Thank you who replied to my previous post about my new husky not liking his kennel.

To recap: he's a little over 3 months, and we've had him about 2 weeks. We were told he was potty and kennel trained, but he turned out to be neither. So it's been a rough go for us.

Update: I've managed to get him pretty happy with his kennel for the night. He goes in there without any fuss at all, sleeps until around 6am, no pee.

But the days are a different matter. He hates it in the kennel during the day, so far. I work all day, so the job of kenneling him falls to my wife. She has him in there from about 9-1 or 2. He appears to howl and whine the entire time, and pees in there every time also. He never plays with his toys including Kongs with meat and/or peanut butter.

She also just doesn't like him. So they're not the best of friends when she comes home and lets him out. He appeared to be sound asleep on the kitchen floor, then when she turned her back, he jumped up and ran to the carpet and peed. She interpreted this as a vindictive thing and it really pissed (no pun intended) her off.

It's clear to me that I either need to rehome him, which will be hard because I totally dig the little guy, or come up with a better "day" plan. Effectively, I have to figure out a way to remove my wife from the situation unless she WANTS to be involved. And also make sure he's happy, which he generally is and is learning quickly.

So my idea is to put up a fence in our garage, with a cozy igloo/house, a place to pee (artificial turf, or actual turf in a box), food, water and room to stretch out. This would be quite an upgrade from his kennel, which doesn't offer food or room to stretch or relieve himself. Eventually I will put a dog door in the door to our back yard and he'll have his run of the yard as he wishes. Our yard is big and fenced and very nearly husky-proof, just needs a few tweaks to protect against climbing/digging.

My kids will be home by about 2-4 every day and can run/love on him. And my wife will interact with him before and after work every day too. She just won't need to clean up after him, etc. And he'll have room to lay around more comfortably.

I'm worried about the separation/pack issue, as he'll be on his own about 6 hours a day. But it's the only thing I can think of other than just giving up on him.

Thoughts?

It does sound more comfortable than crate...

My thoughts are mostly logistical...will it be secure? He could not chew/jump/ climb his way out of fenced garage? Will your home be safe with garage door visibly hanging open? Will your dog be pestered by passers by? ( similar concern to leaving dog in fenced yard All day)

(When I grew up, my dog had a fenced yard with doghouse. She was not in our house unless somebody was home. Most of the neighborhood dogs were like this! If I was a dog I would vote to have this way, rather than be crated...not sure when crating became considered the way to go? I would much prefer to be able to stretch my legs, potty when needed, curl up and nap in dark secure doghouse when I wanted, roll in grass, look at birds and squirrels...somebody explain why crate is better?! Mine is crate trained but I rarely use it since I work from home. We have a fenced yard with dog door.)

One other thing to think about is climate. Our garage gets REALLY hot and stifling in the summers, way hotter than it ever gets outside. May not be safe for a dog? If your garage is south or west facing, will it get dangerously hot sometimes?

@SecretWave101 your dilemma reminded me of this very old joke.  

I realize that this isn't a funny situation for you and you're trying to resolve it the best way you can.  Most dogs, but Huskies in particular, want to be with their people, their families.  I'd suggest that the reason he acts up in the crate is that for at least part of the time your wife is there and he doesn't want to be crated when he can keep her company - I also understand that she doesn't see it that way.

Putting him outside, especially after you Husky proof your fence and give him a way in and out, will probably exacerbate the situation - lonely Huskies are two things 1) LOUD! because he feels deserted and 2) destructive because he wants someone / something to play with.  Loud Huskies are apt to cause neighbor problems ... Understand this, a loud Husky is very loud!  My first girl got out and some people 2 miles away found her and chained her up till I could come get her.  I stepped out of my house and I heard her 2 miles away!

I hate to do it this way, but if you wife actively dislikes him, you have a real problem on your hands and regrettably the result is probably going to be you getting rid of the dog.

Is daycare an option?

I would suggest rehoming him.  I don't want to sound rude, but it doesn't sound like your family is ready for a puppy. Especially because your wife doesn't like him.  It usually doesn't get better, in my experience.  e.g. to her, there will always be something the dog does or did that will be a problem.

While setting up something in the garage sounds like a nice plan, what does your wife think of you taking up a large portion of the garage for the dog?  Also, should the dog decide to regularly pee and poop in the garage, it's going to take a daily application of enzyme cleaner to keep the smell down.  In the end, I think your garage will smell like a kennel.  Which is fine if everyone agrees that that is going to happen.

Sorry to be a downer, but I'm speaking partially from experience and partially as an outsider.

Thank you for the advice. Hurting/neglecting the dog or my marriage would be the bigger downer, frankly. I do appreciate the collective wisdom.

@secretwave please let us know how you work this out. I'd like to know what attempts you make and how they work - and it'd probably be helpful for others down the road.