I was wondering about separate crating as a negative reinforcer. I intend to crate our pup when we get him, obviously not forcefully, and will be leaving the crate in our room and entend for him to enjoy it. I was, however, thinking about having a separate crate which I could use for "time outs" if any behavioral issues should arise. I've read the stories about biting issues and problems with training and fill like this might be useful when coupled with the positive enforcers of food and attention.

My question is if people here believe that you can contextually condition a puppy, as in him knowing the difference between one crate and the other. The "negative" crate would be in the garage (it is climate controlled) and would serve as a time out for Ragnar when we have issues with biting and any other behavioral issues. I understand that there would be some confusion about a crate being a crate but feel like Ragnar would be able to associate treats and location with positive things and, consequently, isolation/location to represent negative. Obviously the time outs would correspond with age (1 min per month).

Any feedback will be appreciated.

I think that it could potentially work pretty well. A lot of users on here use the spare bathroom as a place for solitary confinement/timeout time, and I don't see the gargae being much different.

Victoria Stilwell had a case with a husky where the pup would go in the garage alone as a time out until he calmed down, but she didn't use a crate.

The only real piece of advice I might give is to use two different style crates. for example, the good crate used for bedtime/while you're out could be a full wire crate like most people here use, and the timeout crate could be one of those plastic traveling crates with the holes in the sides. It is more confined/enclosed, and could potentially serve a dual purpose that way. The only reason I would see this idea not working is if your pup has a soft spot for plastic, in which case he might be inclined to eat it. But, i guess you never know unless you try!

All in all, I think huskies (and most dogs in general) are intelligent enough to associate two crates with two different stimuli. Best of luck and keep us posted!

I think it would work. He also would not be in his time-out crate long enough to chew it up, so it could be a little less sturdy.

I would make sure you give each crate a name and use it often. Tell him that he must go to "time-out" or (with a happy voice) that it is time for him to "go to bed". Like you said, treats and good things in "bed" and just the four walls of the garage when in "time-out" should make him quickly know the difference!

Good luck!

When my dogs would go into timeout I would take everything out of their crate and not pay attention to them while in timeout.

Gunnersmatejmac wrote:

When my dogs would go into timeout I would take everything out of their crate and not pay attention to them while in timeout.

The only issue with this is that if you have only one crate, it could create an aversion to the crate. Which would cause whining/barking in crate or a refusal to be in it at all. I'm not saying this happens to every dog but it is very possible.

We have an area for time out, not a crate. Right by one of the doors in our living room. Delilah instinctively goes there when in trouble, so we started to call it time out. Now she and Cato both go there when they are getting a firm hand.

We rarely put ours in time-out for more than 1 minute at a time, and they're almost 2 years old. The time-out puts them by themselves and gives them a bit to calm down from whatever they were doing. If you give them too long, they'll start freaking out about being alone and then you have them going wild again.

Most of the time, when ours get time-outs it's because they've gotten over excited. The time-out lets them know it was wrong, and gives them a short period of cool off time, before we go back to whatever was going on before.

mheath0429 wrote:

Gunnersmatejmac wrote:

When my dogs would go into timeout I would take everything out of their crate and not pay attention to them while in timeout.

The only issue with this is that if you have only one crate, it could create an aversion to the crate. Which would cause whining/barking in crate or a refusal to be in it at all. I'm not saying this happens to every dog but it is very possible.

We have an area for time out, not a crate. Right by one of the doors in our living room. Delilah instinctively goes there when in trouble, so we started to call it time out. Now she and Cato both go there when they are getting a firm hand.

That isn't the case with my dogs. When we tell them kennel time they go in with no problems. Loki doesn't mind since we put both crates in the basement.