Where to let sleeping dogs lie.....

[Amuseaboosh]

Hello!

First time dog owner here. My gorgeous girl is usually in her crate to sleep but with this heat, I'm not so sure.

She's had a close groom to help keep her cool (she's usually a fluffy cockapoo) and we're keeping on top managing the heat during the day for her.

She has a perfect bedtime routine and sleeps through from about 9pm to 7am, I don't want to disturb that but I'm worried about crating her when it's so hot.

I'd appreciate any guidance please.

Do you have the option to crate her but put the crate in a bigger pen so the crate door is open? Or in a small room with a stair gate across the door if she’s safer a bit more contained rather than free ranging? Not sure how old she is?

My dog was less keen on the crate by about 9 months. We then just did the same bedtime routine with the door ajar and he settled in there initially and then wandered out when he felt like it in the night.

We then started to “put him to bed” on his new sofa spot and “shut” the stair gate to the upstairs. For months he didn’t realise it was actually open and would never wander up until the morning.

Ours sleeps anywhere now but his sleeping spots in this weather are definitely the cool spots and not his normal end of the sofa / dog beds. He’s seeking out the draughty bit by the front door mat or under the cold floor.

Is the crate somewhere shaded and does she have access to water in the crate? Mine is finally out of the crate, but before this I was just making sure the room was cool enough for when he went to bed (fan, window open, blinds down to block morning sun) and he was fine. I was confident he would let me know if he wasn’t though, and the door was just pushed to rather than locked. If he hadn’t been in his crate he would have slept on the sofa which wouldn’t have been any cooler so I just stuck to his routine.

9pm to 7am in a crate? She'll end up with muscle atrophy.

Why can't she be free range? All mine have been from 8 weeks old. Current pup sleeps on a tiled floor but has two big rooms to move around in.

Why is she crated?

I’m not anti crate, one of mine is usually crated overnight, he is because it’s the best way to have him, the other dog and the cat all in the right places overnight, but in hot weather we can rearrange them to a more inconvenient way but the dogs can have different places to lie to keep cooler.

So I’m wondering if leaving the crate open is an option

Does she need to be in her crate?

Poor thing in a crate for 10 hours. ☹️

Our dogs (never crated) choose to sleep on a tiled floor when it’s hot and have the run of the large kitchen with beds on the floor too.

I’d try with the crate door open and see how things go, it would be awful for them to get too hot and not be able to move around. Block off any access to anywhere you don’t want them or go or move any temptations.

Mine had a crate to start (door open and a gate across the bottom of the stairs) but he was probably about 8/9 months when he started to sleep outside of it and has always been fine. During the day he’s into everything and loves to pick up a stray sock or shoe or anything really but overnight he’s good as gold! We have a camera so I checked up on him a bit to start but never any issues

I really can’t get my head around this crating business. Just why the need to cage a dog all night? At a push when they’re very young for an hour or so if you’re going out. I’ve had dogs for 40 years and naughty terriers in past 20. I’ve no need to crate. But back to your question. My two choose to sleep in beds in my room but in the last heatwave I left all doors open and I slept on sofa, they wandered to me in the night
amd one is only few months old.

My dog is no longer crated but when she was a few months old last summer I actually chose a bigger crate, contrary to the advice to get one they can only stand up and turn around in and nothing more because

1. it looked too small and cruel and I didn't see the point of it being deliberately small.
2. I wanted to give her a warm end (blankets) and a cooler end (cool mat/plastic sheet) so that she could choose her surface depending on how she felt. I did not cover the crate at all if the day/night was even remotely warm

Must you crate her? it's so restricting lying on one hot space for hours on end, if she can be free to roam if it's only in one room then she would be able to move around to cooler spots on the floor at least . Our dog has his own den and a bed next to ours but the doors are open and he can go where he likes so can access his cool mats in the living room as get a drink when he needs too as well

Dogs shouldn't be crated overnight if there's no pressing need for it. They have a completely different sleep pattern to us, and need to get up and change position often. In this heat they'll also likely want to change surfaces. Open the crate door at the least.