Anyone NOT crate their puppy at night?

[monkeywithacowface]

6 month old pup has always been crated at night time since we got him at 12 weeks. He's always slept pretty well in there from the off, although has always consistently woken around 5am which has been a bit knackering to say the least!

Over the last couple of weeks though he has started waking at 1am/2am every night and once I've gone to him has refused to go out for a pee but then cried once I've left him again. If I sit for a few minutes he settles back down by which time I'm wide awake and then he is awake again at 5 am. Once he's been out for his 5am pee and poo he likes to curl up and snooze on his beanbag that he uses during the day (never chooses the crate for daytime sleeping).

He's a lurcher and his favourite sleep position is stretched out on his back legs in the air! He has a large crate but I'm wondering if he just isn't as comfy?

The other night when woke at 2am he got out the crate and made beeline for his beanbag so I left him to it and he slept there until 7am with no accidents. Last night I let him sleep all night in the kitchen on his beanbag and he slept through until 6am. I'm tempted to ditch the crate at night but use it for when we go out with a view to ditching it altogether.

Is this going to be a mistake? I'm so tired from 3 months of 5am wake up call and now on my knees with the additional 2am wakings. Anyone not use a crate at all that can reassure me it's the way forward?

Another non-crater here - the pup was very happy snuggled up with the old rescue girl. No problem at all, bless him. I get up early to let them both out then they come and settle next to our bed for anther hour.

my dog sleeps with me in my bed i thought all dogs did the same - dont like crates

Dh is iften on the sofa due to his snoring and 6month old cocker spaniel is snuggled up with him ! We do have a crate but he is rarely dhut in it. Sometimes in the evening he chooses to sleep there himself .

I never crated my darling CKC spaniel, Pickle- she always slept in our bed.

One of the funniest thing I'd ever read was on a CKCS Facebook group, where somebody posted saying that their puppy had been in bed with them for 14 weeks, and asking when was a good time for them to move her out to her own bed...how I laughed

Your dog is adorable sostenueto love the pictures and the Christmas ensemble!

Thank you bettyboo . think all the pups are adorable!. I wasn't going to have anymore dogs after I list my old boy ( he was 17) and spent most of his life on my lap! Considering g he weighed 30 kilos was a pretty hard feat! He was the most loving gentle dog I ever had. He was a long legged staffie. He never destroyed a thing including his toys even when left when I worked. Always slept on my bed or the settee, never left my side. A very calm dog.
But when he died I grieved badly and for a long time but found as I wasn't working anymore due to disability i was getting depressed and lonely. Then my dd presented me with Cleo and that was it. Never had a bitch before and what a mischief maker she is! Calm is.not in her agenda! But how can you tell her off with those cocked ears? And pretty face! And she knows it!

I’m so glad you have found your lovely Cleo, your story gives me a bit of hope as my dog is getting older now and I am utterly dreading what lies ahead my blood literally runs cold at even the thought, I knew I would love my dog dearly when I got her but never realised she would completely and utterly steal my heart and my whole world revolves around her! I’m not sure if I could ever love a dog as much again but reading your post and seeing your lovely pictures makes me think I may have a place for another dog when the time is right. Very glad your lovely Cleo has brought you so much happiness.

Thank you bettyboo. When the time is right for you you will give your love to another dog.

Never have with any of my dogs. They sleep in their beds in the living room.

Crate training gets praised on here (and many other places) but it has never sat well with me, and it has never been necessary for any of our puppies. Before the puppies could reliably take themselves outside for the toilet (we have a dog door), I would take them out before I went to bed, and again at around 2am. Considering I wake up at 5am anyway, this has always been a schedule that worked for us. I consider the 2am wake ups part and parcel of having a baby of any sort! And fortunately they last much less time than the 2am wakings of a human baby.

DBeagle took the longest to housetrain, and wasn't reliable until he was around 6 months old, but the others were all housetrained by 12 weeks and were content sleeping near us or with their fellow dog sibling.

My lurcher never had a crate, it just somehow felt wrong. There is something dignified about pointy hounds, that makes crating seem wrong IMO

She sleeps downstairs in the kitchen in plush beddie next to radiator.

I don’t think people realise that circumstances can necessitate the use of a crate and those who use them are not all evil zoo keepers who can’t be bothered and want to cage their puppy.
We rent and one of the conditions of having a dog here is that they don’t go upstairs. Not a problem, none of my dogs have ever gone upstairs but leaving a puppy in the kitchen uncrated is not an option as I’d quite like not to be paying for a new kitchen as he’s chewed the edges of the cupboards. His crate is cosy and he quite often goes in there for a lie down with out me closing the door.
I fully expect to be able to leave the door open by the time he’s one as I do with my 4 year old dog. The only time the door is closed on the grown up dog is when we have people doing work and the front door is open. He curls up and goes to sleep.

Ziva I agree crates have their place and I am so glad I used one in the early days. Ours was an XXL for a small/medium dog so he had a huge amount of room. It also was handy when he had to stay several days at the vets as he was used to crates.

I don't plan to use ours again now he is older but they aren't the awful things some people consider them to be and I would use one again if we ever had another puppy as it's gives them their own space and keeps them safe when you need to.

We used it for about a week. Then realised she was happy to sleep on a soft bed on the kitchen floor so sold the crate!

Our dog is created through the night. The crate is in our bedroom. He gets in it when we settle down to sleep and the crate is opened as soon as we wake.
He's about the size of a westie. The crate has a mattress type thing at the bottom and a single bed quilt that I made into bedding for him by folding it four ways then making removable covers out of some old sheets.
It's really comfy.
It's very quiet we're we live and so any noise in the night is magnified and he barks. There has been times were we've let him on our bed,but any noise and he just starts running around the landing, getting more excited and takes a while to settle him then. When he's in the crate, he has a 'quick' bark then he's back to sleep.
They are not the prettiest of things to look at but I don't think we could ever get rid of it.

We have a pretty small kitchen so initially he slept in there. As soon as he was fully dry he migrated to dd's bedroom and has remained there ever since, he has his own v pillow at the end of the bed.
There is no waking him. I've known them to go to bed at eleven and him still be snoring at eleven the next morning. I have to physically fetch him to go out for a wee.
He is a lazy bugger though.