Hello all,

I am new to owning a Husky and have many questions but I’ll start with this! I have had my Husky Baxter for about three months and he is about to turn 6 months old. During these three months I had summer time off and was not working and spent lots of time with him. Sadly my time off has come to an end and I must return to work and I am trying to come up with the best way to keep him contained and comfortable at home. He currently goes to camp 2 days of the week for now and the other 3 days he is home. However I want to come up with a way that eventually if he has to be at home all 5 days he won’t get to destructive or suffer from separation anxiety. I work eight hours and don’t know if I should keep him in the kennel for that long ? He used to sleep in his kennel, however now he sleeps right besides us in this small outdoor space we have next to our bed because he loves the cool air! I have left him at home for intervals of time, between 1 -4 hours in his kennel. But the kennel is not his favorite and when left alone in the kennel or when he used to sleep in there he would always go to the bathroom in there and would have to stay in it if we weren’t home and I think this it makes him apprehensive of wanting to stay in there now. He also need lots of exercise and don’t know know if 8 hours in s crate is healthy for him ? We tried blocking off a small place in our home that had an outdoor area for potty, using a little gate but he figured out how to move it and got out and tore up lots of tissues and peed a bunch inside the house. So now we are thinking maybe we should get him a play pen and put all his toys there and a pee pads , this way he can move around and have a designated area to potty ? Or there is a spare room with nothing in it and we are considering leaving him in there with the kennel as an option plus his toys and pee pads to keep him in one room but with space to move around? Any thoughts tips or other ideas ?! Please share and sorry for the extensive post just wanted to provide some background

Now is the time to get him to adjust to being crated (kenneled) when you're not there and there is no other supervision, the absolutely safest place for him is in a crate. It does take some building up to being able to leave them for 'a work day' but as others here can tell you, it's doable. Most dogs do nothing but sleep and save up their energy for when dad (or mom) gets home!

I'm retired, so typically home but when I have to go to Alpine 80 miles away for anything two of my three are crated and the other is outside on a leash. 1.5 hours up / 1.5 hours back / 2 plus for anything I need to do - it's 5-6 hours and my pups are just laid back till I get home.

Many of us here crate our dogs a full 8 hour work day, plus some for commute time. It can be done. At 6 months you are pushing the boundaries of the bladder a bit depending on the dog but there are many 6 month olds who can hold 8 hours just fine. Lots of exercise before going in the crate and all should be well once your pup becomes used to it. Crating at night and for short trips to start is how many do it. As for the peeing, making sure your dog doesn't hork down a ton of water before going in and making sure he pees beforehand are the main options for mitigation. Some dogs do it out of anxiety, some I'm pretty sure do it just so you will let them out to clean it up. Having a properly sized crate can help. Too much space in a crate can give the dog the impression he can get away from it. There should only be enough space to stand up and lay down. Not extra space.

We had trouble with our husky when we went to work after we got her (we got her at 6 months old).  It took some trial and error to figure out what worked best (and some destroyed blinds).

We decided to try something most people will gravely frown upon and purchase a huge wire crate.  We have a smaller one, but it is plastic and we didn't trust it to contain her when we weren't home.  Works for night time, but not day.  This larger one does allow her to stand up on her hind legs, and she can fully stretch out in any position.  She has gone potty in there a few times, but we understood that could happen with a larger crate.  However, it has thus far been the best solution for her.  We put it right in front of an air conditioner so she gets plenty of cool air when it's hot.  She will sometimes even go in there herself when she knows I'm leaving for work.

I'm not saying a huge crate is the best option for your dog, but it may be worth considering.  It is likely not a good idea for dogs who haven't been crate trained, or not fully there yet.

I had similar troubles with my husky as I worked a full work day as well. When I first got her and I felt her bladder was to small to be in a crate all day long I would gate her in the kitchen and put pee pads down. This worked pretty well but she would still tear up her pee pads.

Once she was a little bigger and a little under a year I started to crate her. She wasn't a huge fan of it but it became very beneficial and she adjusted to it fairly quickly. She obviously couldn't be destructive and it also help her learn to hold her pee as well.

I would say I probably crated her for about 4-6 months and then started experimenting with leaving her out of her crate. I would confine her area by shutting all of the doors to any of the back rooms and she mostly did well. It is really just a slow learning process for both you and your husky. It is just important to be consistent in what you are doing.