Two more days! I have a few questions I'd like to ask :-)

1. How many times a day should I feed her, when should I feed her, and how long should I give her to finish her food?

2. Should I only have her in her crate when I can't 100% watch her? Or do I keep her in periodically to get her use to it? (I know she shouldn't be in it more than 4 hours or less at a time, I think)

3. If she whines in her crate at bedtime how do I go about soothing her without making her think it's ok to whine in her crate?

4. Should I keep her crate in the bedroom or the kitchen? We're getting the large crate that will fit her when she's older but we will have the separator in it so that she doesn't have too much room and potty in there. I'm just not sure a larger crate will fit in our room.

That's all I can think of at the moment :-) I hope I don't sound too silly but I just want to make sure I'm doing everything to the best of my ability.

Small meals through the day the younger they are. My dog is 9 months and she currently eats twice a day, once in the morning and once at dinner time.
When she was younger she ate smaller meals 4 times a day. Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner.

I give my dog 15 minutes and if she doesn't eat I take the food up and she has to wait until the next meal. This keeps her on a schedule which is so important for monitoring your dogs pees and poops, and also her health. You'll get used to bio clock which will make potty training that much easier.

I would throw treats in Suras crate throughout the day so she would go in on her own. I would also buy a crate-only toy. A high value item that makes crate time a fun time for her. To get Sura used to her crate I would sit and pet her with the door open while she was inside. I'd close it for a few minutes at a time and treat her as soon as she would quiet down. She learned that I wanted her to be quiet.

Don't sooth your dog when she's making noise in her crate as it will only enforce her behavior. Only give your dog attention when she's behaving in her crate. If you're worried about potty breaks take her outside every 1-2 hours to go and then put her right back in her crate. I know it's rough but you just have to let them scream their heads off. Buy ear plugs and set your alarm for every 2 hours. Worked for me.

Where you keep your crate is up to you. We left Sura in the living room because we could not get ANY sleep with her screaming. I hear leaving a dirty T-shirt with your scent near her crate is soothing for puppies. You could always ask the breeder if they have anything with the litter's scent on it as well.


Hope this helps.

SnowPatrol wrote:

Two more days! I have a few questions I'd like to ask :-)

1. How many times a day should I feed her, when should I feed her, and how long should I give her to finish her food?

What I did when we got Demon and Dakota was they got fed 3x a day. Morning, noon and evening. I would give them about 10 or 15 minutes to eat their food. If they didn't finish I picked up their food and saved it for the next meal.

SnowPatrol wrote:

2. Should I only have her in her crate when I can't 100% watch her? Or do I keep her in periodically to get her use to it? (I know she shouldn't be in it more than 4 hours or less at a time, I think)

I think it should be a gradual introduction to the crate, but since I never crated mine, I can't say for sure.

SnowPatrol wrote:

3. If she whines in her crate at bedtime how do I go about soothing her without making her think it's ok to whine in her crate?

Tough love...ignore her as long as possible to show her whining won't get her let out. If she's whining/crying because she's gotta go out, that's a different story. It'll probably take a little while to figure out what her different whines/cries mean.

SnowPatrol wrote:

4. Should I keep her crate in the bedroom or the kitchen? We're getting the large crate that will fit her when she's older but we will have the separator in it so that she doesn't have too much room and potty in there. I'm just not sure a larger crate will fit in our room.

She's going to want to be with her family, but it's your call.

SnowPatrol wrote:

That's all I can think of at the moment :-) I hope I don't sound too silly but I just want to make sure I'm doing everything to the best of my ability.

Nope, not silly at all...just being a good puppy mom! Can't wait to see more pics of your baby!

i know everyone here will be super helpful but do your self a favor and pick up Huskies for Dummies, its a fun fast read and has lots of useful info that is specific to the breed
sorry i skipped the puppy stage and adopted

jbealer wrote:

i know everyone here will be super helpful but do your self a favor and pick up Huskies for Dummies, its a fun fast read and has lots of useful info that is specific to the breed
sorry i skipped the puppy stage and adopted

If you decide to get 'Huskies for Dummies', please go to:

NorthStarHuskyRescue.org

and get it there - I believe it's either the same price or a little less but the proceeds help the huskies in rescue!

1. Feeding twice a day is fine. You're breeder should tell you how much she/he is feeding the puppy and will give you some sort of guide line to follow. If the puppy doesn't finish the meal, it's ok, take it up and offer it again a little while later.

2. Our trainer told us to feed in the crate, because it teaches the puppy "crate time is a happy time".

3. Tough love. The puppy will cry, howl, scream, etc. It will totally break you're heart and you will have a hard time sleeping, but the best thing to do is take the puppy potty before she goes in the crate for bed time and then leave her there until the next potty break. Invest in some good ear plugs, because sleeping will be hard. Don't give up like we did or you will find yourself sharing a bed with a Husky like us.

4. We have a crate in our kitchen and bedroom. Our breeder told us to put her in the kitchen and put a dark towel/blanket over just the top and place a blowing fan on the outside of the crate blowing directly inside. The noise will sooth the puppy and it will be dark, so it won't be as scary. As she get's older, you can let her sleep in you're bedroom

We just went through all the same things you are wondering about. We read 3 different husky books. They are super helpful, but there comes a time where you may realize that your Husky isn't a textbook model, and you may have to make adjustments that go against the book guidelines, but which work best in your house. We followed the following steps:

1. Fed our puppy 3 times per day until 12 weeks old, then went to 2 times (per our Vet's instructions). Our puppy cleaned his bowl in no time so taking his food away wasn't and still isn't an issue.

2. We too, fed our puppy in the crate for the first few days. It really helps. Our puppy used his crate almost immediately. He became very comfortable. He still goes in and out of it on his own as he pleases (accept during those times when we aren't home and he's secured in it).

3. Our experience with sleeping was a nightmare. So far, it's been the hardest thing we've had to overcome. We initially kept his crate in our bedroom and tried to ignore the cries, whines, howls and shaking of the crate. Night 1 went on for about 2 hours. We didn't think that was too bad and thought the next night would only get better. It was far worse. His antics went on for 4 hours straight. I ended up getting up and going on the couch with him. Night 3 was even worse. This time he went 5 hours straight. Again I ended up on the couch with him. These were the worst few days of my life. The sleep deprivation was just awful. The hardest part for my husband and I was that this was our first puppy and we just felt helpless. Since then we've had many ups and downs with his sleeping habits. His crate has gone from our bedroom to the kitchen and back again. In the last 3-4 weeks, we finally found a solution that works for us all, and this is where I say you have to put the books away and do what's best for your family and your home. Our puppy now sleeps on our bedroom floor and is very content. He sleeps at least 8 hours night...only downfall, is that he is consitently up at 5am! UGH!

4. Crate her where it works best for you.

It can be really tough in the beginning, but it does get better! Good luck!