We just got a 3m old Husky. No papers but probably a pure breed. He's a very good dog but he hates his crate. His previous owner said he was crate trained, and could easily sleep through the night as well as tolerate it during the day when she was gone.

When we first brought him home (a week+ ago), he whined when we put him in the crate, but quickly settled down and slept. We've only had him in there for a couple hours during the day once, and he did ok there too, but complained about it.

But in the past few days, he's hating it more and more. He's peed in there 3-4 times, even with toys, food, etc to discourage that. We feed him in there, and he'll go in, take a bite or two, then get out, clearly worried we'll close the door on him. I recently bought him a bigger crate than what he had because it was tiny. This new one is wire (instead of plastic) with a better view, but we covered it with blankets for a more "den-like" appearance. There's a divider in there to make it cozy but not cramped.

He's been waking up earlier and earlier. This morning he had urinated in it by 5am and was howling and crying in there. I took him out, cleaned him off, cleaned out the crate, took him outside to urinate (and defecate), kept everything dark and mellow and put him back in the crate. He never shut up. For hours. Nobody slept.

We all hope to have a family dog (me, wife, 4 kids), but we only agreed to go with this guy because he was said to be able to stay in a crate. We run him 2-3 times a day and give him tons of affection between the various family members, but my wife and I both work and the kids are in school. Because he's not potty-trained, I don't see how we can do this when we're gone during the day. He'll destroy the house. I think he pees about every 20 minutes.

The seller of the dog is ready to come take him back and give us our 800 bucks back (she's very cool). But my kids will murder me if I get rid of their puppy after a week of serious bonding with him.

Do I need to pull the plug on this experiment? We all adore this little guy, but this might be more than we can handle.

3 months is a young puppy still. He is going to need to go out every couple hours in the least. You need to have him checked for a UTI if he is peeing a ton. Once cleared of possible UTI then you are going to have to take him out often all day and through the night. Move the crate into your bedroom at night and he may sleep better if you don't already have it in there. That will help you to more easily know when to get up with him in the middle of the night. A lot of crate training is tough love. Crying should be ignored once you get the peeing under control and UTI cleared if that is a factor. They need to go out to pee after eating, drinking, and playing so I find it best to not feed too late in the evening and keep track of water intake close to bedtime. Take him out and play with him right before bed to encourage peeing right before going in the crate then make sure you get him out to pee at least once in the middle of the night.

If you cannot dedicate taking him outside to potty every couple of hours day and night, then you may need to pull the plug. Pups take a lot of work and it really never ends. At 7 months of age or so everything you teach them will fly out the window and they will be brats and you will have to work through that too. It's part of being family to a husky. They are high energy, demanding dogs. They require miles of walking a day when older, mental stimulation, and if they don't get it they can destroy your house and drive you nuts. But if you establish a solid routine, set boundaries everyone in the house sticks to, then you can have a great family member. It just takes a year to start really seeing the fruits of your labor sometimes.

You may be expecting too much out of a 3mo old puppy... or maybe this 3mo old puppy.

At 3 months old, a puppy can typically hold their pee for 3 hours.... you may have to get up a couple times during the night to take him out, as well as take him out during the day.

He's also in a new home, with new smells etc.

Given that you both work and kids are in school, an older dog may be a better choice for you.

Mine also really hate the crates. that's why I bought him a new Pet Tent from Nest Bedding promo code at Reecoupons.com
He loves to sleep in there. After a while, I am planning to let the dog back in the crate.
You can also try it.