Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Good morning,
I'm the new owner of a purebred, 3 month old female and would like to ask the experts some questions. Any and all help would be appreciated.

1) I'm single and live alone. There are times when I need to go out to places where the puppy cannot come with me. Does putting her in her crate for up to 4 hours cause any problems? She cries & howls as I'm leaving, but is generally quiet when I return home. I've only left her alone in the crate for less than an hour, but I'm uncertain about the effects of leaving for longer. I obviously will keep my absences to a minimum and don't plan on having her grow up in a crate, but there are times when I need to crate her. I don't want to harm the puppy!

2) Will I ever reach a place where I can leave the dog at home, out of its crate? Or, will most Huskies cause damage if left alone with the run of the house?

3) At 3 months of age, have I missed any opportunities to raise her the proper way? I've begun to housebreak the puppy and she's been a pretty quick learner but we're not completely there yet. She's a good pup but I can see a bit of stubbornness to her and am planning on starting training her on basic commands next week. I guess my question is, are we behind schedule and have I missed out on the "socialization period" that I keep reading about?

Thanks for your time!

I too am a fairly new owner of a female Siberian husky,Sierra, that is 6 months old. By no means am I an expert but I'll tell you what has worked for us and hope it helps ya out some:
1. one thing you could do is section off a piece of your kitchen or home(if your going to be gone for a long time) and put down newspapers or puppy pads. a baby gate works great for this..until she's fully potty trained. we left out her food and water and tons of toys(different sizes shapes and textures) or there are some toys on the market that stimulate their mind and keep them busy.
2. crating has not harmed our girl in any way..actually it's become one of the best things we've ever bought. she goes to her kennel/crate on command(although some days has an attitude problem..lol)I have 2 small children so it keeps her from stealing food and it gives her a little bit of a break from them...lol it truely is her space! it keeps her safe (as we're coming in and out) so she doesn't bolt for the door and end up lost or worse! now that she's 6 months old and pretty much knows what's her's and what's not...we leave her out of the kennel while we're gone..mainly shutting off all bedrooms and bathrooms(or any place that she could find something harmful) and always make sure she has her toys...most of the time when we return she's curled up sleeping!!
3. we started training Sierra when she was about 3-31/2 months old with very simple commands(like sit). she learned so fast, I was truely amazed...don't expect the stubborness to go away,though...Sierra usually follows commands and then there are days when all she does is "talk" back and walk away or look at me like I'm crazy...lol

Thanks so much!!! Your pup is adorable. What I left out of my post (and what I'm not happy about, or proud of), is that I took my puppy back to the breeder's 5 days ago because I've been unable to figure out how to manage caring for her and work from home, work on the house, etc. I'm going to go get her on Saturday. Your information is very helpful and much appreciated. Thanks again!
- Mark

you are very welcome!! and good luck with your baby!!!

Hi and congrats on your new baby!

I'm no expert by any means, but I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

Crating will not harm your pup by any means, and in fact is a great teaching device for housebreaking! I have four dogs, and my playroom looks like a kennel, because everyone has a crate. My dogs only use the crates for feeding time, and when we aren't home. The rest of the time, they're loose in the house.

You haven't missed out on socialization time at all! She's still a baby, and still impressionable. Stubbornness you're going to probably be stuck with, though! Sibes are VERY, VERY smart!

Train, train, train, and socialize, socialize, socialize, and NEVER let her run off-leash except in a confined area. Read every book on Sibes you can find. Join every discussion list you can. There's a great list at this address http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-pluto.exe?A0=SIBERNET-L . If you want experts, there are breeders on this list, as well as folks involved with rescue, sledding...there's even at least one person who runs the Iditarod with her dogs, and there's also a couple of authors. Hope this helps!
Link