I have a puppy question

[ellie]

We are crate-training Molly. I start her out in there at night...of course, she hates it. Anyway, last night, after she slept and I took her out, I brought her to bed with me. She slept like a rock...6 hours!!!! It was wonderful because I had been exhausted from the night before. So my question is... Can I use the crate during the daytime but at night just take her to bed with m?e? Is that gonna mess up the crate training? When we are sleeping, she starts moving around and that's how I know she has to go out. What do you think?

[iloveflipflops]

Hmmmm, not to sure if this will confuse her or not. I remember using the crate at night when Ladybug was tiny (8 weeks) and she cried, barked, whined (you name it she did it) for 5 nights STRAIGHT. I called the vet begging him what do i do and he said I guarantee she will be quiet at the 6th night and he said do not give in and let her sleep with us (DH would NEVER let any dog sleep in our bed anyway) and so the 6th night, she was perfectly quiet. It worked!! I remember taking her out every 15 minutes during the day because I never knew when she had to go. I would reward her with a carrot if she went and to this day, Ladybug and Tudi both get a carrot if they go outside. lol

[Sherry]

I think you need to keep little puppy in the crate at night or else she will get confused. What you can do is put the crate directly beside your bed for the first week or so and let your hand dangle down to where puppy can smell you. Crate training will also make house breaking much, much easier.

My dog, which is now over a year old, LOVES his crate. He know's it's his own personal space and goes in there whenever he wants some quiet time. At night, he bugs us to put him in there and close the door, haha. He can't wait to go to sleep!

[inkinupstamps]

Ellie, in my opinion I have to say that yes, taking Molly to your bed at night will interupt the crate training. As Sherry mentioned, the crate will become Molly's safe haven that she will know she can sleep, daydream, be alone and comfortable in and most importantly a safe haven for her. She'll love her crate. Not to the exclusion of you and the family, but just as her own personal space.

For both 'Bella and Gabe we had their crate right next to the bed. 'Bella only woke up the first two nights and I immediately took her outside for a potty call and then put her right back in. Paul dangled his hand next to the crate where she knew he was near (as the crate was on his side of the bed. It only took two nights. For Gabe, just knowing we were near, he never woke up. He was very happy in his safe haven.

Of course I realize that Molly is an extremely young pup to be away from the litter and her momma but my own personal opinion is that only putting her in the crate during the day and in your bed at night will confuse her. Also, do you want her to learn that sleeping in YOUR bed is where she is to sleep?

[tesschap]

I agree that you should have her sleep in her crate at night. Bentley was the first puppy that we crate trained and he has been by far the easiest dog we've ever had. As he got older and was house trained we still kept his crate in the kitchen with his favorite blanket and he'd wonder in there whenever he needed some quiet time. I think he was nearly a year old before we put the crate out in the shed. For a long time he'd sleep in the kitchen where the crate had been but now he sleeps between DH & I unless Evan is home - then he sleeps with him! Bently was four weeks and five days old when we got him. We picked him up on Christmas Eve day. He cried the first few nights so we turned on a radio in the kitchen and he did sleep better. He is the first lab we've ever had that NEVER has gone to the bathroom in the house and has NEVER chewed anything that he wasn't supposed to! I don't know if its all from the crate training or luck but we had some chewers and pee'ers over the years! Good luck.

[prdesigns]

I agree with the above. Cooper is crate trained (we named it his 'kennel') He will be 3 in June. We did everything the same... new to our house, he slept in the crate by the bed with my hand dangling down, them me sleeping on the floor....then the crate went back to the kitchen, we crated him when we went to bed, first thing in the morning let him out to go pee.... now he goes in there to sleep at times or when we leave the house.

He has been sleeping with dd for more than a year and automatically at about 8:30pm walks himself right into her room and hops up on the end of her bed, he's done for the day!

[workin4stamps]

Keep her in her crate! IMO, you have to suffer through the first nights in order for it to pay off. My neighbor is a dog trainer, and this is what she taught me from Day 1, and I believe this is very important: Don't treat your dog like a person, or it will treat you like a dog! I believe in this 100%. And my dog is spoiled rotten! They really do need to understand that you are their leader though, and you can't make any bones about it. They will TRY to dominate you if they can...but then they won't be happy (which causes other behavioral issues.)

Do you let your other dog sleep in bed with you? Do you want her still sleeping with you when she weighs 60 or 70 pounds? If you answered no to either of those, then stop putting her in your bed. If you are okay with having her in your bed later, then you can introduce it to her later, but only after she is well trained I think.

Colby cried in his crate for the first week or so. He only cried the first night during the night. After that he would do it during the day when we were home. If we would be in the shower, and he knew we were there, he would start yelping. We ignored him. We would NEVER let him out when he was whining or crying. We would wait until he quieted down and was calm before we let him out. Otherwise, he would think that by crying and carrying on he would get what he wanted.

When Colby was about 5 months old, we started letting him sleep in our room at night. We would close the bedroom door so he couldn't wander, and he would sleep on the floor next to our bed on a pillow. He wasn't 100% trained when we started doing that, but he NEVER had an accident in our room or overnight. He would always wake us up to go out. The only time he stays in his crate now, is when we are not home. He LOVES it. When I am getting ready for work in the morning, he knows it is time to go in there. As soon as I start putting my socks and shoes on in my bedroom, he walks to his crate (which is in the mudroom at the back of our house) and gets in it and stands there and waits for us to close the door. It is the cutest thing. Other times, for some reason he will think that we are leaving (when we're really not!) and he'll go stand in it and just look at us. We'll have to tell him that he can come out because we're not going anywhere. He is so funny. He really does love it in there. I just felt that since we work full time, it was not fair to have him in it all night and all day too. So as soon as we felt he was old enough, I let him sleep in our room with us, and then he only had to spend the day in there. It has worked out great, and I can't imagine doing it any other way.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!!

Traci

[workin4stamps]

I was just re-reading your post, and I'm curious..... have you been able to keep her in there during the day very much? How is she then? Does she cry?

Traci

[ellie]

She cries whenever we put her in the crate. I know that's normal...Zoe did too...but after a short time, she loved it. It's just that Molly slep so well all snuggled up and for a longer time. Oh well, I guess the crate is the best solution for her. Thank you all for such great input...I will let you know how it goes!

[workin4stamps]

I can't wait to hear all about Miss Molly's progress!!! I'm so jealous! I want another puppy! LOL.

Let us know how it is going!

Traci

[Christie]

Maybe you could but a shirt that you've worn in the crate with her. That was she can smell you and that might help her feel more secure in there.

[ngreek]

My 2 cents... Crate training is well worth it int he long run. Also we added stuffed animals in the cage when training all of our dogs just so it appeared the puppy was not alone. One of our dogs did better with the whinning when we took a alarm clock that you could hear the ticking and wrapped it in a towel in the crate. Some reason the sound was reassuring to the puppy.
Nicole

[mydogstinks2]

Tippy was our only crate trained dog. She only went in it during the day when we were at work. At night she slept with us in the bed room and we keep her in there with a baby gate. During the day when we were home she would go in the crate for naps and stuff. If we had company and she was to over-whelmed with everyone she would go lay in it. I could not sleep if my dogs were not in the bed with me.