Okay so I have seen a lot of questions concerning the crate but none that completely answer mine. We got Anna when she was 6 weeks old which was the 7th of May and bought the crate about a week later and having been trying to crate train ever since, she is now 5 months. I am assuming this is mistake number one, because she was sleeping in our bed until then. After we bought the crate she slept in there at night and eventually stopped crying after a couple of weeks. I would put her in at midnight and she would sleep till 8 am when she would wake me up with cries for the bathroom. We lived in a town home so it was a little easier to let her cry it out in a completely different room. We rarely left besides when I would go to work and my boyfriend was always home and we were able to lock her downstairs by blocking off the main floor, after many failed attempts we were finally able to contain her down stairs till my boyfriend woke up, he sleeps days. The few times we did leave we either left her in the crate or locked her downstairs in which she would cry the whole time. If we left her in the crate she would pant like crazy and sometimes make herself sick.

Here is our problem, we moved in July to an apartment and she of course has continued to cry like no other. She will cry for hours, and hours and we thankfully have no one beside us but we do have a woman above us and I have warned her to let us know if she is to loud since we are trying to get her used to the crate before school starts back in a couple weeks. But the bad part is people can hear her across the pond separating our apartment building and other apartments in the complex as well as the public pool so people must think we are killing her. And we don't exactly want someone to call and report us to the owners of the apartment complex. We also didn't think the lady upstairs could hear her, when I talked with her she didn't seem to be able to or mind but I highly doubt it after hearing her the other day. She is currently in our bedroom next to a window since there isn't much room elsewhere as a trainer told me it might make her stop crying, it hasn't worked. She still cries at night while I try to sleep so for night time I think I will let her sleep with me, she does know how to wake me up and not potty on the floor but during the day is the problem. We have tried almost anything kongs, treats, etc. She just cleans out her kong and starts to cry again. It's a lot to handle after 3 hours of straight crying and barking I am ready to pull out my hair. We were recommended to try the citronella spray collar, waste of money, she figured it out like I knew she would. After so many barks it runs out. So please any advice is needed, as college starts back in a couple of weeks and we are losing hope...

If you didn't associate the crate with a good things/times the crate isn't where she will want to be. She wants to be with her people so of course she cries. Also you got her far too early so you're probably dealing with a good bit of separation anxiety.

From what it sounds like she associates the crate and the blocking off in a completely different area of the old home with only bad things (being away from you for long periods) which is why she screams her head off.

When crate training you're supposed to give lots of high value treats for the dog going into the crate. You're also supposed to give supervised meals in there so the crate becomes a place of comfort and good times. If you just stuffed her in there will only a kong..well. That's part of the problem . (Think of it like this - if someone put you in a box and shut the door with no explanation and just walked out and left you there with one toy - you'd be upset, right?)

Why did you lock her away from you guys when you were in your home? Part of having a puppy isn't to "lock it away" so people can sleep. They need lots of stimulation and play time and exercise.

The crate has always been associated with good things other than her not being in the same room. We fed her in it and gave her treats for going in but she continues to hate it. She will go in now and then if it is open and will sometimes lay in it ONLY if the door is open. Otherwise she is unhappy.

About the age I have found a lot of people have a mixed review and besides the seperation anxiety she is a great puppy who receives a lot of love and attention. She goes out all the time and gets played with all the time. We play hide and go seek, treat her for her tricks that she has learned, take her for long walks/runs especially at night when it is cool. She wasn't locked away for hours so maybe I worded that wrong because that's not how it was.

By the way my boyfriend has very,very bad insomnia and is incapable of sleeping during the night so when she was not sleeping in the crate in the beginning he was up to play with her and being with her. It's kind of like we took shifts with a new baby. When I worked yes he had maybe an hour to sleep after I left but we were told by many people we have to get her used to being alone. Which she never is in all reality. We are with her 24/7. She follows us everywhere and when I say everywhere I mean it. We rarely leave her home but we don't want school time to be a big shock if she has to be alone for an hour or two. I figured leaving her alone for a couple of minutes to an hour every once awhile would be good so she isnt as scared when we start school.

Also I don't leave her with just a kong, she gets all different treats and rawhides. And she is never left for long periods because we never want to leave her. She is our big baby with fur and a tail and we don't just leave her anytime we want matter if fact we almost never leave her, we almost always take her everywhere but i cant take her to school. We haven't been out or spent anytime alone it's all puppy time since we bought her besides when i had to work I can promise you that. We even take her to the grocery store and one of us waits in the car with her and the a/c.

So I think we have done a lot of good things and all of the things you have just mentioned but her not liking the crate hasn't changed.

Thanks for all the clarification !

(it's not something anyone wants to hear but) Looks like you've made her have pretty bad separation anxiety simply by never leaving her and taking her everywhere. She doesn't generalize like people generalize things. You're always there so she doesn't understand that there are times you have to leave her and she doesn't get that she can't always go along. If it really is as bad as it sounds it won't be a quick or easy fix, really.

Bella had SA probably about the same age as yours. I live at home and take care of my parents because they are not in the best of health. I'm constantly home as they are my full time job so it was ideal for me to get a puppy. But because I never left - it created SA. I stopped crate training after she ripped out four of her teeth and she had free roam of the house. I didn't worry about accidents because she was house broken by 5 months old.

From what little I do remember of that stage of her life it was easier for me to trust her out of the cage if we had to leave she preferred to sleep more than anything. I made sure that I started leaving the house for 20-30 minutes at a time every few days and the entire family would leave for an hour roughly at least once a week for dinner. Once the door shut she would scream for probably about a half an hour but then she'd stop. She did that for I want to say a couple of months but eventually she made the connection that we WILL eventually come back and the time that it took her to stop screaming gradually decreased and stopped all together. Then we faced a period of screaming if she couldn't see me. She still to this day does it but only under certain circumstances (she gets left out back and we go around the corner or she's left in the car when someone she likes leaves and doesn't come back) she's almost a year and a half old now.

When you start to leave and she has to stay do you make a big deal about it with her? Like do you fuss over her? When you come home do you make a big deal about seeing her?

Ceara has it dead to rights. You really need to focus on making the Crate a "good place to be" rather then a prison. Feeding inside. High reward treats for staying or even just going in. All things you should be practising to desensitize her Separation anxiety.

Quote :

We got Anna when she was 6 weeks old which was the 7th of May and bought the crate about a week later and having been trying to crate train ever since, she is now 5 months. I am assuming this is mistake number one, because she was sleeping in our bed until then. After we bought the crate she slept in there at night and eventually stopped crying after a couple of weeks. I would put her in at midnight and she would sleep till 8 am when she would wake me up with cries for the bathroom.

I think the above is probably worded a bit wrong, so excuse me if I miss read anything.

It sounds like you started crate training at 7 weeks? Despite the fact the pup was taken away from the litter a bit early, the fact you started a week after getting Anna isn't an issue at all. If done right, as Ceara said, they will eventually learn the crate is a safe and rewarding place to me.

However the issue I see the amount of time Anna might be in the crate. 8 hours is a very long time for a 7 week old to be crated (This is where I think the wording might be off) and even still for a 5 month old.

Anna could be doing very well with it, but a pup can really only hold their bladder for an hour per month old they are (Give or take an hour). Your looking at 5 hours to be safe. If you start pushing any more then that you risk UTIs.

waking up for a quick pee break can go a long way in helping your pup stay healthy.

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She will cry for hours, and hours and we thankfully have no one beside us but we do have a woman above us and I have warned her to let us know if she is to loud since we are trying to get her used to the crate before school starts back in a couple weeks.

Again see above about being away for too long, hopefully you can find some way with school and work to let Anna out every 5 hours or so if she is to be crated for that length of time.

Apart from that lets address your HOWLING.

Exercise Exercise Exercise.

Before crating or leaving your pup for any lengthy period of time you want to tire them out as much as you can. Now you didn't state your morning routine but if you can tire Anna out before take off it will go a long way in stopping the noise. A tired puppy is sleeping after the initial worry phase and a sleeping puppy is a quiet puppy.

Exercise also doesn't mean to run your 5 month old down the street. Work on training, tricks, and commands. Exercising the brain is just as exhausting for a young pup and you get to work on training at the same time. 30 minutes of stimulation is HUGE at that age.


Set the Mood.

If Anna sleeps though the night beside you try and replicate as much as you can from that experience. If you have music on to sleep put it on when you leave.

Maybe record yourself snoring for a night and have it loop while your gone. They get used to sounds and smells very fast and if you can replicate your night time ritual you MIGHT get away with her relaxing easier.

Leave a TV on so she has some sound in the house (It may also help drown out her Whooooing a bit too).


Occupy the mind.

At 5 months she should eventually just pass out and sleep. But the times she is awake having a small chew toy, a Kong stuffed with treats, a puzzle toy she can work on in the crate with minimal movement can keep her busy and less noisy.

Just make SURE anything you leave in with her can't break off and be choked on.


The hard truth is it just takes time and patience. You need to out last it. If you're giving in in the slightest she will learn that if she puts up ENOUGH of a fight you will eventually cave and let her out.

Every time you do that you're making it becomes longer and longer to break her of the howling. You need to out last and praise when Anna does it right. Never reward Sass or pleading. Be firm and even if after 3 hours she is crying at night tough it out and don't move.

In the long run what you do at this stage will come back 10 fold later on. Do it right now and you'll have a MUCh easier time when the teenage years hit, which you're not too far off of.


Either way like always everyone here wishes you and Anna the very best of luck. Keep at it and come here to VENT and speak your mind about what is working and what isn't. everyone here will help how ever they can, of this I am sure

~Chris~

We took her out to potty every night after 4 hours in the crate, she wasn't in for 8 hours straight with no potty break. We have actually decided to leave her out at night as it is just easier and seems to be better for her. It should also help when we have to crate her during the day for school. Luckily she will only have to be in the crate for a few hours while we are at school. Do you think it is okay to leave her out at night since she does not potty inside anymore? In the future I would like her to be able to sleep in bed with me but I don't exactly want it to ruin her chances of liking her crate.

Thank you guys for your help and sorry for the confusion. My biggest problem is my boyfriend and I have a difference of opinions concerning the crate. He doesn't ever want to leave her in it and I want her to get used to it before school starts. We have been working on this for a few months now and it is hard.

At night time we usually sleep with the tv on with a set timer and when we do leave her we do leave on the tv. Regarding the leaving part no we don't make a big deal but when I take her out if, when she is quiet, I do tell her yay good girl, a trainer told me to try this as well, rewarding her for being quiet. I can work on just letting her out and take her potty without making a big deal. I have a question, how long should I wait to take her out? Usually we wait till she quiets down long enough for us to run in and take her out, which isn't long at all. We also make her calm down in the cage and make her wait after I open the door until I give her the okay.

Anna is a very big sleeper. She is pretty laid back for a husky and usually we play for a while in the morning, i also train her in the morning, and then she sleeps for a good few hours. We usually take a walk, in the grass, during the afternoon when it has cooled off a little to check the mail. Later at night we let her run around outside between the two of us, we are trying to work on come with her dragging her leash behind she seems to enjoy it.

Ceara, as I said above it is hard to leave her when my boyfriend and I disagree. He is use to a anti-social German Shepherd so he likes that he can take her everywhere. I try to tell him it isn't making it easy on her, it is only making it worse but he still tells me he doesn't see a point in leaving her if we don't have too.... Thankfully she hasn't pulled out any teeth but I am sure she would. She thankfully doesn't pant as bad anymore when before she would be soaking wet on her chest and front legs. I guess we are making some progress.

I think I will start over with the crate during the day. What intervals should I start off with? How often? It is harder being new to this, as my family never crated, they have golden retrievers who always behaved and never tear up anything.

When you start out crating you should do it in small intervals. 5 minutes to start after she's okay with 5 minutes without yelling up to 10 then 15 etc etc do on and so forth. Ideally you'll treat her for every time she goes in the crate on her own, even when she just goes towards it. You'll praise and treat of when she goes in and when you shut the door give her treats and praise. Get her used to having the door shut before you try to put her in there for a period of time.

(only praise and treat when she is quiet)

I didn't mean that you made a big deal of letting her out of the crate - because you want to praise her quite a bit for being quiet - not necessarily coming out of the crate.

I didn't crate as a puppy but I did reintroduce her to the crate at 10 or so months just in case. Basically we set up the crate in the living room and I left the door open. Everytime she went in I made a huge deal about it but I always left the door open at first. Once she started staying in there for a few minutes I would shut the door for a few minutes as long as she stayed laying down I kept the door shut - when she moved I would open it. Even if she didn't come out or really move from her position. It let her know that nothing bad was going to happen and that she could come and go as she pleased. Even though she doesn't need the crate she still likes to go in it and mouth off so we leave it up for her.

(sorry for the incoherent mess that this post is I'm on my phone)

I think you hit the nail on the head of your own problem. Chris and Ceara have the training action steps covered. I don't need to add anything there.

What I AM going to add is that none of that will work if you and your boyfriend aren't on the same page. You need to get everyone in the household on board with these training methods and you BOTH need to be consistent. She will never learn if you BOTH aren't reinforcing these ideas.

Good luck.

Everything Ceara said! lol You have to be consistent like everyone said. Eventually the dog will get use to it! Maggie prefer to be in her crate now then with me at night time.

So just an update we think Anna is doing better! She no longer cries when we leave and no longer cries the whole time. She is sometimes crying when we get back home but we assume she is doing it because she has to potty and she is just trying to tell us.

She seems to be adjusting well but as soon as school started she began having diarrhea and we think she it might just be from the change in schedule. This is the end of the first week of school and the diarrhea is starting to go away slowly. I did take her to the vet for the diarrhea and she put her on a 5 day medicine but was unable to check her fecal due to the fact that she wouldn't stand still because she wanted to come back in the room with me. I do have to take her back to the vet in a few days and I will have her test Anna's fecal just in case. Besides the diarrhea she seems completely fine and happy.

Btw we are finally on the same page with what needs to be done!

Anna has also been sleeping in her crate at night due to the fact that she had a few diarrhea accidents on the floor and she seems to do fine with the crate. She wakes me up when she has to potty, as I have become a very light sleeper since we got her.

Once again thank you guys for all the advice!

Great to hear! Good job on all the hard work

Glad to hear she is doing better. It is so nice when they are good in their crate.

What about putting some of your clothes by her crate while you are gone?

We tried it when she was little and it seemed like every time she would potty on the t-shirt, I took that as a sign that she wasn't happy with me since I knew she didn't have to potty when I put her in. She has finally gotten better though. She has a nice soft towel, a pillow, her stuffed husky, her kong, dog treats, chewies, and this kong dog treat dispenser she has to knock over with her nose to get out the goodies so plenty of things to keep her busy for now.

She actually just pulled her metal crate apart as well as the blanket covering the crate so we had to buy a new one. This time we bought a huge plastic crate and she seems to like it more than the last one which was "metal." But anyways it seems like things are getting better it was just a constant battle with her but we finally had success. She no longer cries when we leave her but she does hide under the futon when she knows we are getting ready to leave which can be quite difficult to deal with especially if you are running late. That is our next task to over come. But we are getting there and after that first week of school, she knew what was happening and she actually stopped crying after a couple of days. She knew we wouldn't be gone long and no amount of crying then would let her get out. To be honest I think most of our success came from that first week of school, we tried easing her in a bit before school started back and it didn't seem to work, but she figured it out quick once school started.

It is definitely a learning situation and the fact that not every method works for every puppy or dog can be quite a challenge because you need all the help you can get or at least we did! My family has always had golden retrievers and never needed to crate train so it was a new experience. Not one I want to go through again for awhile, the crying for hours at the top of her lungs was the worst part because at one point she would make herself hoarse. Plus living in our apartment it all just seemed to echo and that wasn't very pleasing to hear. But thank you for your help!

We could actually try it again since she is a bit older and hasn't had an accident in a couple of weeks, it might work. Then I was just tired of washing the t-shirt every day. Hahah.

I know what you mean when we got Loki we got him a momma bear for when he was in his kennel at night and had it set to the heartbeat.