Thane is 7 months now and has been neutered about 2 weeks ago. In terms of his behavior he's good, a tad stubborn but comes with the breed lol. I've been crate training him since I got him and he's taken to it just fine. But lately he's started to whine and howl when I leave to go to work. It's affecting my sister and dad because I leave early in the morning when they are still sleeping. I'll even walk him in the morning and he still whines and howls. Now if I leave him out of the crate supposedly he doesn't make a noise and just roams the house chewing toys, playing with the cat or sleeping by the front door. I'm seeking advice on if I should continue to work with him having free roam of the house 24/7(which personally doesn't bother me nor my family) or should I stick strictly to the crate when I'm gone?

Is your family home all day long?

We crate Anna during the day when we both are not home but on Thursdays when I have school and he doesn't I leave Anna in the bedroom with him and she will sleep. If I left her in the crate she would cry. She doesn't seem to do anything in the bedroom, not much to tear up and she likes to sleep anyways. So my suggestion is if everyone leaves the house then maybe the last person to leave can put him in the crate? If someone is always home then I say just leave him out.

My sister has school and my dad has shift work. so there is someone home most of the time. My dad is usually sleeping for the night shift or he's sleeping in because he's off. The odd couple of days when my dad is on days no one is home till we get in.

Then I would just do like I said. When your dad works crate him. If you dad is sleeping either leave him in the room with your dad or leave him out. Either way he should be fine.

I agree with Ellen - apparently the dog is very aware of the presence of people

mheath0429 wrote:

I agree with Ellen - apparently the dog is very aware of the presence of people

Ditto, I'd do the same.

I’m sure every dog is different but I could not imagine what my house would look like if I let Nikko out of his crate during the day!

I will leave them both for a few minutes alone, but that’s about it. Last weekend I took a shower and left them downstairs and was pleasantly surprised to find them in the same state as I left them.

But there are those times when I find Nikko with random objects in his mouth, like clothes, shoes, remotes, cell phones, etc.

Unless he calms down significantly and I feel I can trust him MAYBE I will get to the point where I would leave him out of the crate while I’m gone. I also might if I had a basement or room he could go in that is husky proof.

I crate them not only because I’d rather not replace all my stuff, but I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him, like chewing wires and getting electrocuted, or swallowing something that will hurt him.

Well we are only talking about leaving them out when your home. I wouldn't leave Anna out if no one was home. We tried once and she had highlighter and shaprie all over the carpet. When I take a shower Anna usually is in the bathroom with me. She doesn't leave my side. But then again it could just be Anna but I cannot put her in the crate if I am home. It will just make me crazy. Hahah

I am thinking that if you are fine with leaving Thane roaming the house then do it. It can teach him manners as well that he shouldn't tear or mess with anything that is not his toy. This way later on, you don't have to worry about him messing the house if you're not there.
I have never crate train both my dogs (18 months old and 6 months old) and they stay in the house when I am out. I leave things and remote control on the table, shoes by the door and they won't do anything to it. If I have to leave longer than an hour or so, I will leave the sliding door to the backyard open so they can go do their toilets. My backyard is fully fenced with solid timber so they can't climb or dig, not that they have tried. Well, the only thing they will do sometimes is dig a hole and hide their toys. But they won't make the house muddy as they always wash their paws in the pool because I will check their paws when I see a hole but I won't scold them if their paws are clean. That's why I said they learn things fast.
For starters, don't leave anything you value around or it's gonna be in pieces. If he tears something, tell him 'no' and show him the thing. Don't think that he will forget, they are smart dogs.
I think that if you keep him in a crate all the time, he will definitely go for remote and shoes when he is out. But if he is out all the time, those things are just usual stuffs in the house. He won't be interested in them anymore. That is my opinion.

I've never crated but mainly because I never knew about crating until I joined this forum. Paid the high price of it once with the death of the evil sofa while I was at work by Mylo. Received another sofa and he must have started on one of the sofa cushions and stopped, he must of remembered the fear of God I instilled in him. The corner he chewed was hide able so no wrath.

Yesterday was the first time I've let Adobo & Biko stay in the house together after I came home for lunch. Adobo I knew was good to be there Biko I had concerns. So I raised the blinds up so he good look out the window and not destroy them. Came home at 3:45PM and still he demolished the bedroom blinds but I had told Beth if that was the worse that would happen we'll be okay and he will improve. Will see what happens today if its still below freezing at noon again today.

Well left Thane out today and he did just fine no whining or howling just went about his business and my sister found him sleeping at the front entrance when she woke up. Guess I'll stick to leaving him out before I leave for work and have the last person in the house crate him when they leave.

On a side note,, I can usually shower or even leave him in the house (longest has been 20 mins) and comeback to nothing destroyed. I try not to leave anything out that I don't want destroyed but not sure if real husky is real XD.