Would you/do you keep your dog in the garage?

[petitdonkey]

Please don't flame me - I am a total novice, our new pup is due to come to us in 5 weeks time.

Last weekend we visited friends who have two dogs which sleep in their integral garage - the door is open all day and the dogs can go in and out, they are then put in there at night and when the family go out. (They have proper metal kennels in there. They are very much family dogs and in the house all day and evening.

DH thought this was a great idea as we have an integral garage. I am not so sure so thought I would ask the MN experts!

My reservations are as follows:

• will it be too cold? Pup is being reared in a stable right now but obviously he is in a bundle with Mummy and siblings. DH suggested we could get a heat lamp for winter.

• is it a bit mean? or will doggy know no difference?

Could I crate train him in the house then when he is a bit older gradually move the crate towards the garage, leave him for short times in there etc.? There is the potential to knock a hole though the wall and put in a door so that he could have outside access.

Would I be better, in the future, to just use the garage as a daytime run but always let him sleep inside? We have a large house but strangely, nowhere obvious to put the crate.

Any thoughts will be gratefully received. I've ordered 'The Perfect Puppy' and another book but wanted to wait until after Christmas to get stuck into reading them. Maybe I'll have a better idea when I read them.

Many thanks

Your 'bootroom' conversion sounds ok to me - nothing dangerous, warm enough. An unheated garage with tools, chemicals etc wouldn't be a good idea at all.

If your bootroom has boots in it, don't use it as a 'run' until puppy is well over the chewing phase

What a gorgeous little snugglebundle.

Thank you everyone. I really just want to get him now as I'm over thinking it all. It's a bit like expecting your first baby really - the children are beside themselves!! Only two weeks to go.

InthePotty - He's called Scooby Doo! My son wanted to name him after himself but his second suggestion was Scooby Doo The Labradoodle! I pretend I'm embarrassed by the choice but I quite like it really

Oh wow, gorgeous puppy, I could just sniff him and snuggle him all day long!

You need to do what feels right for your family regarding your dog. An unheated garage with tools, chemicals etc is not really suitable, but a utility/boot room is a perfect solution if that is where you want the dog to be.

I have a ' no dogs upstairs' rule in our house. I just dont see the need for dogs to be upstairs (and I dont want dog hair in the bedrooms, got enough cleaning to do with my hairy babies).

Of course they sometimes sneak up and that is ok, and I sometimes find Loofa in DS bedroom (downstairs) but they have the lounge, kitchen and dining room and hall.

Arf @ scooby doo.

Absolutely not. Our dogs are members of the family and as such live in the house. I'd rather not have a dog if that was my only option.

Depends on the garage / room surely. My integral garage has a radiator and just has toys and boxes of household stuff, so no danger at all to dogs and the door is off the hall. It has washable vinylfloor covering I bought cheap and the dogs don't seem to mind it's 2 different colours.
My dogs love going in there and with 7 dogs it's easy to keep clean and warm. We leave the door open at night and most chose to sleep in there, rather than the kitchen or hall.

However, there is 7 of them and I don't think I would put a puppy in there on it's own for sometime. until it is fully setlled in the house and the garage is used in the day, door open and becomes another room.

Our house is a kennel and I love having dogs sprawling around all over the place. Our eldest loves the crate where she can feel secure and not be bothered by the others. I agree that your garage sounds more like a utility room, and a perfectly comfy safe place for a dog to have a bed. It is good for a dog to have somewhere that they are not going to be interrupted, where they can go when they've had enough. I wouldn't keep a dog away from the people though.

Our dog sleeps in the kitchen but if I am going out for lunch or something that will take more than half an hour to an hour we transfer her bed to the garage. It is colder than the house, but she has an extra snuggly duvet as well as her bed blankets and obviously she has her food and water and toys in there too. It has a window and a door in to the back garden so she gets plenty of natural light and, to be honest, I think she likes it in there! We don't park the car in there and the only things that are in there are our second fridge and a couple of boxes. As time goes on and she gets more toys because she is spoiled rotten we make decisions as to which are 'garage/outside' toys and which are 'indoor' toys. For example - she has this big plsatic yellow egg thing that we bought because it said it was grand for the garden. When she chases it and it hits the wall it makes a lot of noise, so now it has been relegated to the garage and she can play with it to her hearts content that and a few irritating squeaky toys.

I'm a big softie and could never keep my dogs away from me. Mine sleep in the dining room with the door closed because dog 1 always comes upstairs and sleeps by the radiator on the landing, then dog2 whines all night because she can't be with her brother because she's a minx and won't use the stairs!!!
They each have a sniggly basket or sleep on the sofa bed. This means it has to have a bloody good Hoover/clean when MIL comes to stay!!!