Where to put the crate

[WhySeaEmm]

Hi Doghouse!

We're getting our puppy in 2 weeks and having a dilemma about where to put the crate. I thought I'd ask experienced folk.

Should it go:

1. downstairs in the living room
   
2. in the hallway between our bedrooms
   
   The way I see it, if downstairs then he can pop in and out of it during the day too and get a break from us/DC. We only have a small house and all doors would be open, so I think we'd hear him fine during the night.
   
   If upstairs on the hallway outside our bedroom he'd be disturbed every time one of us got up for a wee. But people always say they should be upstairs with you.
   
   So what would you suggest please?
   
   (no anti-crate comments please, I'm not discussing that, thanks)

[Floralnomad]

I’m assuming from your post that it’s not a particularly large cage so can you not just have it downstairs during the day and upstairs at night . When we got our pup we had a very large puppy pen ( I’m not a cage user) downstairs for the first few weeks but I slept downstairs with him as necessary .

[Herpesfreesince03]

Get two

[pilates]

We had ours downstairs because we have floorboards and so easier to clear up any accidents. Upstairs is carpeted and when he was toilet trained he came up. If you are carpeted throughout, how about kitchen?

[makingmyway10]

It depends if you are ok with the puppy/later adult dog being upstairs at night? Our puppy, who is now 1 and has just come out of a crate, had her crate in the kitchen, we could hear her if she barked but could not hear if she was playing or restless so did not disturb us.

I think if the puppy is upstairs she will wake whenever you get up to use the bathroom. Personally I liked the fact that our puppy gor up when we decided it was time to ( obviously we would go down if there was a problem) .

[Mostlydrinkingtea]

We have had our pup for two months now and we decided that he would sleep downstairs. We have a medium crate which is in the living room/den at night where he sleeps. It was handy when toilet training that it was quick to get him out to the toilet area (initially inside and then outside). The major downside that I didn't forsee is that I started off sleeping in the same room for him to settle and I am still there!

We also moved the crate to the kitchen in the day as he was a bitey monster and during mealtimes or when he got overtired we put him in there.

[Wolfiefan]

I put mine in the kitchen. But I slept some there until she could make it through the night. It took a while! The key is to be near them.
There’s a FB group dog training advice and support who have excellent guidance on how to use a crate. It takes time. It’s not as simple as pop them in and leave them to it!

[WhySeaEmm]

If we put it downstairs, we'll take it downstairs to sleep on the sofa for the first week or so, so he's not alone.

[WeAllHaveWings]

We have a labrador and he never went upstairs until he was over 1, it's not good for larger dogs bones to be running up/down stairs, he settled ok in crate downstairs. Dh slept downstairs when he was still a small pup. Wish we'd stuck with that and kept upstairs dog/hair free!!!!

[WhySeaEmm]

I think we're resigned to our fate of having the dog upstairs with DS once he's fully house trained.

[Warmhandscoldheart]

Our dog's crate is under the stairs, he used it till he was toilet trained then literally slept anywhere he pleased 😃 The crate door is now permanently open and he loves his quiet hideaway.
I think downstairs is best until toilet trained

[Girliefriendlikespuppies]

My house isn't very big and so I had the crate at the bottom of the stairs in the hallway but could hear the puppy as soon as he cried.

It worked for us, I think if there's any risk you couldn't hear them downstairs it would be better to have the crate upstairs with you.

[Ilikefresias]

We have just got a puppy, crate in the kitchen but we take it in turns to get up every 2 1/2 hours in the night to take pup out. That's worked well for us so far

[MrsTumbletap]

We have two, little one next to my bed on the floor bigger one downstairs.

[WhySeaEmm]

Oh gosh I'm really hoping we don't have to be up every 2.5 hours, @Ilikefresias!

[WeAllHaveWings]

They do need to go out frequently at night to begin with, their bladders are tiny. Think ours started sleeping through around 15-16 weeks. It was harder than when ds was a newborn.

[Wolfiefan]

Tiny puppies have tiny bladders!!

[WhySeaEmm]

Oh bloody hell! My friend collected her puppy from the same litter as mine at the weekend (she got hers at 8 weeks, we're waiting til 10.5 weeks) and she's been sleeping 12-7 with no wake ups. Desperately praying for the same!

[Ilikefresias]

We increased to every 3 hours which went well, trying 3 1/2 tonight!

[midnightstar66]

It's probably worth getting 2 however the first couple of nights at least, pup will need to be in the same room as someone. I slept on the sofa as there isn't room in my bedroom. Our pup won't entertain her crate though. Even when you feed her in it she always keep one paw outside

[midnightstar66]

In better news she's a tiny puppy breed and has lasted all night from day 1 at 8.5 weeks. I had been taking her out but she didn't do anything so we stopped bothering

[MrsTumbletap]

Ours slept through 12-7 from about 9 weeks, their bladders are small but they can sleep the night and their bladders can too.

I had an experienced dog friend say, at 8 weeks they can go 6 hours, they whine because they want a cuddle not a wee, its true. My little pup just wanted a snuggle and I wasn't snuggling at 4am, so ignored her whines and she slept til 7am. Never looked back.

[DownADirtRoad]

Oh gosh I'm really hoping we don't have to be up every 2.5 hours, @Ilikefresias!

Ours still needed a wee in the night sometimes at 7 months. At 3/4 months, sometimes he woke twice for a wee. You’ll be lucky if he sleeps 12-7, so you may need to adjust your expectations.

[JanetandJohn500]

Do you get up at a certain time and go down to let them out for a wee or wait for them to whine?

[OnlyToWin]

We kept crate in utility room under the units, so it was like a dark cave. We did not sleep near him. He cried for about 7 minutes when he was first left, but then slept. After a week he stopped doing that.

Never once got up with puppy in the night and no accidents during the night, nor did he seem desperate for a wee when we got up in the morning - managed to walk to door, have a sniff around garden and choose a spot! Slept from 11.30pm until 6/6:30am, but he was about 11 weeks old when we got him, so perhaps that made a difference. Therefor my vote would be to keep the crate downstairs. Enjoy your lovely, new puppy OP.

[OnlyToWin]

Therefore - sorry!!