we have a 2-ish year old rescue husky. When we got him back in June we attempted crate training. He was OK in the crate as long as we were home. However, when we would leave the house, he would FREAK out. Biting the crate, digging at the pan, and drool like you wouldn't believe (as in, we thought he was peeing in the crate b/c there was so much of it, and he would have big wet patches on his coat). He bent the door on the metal crate we tried and got out when we left him for about an hour to make a quick trip for some last-minute groceries. When we tried a plastic crate (like from Petsmart) he chewed a hole through the side of it within 2 uses. Any suggestions for where to go from here with crate training that aren't going to cost hundreds of dollars?

Did you try to acclimate him to the crate associating the crate with only good things?
Like leaving the door open and letting him go in on his own and treating and praising him for it. Giving him all kinds of yummy treats and toys to play with while he's in it like Kongs stuffed with food/yogurt/treats/peanut butter?

You can't just throw him in there and expect him to like it. If someone threw you in a crate with absolutely nothing to do and you didn't know why you were being put in there would you like it?

Yep. We did the food/water in the crate stuff, toys and treats, in and out with no door closing, etc. Definately didn't assume that we could just toss him in there and be fine.

You'd be surprised how many people assume that.

I'd get some really really high value treats for him (not like his regular treats these have to be SUPER high value - something he RARELY gets) and ONLY use them in association with the crate.

I had some difficulty with Rouge at first. But I would find babysitters. and slowly work the clock up. she can stay in her crate for about 4 hours now I'm very proud of her. Try freezing peanut butter in a kong and leaving it in there to keep him entertained.

Those ones with only 1" by 1" holes in it would work good, but I don't know where to get them. have you tried sedating him. Sounds like it is pretty bad and I wouldn't feel bad about giving him something to make him calm down to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. My parents have to give two of their dogs stuff every time it storms or they will freak out and either tear up the house or hurt themselves.

Separation anxiety is very common in dogs but I think it's more common in huskies. You have to very slowly get him used to being left alone. Put your coat and shoes on as if you are going somewhere, then just sit down for a bit on the settee and after five minutes or so get up and take them off again, so that he doesn't react to the sight of coat and shoes. Then start going out the door and literally coming right back in again so that he has only been left for a second. Slowly increase the time. Then he has to get used to the sound of the car driving off, so only drive a short way and then back again, and gradually build up the amount of time that you are away for. All of this when he's in his crate, obviously, since that is how you are going to leave him. Building up the time very slowly is the general advice, and if there's a step too far and he destroys stuff, go back a bit and start again.

The idea of a kong to keep him occupied is a really good idea too.

Correct me if I am wrong, but It looks like you have been trying the kennel route for approximately 8 months?

We rescued a 2yr old make husky back in Oct 2011, and we are still dealing with rather severe separation anxiety. We have tried or are currently experimenting with the following methods / approaches:

-Slow build up on time spent in kennel
-Practicing "kennel time" while home after work and on the weekends
-Sedatives (tranquilizers / anxiety meds)
-Treating the kennel as a "safe place" by providing meals in kennel
-Rewarding for good kennel behavior with any number of high value treats
-etc

If you have done any research on this site, I'd imagine that you have noticed that there are a number of members who's huskies didn't tolerate being crated, but have great behavior when left to roam around the house. I'm not sure if you have tried this, but it might be worth some level of consideration...I know we are...kennels are expensive

The last resort would be to look into possibly fostering a husky to see if the added company and competition brings out a "new" husky. I suggest fostering as it gives you an out if the test doesn't pan out...no need to go all in and adopt another right away.

Best of luck!

We tried crating for around a month/month and a half...until they both got destroyed. Then we tried the outdoor kennel, which was successful for about 3 months, and then we had to start adding more and more barriers to it.

On really hot days ( or days it rained, until we got the roof on) and for the past 2 months we've been letting him have free-roam of the living room/kitchen when we leave. Sometimes he's fine, and sometimes he pulls dishes out of the sink or attempts to eat the couch.

We also have a 2nd dog (8y/o yellow lab) for company, and adding a 3rd is def. not an option.

I think making out a day-by-day 'plan' of crate training/desensitization is going to be in order.

Kale does this exact thing when I leave him for boarding; DROOLS!!!! barks, panics, screams, acts like he is dying. No idea what I can do since I'm not there. Pharamones don't work at ALL. His separation anxiety is extremely severe. They say he usually calms down a few hours later. They have to dry him off and make sure he is hydrated since he drooled so much. He came back from boarding so dehydrated once that he was peeing blood and screaming, I was less than pleased with the facility, lets just say it hasn't happened since.

Trying to decide on a crate now. I've looked through the crate training sticky, but I'm looking for a little more input as to crate brands. There's a decent selection of brands on ebay that I can get for around $70 shipped, because he needs a 48in crate.

To me, logic says that fewer doors = stronger crate structurally, and less stuff to rattle around. Pretty much all of the crates I'm finding on ebay (looking there because paying another $120+ to [/i]try[i] crate training again is too much in my opinion) are 2 or 3 door crates. Some of them are trying to sell the buyers on cage strength based on the gauge of the wire used. Knowing that I'm going to be beefing things up with clips and zip-ties, is the gauge as important? Brands I'm finding are BestPet, Pawhut, and Champion. Anyone with escapists have luch with these?

I'd really love to get a kennel-aire with the smaller mesh, but that's out of the budget.

We got the Petmate Varikennel for our little escape artist. For $99 on amazon (btw, amazon plays with prices so if you see a higher price sometimes - log out and clear your cookies and try again). We were advised by someone with a lot of sep. anxiety experience to get a rate that doesn't "rattle" - since it will make them even more anxious.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000R3J5L0/ref=pe_175190_21431760_cs_sce_dp_1
We got the Large (36") - and it fits our 52lb girl and our 69 lb (and tall!) male.

However, the trick is to make them calm enough so they DON'T destroy the crate. Thundershirt, Rescue Remedy or Valerian root to calm them down. They need to learn it's their downtime. Plus, a nice tiring walkies before crate time. You can have the strongest crate in the world, but it'll just cause them to hurt themselves unless you can keep them calm in the crate.

FYI- location also helps. We're doing better with the crate in our bedroom, with her brother in the crate next to her, with the TV on, after a walk, with the thundershirt on put on at least 30 min before crate time. There are a ton of variables to try. Good luck!

Got our crate on Friday! The pan is a lot more flimsy than I would like, but I'm going to look for a thick bathroom/kitchen rug that I can put under it so that it has a little more support but won't destroy our floor. We did end up getting a 48in crate, which is huuuuuuge, but he takes up all of the length/width when he sprawls out in it. Had a long discussion with the kids too about leaving the crate alone, not locking Niko in it, etc.

I put his bed in it, and he's been sleeping in there at night (open door, obviously) and randomly going in to lay down and nap. When we start crating him and leaving the house the bed will definately not be staying in there though.

Really wishing that we hadn't gotten 6in of snow on Friday/Saturday so that I could take him out and run him around before working on crating him for short periods of time so he would ideally just go in and go to sleep.

We're having these same issues with Koda. The first time I left her in the crate (Drake was crated right next to her) it was about 4-5 hours. I came back and thought she had peed in it because there was so much drool everywhere. I crawled in to make sure she hadn't peed and saw bite/scratch marks on the sides. A few days later when I had to leave, I decided to not crate her but close our bedroom door. The foster said she was fine roaming around and the previous owner from Craigslist said she was never crate trained. That too was a mistake, as she demolished our carpet from the seam of the bedroom door to the hallway trying to get out of the bedroom. I really wonder what would have happened if I would have left the bedroom door open....but I'm too scared to let her roam around while I'm gone now.

She NEVER goes in the crate, and last time we put her in there while the hubby and I went to dinner she tried to back out of her collar (we either have to get her in there by carrying her or leading her on leash), she was whining, going crazy trying not to get put in there. I'm getting kind of worried about it because in a few months I'll be going back to work and she needs to be okay with the crate as her safe place, but she never wants to go in it. I'll have to try some of your suggestions, but I have a feeling this is going to be a tough battle for a 2-year old who has never been crate trained...and I do think she has some severe separation anxiety issues....

Rachel could it be the type of crate you have?? What size is it?? I had a smaller crate for Bob and found he could not stand straight up but he delt with it. I then bought a larger crate 48 inches and yes you are right it is huge but Bob goes in and out by his self and when we go to work he goes right in. Seems so much better and he seems so comfortable. This is the one I bought..

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Midwest-Pets-iCrate-1500-Series-Single-Door-Pet-Crate-with-Divider-Panel/14301503

Aspen didn't like going in the plastic crate either. Given her past, I understood why, so I took the chance and bought a 42" wire crate for her. She loves it and will go in willingly. Even though she didn't like going in the plastic traveling crate she WOULD settle down and sleep but I just didn't feel it was fair that she wasn't 100% comfortable. The only reason I never wanted to train with the wire crates is because I've heard so many horror stories about how dogs can rip up the floor and walls through a wire crate. Aspen is very good about leaving things alone and honestly she probably could be given free roam of the house but Willow is not at that stage yet and I don't want to seperate them when I am not home. The crate really depends on the dog. Some dogs like the "cave" like feel and some need the "open" feel.

Edited to add that you really need to make the crate a positive experience to make it work as well. I save a high value treat for the crate only and I never force the dogs in the crate. But I don't have to force them becuase I made sure to make a positive experience for them when introducing the crate. Even though Aspen didn't want to go in the plastic crate, I bribed her with food to go in willingly and did not shut the door on her until I knew she was ready. We worked off and on with this so when it was time to shut the door she didn't freak out. She was an easy case though. She doesn't have SA, just a bad experience in a storage shed. I know there are some dogs with major SA issues that would take much more to help them be comfortable.

The first night we had the crate set up, I crawled inside and he got lots of ear, tummy, and shoulder rubs for a good half hour. AND meals in the crate. I also got some ziggies for our kong to put in there when we start actively crating him.

Niko was AWFUL for the first month or so that we had him when we would leave the house. We tried putting him in the laundry room and he scratched the crap out of the door, the transition between our wood floor and the linoleum of the laundry room, and chewed on the trim. He eventually got the door open (pocket door) and pulled stuff off the counters, ripped up newspaper, etc. Crating seemed to make his panic/anxiety escalate faster than 'dog proofing' a few rooms in the house. But honestly, we took him EVERYWHERE with us for the first 2 months. Softball tournaments, grocery shopping, gas station. Everywhere. We were too afraid of what we would find if we left him at home.

shirl51 wrote:

Rachel could it be the type of crate you have?? What size is it?? I had a smaller crate for Bob and found he could not stand straight up but he delt with it. I then bought a larger crate 48 inches and yes you are right it is huge but Bob goes in and out by his self and when we go to work he goes right in. Seems so much better and he seems so comfortable. This is the one I bought..

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Midwest-Pets-iCrate-1500-Series-Single-Door-Pet-Crate-with-Divider-Panel/14301503

We have an XL size plastic crate. To be honest, Drake and Koda really need to switch crates!! His is a little bit smaller, and he would probably fit better in hers but he loves that thing and I know I wouldn't be able to get them to switch lol.

I just put them both in there for a nap-time. She doesn't really have a toy she likes, so all I have in there is a blanket...I have to keep the door closed or she wouldn't stay in there. I put on some relaxing music and she knows I'm still here...I plan on keeping them there about an hour...do you think this is long enough? I know it will take time for her to like it since she was never trained, and last time I put treats in there she didn't even eat them...I think her issues are probably more of a separation anxiety than hating the crate...I want to make the crate a happy place but I don't really know how if she doesn't eat treats in there and doesn't have a special toy.

She was staring me down after I shut the door...she either looked really sad or really pissed off lol. She's a smart dog.

Do you have Kongs? That makes it really special for them - they love it! The house could fall down around them and they wouldn't notice if they had a kong! We fill with pureed pumpkin, layered with their favorite soft treats. I freeze them to make them last at least an hour.

Ok. Updating.

We did a lot of crate-desensitizing, treats, meals, short intervals, etc. I also have started putting him in his crate at times that we won't be home on a regular basis (when I'm going to work, and my husband is on his way home from work in the evenings) while we ARE home so that crate doesnt' = we're leaving him alone.

Things were/are going pretty well. The first time we 'tested' how things were REALLY going he destroyed the plastic pan in the bottom of the crate. Tore it to sheds, literally. So, we're working on something to replace that with.

Today I left him for just over 3 hours to do some grocery shopping. I ran him next to my bike for 20-30min before I left in an attempt to tire him out at least a little. However, I did make the mistake of leaving his bed in the crate. Needless to say, that item is now in the trash. However, he BENT the crate so things clearly aren't going as well as I thought.

Hmm... this sounds similar to Heather/Koda. Val-- would you agree? I know that when she had the same severity of issues, she started adding a calming aid to the mix in order to help train him.

Can those who were around for Heather's situation comment?