New Husky Owner - Training a Husky, Separation Anxiety

by Jackie jack
(flushing, NY, USA)

Hi

I'm a new pet owner with a Husky about 2-3 months old. I'm doing some crate training with the dog and somehow he seems like to know where to go when he wants to pee. We let him out every 3 to 4 hours. I let him out in the morning around 6:15am before I go to work. my mom let him out before she goes to work around 10am and come back home around 2:30 to 3 pm. After I finish work usually I let him out around 7:30 to 8 pm. and then before bed, I let him out around 11 to 12 . he spent around 30min to an hour every time he is out. But seems like he doesn't like to go in the crate by himself, most of the time I lure him with toys and treats in order for him to get in so i can go to work.

now he started to have some strange behavior when he gets out. he started being tense with his tail curl all the way up. he sniffs around and digging the bottom of the wall. he is not listening to me, he run like crazy and not letting me touch him and try to bite. Sometime I used treat to calm him down and asked for some basic command like sit, down etc.. but the attention was short. he went back to digging and destroy newspaper on the floor again and he is not listening to me.

I wonder if crate training too much for this breed is a problem? How long I should let him out for stretch every time I take him out of the crate? Should I put him in the cage even i'm in the house? or let him have more time outside the crate? since he is still small and hvn't got all his shots, I couldn't bring him out for walk yet. is there any exercise I can work with him at home so I can burn out some of his energy ?
Also, how can I calm him down when he gets too hyper or nervous?

Thanks

Jackie

Hi Jackie, sorry for the delay in the reply but I have been away for the last few weeks - I spoke to a good friend of mine about this and we came to the following conclusions...

I do know that this breed is very independent and it sounds as though this pup is getting very stressed about being crated. The behavior you describe just sounds like a build up of anxiety.

It's so difficult at this age with pups isn't it, they need to be crated to help with the housebreaking, but they also need lots of one-on-one time and close supervision when they're not in their crates. It can be so tricky for
new owners to figure out the correct 'balance'.

There are a few things that I'd try if I were you Jackie...

1. Try to give the pup more free time, but of course with proper supervision.

2. Make sure there are good sturdy chew toys in the crate with the pup so he can relieve some of that pent-up anxiety by chewing. If he has 3 or 4 really good ones he can alternate them, maybe giving him 2 one day and a different 2 the next. Or one at a time, switching them over half way through the day.

3. As the pups not fully vaccinated he'll have to stick to games etc in the yard, but how about a frisbee, or if the pup has any ball drive try a soccer ball or something similar.

4. A short training session tires a pup both physically and mentally, maybe you should consider a bringing in few short sessions into the day.

5. Also, there are natural products that can be used to help reduce a puppy, or dogs', anxiety levels. Some are given internally as food supplements, or the pheromone-based 'plug-ins' are also good.

Hope this helps Sue and Tobias