To take water away from puppy at night?

[keratoms]

We're picking up a chihuahua puppy in a few days. We are going to crate train so have got her a crate for downstairs and a crate for the bedroom. The downstairs crate has plenty of room for her bed and a water bowl but not much else.

The bedroom crate due to the size of the bed only has enough room for her bed and blanket. Is that okay or do we need to make space for water? Never had a puppy before so not sure of the correct way to do this. Getting different info on Google.

Have attached the picture of nighttime crate.

Thank you.

No animal should ever be left without access to water at all times.

pps someone is bound to be along to say that an orange box made of cardboard is a choking hazard (have heard this claim before). Not for a tiny chihuahua with baby teeth, not if the dog is never left awake in the crate while bored and unsupervised.

Who sold you the crate? Is it definitely big enough? Is there any way you can move it away from the plug sockets in case it pees on them?

And the crate for night time doesn't give the puppy any room to stand up and move. It's way too small and crowded.

Dogs get up and move around a lot during the night. They need to be able to behave in a way that is comfortable and natural for them.

They are from pets at home. Yes I just built it and sat there that's not where it will be sitting when she is in it

I honestly think it's a bad picture. It is plenty of room for a chihuahua never mind a tiny chihuahua pup.

Definitely water at night and why do you need to put such a tiny puppy in a cage at night? It's not like they could destroy your house or chew your furniture. I think putting dogs in tiny cages (crate is just a fancy word for cage) is cruel!! We have a toy breed and he never destroyed anything, certainly not at night, so I don't see why they need to be in a cage.

I don’t think I would leave a tiny puppy like that overnight in a crate. It could very easily suffocate or do real damage to itself if it got distressed.

Puppies are very needy and don’t like being left alone at night. You can train them to get used to it, but a chihuahua puppy is so small and helpless, I wouldn’t risk it personally.

I’m a dog trainer and one of my own dogs is a chihuahua.

All dogs should have access to water at all times x

The size of the crate is fine for a chihuahua. The bed is the wrong size and type for the crate. Get something flat and simple.

Leaving the pup without water won’t stop it weeing in the night, that just takes time.

I can't believe you have to ask if a little puppy needs water at night. Of course it does at all times. If you had a newborn baby would you make it go all night without milk? You will need to get up and take it outside to wee every 3-4 hours during night. If you get one of the screw on one's make sure the chihuahua can reach it too. That bed is far too big it takes up almost all of the cage so if puppy has an accident it will be on its bed and it will have to sleep in it. Not nice for it. Get smaller bed and put down water dish and an area if it has to wee on away from its bed. A puppy pad.

The water rules change a bit during house-training. It’s best to remove your puppy’s water bowl at night. Be consistent with the time you remove water, the same way you’re consistent with feeding times. As a rule of thumb, remove the food and water bowls about two-to-three hours before bedtime. So, if your lights-out time is at 11 p.m., a puppy should have no food or water after about 8–8:30 p.m. This gives you a chance to take him out for a one last potty break before settling in for the night.

This is stated on the American kennel club webpage.

I'm not going to take water away but for all the comments thinking I'm heinous for even asking, there is a lot of conflicting info out there.

I didn’t put water in my puppy’s crate overnight and he was fine but I would now because he tends to have at least one drink during the night (he sleeps on my bed now).

As someone else said, those beds can be a problem for puppies that chew a lot. I once found mine inside the bed with the stuffing after he’d chewed through the outer material!

This sounds more appropriat— she needs some more space, access to clean water at all times and a more appropriate bed

Honestly a tiny puppy like a Chi will be no trouble at night. They won't destroy anything or chew furniture. Don't need to lock them up. Our dog has never been crated and all he does is sleep at night- never any problems.

@keratoms are you in the USA ? The RSPCA and I would imagine most animal welfare organisations in the UK will say that animals need access to water 24/7 . Some Americans have a peculiar attitude to keeping animals - they only started banning declawing of cats in 2019 .

It's cruel to deny a dog particularly a puppy water during the day or night
I wouldn't say I'm the world's best dog owner particularly by Mumsnet standards but she's always been provided with food and water whenever she wants it .

When our dear labrador was a puppy we didn't put the water in the crate, but we made sure he had had plenty before settling him, and we got up and took him out into the garden for a pee/poo (several times per night when he was very tiny) and when we brought him back in we offered him a drink (which he usually didn't want as he had had plenty earlier in the evening). Once he reached about 7 months he had outgrown his crate, was fully potty trained and slept on his bed in the living room, and he had water in the kitchen, which he never really bothers with overnight.
Good luck on your new adventure!

The crate is way too small, even for a tiny dog. It's also unfair to deny her water overnight.

It's really not too small

I’ve had dogs for 40 years. They’ve always slept on my bed and there’s no water in my bedroom. I don’t think humans or dogs need to drink at night - they’re asleep!

I don’t crate but I have done in the past. If used
correctly, it’s not cruel.
I leave access to water. Regardless of access to water or not, young pups need to wee every hour or 2 at night anyway.

It doesn’t look that small to me, what size did you get?

I presume you don't take a drink to bed?

It all sounds very depressing from an animal welfare point of view.
Irresponsible, ignorant and heartless.
Registered with a vet? Insured? Read up about the breed? Investigated the breeder? Checked if breeder is Kennel Club Registered?
Twenty years ago, when I was thinking of getting a German Shepherd, I was interviewed twice by the breeder, by the puppies' parents, and had to go back twice again before I was judged good enough to have one of their litter. I also had to explain why I chose her.
Thirteen years later, after GSD's death, I phoned the breeder to tell her. Apparently, out of that litter, I was the only person who kept their dog for the whole of it's life. It was a condition of sale that the breeder would refund the money back if the buyer couldn't keep/didn't want the dog any longer.