Hi Everybody
I am having an issue with my boy Orion - he barks whines howls and screams during the day while I am at work. He is alone for four hours then I come home for an hour run round with him and go back to work for another four hours. Now Orion has only been home 9 days and I have worked 4 of them, he is just a baby and settling in I understand that BUT my neighbour is not willing to allow him any time to settle, she has already laid a complaint to te local council and I am facing having my pup forcably muzzled! He is only 10 weeks old so I cannot walk him long distances etc in the morning to tire him out, he gets bones etc to keep him happy and is slowly learning the "quiet" command. I have talked to my neighbour (and I warned them before I got him that he was comming) but she will not make allowances and yells at me. I am at my wits end and desperate, time is not on my side with the complaint already made. Please if anybody has anything at all that may help me I will do anything, I don't want my baby muzzled!

I could be separation anxiety, even at that young an age. Have you considered the Thundershirt? I don't know if they make them for puppies that young though...other than that I'm afraid I don't have anything to offer. Hopefully someone else will.

Sheba was like this as well as a baby. She did for almost three weeks straight. The only think that worked for me was freezing a hand towel for her to chew on, getting other freeze chew toys, freezing a KONG and giving her calming supplements. They were Pet Naturals of Vermont brand. She got two of those before I went to work and I put all of the frozen toys in her crate with her. It took some time, but she finally got over it.

Some neighbors are b*tches. For real. Both my neighbors have yappy little dogs that howl and cry all day long. The minute Sheba gets to howling, I get texts from both of them. Last night was the first time she howled while I was at work in months, and they both sent me messages. I texted them both back the next day and told them that I was sorry, I didn't get off work until midnight, and I will return the favor and let them know when their dogs are howling as well. That shut them both up and they sent me an I'm sorry text . Sorry for my rambling, but I hate people who think they are so high and mighty and don't give somebody the benefit of the doubt, especially since you were nice enough to give her a heads up.

**Have you looked into those diffuser type things that emit calming smells?? They have them at PetSmart and Petco if you want to give it a shot.

Kiba did this but don't worry- it gets better. Have you tried giving your dog puzzle toys to play with while your gone? Those seemed to help a lot. I also had our ac units on full blast because they were so loud it partly drowned out my pups howling

I agree on the frozen towels/kongs and the puzzle games. King was like that for a couple of weeks after I got him, but now he gets so excited for his frozen kong & can't wait til I leave.

Oh and I always have the TV on for my girls. If you have an ipod or iphone, you should check out this free app called pet acoustics. It plays calming music and that worked really well for her too.

Another thing to think about is where the crate is positioned. Someone from the dog park moved their crate farther away from the door closer to the balcony area and that helped a lot since the sound of people outside their door didn't bug the dog as much... Might be something to think about...

Hi Everyone
Thank you all for your suggestions, I went and brought a Kong at lunchtime and some pet rescue remedy to help calm him unfortunately no vets here have Thundershirts (they are not too common here in NZ) so I will look into ordering one online. I should mention that he is not crated during the day, we built him an enclosure in our backyard so he has fresh air and room to play while being safe. I found a waterproof portable radio while looking for the kong toy so I will set that up tomorrow and see how he goes since tv etc is not an option. I have spoken to the breeder and she has offered me one of her adult dogs to put with him for a week or so - the theory being the adult will put my pup in his place but I am worried he will just end up lonely again when the adult goes home? Any advice on this?

I personally wouldn't do the adult thing. I'm not really sure what "place" he needs to be put in?? He is a young puppy and he is confused as to why he is alone so he is voicing his displeasure.

Have you kennel trained him at all?? Or is he going to be an outside dog? I guess I am a little confused on your situation with him. You should try crate training him so he feel like he has his own little den/space to call his own. Some dogs feel more secure with a crate because they know it is their own special area.

Sorry I suppose I didn't explain myself well. Orion is outside during the day when we are at work which is when he is in his enclosure which has a kennel in it for a cosy den space. His enclosure is the same construction as those he was raised in (he was raised outside with his littermates and mum) and yes he has been properly introduced to his enclosure and kennel although he seems to like sitting in the sun on top of his kennel more than he likes sitting in it at the moment. When we are home he toodles round inside or outside generally wherever we are. At night he is in the laundry with a puppy gate which he is fine with he happily goes to bed every night when I say "bedtime" and we do not hear from him again until morning, he does have a crate which he is happy in if the door is open but he despises being shut in - our breeder also does not recommend crating. I realize that many people do advocate crating and I had every intention of crating Orion until I found out our breeder did not recommend it, since he is my first Husky I thought I would be doing the best thing for him if I followed all of our breeders advice as closely as possible.
I think the idea behind the adult dog was that the adult would naturally discipline him for acting up and help him settle back into a routine, but I would rather he settles into our routine though not one that will not continue.
I am also of the opinion that he just needs time (which my neighbour is refusing to give him) but again since I am new to the husky breed I figured it was worth asking just in case there was something I was overlooking! I'm sorry if I sound useless my last dog was a very placid golden retriever the total opposite of my new baby

Hi There and welcome! Its exciting that you have your new pup home, and I'm sorry your neighbor is being so difficult.

In my opinion, I think you should crate train. It will be difficult, and Orion will scream his little face off at first, but in the end the benefits to both him and you will out weigh the difficulty you will face at the beginning. Also, it sounds like crating inside would solve the neighbor situation pretty simply. Read the stickies about crate training, they will be helpful.

From an outsider looking in, it sounds like the easiest and safest solution for your dog is to crate train and leave him inside during the day. From the op I was imagining an apartment situation, in which, he was inside howling all day. I am a major worry wort, but it would make me nervous to leave my puppy/dog outside all day unattended if he was drawing attention to himself by howling. I lived in apartment complex once and would leave my husky and foster husky on my terrace during the day. A neighbor once told me he thought it was so cool to hear my 'wolfs' howling. I never left them out after that. It was into the crates for them. It made me nervous that someone would steal, poison, or otherwise interact with my pups while I wasn't around and inadvertently let them out.

In terms of the breeder lending you an adult dog, from my perspective, the only thing that would do, would be to keep the puppy company during the day. I don't imagine an adult dog attacking or punishing a puppy for howling. I think its much more likely they would both howl, as howling is a communal activity. Plus once you remove the company of the older dog, you'll be back to square one, or worse.

Until we bring them home, puppies have never been alone. They are dealing with missing their moms and litter mates, bonding with a new human, and learning a totally new lifestyle. So they are going to be confused and upset until they learn the routines and its our job to keep them as safe as possible during this adjustment period. If that means crating them because you can't leave them outside in a dog run, for whatever reason, then we have to crate them. Just because he was whelped and raised outside, doesn't mean that he is happier out there, especially on his own. I'm curious about why your breeder is so against crate training? Did he/she explain why?

Hi thank you for your kind and informative reply I really appreciate it.
Your views on the adult dog scenario are the same as mine so I don't think we will go down that route.
I am very willing to try crating him, I like the idea of him having a safe space and I think it would be particularily handy for when we visit relatives etc so he immediately knows where to be.

Our breeder has been breeding these dogs for over 30 years (her dogs were instrumental in establishing the breed here in New Zealand, we are very lucky to have one of her dogs) so I think she is just "old school" when it comes to puppy raising. She is lucky enough to have a large amount of land so has a fantastic set up and her dogs are very free with lots of space, she is against forced confinement due to the inital stress it places on the pups.

Luckily I went and spoke to the local council and they have deemed the complaint completely unreasonable and have removed it for me

I will have a read up on crate training and do my best with that - if that fails I have daytime care lined up for him with a briard pup.

Crate training has been invaluable in dealing with Frosti's separation anxiety, as were kongs and thundershirts. Leaving the TV on was also helpful, you've received some great advice here.

I actually think the breeder has the right idea with the adult dog. What that said, I feel training him to be alone and settle himself down is essential and this may help in the interim. We crated both dogs separately when we started crate training her. Having another dog there to model a calm behavior helped her, as well as Chili telling her to shut up if she got whiny and howly. Totally worked! We would sneak out and leave a camera on to watch and observe. Chili has been a fantastic trainer and taught her all the house rules. We are now able to leave both dogs uncrated while we're gone without incident. We can even leave her alone for hours with a kong and she's fine. She would cry like someone was trying to kill her if we left her at home previous to the training.

If he does well in the laundry room at night with the baby gate, you could try just keeping him in there- he may be content and not need a crate. Of course, it depends if your laundry room is puppy proof! The longer he gets used to his routine and learns you always come home, the noise will let up and he will probably adjust just fine to his outside enclosure. For the peace of your neighbor though, inside is best. I love huskies dearly but the racket they raise can drive a person crazy pretty quickly!

Glad the council was with you. Keep up the crate training - it really helps. And having a backup plan is excellent!

What kind of crate? The plastic airline crates are more closed and like a den. The wire crates can be covered part way with a blanket to provide similar coziness and darkness and reduce the stimulation.

Next is to try closing the door to the crate. We are building up our puppy's tolerance by closing her in and using a kitchen timer. She gets treats when the door is first closed. First an instant of closing the door, then a minute, two, five, ten, 20, half-hour, and so on. Gradually. It could be over a week or two months whatever works. We also feed her entirely in the crate and her water is in there.

If the neighbor complains again say thank you. Consider it a simple measure of how you are succeeding with the dog. You cannot know if it is howling during the day - the neighbor is providing valuable feedback.

Perhaps your neighbor will come to appreciate that she is actually helping. If not, it will drive her nuts when you are nice instead of distressed. Bwahahaha!

Hi everyone, thank you for all your replies and suggestions. Orion is doing much better during the day now and is progressing steadily with crate training. I took a two pronged approach for the outdoor screaming giving him puzzles, rescue remedy, a radio and bones to keeping him entertained/calm while we are away. To offset his daytime I have upped his clicker training for mental stimulation, and have organised three puppy play sessions for him a week and of course he gets walks morning and night. He is now so quiet at home I got asked if we had given him away! I am thrilled with how he is doing and determined to keep a step ahead with keeping him entertained - he will be starting basic agility in the next few months. Thank you so much for all the ideas!

Oh and justice arrived this morning. .. in the form of an 8 week old spoodle pup. Oh yes my complaining neighbour got a puppy! Ahahahaha