Ok... I am new to this site.
I got myself a puppy on Sat!!! yaaah.. She is 4 months old and this is her 3rd home already. Last home had three kids, cat, rotti and they all lived in a apartment.!!
I have two little dogs, and the cockpoo is not being very nice to Meka the puppy. So everytime there is a bit of growling going on I step in a stop it. I want her to stay in a crate when i am at work and at night. Because she was sleeping with my son, but this is causing problems with the dogs that have been here for years. Plus when she is full grown there will be no place for my son on his bed! I put her in the crate last night and she went crazy...crying, howling, trying to get out. I tried to ignore her, maybe a half a hour went by and i finally took her out the the crate and put a blanket on the floor and i would not allow her to get on the bed. Finally she lied down and stopped roaming around the bedroom, i had shut my door to keep her in. So this morning after i let her out at 6am till 630 got ready for work, it was about 7 am i took her bone and put a treat in her crate for her to get in. In she got but the minute i left the room she went crazy again! My son called me at work a hour later and said he went up and let her out, she was driving him crazy.!
So my question is, she i just leave her in there until she gets use to it in the day? i have read the thread about, making her bed her place , treats, speacial toys, nice pillow. I plan on doing that tonight. But how do i get her to stop howling? I dont want her to control me, i need to be the boss!!!

You have kids so I'm hoping you'll understand this, but there is no way to stop a puppy from howling anymore than there is to stop a kid from crying. Crate training is not for the soft-hearted because the only way to stop it is tough love. She needs to learn that she won't get her way from howling, so you'll have to control the situation, not the dog.

I would put the crate in your room at night and then during the day, you're going to just need people to either let her out while they are home, or get used to the howling.

NEVER let her out when she is crying. This will just make the problem worse. You HAVE to wait until she stops....


Wish I had better advice for you, but there is no flick of the switch way to train this. It takes a lot of time. I think using the other thread's advice will help a lot, so work from there and let us know how it goes

Thanks so much!!!
That is what i plan on doing, Tough Love. In the day when I am gone no one is home. So she will learn quicker, because there will be no chance of someone letting her out, untill I get home.I went a bought a Kong and some yummy treats to use for her bed, plus a nice soft dog pillow. So when i get home, I will feed her in there, and later, put some yummy treats in there.
Another question, when should you feed them, so they dontgo to the bathroom at th e wrong times. First few nights she slept with my son there were no messes, last night in my room she pooped. But i think if i feed her a hour before i go to work she should have done her business by then? Or do you feed once a day. She doesnt eat alot just kinda nibbles at it.

I have a 4 month old, too, and we offer him food three times a day. Many days he eats only twice. Every husky I have known has required less food than other breeds their size. They often just skip meals, sometimes multiple meals. Sabaka often does not eat until 1:00 and then again in the evening. Pooping comes quickly after eating for him and always first thing in the morning too.

Sabaka does very well in the crate now with only a few minutes of whining on those occasions that he believes he should not be crated. He is destuctive, so he is crated during our showers and anytime when we are away or asleep. My teen son will crate him when he's home alone with the dog and busy doing homework.

I can't imagine your dog pillow lasting long in that crate. I think my guy would rip it to shreads. He has a woven rug that he destroys a little more every day, but he doesn't seem to eat it so I let him have his fun. As a matter of fact, since he likes my son's bean bag in the den so much I got him a dog pillow to use in the crate at night and he cried and whimpered until we took it out and put his ugly, ripped-up rug back in!

Good Luck!

SabakaMom wrote:

I can't imagine your dog pillow lasting long in that crate. I think my guy would rip it to shreads. He has a woven rug that he destroys a little more every day, but he doesn't seem to eat it so I let him have his fun. As a matter of fact, since he likes my son's bean bag in the den so much I got him a dog pillow to use in the crate at night and he cried and whimpered until we took it out and put his ugly, ripped-up rug back in!

Haha. Koda did the same thing! We put his bed in there which he LOVES and he cried and cried and cried and tore it to shreds until we took it out. He prefers the hard plastic bottom of the crate.

Puppies do better when fed more often. I would feed him at least 2x if not 3x a day if you are able. Koda and Hailey are fed at 7:30am and 5:30pm and they have a BM first thing in the morning and around 3:30 in the afternoon. However, every dog is different, so feeding on a schedule is really important to learn his habits

meka did great last night. minus the cage. She keeps breaking out of it!!!! i went to bed a midnight, and she wasnt whinning, i thought WOW great. but when i woke up this morning at 6am she was beside me in bed???!!! How does she do it. I have a wire crate and i have a extra lock on the front door, but she ..... gets the end sp it pops open or something and gets through this really little spot! I even moved the dresser close so she would have no room to get out, BUT SHE DID!! and this morning, after playing and going outside, i put her kong with kibble and peanut butter in her bed, some toys and and a bone. I kept getting dressed well she was in her bed, she was fine. I went to work and my son called me at 8:30 a hour after i left and she had got out again and pooped downstairs!!!! she is as stubborn as I am.!!! so how do i keep her in that cage!! would the kong with kibble and peanut butter make her poo?

And what if she doesnt want to eat in the morning? I dont come home till 4pm. So she would eat then at 4pm and 7 or eight again before her walk? would that work?

Are you leaving her in her crate (or trying to anyway) for the 8 hours or more that you are at work? I would think she would need a potty break during your lunch break or perhaps have a dog walker let her out. If you did that, you could offer her food again in the middle of the day if she hadn't eaten her breakfast that morning. It's almost 9:30 here and Sabaka still shows no interest in eating. He probably will not eat until after noon.

Is she getting out of the wire crate because the wire is flimsy and fexible or is she opening the door latches? Some folks have had to use carabiners as extra "locks" on the crate door. Our crate is very old and I think they "just don't make 'em like they used to."

Puppies can only hold it physically for as many hours as they are months old. So your 4 month old puppy can only PHYSICALLY hold it in for 4 hours. If she's not going out in that time, then yeah, I'd say that's causing a problem.

Koda has 3 extra locks on his crate (he has 2 doors) and Hailey has 2 (her crate is smaller and doesn't need as many). Sometimes you just have to reinforce them. These dogs are smart, very smart.

What food are you feeding her and how much is she getting?

Her crate is wire and i do have a extra lock on both doors but she pushed the top of it opened this morning. No i havent left her in that long yet, the longest i think was like a half hour, and she gets out herself!!! my son is on march break so he is home with her all day this week. But nxt week i will have a problem. My son will be coming home on his lunch to let her out, and feed her, so if he was to feed her when he got home would she have a poop before he went back to school from his lunch. The doctor said to give her lamb and rice dog food.

oh and the vet said to feed her 3 cups a day. But she wont eat that much.

and how do i reinforce the cage? can i use the plastic heavy duty cable ties, and do them around the whole cage tight? would that work?

What kind of lamb and rice food? Brand? I might try a different food. Huskies are picky eaters especially and puppies NEED that much food to grow. So I would try to find a food right now that she eats. How are her stools? Formed, or mushy?

We had to pinch Hailey's supports for the sides with pliers so that she couldn't pop the sides out and in on herself. You may have to do that.

I'd use carrabiners. That's what we use. They're cheap and work.

Her stools and firm and formed. I am not sure what brand the BF bought our other two dogs are on the same food. Is there one better then another?

Your baby should be eating puppy food. Here's a dog food comparison website that I like: www.dogfoodadvisor.com

There's lots of differing opinions about dog food. I would suggest that you find a 4- or 5-star food recommended on a site like Dog Food Advisor that doesn't break your piggy bank and go with that. I like it that Dog Food Advisor highlights questionable ingredients in red. For instance, they include garlic as a questionable ingredient, many dog owners aren't bothered by garlic at all. These are descisions that you need to make yourself.

I'm probably most concerned with grains in the food. I don't like to see corn at all. I also am afraid of soy since I had a dog allergic to soy once. Soy boosts the protein level, I think, and if the food has proper amounts of meat it will not need to have the soy for added protein. That's all my opinion...

Oh, I see her pic! She's beautiful!

Thanks so much!!!!
I will check that site out.

www.dogfoodanalysis.com is another one It's actually VERY similar, just different layouts

I thought her pooping issues may be related to the food she is eating, but if they are firm and formed, then I don't think that is the case.

However, your dog should be eating puppy food and huskies generally do better on grain-free diets. You might just need to find a food that she likes more to entice her to eat more because it's important for puppies to get the right amount of nutrition as they grow (just like kids lol).

I will check them out and get her some puppy food then. Since she has had three homes already, I have no clue what she would have been eating

Update!!!
We fixed the crate so she can not get out. We puther in it at 7:10 last night and she threw a temper tantrum till 8:15pm. When she stopped i went up stairs and let her out and took her out side. Wow , can she cry!! then before bed we put her back in it it was only 45 mins and she stopped then i let her out again. So tonight she is going in there all night. So do i just put her in there, and let her do her thing till she stops? I have been doing when i am home too, but she just acts like someone is beating her!!

That's awesome!!

As you continue to do this, you want to wean her into it too. For example, if she cries for an hour, then stops, you let her out right away with praise. Then next time wait 5 mins after she stops to let her out and keep increasing that wait time gradually

Can the crate be put in your bedroom for night time? I think that will help her calm down quickly and know she has to go to bed. If not, yes, I would just let her scream it out and then hopefully she settles down for the rest of the night.

It is in my bedroom. Ok good i was just making sure i was doing it right. I cannot believe she could keep it up that long!! My son said she sounds just like my little sister.lol ( his dads daughter)

You might have to put up with the crying for a while, but she should be okay. Once she hears/feels you heading to bed, I'm sure she'll settle down. Good luck!

Well I have tried everything you guys have said. And nothing has worked. It got so bad that i firmly told her ENOUGH and BE QUIET and she sat down and shut up? So she was spayed two days ago, i told the vet that i was worried that when i crate her to go to work she will hurt herself. So he gave me Zylkene, it is a relaxer? So i bring her home last night, she is doing great . This morning i take her out, play with her in the yard alittle, she does her business, i give her her pills. I then ignore her for 20 mins like the vet said. Put her in her Crate and went to work. Not a hour later my 15 year old calls, saying Meke is bleeding. I asked what happened he said she broke a steel bar on her crate and it is clean through her paw!!!! OMG!!! so he calmed her down and got wire cutters cut the steel off the crate and gently pulled it out of her paw!! by then i got home and took her to the vet. Which is where she is now!! HELP!!! she i get a plastic crate???

Oh no! I hope she is ok. In husky home remoldeling thread I posted my saga with the crate. Frankie was quite the escape artist. He broke out once and it was all down hill from there. I became so worried because he was hurting himslef with all the digging and biting, but he did even more damage out of the crate (and this was all after 2 hours of exercise). He loved his crate when I was home, he had severe isolation anxiety.
We went to a plastic airline type crate with the metal front door. Within a day he figured out how to break the door open.
What finally worked for us.......I had plexi glass cut to fit the door of the plastic crate with lots of holes for ventilation and bolted it on the inside of the door. This was my trainers recommendation. This way he could not find a weak spot to work at. After a while he realized that he couldn't get to it and eventually stopped injuring himself.
We no longer need the crate, but this was the only thing that kept him safe at the time.

Well that is good to know!!! i am going to go and get a plastic one. Maybe she will not be able to open the door. But if she does. I will get the plexie glass and do that. Thank you for the idea.
So what you are saying is she will stop being a goof and realize she has to stay in there and stop her crap?Now i dont put her in there at night. I let her sleep beside my bed. Should i put her in the crateand let her just shut up and get use to it? I now tell her to be quiet because if you didnt she would howl and carry on for hours and hours!!!