He has escaped it after I reinforced it. I really thought he hated it when he was a few weeks old but now that he is stronger and older he is really really adamant about getting out! He really went the extra mile today and splattered blood all over the floor ripped up sections of the carpet and gave himself lacerations from head to toe along with ripping a few claws out. I am losing faith and I don't know what I'm going to try next. He will not be contained he is determined to escape no matter how much harm he does to himself.
I'm in need of help and I've no idea who else to turn to about this sort of thing.

Try the plastic crates made for air travel. I tried to crate Koda once for 5 minutes testing it out and he messed himself up some (in a metal crate)- tried the plastic and he was fine and couldn't hurt himself.

Yikes! That looks rough. I don't have any advice since Bode hasn't tried to escape his crate, but good luck!

Do you have a garage? Do you give him chew toys? I agree that you should try a thick plastic crate. is there someone you can leave him with while you are gone?

I've tried leaving him in rooms and he will just dig dig dig until he starts breaking claws and clawing up the floor until he is hurt. The garage is cement and has a metal door. I don't know if that would persuade him not to dig but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

I agree with trying the airline crate. Those really are pretty indestructible. (they have to be at 30,000 feet!)

SkylerWest wrote:

I've tried leaving him in rooms and he will just dig dig dig until he starts breaking claws and clawing up the floor until he is hurt. The garage is cement and has a metal door. I don't know if that would persuade him not to dig but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

He is only 3 months old? Have you talked to your vet about this behavior? Something seems really amiss.

Huskydad wrote:

SkylerWest wrote:

I've tried leaving him in rooms and he will just dig dig dig until he starts breaking claws and clawing up the floor until he is hurt. The garage is cement and has a metal door. I don't know if that would persuade him not to dig but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

He is only 3 months old? Have you talked to your vet about this behavior? Something seems really amiss.

I intend to when I take him in to get his front paws and his cuts looked at. I really really really feel like I'm doing something wrong here. I feel like the past few days have been the hardest I've had with him so far.

Ares did the same thing in metal crates. I have the 40" tall plastic crate, and for 4 of the reinforcers to hold the top and bottom together I have padlocks. He's ever gotten out of it.

WOW - I'm shocked too. How bad is he hurt??? All that blood........ I cant imagine walking into that room and seeing that - its like a murder scene almost. Try crating him while you are home in short spans - not all at once.- and use treats!!! Maybe a plastic crate like someone mentioned also. A calming plug in might be helpful too. Crating is an acquired taste for huskies, and it will take him a while to adjust. I remember one hot summer, I covered my girls bedroom window with dark out window stuff so the sun wouldnt make the room hot - and I came home - she tried to get out through the window - and ate all the wood window frames off the wall - taking part of the wall with it - looked like a construction site...... horrible - she was hell bent to get to see outside I think not as bad as this with all the blood though....... I wish you luck - take it slow, they do have minds of their own and are stubborn........ keep us posted -

He has been doing so well with crating the last few weeks, that's why this really shocks me. He even leads the way back up to his crate at night goes in and lies down. So when I opened the door and saw this I was sure he was dead. There was nothing anyone could have told me otherwise until he leaped up on my legs barking and licking my hands. He has been staying in the crate with ease since he hit about 14 weeks, and has always been ok with short spans and eventually we worked up to 3-4 hours during the day and staying in all night with only one bathroom break. I very nearly passed out when I saw this.

Wow that seems like a horrible site to come to! I hope he gets accustomed to the crye but yea I would go with what everyone says and get a plastic crate. I wish you the best of luck!

I've contacted the breeder for help. I really can't handle this alone. His sire had to have a crate built that was sturdy and escape proof because the plastic ones he would chew through and the metal ones like the one above he would break out of. I will be using a plastic one for now but I am going to look into alternatives that will contain him with no injury for the future.

Oh my gosh! That is horrible! I can't imagine what's going on in his head to make him want to do that, poor guy!

I'm with the airline crate too, and if that doesn't work, I would try an aluminum crate.

One that looks like this.

or

I switched to a Varikennel which is plastic after Lola destroyed a metal one. So sorry for you and I hope he's okay and you find a solution.

Yup - had the same thing with Frosti - we had to slowly desensitize her to the crate by doing small periods of time with treats, with the door open - first in the living room with us in it, then in the bedroom with us in it, then with us out of the room, etc. However, since our adoption of her coincided with my dad being deathly ill and then passing away - we couldn't get to the training and ended up putting her in day care for that period of time. We did end up also buying a Varikennel, which worked out better than the wire crate. As well, we got her a thundershirt for anxiety and also gave her a super yummy kong during crate time. She also did better with her brother crated beside her, but that doesn't help you. He would tell her to shut up when she got anxious and that everything's ok (growl growl growl). I will tell you that it does get better but that it does suck right now and you need to find the time and patience for training, and figure out who can check on him or stay with him in the meantime. We were debating that crazy metal crate for a while.

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

Yup - had the same thing with Frosti - we had to slowly desensitize her to the crate by doing small periods of time with treats, with the door open - first in the living room with us in it, then in the bedroom with us in it, then with us out of the room, etc. However, since our adoption of her coincided with my dad being deathly ill and then passing away - we couldn't get to the training and ended up putting her in day care for that period of time. We did end up also buying a Varikennel, which worked out better than the wire crate. As well, we got her a thundershirt for anxiety and also gave her a super yummy kong during crate time. She also did better with her brother crated beside her, but that doesn't help you. He would tell her to shut up when she got anxious and that everything's ok (growl growl growl). I will tell you that it does get better but that it does suck right now and you need to find the time and patience for training, and figure out who can check on him or stay with him in the meantime. We were debating that crazy metal crate for a while.

Thank you so much, I have been told it gets better a lot. I was so close to hoping in the car after I cleaned him up and treated his bleeding claws. I was going to get on the highway and go back to the breeder and tell them I'm a unfit puppy owner. He was doing so well with the crate and we went through all of the above training methods. I agree with what someone said earlier that now that he knows he can escape he intends to keep doing it again and again. I really like the look of those crates above and will most likely have one similar to contain him. I'm wondering do any of them come with tough rubber around the inside edges because he banged and bruised his paws up doing that a few days ago.

Hayden_69 wrote:

Oh my gosh! That is horrible! I can't imagine what's going on in his head to make him want to do that, poor guy!

I'm with the airline crate too, and if that doesn't work, I would try an aluminum crate.

One that looks like this.

or

I can't imagine what is going on in his head either but we have a tripped planned to the vet tomorrow along with looking for a temporary crate for him. Tonight he gets the special treat of sleeping in the bed with me so I can monitor him and not wake up to west cravens puppy mutilation part II in the morning.

I agree the plastic airline travel crates are much better at safely containing a motivated dog....but how much exercise is he getting prior to being crated? have you tried feeding in the crate to promote it being a safe positive space for him?

I probably would have freaked when I walked in the door. I would of instantly broke down in tears. How horrible. I can't really offer up to much advice. Lucian isn't technically crated. I have a crate in my kitchen, but he's never actually locked in it. It's just there for him to have a "den" I baby gate him in my kitchen at night, and when we aren't home. But I can see from what he's done to himself that leaving him to roam around even one room could be even more dangerous for him. I really hope you can find a solution. Good luck to you!

He gets walked for 20 minutes twice a day Monday - Friday, and on weekends that goes up to 3-4 times a day depending on my plans. How could he go from being totally comfortable with it to doing something like this? He went from comfortable to so uncomfortable he feels the need to escape at all costs. Its in the same room same place and he has been on the same schedule for the past month and a half. He has a rubber chicken that he adores that he only gets during crate time along with a tough edible chew toy. His crate training started before he came home along with potty training. Being in a crate isn't a new thing for him.

Oh wow what a site to come home to! With Kao when we put her in her crate we would give her a "special treat" everytime she went in (I found some treats that she would go crazy over but she only got them at crate time). Also Maybe try putting a sheet over the crate? We also did that with Kao and it seemed to help with the whinning. It makes it feel more like a "cave" to them. I hope things work out!

Oh my lord..that would be the scariest thing ever. From your first post I didn't realize it was this serious. That would give me a heart attack! This is not your fault and you are no where near an unfit puppy owner! This is just a bump in the road (albeit a rather big one..). You will make it through this and so will your little one. Getting the advice of the breeder I'm sure will help out a lot since they have been through this already. Good luck and keep us updated.

I've yet to fall asleep I've been keeping an eye on him. It was a pretty eye opening thing to walk in on. I've walked in on a huge mess in the crate I've caught him ripping up plants. So many random yet wild puppy things you can think of and I've just about caught him doing it. But this took the cake the pies and the pastries. It was like a murder crime scene. I'm sure you can imagine the clean up was gruesome work. I kept thinking if someone saw this they would think I'm a lunatic or something who tortures his puppy. I was hesitant to post the pictures to ask for help because they look so violent in my opinion and def not something I would show kids.

Maybe try giving him a frozen kong or frozen knee cap? Hayden HATES the crate, dig's at it, screams, cries, breaks the plastic board, drools everywhere, etc. The only thing that some what works is the frozen knee cap.