to ask whereabouts your dog sleeps?

[ohhifruit]

We have 3 dogs and we live in a flat, don't worry it has a good sized garden, they're not trapped in a flat all day.
They sleep in the hallway which is in the centre of the flat, meaning we can hear them in the mornings when they start 'asking' to go out (they don't bark they just whine and bang their crate but I imagine they would bark if left for longer than 5 mins) and their crate is out of the way. The time they wake up varies and can be from 6am to 9am.
Obviously because they are close by we can hear them (even though both of us have only partial hearing), we have the chance to leap out of bed and let them out to the garden for the loo without disturbing neighbours.

Where on earth do you keep dogs within your house so they don't wake the neighbours early in the morning? Our (hopefully if it the purchase goes well) new house is an end terrace, so we will only have neighbours on one side however I don't want to annoy them with our dogs.

They sleep in one crate together and see it as their little haven, they struggle to sleep overnight without the crate. There is no room whatsoever on the upstairs landing for their crate and I'd rather not have them in bedrooms, especially as we will soon have a newborn in with us.
Downstairs there is no obvious spot other than a utility room or conservatory (will a conservatory be too hot/cold?) which are both as far away from our bedroom as we can get.

Where do you keep your dogs and can you hear them?

I know this is a totally overcautious and probably wet thread but I just want us to be good neighbours in our first house.

[ohhifruit]

Oops should have added my friend thinks I'm crazy to even care which is what prompted me to ask.

[MrsMoon76]

How big is the crate? Do you have a second bedroom the crate could go in for now?

Our doggie sleeps on his own bed in our bedroom and has an early morning wee outside when DH gets u about 6. He then goes back to bed. He takes after me and hates mornings.

[cathpip]

Mine share a bed in the utility and I let them out at 7.30. The back door is left open and utility door is kept closed, my dogs don't bark and neighbour whose bedroom overlooks our garden has never complained (believe me he is the first to complain about anything!) a conservatory is fine in the winter as you can place a blanket over 3 sides of the crate to make it a nice warm cave, but a conservatory in the summer will be far too hot, even overnight. Oh and no we can't hear them :)

[squoosh]

I don't have a dog but my parents dog sleeps in a basket in the utility room. She takes herself off to bed at 10pm on the dot every night.

[DorothyGherkins]

Our dogs over the decades have always slept in the kitchen. Warm and safe, hard easily cleaned floor in case of accidents, no soft furnishings to chew, and on the ground floor to protect their sleeping owners upstairs from intruders!

[ShadowOfTheDay]

Ours sleeps on the sofa in the living room... he was crated to start with, but gradually allowed a bit more freedom as he became trustworthy... he is now 2 .... he is still asleep when I get up at 7..

[SelectAUserName]

SelectASpaniel sleeps in a dog bed in the sitting/dining room. In our old house this was against the end terrace wall, our new house is a mid-terrace so it is a party wall. He doesn't whine to go out though; one of us gets up at 6.00am religiously to take him out, even if we go back to bed for a bit afterwards (at weekends).

If early-morning dog noise might be a problem for your neighbours, could you set your alarm for ten minutes before their earlier wake-up time - so 5.50am - so you're waking them up to take them out rather than waiting for them to wake up and start whining or banging?

[NCISaddict]

Mine sleeps in his crate in the kitchen. I would imagine with a new baby you'll be up early anyway which will minimise the noise, at least from the dogs, noise from the baby might be a different matter!

[SelectAUserName]

Whoops sorry, missed the bit about the newborn - you'll probably be up early enough to let them out before they start making any noise anyway!

[Lozcat86]

Ours sleeps in our bedroom on a bed on the floor or on DHs clothes he has left on the floor... and our DD is in her cot in the room too. Crowded! Lol

[Quixo]

Depending on the size of your dogs, could you install a dog-flap? Say the back door was accessible from somewhere like the kitchen or a back utility sort of room, they could sleep in there and take themselves out when they need to?

[MissPlumBroughtALadder]

Just put in a dog door so that the can take themselves in and out.

[purplemurple1]

On an old sofa cushion in the dining room (downstairs) he also whines to go out in the mornings but can wait if needed and doesn't bark. The dining room is at the bottom of the stairs and we leave doors open so we can hear him. Would a baby monitor work for you to hear your dogs?

[ohhifruit]

A dog flap, now there's an idea. Do they work?
A baby monitor is a good idea as is setting the alarm but 5.50? cry.

[purplemurple1]

With my newborn at least 550 was almost lunch time!

[Quixo]

My dog will go out the flap, but won't come back in. Dumb mutt has been sitting outside in the rain for ages a few times before I've noticed! But, I am sure most dogs when shown will happily go in and out. I know a couple who do anyway. Make sure the garden is secure, for them getting out but also from anyone who might come in.

[HotPanda]

My 2 sleep in the lounge (behind a baby gate).
We have laminate flooring so we can hear "clack clacking" of claws when they start moving about. If we miss that we generally get 1 bark to wake us. We naturally wake before they do though, assuming we have chucked them out for a last wee about 11pm

[ohhifruit]

Don't remind me of the waking hours of the newborn phase. I've tried bury of the previous memories of DC screeching in favour of remembering only their lovely peach skin and sweet sleepy sighs.
Am deluded and happy with it.

Shall investigate dog flap and see if utility room can work perhaps with some kind of listening device.

Thank you!

[zeezeek]

The biggest one of ours sleeps at the bottom of our bed, the (slightly) smaller middle one sleeps on the floor of DD1's room and the third (quite small) one sleeps on the floor in our room.

We live in a terrace, but it's Victorian so the walls are thick - but still - 3 dogs and 2 kids, sometimes there's noise. Luckily the neighbours either don't hear it or are understanding.

In fact two kids make at least 5 times as much noise as the mutts!

[HelgatheHairy]

He used to sleep in the kitchen but when he got a bit older we left him free to sleep wherever he wanted. He alternates between his bed in the living room, the sofa, the hallway floor and then after DH gets up he takes his spot in the bed.

[MaitlandGirl]

Our dogs are both crated overnight, the little one (who lives with us) sleeps under the breakfast bar (open plan house) and the big one (who lives with the inlaws) sleeps in their lounge.

We don't like them left out overnight as they get up to mischief but when FIL is out with the SES MIL lets the big one sleep in their bedroom for extra security.

[Jinty64]

Samuel sleeps in his basket in the utility room separated from the kitchen by a baby gate (only at night). He is a good sleeper and does not rise until the rest of the family are up and ready to take him out. Which is more than can be said for the children.

[Cobain]

My dog is a chewer so needs to be crated, he sleeps under the stairs (a bit like Harry potter ) I have a curtain across the opening as whilst it dark he tends not to whine till we get up at 7.

[theeternalstudent]

My dog sleeps in the bed with me.
I need to wake her up in the morning to go out for a walk. She would happily stay in bed until 11am if I'd let her!
She is old mind.