ok guys we have had Duke for about a month now and he seems to be a very destructive dog. He has been making messes almost every day by the time I get home. He is alone or with Max for no more than 5 hours. He has 2 kongs and a rope toy to play with while he is in the house. Yesterday I left him in the house alone for about an hour and left hie one of the kongs filled with goodies but by the time I got back he had made another mess of the house and discovered how to get on the kitchen table and out the window there that we left open to keep the house cool. We are at our wits end with this and do not know what to do. Any suggestions and advice is greatly appreciated. It should be noted that we had tried putting him in an outdoor metal kennel and he figured out that he could pull the door open. We also tried a travel crate to which he chewed his way out, completely destroying it in the process.

get a metal indoor house crate? just put extra locks on the doors..

Jennet&Embry wrote:

get a metal indoor house crate? just put extra locks on the doors..

yep, a metal crate should work. Put his kongs in there and that should keep him entertained.

How old is he? Does he get exercised daily?

MelissaI wrote:

Jennet&Embry wrote:

get a metal indoor house crate? just put extra locks on the doors..

yep, a metal crate should work. Put his kongs in there and that should keep him entertained.

How old is he? Does he get exercised daily?

I think he was 7 years old or somewhere around there.
Same question as Melissa. A destructive husky is a bored husky with pent up energy. Before you leave Duke, do you run him, walk him, go to the park, anything?

Oh wow, 7 and destructive! Mya is 5 1/2 years old and stopped with the destructiveness at about 3yrs old....then again she was crated in the house...in our bedroom until then..lol

A tired Husky is a happy husky. Exercise and mental stimulation are key. Then when your gone, he'll sleep or be content to eat his Kong in peace while you are away. He is telling you that he is bored and is trying to find things to entertain himself with. After the play sesh or vigorous walk then it's quiet crate time, make it a routine, they thrive on routines that involve play time and quiet time. (at least Kale does lol he knows when its playtime and when its time to be calm in the house, and boy does he let me know when its outside or walk time lol at 6:30 every night on the dot! )

well Duke is 8 and starting to show signs of arthritis. There have been a couple times that I have been playing with him and grabbed his shoulders or hips too rough and he yelped quite good whereas I can play like that with Max all day long. but no we don't really exercise him. Most of the day he seems to be pretty happy to just lay around the house.

If he is getting arthritis it is vital to keep him active. He really needs to be walked before and after work. That doesn't mean running miles with him...some days he may just need to walk a couple of blocks. Watch for signs of fatigue but he really needs to stay active. It will help him so much more in the long run and it will help with his boredom while you are away. Also, do you have him on joint medication? It's really very inexpensive and it can make a huge difference. I have mine on joint medication and he is also on a pain reliever. he only gets that every other day but the joint medicine should be daily.

Agreed Mindy! At least get him on Glucosamine. It's about $20 a bottle and lasts a month. Mya is 5 and started showing some signs of arthritis about a year ago. Got her on Glucosamine and book...gone!

I've heard from several people that the Glucosamine has given thier dogs new life. For $20 a month, you can't ask for better! When I started Dakota on Glucosamine, I noticed a difference the very next day. If it wasn't for his hip displaysia, he wouldn't even need the pain meds.

Echo what others have said about exercise.
It is essential to huskies!

I was with a bunch of friends years ago having a party on Shi Shi beach.
We saw a woman with two huskies pulling a giant truck tire flat across the sand.
She said she had to do it every day or they'd eat her furniture.

My friends thought it was animal abuse.
I was the only one who owned a husky, so I knew it wasn't.

I feel your pain. Frankie used to break out of his crate and destroyed two of them in the process also injuring himself and this was after 2 hours at the dog park. This was when I first got him, he was younger, but he was a very stressed dog and had no trust or respect for me. We did alot of structured walks and training sessions to help build our bond. Which helped. In the process I had to use a plastic crate and I had cut plexi glass (with lots of holes drilled in) and fit it to the door so he could not grab the metal parts. This kept him in. But we had a lot of work to do. I swear he tested me beyond belief.

He still has his moments. He is not crated anymore. But tonight for example, If I would have come home 15 minutes later his dog bed would have been destroyed and I took him for a 20 minute bike ride before I left. They were only left about 1 1/2 hours. But when I got home the bed was moved to the middle of the floor and the corner was all wet like it was sucked on.

Exercise really does help. Even mental exercise.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys I knew you would come through on this topic. yes we do plan to get him on some joint meds. we were thinking the glucosamine and Omega-3 Fatty Acids to help him with the joints?

I read that Glucosamine works better with MSM, so look into getting a combo. They even sell it at Target!

We give the kids Nupro (which has both, plus other stuff) - we have a 5lb container which will last about 2 - 3 months (for 2). The first container goes faster because you give them a bit more in the beginning. You should see results in 2 weeks. It makes a liver gravy that they love
http://www.wag.com/dog/p/Nupro-Joint-Support-118103

Use wag20 to get 20% off!

They also get Salmon oil for omega 3s - amazon has an awesome price $21 for 32 oz (lasts about 4 months for 2 dogs). http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-All-Natural-Supplement-Pump-Bottle-Dispenser/dp/B0002ABR6E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316753153&sr=8-1

Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Nutramax-Dasuquin-Soft-Chews-60-Pound/dp/B0030VH496/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1316794793&sr=1-5

we have Sierra on this within a month she was all good again, now she is even jumping over the chicken wire guarding my flowers! (thats a "bad side effect ) sh has been on it a yr i think, at first she got 2 chews a day and is now down to 1 a day. we get the over 60 even thought she weighs 50 because the Glucosamine amount is higher.

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

I read that Glucosamine works better with MSM, so look into getting a combo. They even sell it at Target!

Yep, I get the Glucosamine Chondroitin w/ MSM from walgreens!

ok so just to update we got Duke some treats called Happy Hips and they are liver flavored and have 2000mg of Glucosamine in them. He does seem to be doing much better and as far as the destructive behavior goes he is doing much better with that as well. We dog proffed the house and pretty much keep things that he might get into out of his reach and that has led to much happier husky owners lol. We had duke weighed yesterday and he is actually 57 pounds and max is 55. We got the boys on a high protein/fat food to try to put some weight on duke and they seem to be liking it so far. The brand is Solid Gold and the food is called Barking at the Moon. It's 40% protein and 20% fat so hopefully duke will gain some weight on that

wait im confused duke is 57lbs, WHY are you trying to add weight? that is a good weight for a male husky if not kind of on the high end right now....if he is having issues walking and such getting more weight OFF of him will help a TON.

glad the treats are working and i hope you can get him more exercise now. glad the husky proofing is working, that is always the #1 cause. when we temp them to get into stuff they will!

we are trying to get some weight on him because he is so skinny that you can easily feel his ribs and backbone through his thick, fluffy fur.

I agree with Jenn, unless Duke is SUPER tall (which he didn't look tall at all from the pics you posted, his legs didn't seem all that long) then you shouldn't need weight on him. My boy is 23.5" and 53lbs and if he put more than 2lbs on he'd probably look a little wide.

Also from my experience most "in shape" sibes that aren't show body you can feel the ribs with ease(you actually should be able to) and their back bone. My boy is not underweight and I can easily feel both.

Here is a picture of Koda when he was super skinny vs now at healthy: http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/67239_1638810738426_1481501051_1633335_6050737_n.jpg

In the first photo he was really underweight, 15 or so pounds. Regardless of fur thickness he looks like a skeleton. In the healthy photo which is what he still looks like now, his ribs are easy to feel and I can still feel his hip bone a bit still. Do you have a good picture of Duke from the side and above view like I did? These dogs are suppose to be lean and it seems to me most people think lean is too skinny.

Duke looks a lot like the first pic of Koda. He is super tall. I will try to get him to stand still long enough to measure him tonight when I get home. I will also try to get some good pics of him from above like you did.

ok so I managed to get 1 good pic from above for duke. I also got measurements for yo. Duke is 25" tall at the withers and 29" long from the nape of his neck to the base of his tail.
Max is 23"tall at the withers and 25 1/2" long from the nape of his neck to the base of his tail.
here is the pic of Duke



so how does duke look to everybody? We personally think he could stand to gain about 5-10 pounds.

just wanted to bump this thread a little because I have posted more info on duke and his actual size. Thanks for all your help!!!

So Duke is 25" tall and 57 lbs? He does look like he could probably gain a few more pounds from the pic but it's so hard to tell from a picture. How old is Duke again?

I ask about age because if he's young (i.e. less than 3 yrs) then he may not be done filling out which is normal. Heather's Koda, just like my Dakota, both were very thin at around 2 yrs old or so, and both of them filled out nicely by the time they were 3 if I'm remembering correctly. (I know for sure that was the case with mine, Heather's Koda is where I'm not sure at what age he filled out exactly).

What does your vet say about Duke's target weight?

duke is at least 7 years old and we have not taken him to a vet yet.