Meka sleeps beside my bed all night and never moves. The trainer i was just speaking to said that i need to trust her, if she stays beside my bed all night maybe she would stay in the kitchen on her pillow? Any thoughts on this???

Is the trainer suggesting you let her sleep at night in the kitchen at night or when you are gone put her in the kitchen? These huskies are wild creatures! They like people and will get mad or spiteful or something like that when you leave them. If I had left either of my huskies in any room or even in a crate with a pillow when I leave them, the pillow would be the first thing to go! Mine have both ripped and chewed and shredded things when they are left alone.

Look at the picture of that sofa (I think it's Eddie's) that his dogs destroyed under the topic of "What has your Husky eaten lately?" I think my huskies are either messing or sleeping. Yes, it's good to wear them out physically, but after that power nap mine are never just "hanging out" even if we are home with them.

Our first husky lived to be 17 yrs old and at some point in her life we began to leave her out of the crate when we left the house. I think at first we allowed her to sleep at night in her crate with the door open (she learned to love her crate). She was probably about 5 years old before she was left loose in the house maybe a little older. At that time I also stopped working outside the home so she was never home alone for 8-9 hours like she was before that.

Hope you can figure this all out for little Meka! I know you've told us but how old is she?

sHE IS JUST 5 MONTHS OLD!!! But she has had 3 homes in these 5 months. No the trainer means leave her out in the day time!! He said WHY DID YOU GET A HUSKY??? they need to be out side in a kennel!! you do not crate train them!!! Then he asked if i wanted to sign up for classes, Said everything I read on the internet about Husky's are all wrong.!!

Uhm... ditch the trainer. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Almost everyone here has a crate trained husky. Why? Because they are high-energy, curious, stubborn, and destructive dogs when bored. It's safer.

She is 5 months old and has separation anxiety from being rehomed so many times. You either need to be patient with her and not expect results over night, or you need to find her a forever home that can be with her during the day. She needs love, patience, and a LOT of training.

I wouldn't worry about the crate at night. If she has been sleeping with you fine at night, let that battle be.

But I would continue to work on her separation anxiety. Do you have the weekends off? Take a day and try to de-sensitize her. Start doing things that indicates that you're leaving normally. However, in the process, stop what you're doing and sit back down and play with her. So for instance, if she gets excited when you pick up your keys, pick up the keys, put them down and play with her. Next time, pick up the keys, get your coat, set them down, relax and play a little. Keep going until you get out the door, come back in. Out the door, wait 5 mins. Come back in. Increase the time to 20-30 mins.

You want her to know that you may leave, but you ARE coming back. Don't forget to put her in the crate each time too. This is crate training as well as separation anxiety.

STOP expecting results overnight though. A week or two isn't long enough. These things take MONTHS. I'm not kidding you. So if this isn't something you can handle, I would look into permanent options for her.

I would keep going though. You were on the right track. I just think this trainer is a joke. Ask him how much experience with huskies he has. Ask him how many of those huskies were inside dogs.

If he wants to talk to people with successfully trained, indoor huskies, you can give him my number.

Koda wrote:

Uhm... ditch the trainer. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Almost everyone here has a crate trained husky. Why? Because they are high-energy, curious, stubborn, and destructive dogs when bored. It's safer.

I second this!!! Huskies LOVE being inside with their people! They will destroy the outdoor kennel too if they are bored!

i only trusted nikki to be left out roaming alone in the house by herself once she was about 4-5 years old. she is strictly an INDOOR dog. these are not dogs to be left outside in kennels. they love their people! nikki is a low energy husky who is definitely not mischievous as some others on this forum haha. but mine is not the norm, so keep that in mind. just assume they WILL destroy something if left to their own devices!

That is what i also think. I have two other rescue dogs. And I know it take alot of time a love. Been 3 years trying to get my Pomino not to freak out every time he see a man. But after talking to that trainer i was wondering if i was in over my head!!! I think she has had a bad experience with th crate and in time she will be fine. She has no other problems. She is always with me and if not she will lie in the kitchen and wait for my return, if i am in the basement. So in time she will love her crate to. And as for lesson from that trainer...lol I think Not!!!

Agreed that that the trainer has no idea how to deal with a husky! Outside dogs? YEAH RIGHT! They wouldn't like that too much. They love attention and being with their family. Mya had major separation anxiety until she was about 10 months old. I mean bad! She got over it, but we didn't stop leaving her out of her crate during the day until she was about 3yrs old. She's 5 now and only stays in our bedroom though. Now, Kody is 7months today and he doesn't have separation anxiety at all. I think it's b/c his crate is in our bedroom too and Mya is in there so he's not alone. He too sleeps outside his crate...very comfty in our bed btw..lol.

I would have a lot of patience and follow Toris advise. Just my two cents

Ditto others - this trainer doesn't know huskies. Huskies LOVE their people. Share your bedroom with your dog, it's comforting and it helps to build a bond. If she's good, there's no need to crate at night. During the day, totally ditto Tori. Word for word.

...and I just wanna say, I am so happy to see other reasonable loving husky owners here with such great things to contribute... YAY for this forum!!

I completely agree with Lisa and Tori's advice and comments on the issue. Not much I can add other than sharing that with our boy we had to deal with his SA and crate training when we first got him as well. It was an awful few months but we got through it slowly but surely. He had settled down quite a bit by the time he was about 3.5 years old. So much so that I felt confident leaving him confined to a single room with a baby gate and lots of toys and chews in the room with him to keep him occupied. It worked out well and by the time he was 4 yrs old I was confident leaving him with access to part of the house 2-3 rooms and he did great. He's 5.5 yrs old now and I pretty sure that I could leave him home with full access to the whole house and he would not get into trouble. I accidentally tested that theory this week and he passed with flying colors. I much prefer the peace of mind of having him gated to a single room or only part of the house but it's good to know I can trust him. And that is something that has taken years to achieve, not weeks or months. It took months just to get through his SA and crate training. I'd keep doing what you're doing and maybe in a few years or less you'll be able to leave him loose in the whole house or a certain room if that's what you prefer.

Thank you guys so much.

I crate my two. Maybe when they are older and more calmed down, I'll let them sleep outside of their crates, but for now they are in their crates when we can't watch them.

im in the crate training process right now, and needless to say its a woozy, atm we have his crate in the living room because my mom has allergies he can't be in the room with us (my room is currently getting redone) so far i've been taking him out every 3 hours at night, and 30min during the day randomly or when im not present (which he hates lol) he does have small separation issues and i don't want that to get out of hand because he hates being around the rest of the family.

I completely agree with the others. Definitely find a new trainer. Separating a husky from the family is in no way going to help with the separation anxiety. They should be with thier people.

I know it's frustrating, I've been there. Continue with this forum for the support. I wish I knew about this forum when I was going crazy with Frankie. I did get support and encouragement from our local sibe rescue. They hooked me up with a trainer who works with their huskies and was very knowledgable of the breed. My trainer told me that Frankie was by far the most stubborn husky he had ever met. But they supported my efforts and told me it would all pay off in the long run. I seriously had my doubts at times, but they were right. It didn't happen over night and we worked really hard to get to where we are now. Hard work and a good support system. He is a really good dog now.

Follow Tori's SA training. It's process, but she needs to know that you can leave and you WILL come back.
Hang in there!

Patricia McConnell has a fantastic book about dealing with Separation Anxiety, called I'll Be Home Soon. If SA is seriously a factor in your relationship with your dog, it's definitely worth checking out. ;-)

Dee&Frankie wrote:

I completely agree with the others. Definitely find a new trainer. Separating a husky from the family is in no way going to help with the separation anxiety. They should be with thier people.

I know it's frustrating, I've been there. Continue with this forum for the support. I wish I knew about this forum when I was going crazy with Frankie. I did get support and encouragement from our local sibe rescue. They hooked me up with a trainer who works with their huskies and was very knowledgable of the breed. My trainer told me that Frankie was by far the most stubborn husky he had ever met. But they supported my efforts and told me it would all pay off in the long run. I seriously had my doubts at times, but they were right. It didn't happen over night and we worked really hard to get to where we are now. Hard work and a good support system. He is a really good dog now.

Follow Tori's SA training. It's process, but she needs to know that you can leave and you WILL come back.
Hang in there!

Dee, omg would you be able to forward this trainers info please? I need to get our lil buddy Kody into some serious training SOON!

We have only had Sierra and Jack for 2yrs now and i would say for the first year they were crated when we were not home. Sierra just turned 8 and jack is "3" so they are past the puppy stage of life and as long as we Husky proof the lower level of the house they are fine out, but god help us if we forget to put the trash or news paper or box or whatever away they WILL shred it up! for the safety of Meka the crate is a good idea at that young of an age.

Does anyone have a husky that just can't stand being confined in a crate and found out they are just happier when left in a closed off area in a house or left to just roam the house? And therefore, NOT crate their dog and found a happy medium?

Triton is about 15 months and we rescued him 3 months ago. Right now, we are working on his SA, and we feel that leaving him in the crate makes him cry more, sooner and longer. He doesn't mind sleeping in there, he doesn't mind when we close the door on him, he doesn't mind if we leave the room- it's just when we actually leave the house he goes NUTS in the crate (we videotaped him) and has destroyed a blanket we put over it, and pushed the tray out and etc. etc! We tried calming aids like rescue remedy and it doesn't seem to help. We're afraid something from his past makes him terrified about being abandoned in a crate or something. When we started to train his SA by leaving him in the kitchen, it's taking him a lot longer to cry and whine, and he only runs around looking for us, and has not destroyed anything yet. Generally, he doesn't destroy anything (takes him forever to destroy a stuffed squeaky toy)! Although I haven't fully left him alone in the house longer than 10 mins yet and will be getting a DAP diffuser for the kitchen to see if he can last longer. BUT, reading around the forum and how their dogs tear up the place.. it's making me think again! I'm kind of nervous and re-thinking if I should really stick with the crate.

What do you guys think? Any dogs just hate the crate, and just happier outside their crate? How do I know!

That really depends on how he does left alone outside of the crate. If you know he's already going to panic being in the crate, do you know how he reacts when you leave him (for longer periods of time) loose?

He probably has some SA issues and just crating him may not help to rid him of that. There are many ways for you to work at it and possibly if you take the problem on as a SA problem rather than a crate problem it might be better.

When we first got Odin back in October/November he hated the crate and would cry/bark the ENTIRE night. I stopped after a week straight of no sleep and a barking stupid Husky. We took the crate back out because he has developed this habit of marking and he's taken to it like he's been crated his whole life. Maybe it's because he's more comfortable now? God only knows.

Agreed. Every dog is different and has their own set of issues. I would be wary about leaving an SA dog alone loose in the house for long periods of time.

Have you dealt with his separation anxiety in any other way besides crate training, like Kristina asked? Have you tried some desensitization training for separation anxiety?

I completely agree with the others are saying. Each dog is so different.

Frankie's issue was not the crate itself. He was fine in the crate as long as someone was home. His issue was more isolation anxiety vs. separation anxiety. He did NOT like to be alone. Now that he always has company (another dog) I don't crate him and don't see the issues I had before, which were very similar to yours. When it was only him, I opted to continue to crate him even though he freaked and peed in the crate every time because I felt it was still safer for everyone that way. I needed to rig the crate so he couldn't get out of it. he became the master of destruction when he was out and left alone.

This coming weekend my parents are going away and taking Bruiser with them. Which means I can't go anywhere unless Frankie can come with me.....he hasn't been alone for more than 10 minutes in over a year. Wish me luck

Oh boy, have we tried MANY things with treating his SA! And thankfully, a lot has been helping and improving (except the crate, hence why we stopped the crate). He has responded well to distancing, and can now happily hang in various parts of the house without us being in the same room. We have desensitized almost everything but the garage door, but he's showing improvement with that too. He's happy to be in the yard while we're in the house (the yard is small, but secure and he really has no where to go so I never worry if I'm in the house and he's out there). We also have been trying to tire him out as much as possible. So far with all of this, he's reacting better in the house than in the crate. There has been only ONE time we left him loose in the house for longer than 10 mins (1.5 hours) and that was when we first left him and first learned of his SA and how much he can do in 1.5 hours! At that time, he destroyed the blinds, and knocked over furniture.. but did not chew anything up. Since then we have been trying the crate, and now back to easing into loose in the house.

Funny that you said another dog has helped! That's the other thing that I wonder about! When he was at his foster parent's home before he was adopted, he showed low SA and I think it was because he hung out with two other huskies all day.

Good luck with Frankie this weekend! Maybe try Rescue Remedy? I heard from many others that it has helped with their dogs anxieties... or a dog sitter? A dog sitter has been my solution so far!

tritonsmom wrote:

Funny that you said another dog has helped! That's the other thing that I wonder about! When he was at his foster parent's home before he was adopted, he showed low SA and I think it was because he hung out with two other huskies all day.

This definitely helped with our Koda... a LOT. However, I wouldn't recommend getting another dog just to help with SA. That being said, it DOES help if you were already thinking about getting a second

Based on what you're describing, I would keep trying to crate train him. I think you'll do more harm than good for his training if you stop. That being said, have you spoken to your vet about Clomicalm to help if rescue remedy wasn't strong enough? I don't normally advocate medication, and under no circumstances is it EVER a permanent solution, but it is a prescription med designed to help treat SA so that you can help calm your dog down enough to train SA out of him. This would be a last resort though.

Does he have a toy in his crate though? One thing that really helped with Koda before we got Hailey was finding a very HIGH value treat/toy and reserving it ONLY for crate time. For Koda, that's a peanut butter kong. Freezing them makes them last longer too, but if Koda had a peanut butter kong in his crate, he couldn't care less if we were gone because he LOVES peanut butter so much (it's actually our miracle worker for the few times he's gotten loose. He'll stop at a dead run and come back for it!). Does Triton have something like peanut butter? A marrow bone maybe? If you reserve it ONLY for crate time, he'll start to see you leaving and crate time as "Hey! I get my favorite toy/treat!" Time

True, I do agree. I won't get another dog just solely on hoping it'll help Triton's SA- that's not too fair for the second one! Haha. But we won't getting a dog anytime soon, our budget is still tight!

I haven't talked to the vet yet about any medications because I didn't want to resort to medications yet. I want to try everything herbal or natural first. If the DAP diffuser doesn't work, I think I will give the vet a call.

We did try the Kong filled frozen peanut butter, with chicken, with cheese, with everything I can think of! He started to stop liking the Kong because it was being associated with the crate and us abandoning him. Recently, I started to get him back into enjoying his Kong, but he doesn't dare to come to it if the crate is close.

Update:

DAP didn't work nor did a calming collar work for Triton. Confining him to a section of the house just gave him something to get through (which he did after the 2nd day). Gave the vet a call, and it was a lot of money!!

So, I decided to give him free roam to the house (minus the bedroom) before I commit to the meds...and he did not touch or destroy a thing! At first I closed his door dog, but Triton somehow managed to pull the door up and off with his teeth. So I decided to leave the door open for him. For days,I kept coming home to him happy as can be on the couch and nothing still untouched!! I was so happy until...

One morning my boyfriend left, and I was still sleeping. I hear all this noise from the yard so I went to investigate! And where was he? In the neighbor's yard!!!! I freaked out and rushed over to the neighbor's with leash in hand and an apology ready. And what does my neighbor say? "Oh don't worry he'll jump over again, he's been doing this all week." I stood there dumbfounded. So, that's where Triton has been going!!!

I was able to talk it over with my neighbor and they are completely fine with having Triton come over! The owner volunteers at the humane society frequently and she's all for it if that helps Triton ease his SA. We decided to work something out and add padding to a fence and steps on both sides for him. Apparently, he just sits in there their yard and sunbathes for awhile and just jumps back over to my side when he wants to.

So in a way, his SA has been cured and I'm able to leave him at home. I did learn that company was all he needed, and I'm totally screwed if the neighbors move! haha

Guess Triton is just going to be one of those dogs that just gotta be roaming and with people!