AboutMarcus Doyle Expertise Questions about the general breed and temperament of Siberian Huskies. Also, I have had great experience in training them to be, well, a little less crazy. Nothing is a substitute for good research and training, but Husky owners are a special breed, and I can help in passing along some of that information.
I do not breed my dogs, they are just companion animals. I encourage that breeding be left to professionals and members of the SHCA. The SHCA can provide great information in helping fellow breeders and I am unable to answer all but the most basic of questions regarding breeding.
Experience Own two pure-bred Siberian Huskies (Karnovanda). Casual owner, but a love and understanding of the breed can be helpful in getting to the right resources.
Expert: Marcus Doyle Date: 6/23/2008 Subject: New 6 month puppy?
Question Recently we have taken in a 6 month old, female, Siberian Husky. She is generally a very good dog so far, but my boyfriend and I don't have much history on her and have realized no previous training has been done with her. We beleive she was kept outside on a long rope up to the point of us recieving her, and she is not potty trained at all. We have sectioned off a part of our house for her, where she can't do much damage to anything of importance. This is her room it is fairly big and she had adapted well to us and our home. Unfortunatly we cannot stop her from going to the washroom numerous times while we are in bed at night. I work late hours so I take her for a walk in the early morning around 1am and by boyfriend is up early to let her out as well, but in this 5 hour time she still cannot hold it. Basically we have never had a dog before and are dedicated to training this dog as well as possible. Since she is already 6 months old what approach should I take with this dog on potty training and also what to do during the day when both of us are at work? Is crating the only option? There is no other word for me but LOST!
Answer Crate training is absolutely your best bet, and it may take a few days to get the dog used to the idea of the crate, but this should be your primary goal. Get a crate large enough for the dog to turn around in and that's about it, then start working on acclimating the dog to the crate. The best way to do this is to begin feeding it in the crate, throwing favorite toys in there, treats, etc. Anything you can to make the crate seem like a good thing. After working on just this for several days, while feeding the dog in the crate, close the door. Don't bother locking it, just push it closed and when the dog is done, open it up and let the dog out. Continue this for several more days before locking it, and every few days, add a little more to the equation. Leaving the room while the dog is in there eating, leaving the dog in the crate for a few minutes after eating, etc. If you can get a dog bed in there that the dog likes to lay in, you may find the dog sleeping in there on her own.
After that, then you can start working on crate training, which I assume you have some knowledge of (if not, write back and I can help there too). Unfortunately, in the meantime, you kind of have to live with the accidents. The only other method is frequent trips outside, but it's going to be tough to get out often enough it sounds like. The problem is that the dog has enough room to eliminate and no reason not to (she hasn't been trained that she shouldn't). And the only way to train her that she shouldn't is to be with her all the time (or crate her), so start the crate familiarization as soon as possible and let me know how that goes.
