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The doghouse

Is it bad to let a puppy sleep with our old dog?

28 replies

yodl · 22/09/2019 16:04

Hi, I´m new to mumsnet and English isn´t my first language, so I apologize in advance if I make any mistakes : )
So, we got a puppy two weeks ago, he is 2 months 3 weeks old. Our older dog accepted him right away. They play together and sleep together during nights.
Today we started dog training classes with our pup and the trainer says that it´s a bad idea to let them sleep together as the puppy will get too attached to the old dog and we´ll face serious problems once the old dog passes away (she is 11 years old, but absolutely healthy).

I like our nights at the moment. Puppy ofcourse isn´t housetrained yet so he pees on his puppypads once during the night. I´m sure he´ll grow out of it once he´s able to control his bladder. I know many dogs who´ve been brought up this way as well and at one point they all stopped using the pads during the night so I don´t think it´s worth the effort to take him outside at night. We won´t let him pee inside during the day and praise him a lot if he does it outside.

Apart from that, they´re usually both sound asleep during the night. Should I really stop this practice, crate the puppy and separate him from the older dog as the trainer advised?

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Shoutymomma · 22/09/2019 16:14

Trainer is talking nonsense. The pup will be a blessing for the older dog. Enjoy them! X

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Jouska · 22/09/2019 19:39

I prefer to have my dogs independent from each other at night for many reasons.

They can sleep together in the day but have their own space at night.

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yodl · 22/09/2019 20:00

@Jouska what are the reasons?

I consulted with both of the breeders and they assured me that it´s fine.

I think it depends maybe what kind of dogs are you dealing with? Our older dog is a golden retriever and the pup is corgi cardigan. I am pretty sure they won´t hurt each other at night. Corgi is quite independent breed and I think he´ll manage to cope while our older friend passes away.

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Jouska · 22/09/2019 20:53

I just like my dogs to be independent and resilient in many situations.

If you let your puppy depend on your dog (which it will do if it always sleeps with it) you will have issues with independence, training and focus on you.

It is absolutely fine to let them cuddle up if they want to but to make a habit of sleeping together you will find the dogs depending on each other rather than you.

I also like the option of separating the dogs if one is ill, old or restless at night.

If you want to go away with one dog it will be harder and they are less likely to settle on their own. Why encourage a situation that can cause your dog stress if it can not happen?

Your puppy needs to be able to cope with life on his own and this is just one step towards that.

Love corgis my mum breed them when I was a child - they are fab dogs :)

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Windydaysuponus · 22/09/2019 21:06

Our ddog was 4 when we got 2 dpuppies. Would never have occurred to me to keep them apart!! 6 years on we have 4 ddogs and all sleep in a heap! During the day they pair off, not always in the same pairs!

Is it bad to let a puppy sleep with our old dog?
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yodl · 23/09/2019 05:59

But when I let them sleep together during the day then why not during the night? What’s the difference?

I always train my corgi without our golden present. Can’t say that he’s not willing to do what he’s told.

I think I’m carrying on with the current arrangement.

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Maneandfeathers · 23/09/2019 07:04

@Windydaysuponus they are so cute! I was considering a third but maybe I need 4 Grin

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RickOShay · 23/09/2019 07:15

Carry on yodi. I don’t see how separating your dogs would be in any way beneficial to either of them.

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Windydaysuponus · 23/09/2019 08:14

They mix it up now and then...

Is it bad to let a puppy sleep with our old dog?
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yodl · 23/09/2019 09:32

@Windydaysuponus they look adorable!

I talked with some of my friends who all have more than one dog and they all assure that there´s nothing wrong with letting them sleep together as long as they both get some one on one time as well.

Our corgis breeder put it nicely: she said that if our older dog passes, the younger one will definitely be sad for some time but he´ll learn soon that life goes on.

So thank you all who helped to figure this out.

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Booboostwo · 23/09/2019 10:00

Absolutely nothing wrong with this and perfectly normal. In fact, it would be crazy not to use the fact that you have an older dog to help reassure the puppy at night. The only reason I would separate them would be if the older dog was annoyed by the puppy and likely to tell him off too forcefully, but this is not the case here.

I've always had 2 to 4 dogs and they have always taken comfort from each other. At the same time, I make sure I do things with each dog on his own as well as leaving them on their own every so often to make sure they are all OK with that.

What kind of training methods is your trainer using? Someone who advises one silly thing is likely to advise many more.

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Windydaysuponus · 23/09/2019 10:43

Please please youtube :
6 basset hounds in a dog bed.
They are in an igloo bed....
I promise you won't be disappointed!!

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doodleygirl · 23/09/2019 10:51

Windy, if I lived in your house I would never get anything done as I would be staring and cuddling those gorgeous dogs all of the time Grin

OP I have no advice about dog sleeping arrangements as I only have one but I know from friends with multiple dogs that they all sleep together with no issues.

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yodl · 23/09/2019 10:55

@Booboostwo we´ve only had one lesson and it was more theoretical than practical but everything else so far seems to match with my beliefs on raising a puppy. Only this sleeping arrangement part was a bit off. And that she´s afraid our corgi will never learn to hold it through the night if I let him pee inside at the moment. I know corgis who were brought up the same way, peeing inside at nights, and as soon as they were able to control their bladder through the night, the peeing stopped.

Next lesson will be all practical so I´ll have to wait and see. But if I don´t feel comfortable at her lessons, I´ll certainly look for another trainer.

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Sooverthemill · 23/09/2019 10:58

WE have an old dog and got a puppy last year who is now 18 months old. We sated off letting them sleep together on old dogs bed but decided to get puppy a crate because we felt it encouraged housetraining. They are still in the same room and when I come down in the morning old dog is often sleeping next to the crate. They clearly love each other though I have started worrying about what happens when old dog dies. Keep doing what you are doing

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Windydaysuponus · 23/09/2019 11:00

Last December I painted my kitchen under the supervision of every bloody one of them!!
16 feet under foot is very chore limiting!

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sillysmiles · 25/09/2019 18:28

@yodl is there any reason why to allow her to pee inside at night and not to take her out during the night? It must get confusing for her to be allowed to pee inside sometimes but not others.

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lazymum99 · 25/09/2019 21:55

@yodl I would love my puppy to have slept with my older dog but he annoys him all the time so couldn’t do that. He is crated. Now 7 months. I never put him out during the night and got him at 8 weeks. He used a puppy pad in half his crate. He started to have nights totally clean by about 15 weeks.

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lazymum99 · 25/09/2019 21:56

And it didn’t interfere with his day time toiletting.

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yodl · 26/09/2019 06:07

@lazymum99 thank you!
I´m doubting my decisions all the time. One day I´m sure I´ll start with crate training. The other day I´m sure I´ll carry on with our current arrangement. So far they still sleep together and puppy pees and poos on his pads once during the night.
Some people discourage me, telling me he´ll never stop. Others tell that they had the same arrangement and puppy still did eventually stop doing his business indoors.

We are going away for a vacation in the middle of October and puppy will spend a week with the breeder. At this moment I have decided that I´ll keep going with our dogs sleeping together and if there´s no improvement whatsoever when we come back from our vacation, then I´ll crate him. He´ll be 15 weeks old then and should be improving at least a little.

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Maneandfeathers · 26/09/2019 06:38

I would start as you go on OP, no toileting in the house at all night or day.

It’s confusing for puppies to be ‘allowed’ to use a pad and then not. I would get up at night and take out as many times as it takes so the puppy is clean. It’s a rubbish few weeks but it will pay off long term.

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yodl · 26/09/2019 07:03

@Maneandfeathers but if it´s so hard for them to understand then how there are so many puppies who figure it out? I have a friend who has a corgi as well. She said they didn´t bother to go out with her at nights. She wasn´t crated and she was totally housetrained before she was 5 months old. Her littermate was taken outside at least once during the night and was crated. He was also completely housetrained slightly before 5 months. No difference.

If I´d take my puppy out let´s say at 5 AM, then he´d start to play with our older dog after I bring him back inside. If he plays with her he soon needs to go outside again. It means I´d have to stay up with him and would be able to sleep on five hours per night.

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stucknoue · 26/09/2019 07:17

My fil's pup slept cuddled up with his much older dog until the elder had to be pts (around a year) the young dog did miss her at first but adapted quickly.

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Jouska · 26/09/2019 08:08

If I´d take my puppy out let´s say at 5 AM, then he´d start to play with our older dog after I bring him back inside. If he plays with her he soon needs to go outside again.

Exactly the reason I would not let them sleep together at least to start with - who is the puppy focusing on?

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yodl · 26/09/2019 08:26

@Jouska if I separate them he´d start to play with his toys. If I take the toys away he´d start to play with everything he´s not supposed to play with. Cosleeping is not the problem, the problem is going outside during the night wakes him up completely.

For the first three weeks I kept him inside the playpen in a different room and slept beside him. Took him outside around 5 AM. Didn´t talk with him, just took him outside. He did his business, I brought him inside, put back inside the pen. He started to play with his toys LOUDLY. Told him not to - he didn´t care. Took the toys away. He started to chew on the playpen. So the older dog is not the problem. The problem is if I wake him up, he doesn´t want to go back to sleep.

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