We have a 4 month old Siberian Husky/Lab mix. When we leave her at home out of her cage she literally destroys the house. We have come home to all kinds of wires chewed and stuffing ripped out of chairs. We began puppy-proofing everything we could see that we thought she would want, but then we came home to discover that she had ripped up the carpet!!! Badly!! We don't know what to do about this behavior and I realize that it might be an issue of separation anxiety. She has tons of toys that she can play with, yet I think she gets bored and destroys things. I don't want to have to keep worrying about her and she is staying with my parents for a week while we are on vacation. They don't believe in crates so I am so worried that she is going to tear all their stuff up. Is there anything I can do to deter this destructive behavior?!!

[Olympia]

My sons siberian husky had severe seperation anxiety when he first brought her home, the reason I believe was because she was in a sled dog kennel with lots of other dogs,and now she was alone while they were at work, she was 1 1/2 yrs old when they got her, cuz they didn't want to deal with puppy training issues. She did destroy alot of things including 2 crates, so he called the vet, and they put her on meds to calm her down, also I would suggest using kongs when you leave, also raw marrow bones when possible {cuz the have to be eaten outside, freeze them so it takes longer to get the marrow out, also I make sure they have as much meat on them as possible {make sure you feed them RAW} The marrow bones seem to put all of my dogs in a mellow mood, they just love them so much. Don't forget plenty of exercise, we bought a springer bike attachment for each of our mountain bikes to run the dogs, we all have a blast with that. Heres an article on seperation anxiety.

http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Dogs...ty_in_dogs.htm

I would give her those things, it's just that I'm always afraid that she might choke or something. I'm sure there is like a 99 percent chance that she would be fine, it's just that if i'm not there I can't do anything about it. Those kong toys would be alright though, because they are plastic. We just need to do something so we can leave her out.

[reeskujo]

Crate training is very good.Especially if you start at her young age.Huskies are known to be a bit distuctive when left alone.If they refuse to use a crate maybe they can get a baby gate and section her to a specific room in the house with all of her toys.There's always obedience classes to.If none of that works maybe they can get some suggestions from the vet.If it is seperation anxiety they can give her something to calm her.

I agree that crate training is very good for these sorts of problems. I also think you should buy lots of toys so that your dog can chew on and at the same time buy a chewing repellant spray and use it on all things which you do not want chewed up. This is what we did with our lab when she was at the teething lets destroy everything phase.

I think you should reconsidering crating her just until he is a bit older and you can trust her alone. An alternative to crating her would be confining her to a single puppy-proofed room where there is nothing she can destroy or doggy daycare. Kongs are wonderful for keeping dogs busy. You can leave her with several of them to occupy her for hours. Fill them with a variety of different things to keep her interested.

A crate is a good environment for her when you are gone, and it will protect your house but you need to get to the cause of the destructive behavior. It sounds to me like the real problem is that your dog is bored. Huskies are known for their high level of energy. Try helping her burn off the energy. Take your pup for a long walk (at least 30 minutes) before you go out. Then leave her with a stuffed Kong to keep her mind busy when she isn't sleeping. If you still have problems, and as she gets older, try using a weighted doggy backpack to tire her out even more.

Destructive behavior is not good. Maybe your dog is scared of being alone and tries to find a way out. But if you really must leave the dog alone, try asking your neighbors to watch him for you, until you return.

Use a crate when you go out. It’s much safer for you to prevent the dog any more destruction. Someone told me that this type of activity is excess energy that our dogs haven’t released. They also told me to lessen this up you should walk your dog at least everyday.

I had a lab x staffy many years ago and she acted exactly the same way. The only thing that stopped her was time. She calmed down at about 2 years of age and was really good after that. I think they go through teething just like humans but for longer.

I agree about the exercise - are there any dog parks in your area? get her worn down and tired out and she'll be too exhausted to destroy anything!

My German Shorthaired Pointer is 8 months and has been crate trained since he came home to us at eight weeks. My husband firmly believes that he will not have free roam of the house (when we are gone) until he is 2.

I think that as some people have already said, huskies do have an awful lot of energy.
They are a pack and working dog and need to be given company and kept busy.
Some puppies are destructive for numerous reasons, but I think you do have to appreciate that what you've got here is a dog that is going to take a lot of your time and attention. He isn't a 'lay on the couch' kind of dog.

[SnowWhite]

I have a (mostly) wonderful puppy who was very destructive for the first seven months of her life. We used baby gates to shut her in the kitchen, and gave her lots of high-value chewies such as bully sticks, or kongs full of frozen peanut butter. Exercise helps. Lots of excercise and training will tire out their brains and make them more relaxed when at home

[Lara's mom]

This post is from 2006...