How to Train a Husky to Not Howl

Hello Amber, In your case I strongly recommend a high quality sound activated stimulation bark collar, such as "Dogtra YS-300". Most high quality bark collars are activated by vocal cord vibration to prevent them from going on at the wrong times. Howling doesn't cause the vocal cords to vibrate enough to make the collar correct. You need a collar that works on sound but one that is high enough quality that other sounds besides your dog won't set it off. I suggest calling Dogtra and confirming that their YS-300 collar will work for howling before purchasing just to make sure. A second option is a remote controlled e-collar. This requires you waking up first to teach him with it though, but unlike your verbal reprimand it is a lot more likely to prevent future howling after he has learned to pair his howling with the correction. Dogtra, SportDog, Garmin, and E-collar technologies are all good brands. Read reviews and be careful what one you buy. A high quality electric collar has at least 30 levels so that you can use as little stimulation as is needed for your particular dog to response - called his working level. I also suggest playing recordings of sirens during the day and rewarding him for staying quiet when he hears them and interrupting him if he starts to how - to help desensitize him to them. This will probably need to be combined with a collar correction to deal with the night howling though. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Marria, There are a couple of routes you can take with the separation anxiety. The first step is to work on building his independence and his confidence by adding a lot of structure and predictability into his routine. Things such as making him work for rewards like meals, walks, and pets. Working on "Stay" and "Place," commands while you move away or leave the room, and teaching him to remain inside a crate when the door is open. I absolutely suggest crate training - at least until this improves. Change your routine surrounding leaving so that he does not anticipate alone time and build up his anxiety before you leave - which is hard for him to deescalate from, and be sure to continue to give him something to do in the crate during the day (such as a dog food stuffed Kong to chew on); this is the general protocol for separation anxiety. Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Crate manners: https://thegooddog.net/training-videos/free-how-to-training-videos/learn-to-train-the-good-dog-way-the-crate/ Down-Stay: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Working method to build confidence and respect: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you Heel: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Another protocol involves teaching the dog to cope with their own anxiety by making their current anxious go-to behaviors unpleasant, giving them an opportunity to stop those behaviors long enough to learn something new, then rewarding the correct, calmer behavior instead. This protocol can feel harsh because it involves careful correction, but it tends to work much quicker for many dogs. If you go this route, I suggest hiring a trainer who is very experienced using both positive reinforcement and fair correction. Who is extremely knowledgeable about separation anxiety and behavior issues to help you implement the training. Building his independence and structure in his life will still be an important part of this protocol too. First, check out this video from SolidK9Training on treating anxiety. It will give a brief over-view of treating separation anxiety more firmly. This trainer can be a bit abrupt with his teaching style with people but is very experienced working with highly aggressive, anxious, and reactive dogs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5GqzeLzysk Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden