Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone -
I have my first husky, and she is almost perfect! She loves her crate, and will sleep in it and play in it --- if the door is open. Unless she is absolutely exhausted, as soon as we shut the door she starts crying and making the most horrible screaming noise I've ever heard.

We've had her a week, she is 8 weeks old. At first she was fine as long as one of us was near her and lulled her to sleep, but now it doesn't matter if we're in the room or not. I'm at home a lot, so she doesn't have to be crated much during the day, but she does have to sleep in it. We tried leaving the door open for her, and it worked for two days, but last night and this morning she peed on the carpet. Why do puppies think carpet is grass?

Any advice on that noise and how to stop it? Does anyone know if a citronella anti-bark device will register that noise and correct it? I have an old one, but need a refill.
We can't sleep - it's worse than a baby!

So, when she makes the noise, you let her out of the crate, right?

Sound like she has you trained, rather than the other way around.

You need to ignore the whining/crying and reward her when she's quiet in it. It's like getting a baby to sleep throught the night. In this case, you need to move her crate to someplace far away from your bedroom and/or get some earplugs.

Good luck,

Walt

No, I definitely do NOT let her out of the crate, which is why this is so irritating. I was wondering what this noise was and if it was normal. Whing is one thing, this noise is something else entirely. Every book I have ever read on Huskies says to have them sleep in the room with you to be part of the pack. My other animals are also in the room. The noise is so loud it frankly wouldn't matter where the crate was in the house. I have had several puppies in my life and never this problem.

Heyyyy, I def. know what u mean! When I first had Yuri, he would SCREAM, like this high pitched noise comparable to a baby crying. The only thing I could do was leave him in the cage, and eventually he would tire himself out and sleep... so I guess that means you may have to just make your Sibe tire out and realize that it is not going to win!

Hi there, sounds like you've just got a particularily vocal pup who doesn't like the crate! Most puppies won't like it at first, you need to really reinforce that it is a good place. Give her lots of treats everytime she goes in, start with the door open for small periods and try something like a Kong with peanut butter in it, that will keep her busy. If she is comfortable with the door open try her with it closed, again with treats, the kong will work great because it will keep her occupied.
Because she is so young, don't expect her to sleep the entire night in the crate right away, she may need to go out a few times. Try putting her to bed with the Kong as well. If she starts crying thump the crate with your hand and give the "NO" command.

Yes, they make alot of noises! You can put a blanket over the crate and see if it helps. Try to completely ignore the noise and see if it will stop, you dont want to give the dog attention for being annoying. Distract the dog, put kongs in the crate. Lastly, you can spray the dog with water in its face to make it be quite. jen

That's a great idea. Put a good slathering of peanut butter in the Kong and toss it in there when you shut the crate and go to bed. He'll be so intent on licking out that peanut butter that by the time he's done he'll forget he's in there and will fall asleep. And lightly covering the entrance door is a good idea, too, like the poster said.

Eventually, he'll be looking forward to that Kong. You can back off of it slowly after he's stopped whining/crying until he gets an empty Kong or no Kong. He'll get the routine...

Walt

I put an old sheet over my dogs crate to cover the whole thing... it gives it much more of a den type feeling, rather then being in the cage/wire type crate where you can see the whole world around you. Also makes it slightly darker and more condusive to sleeping IMO.
I also use the Kong toy in the cage... although I use the Kong Stuff a Ball and fill that with kibble. I subsequently feed less at breakfast to offset the extra food.
This has worked flawlessly since I started doing it back in june.