Confused about crate and sleeping arrangements

[iamthedanger]

Getting pup in 2 weeks and a little confused about how to handle the first few nights/settling in time. We definitely want to crate train and I feel confident about how to approach this gradually. What I'm confused about is how to settle pup in at night. We had always anticipated a crate (with door open initially) in the kitchen, which will have a gate on the door. We have been told by various people to ignore crying and whining. On the contrary lots of other people seem to bring the pup to their rooms in a crate so they can hear if they get upset or indicate they need to pee/poo. In which case the ignoring the crying is awful if it's to let you know they need the loo?? In our room we would have to shut the crate door as it's not safe with wires etc but as he wouldn't be crate trained I don't want to terrify the poor thing either! Any advice?

[pigsDOfly]

Pretty certain latest thinking is to have puppy as close to you as possible, so in the bedroom, so that when and if puppy gets upset you can offer a comforting hand. As puppy gets more confident you can gradually move the crate away until it, and puppy, end up in the kitchen.

They're small babies at that age and have just left their mum, if they're frightened on their own they need to be comforted. Leaving them alone to cry is cruel.

[MiniBK]

We recently got our first dog which is a bullmastiff puppy, and from day one, he has slept all night in his crate, with the door closed. The crate is downstairs in the kitchen/living area. On the first day we put a blanket (that we had taken with us when we collected him) in the crate and the toy from the breeder. We didn't give him any water after 8pm and he went to sleep at 9pm, but we woke him and took him for his last wee at 11pm, and then we woke him up at 6:30am. My husband slept on the sofa for the first 3 nights, but apart from the first night, when he howled twice, he just sleeps through the night and often has to be woken in the morning. Maybe we've just been lucky, but we haven't had any crying or whining.

[pigsDOfly]

Of course, as MiniBK says not all puppies cry when left alone.

When I got my dog at 8 weeks she slept through the night from the first night. Not a sound, but she is quite independent anyway.

I covered most of the top, sides and the back of the crate so it made a sort of dark cave and she loved it. She did though, come to me from her breeder already used to being in her mum's crate in the breeder's living room so it was pretty easy for me.

Probably, the best thing to do is to play it by ear and be prepared to let the puppy be with you if necessary. Wouldn't leave the poor little pub to cry though.

[WeAllHaveWings]

Our pup was ok in crate with door shut alone from day one and he just slept, for first few nights we set the alarm and took him out a couple of times during night but it soon became clear he didn't need to go so by day 4 we were just getting up early at 7am.

[Floralnomad]

Please do not take the water away overnight , animals should have access to water at all times , unless for medical reasons .

[TondelayaDellaVentamiglia]

when we have puppies we take it in turns to stay up late and get up early so they have about 5-6 hours over night, whoever is on duty does late night busys in the garden then it's in to the crate, lights out, and sofa bed for me

I tend to leave the radio on very quietly for about half an hour, any noise from puppypants is shooshed, and then alarm is set for the early morning.

Then we stretch out the night time, and once the protesting has finished they stay down here in the crate on their own. Usually within a week they have the routine and rarely do we have a mess in the crate over night.

[Rubberduckies]

Puppies are like babies, everyone does it differently and everyone has quite strong opinions!

Holly was downstairs in her crate from day one. I spent a bit of time getting her used to being in there with the door shut before bedtime. Last meal at 7pm and Took water away at 9pm, last wee at 11 and set an alarm to take her out at 3 and then got up at 7.

With whining try to logically work out reason. If you've just shut him in there and gone to bed, he is probably upset you've left him but doesn't need a wee. If he falls asleep and wakes at 2 whining, take him out for a wee.

Don't feel guilty for whatever you choose. Lots of puppies are left to whine in the first few days and don't have lasting damage. lots of puppies who were kept by the bed in the early days are now happy to be left downstairs. Do what's right for you!

[Hoppinggreen]

Ours went in a crate downstairs from day 1. Complained a bit and I used to doze on the sofa until he was asleep then sneak out ( like when the DC were babies). During the day the crate was left open and he often took himself off there but at night the crate door and door to the room were both closed. Once he outgrew his crate, which I didn't expect, we put his bed in the place the crate had been and that where he still sleeps.

[iamthedanger]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I was just wary about shutting the crate door on his first night in case it upset him and made the crate training more tricky. I have been reading/researching so much I wasn't sure anymore!

[phillipp]

It's really hard to know what to do.

Our dpup went in fine on the first night. I gave her a cuddly toy about the same size as her, a blanket and water bowl and put her in. I did sit with her until she settled. Then got up every hour and half to take her out.

Within a week she was going all night. I suspect we had it really easy. But we didn't need to do the long game crate training. Also, she has always slept in the long room in the crate. We have never had her in our room.