Husky Crate Issues

szabla

New Member
Hi everyone,

hoping I can get some help here. We have a 9 month old female Siberian husky. She gets plenty of exercise with walks, runs, play time and I even get her to do the treadmill most days. She has no issue going to bed in her crate and sleeps through the night. When she gets in trouble it's her safe spot she always runs to but for some reason if we crate her during the day and leave the room for more than 5-10 minutes she starts to panic and tries breaking out of the crate. We have put kongs with treats in them for her, as well as other toys but she usually will ignore them because she's too busy trying to break out. She has destroyed one wire crate already and we are worried she may hurt herself if we leave the house for a few hours.

The radio and tv do not work either. How can I train her to calm down. I know it is separation anxiety but not sure what we can do differently.
 

stdpoodad

Experienced Member
Since she likes the crate, but doesn't like it when you leave. I'd go back to the beginning; put her in the crate, walk around the corner, come back and treat profusely. Lather, rinse, and repeat. Then move up to longer times, but don't rush it. Eventually she should see the you leaving signals good things, and you *are* coming back.
 

stdpoodad

Experienced Member
I forgot to mention the times. When I start out, I'd walk around the corner, come back in maybe 2 or 3 seconds, just long enough to get out of her sight. You don't want to put her over threshold at the start, way difficult to come back from that. Measure your times in seconds at first, then work up to minutes, etc..
 

jackienmutts

Honored Member
May I recommend a little book by Dr. Patricia Mcconnell: I'll Be Home Soon and here's an article from Whole Dog Journal that may help you understand what you're going thru and give you some clear ideas of what you should work on. You can't rush this tho, you've got to go very very slowly to have success - VERY slowly - but she can overcome this.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/11_7/features/Canine-Separation-Anxiety_16044-1.html

http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Home-Soon-Separation-Anxiety/dp/1891767054
 
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