Hi everyone, my fiancé and I will be getting our first husky in 2 weeks. My question is how does everyone feel about crate training? My fiancé as I do work full time about 8 hrs...we plan on walking him In the morning as well as in the afternoon...can we crate him for that long...I plan on giving him bones to chew on to keep him company as well as going home on my lunch for the first month or so to check on him...any advice on this subject would be great...thank you!

Hi holister,

welcome to the forum. There are many crate training threads available here, you should check them out. The majority of members crate train(ed) and feel very good about them. How old will your Husky be? If she/he is a puppy 8 hours is entirely too long and no amount of chew toys will make it better. There will be a mess to clean when you get home in the crate, for sure. That is the most obvious of issues with 8 hours of crate time for a puppy.

Good luck and enjoy the info here. Look in the training section.

Cheers.

Ok great thanks...he will be a puppy 8 weeks...is there something else we can do?

Friends, relatives, staggered lunch breaks, hired sitters....any number of things really. I know a lot of people plan vacations with a new puppy coming home, as me and my partner did. We had 10 days straight with ours.

In general a puppy is gonna have to pee every 2-3 hours and more frequently with food, water, play, chewing, training, and napping. It's very predictable actually. There will be an immediate need to pee after these activities. They also poop much more frequently. Depending on what type and amount of food you feed him as well, he'll need to eat 3-4 times a day including once midday in most schedules.

Will this be your first puppy? Have you done a lot of research about their needs at this age?

I have done a ton of research...we h e a six year d shih tzu who is the best dog in the world she gives us no problems...you said you took vacation time of 10 days off, wa that enough? Because I have the option of doing that too?

It worked great for us. You don't sleep for the first week because the transition is very stressful for them and sleeping in a crate takes a lot of time and patience. It also gave us plenty of time to bond with him and build his trust and respect.

My partner and I are fortunate to have work schedules and lunch break availability to where our puppy is alone for 4 hours max and with strategically timing his water intake....etc. he has never peed or pooped while locked in his crate since we've had him. He has gone into it twice to pee on his own while it is open but that's a whole nother issue

Ok well I can do the vacation and visit him on my lunch which means he wouldn't be alone for more than 4 hours either...do you know at what age they can old their bladder for the longest?

The crate can be a godsend if you do the training right, so do read all the threads here. Just put crate training in the search box on the left and you will find a wealth of info. So much wonderful advice on how best to make it easier on both you and your new pup. They don't come to you loving being locked up so it will take a lot of work on your part to show him/her that it's a safe place. It takes time, but will be worth it in the end.

Thank you so much...this forum has been really helpful so far!!!

Excellent. Their bladder control is one of the last things to develop and doesn't get fully developed for a while.

Their age in months + 1 is a common formula given for how many hours their bladder control is. This varies from puppy to puppy but is a good place to start and gauge from.