forum lets me. Its all on Google Drive, and it is not letting me post external links yet.

Nikola a couple of different comments:

I think you should be able to post a picture almost any time (staff *is* there any limitation), I've seen users with two posts who have posted pictures.

The problem with trying to post a Google Drive Pictures is that it has this format:

Code:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxLCtmWyqRlpVlNhalBhZmZPVlU

while our forum is looking for something that looks like this

Code:

https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/97/13/94/p1000010.jpg

now if you throw img tags around it, like so:

Code:

[img]https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/18/97/13/94/p1000010.jpg[/img]

you get a picture:

What I did was to download a picture from my Google Drive, and then used the "host an image" icon to upload it to imgserv, a partner company to the company where we run the forum, so they should be around for a long while.

Second comment:
I think all us today prize our privacy - the internet makes that difficult at best and many of us share all too much - however if members, like you, who live outside the English speaking world would update their profile a bit to include a location, which doesn't need to be more than possibly the country (and maybe a city?), then it would help all of us who scratch our heads wondering "What did they really mean by that??"

I presume that your roughly two acre lot is in fact a hectare lot?  ( and how do you really pronounce that? )

Pups also go through phases of fear where one day something bothers them that never used to and then after a bit of it not eating them then they get over it. As seasons change and the moon moves into new spots new shadows are cast and that could potentially freak him out and then one day it may just stop. If you know there's nothing out there lurking, even if there is really, I would perhaps add some lights to his area if it won't bug you or your neighbors to have a little extra light back there and see if it makes a difference. If it's a critter wandering around the lights should deter it. If it's a person wandering around then you have a different issue. When I first got my girl (she was an adult already) she preferred to be outside. We kept her in during the day when we were gone and let her out at night when it was cool, but after a bit she did just prefer to be inside with us through the night and has been ever since.

Shouldn't be any post restrictions on pictures. Only format restrictions Al already covered above.

I had period of time where Ami would out of the blue start washing fussing and passing I the middle of the night. Archer three nights, I found out why..neighbours cow was getting out and coming to our backyard to munch on the abundant cover on our lawn.