Hello, We are new to these forums and are from Australia. My husband and I have new parents to a 9 week old husky called Shadow.

Our family also consists of 3 cavaliers and a cat. When we went to meet the litter the breeder suggested a male would have less of a prey drive and that this particular male was very sooky and would suit our 3 cavaliers. Not sure how accurate that is... lol

Shadow is very smart and in general is a good puppy (although he does play a little rough)

We are being tested though with this crate training. He is good during the night, he is in a smaller crate next to our bed.

during the day at first we tried him in the same crate but he howled and we were unsure that it was an appropriate size to be in during the day- there wasnt any room for playing, but ofcourse he can stand up and turn around etc. So we moved him to the bigger crate which is big enough to play in as well, but not too big that he would want to go to the toilet in there. We have put a blanket over the crate, he has water, plenty of toys and treats in there. Some days he is quite relaxed in there and settles himself in about 20 minutes ( I have a web cam set up that I can watch when at work) but other days, ie today he is very unsettled. He gets let out at about every 2-3 hrs while I am at work by a friend and in the mornings before he goes in there he runs around for at least 2 hours.

I have read the topics on crate training and to be persistant and to not give in... but if he is howling for an hour or more before settling is that too long? I am worried I am going to mentally damage him? Or am I just being too soft?


I have been reading through these forums and you guys provide so much help and information. I look forward to joining in

Welcome! We're adopting a little girl at the end of the month who is right about the same age as your Shadow, and we are naming her Shadow as well

With the crate training, it really is tough love that is needed. You're not going to mentally damage him if you let him howl for long periods of time, this is totally normal behavior during crate training. What would cause mental damage would be if you left him crated 24/7 and then screamed at him every time he made a noise. That's what happened to our Cocker before my husband got her. Just completely ignore the noise, and he will calm down soon enough. Stick with it, it will get better!

blueeyedghost: Thank you for your reply and your assurance we are doing the right thing. When I am work he is in the crate (but is let out regulary throughout that) and when its our bed time but apart from that he is free to run the house and yard. I wouldnt dream of crating him all the time. If I can work out how to post an image ill put one up Love to see one of your shadow when you get her!

In general how long will the crying go on for? weeks, months?

He is a very bossy boy and we are noticing he body slams our cavaliers. Thankfully they dont stand for his behaviour and growl at him, but I do fear that the bigger he gets the less he will listen to them. Is it possible to teach him some manners in this respect or is it up to the other dogs?

Welcome to the forum! My 8 week old is going through the same thing with her play room, so I know how hard it is to deal with the persistant screaming! I too worried that it would damage her, but with some tough love, she is starting to at least wear herself out and go to sleep.

My pups crate is only big enough for her to stand-up, turn around, lay down and sprawl out. She does much better in her crate than in my 77 square foot sunroom which is her play room. She wines in the crate for 15 minutes then falls asleep. But when she is gated in her playroom she will persist for at least an hour! I think its because the room isn't very den-like.

It seems like some tough love and downsizing back to the smaller crate might help

For pictures, check out this thread:

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t121-how-to-upload-photos-or-resize-them-for-the-forum

I personally use photobucket to upload my pictures, it works much better than some of the other image hosting sites I've used.

We were really lucky when we got Ghost, she came already crate trained (even at 10 weeks) and never made a peep in her crate at night. I know other people have said anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. Just be consistent and never give any attention when he's making noise, and he should calm down fairly quickly.

As far as teaching the manners, I would suggest teaching him "gentle" and "leave it". We taught Ghost both, and she lives in harmony with 2 cats. She still tries to play with our Cocker who wants nothing to do with it, which is partly why we started looking for a 2nd Husky. As he gets a little older and gets more immunizations, start socializing him with other dogs. If you've got friends whose dogs are up to date on their shots, you should start doing play dates with different dogs. They will all sort of help teach him what's appropriate and what's not. We did that with Ghost, and it helped a lot.

blueeyedghost

Thanks will check out that link and see if I can add some photos.

I have been sure to ignore the crying and only let him out once he has settled...

Shadow is attending puppy preschool next week which runs for 4 classes. I am hoping there he will begin to learn some manners and ofcourse will have some interaction with other puppies. He will then go to obedience. I have a few friends with dogs, thanks for the tip, ill give that ago! I am pleased to hear that Ghost gets on with your cats, I hope Shadow will eventually. Our cat runs the house.. so he is standing up to him but again once he grows this may change....

You have to be really firm early on with the cat thing. Cats are part of the pack and to be left alone, and that needs to be enforced each and every time. That way it won't turn into a problem when he's older. We also have a kitty door in our basement door so the cats can get down there but the dogs can't. One of the cats actually plays with Ghost, and the other one wants nothing to do with her so she leaves him alone.

What a cutie!

eddycaaa wrote:

Welcome to the forum! My 8 week old is going through the same thing with her play room, so I know how hard it is to deal with the persistant screaming! I too worried that it would damage her, but with some tough love, she is starting to at least wear herself out and go to sleep.

My pups crate is only big enough for her to stand-up, turn around, lay down and sprawl out. She does much better in her crate than in my 77 square foot sunroom which is her play room. She wines in the crate for 15 minutes then falls asleep. But when she is gated in her playroom she will persist for at least an hour! I think its because the room isn't very den-like.

It seems like some tough love and downsizing back to the smaller crate might help

Thanks for the welcome and the tips! I have tried to make both his crates like a den with a blanket over it..

blueeyedghost wrote:

You have to be really firm early on with the cat thing. Cats are part of the pack and to be left alone, and that needs to be enforced each and every time. That way it won't turn into a problem when he's older. We also have a kitty door in our basement door so the cats can get down there but the dogs can't. One of the cats actually plays with Ghost, and the other one wants nothing to do with her so she leaves him alone.

I watch Shadow and our cat all the time, never leave them alone together and have been saying no everytime he trys to play with him...I will try the whole leave training though and see how that goes

hi first time here as well i have a 14 month old almost 15 months old husky i was never able to train her in a crate and i dont think its a good idea to try it again or is it?

annaeli0824 wrote:

hi first time here as well i have a 14 month old almost 15 months old husky i was never able to train her in a crate and i dont think its a good idea to try it again or is it?

I certaily am no expert, but I guess if she is behaving now without having to be in a crate then perhaps its not necessary?

Quote :

hi first time here as well i have a 14 month old almost 15 months old husky i was never able to train her in a crate and i dont think its a good idea to try it again or is it?

If she needs to be in a crate, then you can start from scratch and try again. But you have to stick to your guns and use tough love. Letting her out when she cries will not make things better, it will only make it worse. You have to make the crate a safe and desirable place to go.

well she dose behave but not all the time she will chew on the carpet and sofa but when we tell her to stop she will but she'll do it again later that day she will sit if told to and give u her paw roll over and jump up even try to say i "i love you" but i think the crate might be a good idea so she could learn to behave a little more and thanks for the advise =)