What happens if you're not crate training?

[PurpleSweetPeas]

Everything I read is geared up to crate training. But what do you do at night if you don't put your puppy in a crate? Or put them in your room.

What are the steps to not coming down to wee/poo on the floor? Is there a hide somewhere or is it more common sense.

Someone please point me in the right direction before I lose my mind!

@Moanycowbag they do though .. honestly I've come across so many people new to dogs that think they are supposed to be caged .. it's so sad

*This. It depends though. I’ve only crated one dog- my Labrador.

DDog was a prolific chewer- he chewed in his sleep, he chewed my kitchen, he chewed concrete outside the home. We used it for the first six months. When he needed the loo, he cried, we let him out then back in. He was also crated during the day for naps/rest probably an hour or two.

He got very attached to his crate and cried when we put it down😳. I don’t like dogs in cages but sometimes they have a place. Naturally a dog would have a den in the wild, it’s calming, sometimes a worried dog will go to it for a safe place eg guy Fawkes night.

It’s when the crate is abused that it becomes a problem, I know someone who crated two boxer dogs every time she went to work or went out- she walk them beforehand and thought that’s fine- it’s not.

We tried it for the first two nights and it was awful. He howled all night and in all honesty I can't take it - set off my anxiety triggers 😞

So did you just pop him in the crate and go to bed hoping he'd just go to sleep? That's not how crate training works.

My puppies have all slept in a separate room from the beginning (sometimes after a transition period of a few nights with someone sleeping next to them). Our current dog woke up at about 5:00 for the first couple of weeks, then started sleeping until 7:00. We never set an alarm and he never had any accidents overnight. He was completely house trained within two weeks. Our previous dog was fully house trained even faster, though he was already about 4 months old when we brought him home (rescue). I hasten to add that we have been very lucky in this regard, I don’t think the ease of training was due to any amazing skill on my part!

My dog slept in the puppy-proofed room until he was about 6 or 7 months old. Nowadays he chooses where he wants to sleep.

We had our dogs as puppies 18 odd years ago( obvs sadly no longer with us).
Dogs were never allowed upstairs or on the sofa. In the utility room over night, wee before they went to bed.
Not telling off if they had an accident but taken straight out. During the day they had their bed( pillow it was called)- pillow was the command.
I think we used the book perfect puppy by Gwen Bailey?? Plus excellent puppy training classes, the trainer was very much that the owner's were the 'top dog'
My toddler used to come with me as she was excellent with him as well!😂
I used to be exhausted after those Thursday morning sessions with a puppy and a toddlerhood luck with yours, enjoy!

@PurpleSweetPeas it's awful shutting a dog in a cage all night .. just deal with the wees . They grow out if it

In your opinion! My dog loves his crate. It's large enough for his bed and space to stand up, move around. It's his safe space for chill and sleep. He takes himself to it during the day if he wants a nap. It's not his 'cage' ffs.

Was that directed at me? As I didn't say that.
I am trying to work out what is best for my puppy and we still have the crate but curious as to what people who don't crate train do as I can't find anything else that supports not using a crate.

We never used a crate or got up in the night for toileting.

We had a very large puppy pen (probably 6 times the size of a large crate) until she was 6 months. There was room for her bed, a puppy pad and a decent amount of floor space.

During the day we took her outside. At night she went into her bed/pen voluntarily about 9pm. We'd wake her and put her outside last thing and shut the pen door when we went to bed. Then get up at 6, pick up the used puppy pad and she'd spend the rest of the day going outside.

To me, it felt just like waiting for a young child to become dry at night. You don't really train them, you just wait for night time wetting to gradually reduce and stop then remove the nappy. We did just that with the pad, waited until it was dry most mornings and then stopped putting one down at night and it was fairly stress free.

I know puppy pads are not thought highly of on here but they worked brilliantly for us.

Ours too 😄and he slept very deeply cuddled up to me and hardly ever woke up during the night. He normally sleeps in and is not a morning person 😆

@PurpleSweetPeas my apologies, my reply didn't post properly. No it was aimed at @boboshmobo - nothing wrong at all with a crate if it is used correctly. It is not a cage!

Thank you all, I was reading all your replies but just a little overwhelmed trying to work out what was best.

We decided to allow him free run of the kitchen with the crate open as his safe space. This is working okay for us and PurplePup who settled in well and has stopped whining at night. Being clean all night is a work in progress but I'm okay with that.

I think it really boils down to what works for each owner and their dog.

Now I'm immersing myself in trying to work out why he has an upset tummy - always something!

No problem @loobylou10

@PurpleSweetPeas wondered how you got on? How are things now?

Have had dogs since I was a child. I was actually wondering the other day, what folk who don't crate train do. I have had border collies for 30 plus years,and other breeds. My last "puppy" is now 8,(lost one in January just shy of his 18th birthday) now have an adorable 10 week old BC puppy. Waiting on 2nd jabs, plenty of play in the garden, other dog adores her. The one thing I hate is house training.(the 4DKs were out of nappies at 2) haha phone decided 21🤣!. We removed most of the carpets, because of our last elderly dog. Dogs have their own beds, but prefer ours. We started crating 15 minutes every 2 hours. Very soon she was happy to go an hour,has her meals in there.(means I can go shopping) as much for her safety, she chews wires, cannot be in the garden unattended, she eats everything! All our dogs are crated in the car.my big 'un has her safe space under the dining table, with her back to the wall. I'm in the spare room ATM, with her in a crate by the bed. Tried on the bed.... she plays,and fell off,hurt her leg. Getting up twice in the night. Luckily, I worked nights for 30 plus years,am a rubbish sleeper.

We had a very large playpen (we had space for it even though it was not beautiful). We put toys, water, bed etc in there and she went in overnight or when we went out and seemed quite content. It was strange suddenly when she was a year old, she didn't want to stay in there anymore and cried to come out overnight. At that point she was toilet trained and not chewing anyway. She's absolutely fine in the house alone, very well behaved. I've never used a crate and can't imagine it.

We didn't crate train. She slept in our room and let us know she wanted out.

A friend slept downstairs with hers the first week and then left the in the kitchen overnight and would just wipe up any pees or poos in the morning, no fuss, and concentrated on day time house training. They eventually sleep through the night and do their business when you let them out in the morning. Both work though she got more sleep than I did.

Last night I got up at 2.30with said puppy dog,crated next to me in the spare room. Went back to bed, she howled at the top of her lungs for 30 minutes. DH and big dog awake,took her into our room,put her on the bed,and they both decided "yeah, playtime". Put her bed next to me.I worked nights for 30 years,so couldn't get back to sleep 😴😴. Am really tired now. She has plenty of play inside and outside,big garden, canine playmate plus us second jab today, can't wait to start walking her in a week.

We didn't crate train either. Puppy slept in the utility room from early on (after a few nights of being with me in the living room) and was house trained after a few weeks. We did use pads at night but it was for a short period and I do think she saw the whole room/floor as her bed which helped? The kids call it her bedroom now rather than the utility.

She's over a year now and will still eat and chew at her bedding, but generally trustworthy with everything else.... definitely not the mouthy lab landshark she was at the beginning. I wfh a few days a week and after her morning walk she will happily sleep on the kitchen sofa or wander around until lunchtime without causing havoc. My office is out of bounds as it has carpet and at least with floor tiles and a leather sofa I can keep hair and dog smells under control

Totally agree with you! Dogs do not belong in cages.

OP - you have to sleep in the same room as your puppy and then take them out when they wake up in the usual way. Ours sleeps on the sofa and in bed 😬, but you can equally have the dog on the floor in their dog bed next to you.

Mine was in a puppy pen with puppy pads on the floor until she learnt to hold it through the night. I know a lot of people say puppy pads mean it's harder to toilet train but I didn't find that to be the case. .

'We didn't crate train either. Puppy slept in the utility room from early on'

Some people don't have utility rooms though. Puppies need to be contained and kept safe overnight so the choices are in your bedroom <which many people don't like> or downstairs but they need to be in an enclosed area away from wires they can chew etc so a utility room is ideal but if not a crate is perfectly ok too.

Mine was in a puppy pen with puppy pads on the floor until she learnt to hold it through the night. I know a lot of people say puppy pads mean it's harder to toilet train but I didn't find that to be the case

I could have written this word for word.

I read so many posts where people are setting alarms for 3am or getting up at 5am to let them out and I always think they must be nuts to do this. Puppy pads in the large pen overnight, pick up soiled/wet pad in the morning, done. The pads just get less and less used as weeks pass until you come down one morning and it's clean and dry, then you're finished and don't put them down anymore.

Mine had a crate and pen he was never locked in it was choice to go in, we played crate games to get him used to it, it has a cover etc but he was actually just fine loose as long as there was nothing down for chewing. Vinegar on anything he put his mouth on. He had plenty ‘chew’ toys rotated to let him chew.

he was let out at 11pm then when we got up, he managed to not wee I’ve never let a pup out at 2/4am - had guide dog pups before our own pup. Only time I’ve been up is if they have an upset tummy. He’s now outgrown the crate/pen and is loose in the house at night with the cats (3 years old - dog) he’s a good boy