https://www.itsahuskything.com/t11220p20-destroying-everything
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t10377-seperation-anxiety-and-crating-help

These are just two of the threads that I was following about separation anxiety. Hopefully you'll find them helpful.

You still haven't mentioned how long this has been going on, and whether or not it's a new behaviour. I also agree that I don't think Benadryl would be a good idea. But i do think that more exercise is beneficial. When we were dealing with separation anxiety, Gus went to daycare everyday, and we did separation training in the evening when he was very tired. This kind of thing is not something that you can fix overnight. It can take weeks to months to deal with. In our case, we don't think that it's something that our husky will ever fully overcome. But it is manageable now. On weekends, if we plan to go out at night, we make sure to exercise and play with him for a good 1-2hrs that day.

At the beginning, we couldn't even leave the house for 15minutes without him going into a panic and howling, peeing, or destroying something. Start with a tired dog, and start slow. For the past 3 weeks, Gus couldn't go out with his dogwalker because he had giardia. During those 3 weeks, we tried our best to tire him out on our own, but it still wasn't enough, and we would come home to pee on the floor. (He is still in a gated area so he can't destroy anything, and he also doesn't howl anymore). Just this Monday, he started going out with his dogwalker again, and "magically", no more pee! It is amazing what you can accomplish when his body and mind are tired and relaxed. Mind you, it took us several months of working on this to get him to a point where we could just have a dogwalker come once a day.

Read through those threads and see if you can try any of the things suggested. But i think the most important thing is to realize that this will take a lot of work and dedication, and that you won't always get consistent results either.

I had trouble with loki a couple months after we got him, when he finally started to trust us (he was a rescue) he started to chew everything. he ate a couch. We bought bones, and balls (his favorite) the bones seemed to keep him the most entertained. also the toys you can put treats into for them to figure out.
Crate training was a nightmare, but thanks to many on this very site i had great advice and we got through it. I started with small increments, 10 mins, 20,etc and when i returned, i gave him lots of attention and play. It took almost two weeks but he realized that i was coming back and he would be rewarded for being quiet and calm. Now he is never crated, hes free while we are at work and he is fantastic.

Huskys require an outrageous amount of patience! but they are such wonderful companions. hang in there!!

Hi all,

I am having a similar issue but it's strictly boredom and I need tips on prolonging her mental stimulation while we are out. On work days, I will get up with her and we run 2 miles in the morning. When my girlfriend and I leave, she gets a 12" bully stick or the Wobbler. Both last her around 30-45 minutes since we've watched her on tape. After that, she explores and checks the counter tops for about 45 minutes but doesn't find anything. So she switches to her favorite thing, window watching. For the rest of the 8 hours, she alternates between an hour of watching and an hour of sleeping. Lately, she's been more and more determined to find something else to chew. This may be in part that on those days she only gets a 1.5 mile walk. I came home today to find that she had checked out the top of my liquor cabinet (its only 3' high) and decided to put liquor bottles around the apartment (thankfully unopened) but managed to knock over a wine glass which shattered. She also chewed up stands that candles sit on on our kitchen table. We are getting in May a new toy called the Foobler which is a time released treat ball however until then I need ideas to keep her mentally stimulated a bit longer. Should I give her a bully stick and a treat ball? I feel like I need to make it harder for her to find the sticks. Or should I resort to crate training? I'd prefer not to since she can be alone but gets bored quickly and I would think the crate might make that worse.

You're correct that Ellie is bored and therefore resorting to "snooping around" and destruction when you aren't there. I'd suggest a two-pronged approach: crate-training and increasing the length of her walks/runs. Crate training is safer all around both for your dog and for your stuff. It may be difficult at first when she's not used to it, but make sure to make it a totally positive experience and she will eventually go in willingly and not cry when you leave. It will take some time and patience but in the end you will feel so much better when you leave the house and don't have to worry about anything getting destroyed. There are some great crate-training threads on this forum you can look through for tips and techniques.

As for the increased exercise, this is the only way you will tire her out enough so that she is less bored at home. Huskies were bred to run for a very long time, so it takes a lot to tire them out. You say sometimes she only gets 1.5 miles of walking in a day. Honestly, if she's any older than around five months, this is way too little. If you don't have time to walk her at least three or four miles in one sitting, break up her walks throughout the day so she gets two or three 1.5 or 2-mile walks each day. Use the time you walk or run with her to train good leash manners and focus on you. Make it playful and exciting for her so her mind is also stimulated. This way, she will relax and rest when she's at home tired out from all that mental and physical stimulation instead of exploring where she shouldn't and destroying your stuff.

She's only 10.5 months old. We used to crate her and then slowly gave her more space since she was peeing in the crate. We let her stay out since what we thought was separation anxiety disappeared. Maybe she had crate anxiety. Unfortunately, we may need to resort back to the crate but leave her in a more common area than the bedroom.

As for the exercise, the 1.5 mile walk would be what we give her before we leave whenever that is. For the day though, she gets about 4-5 miles of exercise in between running and walking. I guess we can be more active on our walks. She already does pretty good with heeling and keeping a loose leash so I'm not sure what we could work on.

It's just odd that it's strictly the first hour she's alone and then she calms down if she doesn't find anything.

I would definitely say up the exercise before you go. It is natural for them to exercise, eat then rest so the longer the exercise the longer the rest Orion is a bit older than Ellie but at the moment he gets a 3.5 mile walk in the morning, I come home for an hour at lunch time and I play atleast one good game of chase with him, then he gets another walk at night which is usually at least 4 miles. The likes of today (early Saturday afternoon here in nz at the mo) I am taking him for a 12 mile hike because I have to go out tonight and I want him to be nice and pooped
In terms of things to do to makes you walks interesting just incorporate random tricks at corners such as sit, down, roll over, paw etc. I quite often make Orion do things like walk along with his nose to my palm, weave through my legs as I walk etc it just keeps them engaged and focused on you plus it is fun

Thanks for the tips on the walk. It has definitely made them more rewarding for her. This morning however, we went out for a run/walk but she was still tired from daycare yesterday so she lagged behind me the whole 0.5 miles   . I slowed down to a walk and tried continuing but she just wanted to keep resting. We went back inside and I got ready for work. She went to sleep. I got my things together and put together a Wobbler for her and a 6" bully. My girlfriend was going to be home in 30 minutes so I didn't think I needed something long lasting. I set up the gates which contain her to our hallway now. The only thing I left out were a pair of flip flops. My girlfriend came home and found the bully eaten, the Wobbler finished, and the flip flops chewed up. Mind you, she has been left alone with them before and never touched them. Is this separation anxiety at all? I just can't decipher if she's properly tired or not. Even when I was setting up the treats, she just laid there half asleep.

Ellie347 wrote:

Thanks for the tips on the walk. It has definitely made them more rewarding for her. This morning however, we went out for a run/walk but she was still tired from daycare yesterday so she lagged behind me the whole 0.5 miles   . I slowed down to a walk and tried continuing but she just wanted to keep resting. We went back inside and I got ready for work. She went to sleep. I got my things together and put together a Wobbler for her and a 6" bully. My girlfriend was going to be home in 30 minutes so I didn't think I needed something long lasting. I set up the gates which contain her to our hallway now. The only thing I left out were a pair of flip flops. My girlfriend came home and found the bully eaten, the Wobbler finished, and the flip flops chewed up. Mind you, she has been left alone with them before and never touched them. Is this separation anxiety at all? I just can't decipher if she's properly tired or not. Even when I was setting up the treats, she just laid there half asleep.

My first girl, Sasha, used to do this, too. We'd leave the house and she would do all her naughties in the first few minutes and then sleep for the rest of the time. Discovered when, a few times I would forget something and go back into the house. Over 10 years, the process never changed - we eventually just left a loaded trash basket for her to dump and rip up the contents and that controlled the destruction to something manageable and insignificant. In retrospect, I suspect it was separation anxiety.

I think they just get bored and enjoy ripping things up. No matter how many fancy toys I get, or kongs I fill, nothing is as much fun as tearing a plastic or paper bag (or anything else) into little tiny pieces. My first one Tasha, had a thing about TP. If I didn't keep all the bathroom doors shut, she would sneak in and shred the TP. She just liked doing it. Sounds like you just need to make sure everything is out of reach. I'd also give her a nylabone, so she has something around to chew if she wants to, and maybe leave another toy or two out so she can entertain herself.

Yeah I guess removing everything is the safest course. Ellie's letting me down since she was such an angel before 10 months hit   . As far as chew toys, she had her Nylabone, Nylabone dental chew (her go-to chew toy), and an elk antler. To her probably, those were old news. We do have smoked shin bones we give to her on occasion when were home but maybe we should leave her with that since she could chew that until her hearts content (or mind for that matter). I'm just concerned that eventually she might turn to dry wall.

Now, now. She's not letting you down, you are letting her down by leaving her in a situation that she can't handle. Welcome to the teen phase, you are in the peak of it right now and it won't be over until she 18-24 months. She may eventually calm down enough that you can trust her loose in the house, she may not.

Letting me down is the wrong phrase. I took her good behavior for granted. Gone are the days when we could leave the house for a few hours and she could have the whole apartment to herself and just slept by the door or window watched. As long as this isn't separation anxiety, then I think I will manage. When we recorded her, she does have a 10 minute howling session about an hour after I'm gone and throws a mini tantrum by knocking over her toy basket. I'm hoping that after she turns 1 in June we can start increasing the running. Currently, she just doesn't seem interested in jogging with me. I have to really encourage her to pick up the pace.

Do you have a sand or dirt box where she can dig? Digging is another good, natural activity that can help tire them out. My boy gets pretty pooped after a good 20 minutes of alternating digging and zoomies. It doesn't compare to say an hour at the dog park running with a bunch of other huskies, but I do see he gets visibly tired after a good amount of serious digging in his sandbox. Just another suggestion for simple yet tiring activities that don't even require you to leave home.

We do have a dog run at our complex where she could dig in the gravel but she's not much a digger unless she smells a worm. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Well I guess you should consider yourself lucky! Many people would love to have a husky who isn't a digging fiend!

lol I would love it if Okami was not a digger. I want to build a sandbox for her, but I live with my fiance's father... let's just say I am lucky he even let me get a dog, even as far as a husky... We don't even have a fence so if I want to not have her tethered to me she has to be out on a line and I hate that... and the line I made is attached to the deck out back, she digs up the grass there and pisses off my fiance's dad lol... it is a mess, so I just put excrement in the holes she digs to prevent further digging. It sounds crazy, but it works.

Your dog sounds just like my boyfriends husky. What helped him is biking with the dog. Walks just don't cut it. Period. I suggest trying it because if you're not a runner it's much easier and it tires the dog more. Try to get him use to bike ASAP though while he is still young. That seriously helped a ton though.