Bringing baby home in a few weeks! I am a little nervous about the first few weeks. Questions about crates ++

[Susan]

Hi everyone.

I'm new here.  I'm bringing home a little 8 week old goldendoodle in a month.  I am super excited.

Here's my question.  We have a 2 story house.  I am planning on buying a 42" crate that I will place in the livingroom on the main floor.  I was told the dog can be anywhere from 35-55 pounds full grown so I"m assuming at 42" crate is the way to go.... and yes, it has a divider.

A friend of mine told me that it's best to keep the puppy in your bedroom for a few weeks.  Do you guys agree?

The 42 inch crate is going to be big, was planning on keeping it on the first level.

My sister has also offered to loan me her (small) cat travel crate/carrier.  I am planning on using this to transport the puppy home.  It's only a 40 minute drive.

So what should I do?  Put the puppy in the cat travel crate by my bed (on the top floor)?  For how long?  The reason for this is that -  I assume - I can hear him during the night... and if he wakes up I have to take him outside to the bathroom?  Do you think as soon as I take him out of the crate he will pee in my bedroom?  I would need to make a mad dash with him downstairs and outside.

Another option - I can put the puppy in the large crate (with divider) on the main floor in the spot I plan to keep it and I can just sleep on the couch next to it.

Which sounds better?

The only thing I'm planning on putting in the crate at night is a Snuggle Puppy that a nice member here offered to send to me.

Any bits of advice?  Kind of nervous about the first few days/nights.  I haven't had a dog since I was a kid!

Thanks in advance

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Susan, Here is what I did with my dogs. Everyone has to find what works for them, but here is what worked for me. I watch TV back in my bedroom, so I would have Fudge (my puppy) up on the bed with me. Usually, Fudge would fall fast asleep. Whenever I decided it was time for me to go to sleep (usually 11 pm), I would take her out for the last potty of the night and place a treat in her crate and put her in the crate. I kept the crate right next to my side of the bed and would soothe her by placing my fingers in the crate if she fussed. Usually, sometime in the middle of the night she would wake up...I would take her out...and put her back in the crate. As she got a little older, I would take her out when she woke up in the middle of the night and bring her back to bed with me. We all slept better that way. I know others who do not want their dogs in bed with them, so don't start anything you don't want to continue. The nice thing is you get to make the rules for your puppy. My dogs are 6 and 7 now and sometimes sleep with us and sometimes do not. They have the run of the house. They also sleep in in the morning, which I love. 

[Susan]

Oh that sounds lovely :)  Thanks for the advice.  I guess I will have to find what works best for us!

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I am a huge advocate for 2 crates! We have yeti sleep next to us in his crate upstairs and have one down stairs incase he is getting rowdy while we're down stairs or while we're cooking / eating and can't watch him 24/7. It works like a charm!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

We have a ten month old and a three month old, so have been through the new puppy ordeal twice in the last year. With each, we used a plastic doggie "fence" to create a "puppy palace" in the family room for those times we couldn't supervise the puppy. We put the small crate in the palace during the day then moved it to the bedroom at night. We're home during the day so we didn't crate for potty training purposes - just took the puppy out regularly (much easier with the puppy we brought home in the summer). We were pleasantly surprised that each puppy slept through the night within a week of being home.

Good luck with your puppy. Hope things go smoothly for you.

[Jenny and Cooper]

Congratulations on your new puppy! You'll figure out what works best for you the first few days. When I first got Cooper, I had orginally planned on having him sleep in our room inside his crate for a few weeks. After the first three nights, we decided to move him downstairs. It worked better for me since I was so worried about waking him up in the middle of the night when I needed to use the bathroom. He was fine with the transition and we all slept better after that! Like Laurie said, it depends on what your intention is as far as sleeping arrangement. It wasn't in our plan to have him stay in our room, so transitioning him downstairs early in the game was ok with us emotionally.

When he was upstairs, we would carry him downstairs until he reached the backdoor to go potty to avoid any accidents in the house. He was closer to the door once we brought him downstairs. Oh and we also bought the wire crate.

Good luck!! :D

[Sarah Trott]

It'll be hard to know the right choice until you get your little fluff butt. Wallace would cry like crazy if he knew I was around while he was in his crate, so I ended up moving it out of the bedroom. I ended up just setting an alarm to let him out. After a couple of weeks, he was able to sleep through the night. Those first couple days (months really) are exhausting but so worth it!

[Lynda Kamrath]

I'm not a good person to talk about crates because I do not like them or use them.  We have a small house, however, and a crate would not look good anywhere in the house.  I do, however, use baby playpens for my puppies' beds when they are small and not housebroken.  After a few months (and when they are housebroken) they chose where they want to sleep.  It has been hot here the last week and my newest puppy is sleeping outdoors until about 12:00 or 1:00 a.m. and then she barks to come in.  She goes into the bathroom and sleeps on the cool tiles.  When they are small, I carry them outside to the place I want them to use for elimination and put them down and say, Go PeePee.  As soon as they do, I pick them up, come back inside and into the playpen they go.  They  very seldom will wet their bed.  It has worked for me with four puppies.  The cat travel crate will be fine for riding in the car while (s)he is little, but it won't work for long.  I do use a crate in the car for transportation until they outgrow the crate.  I do not agree that you should keep a puppy in your bedroom for a couple of weeks.  I think it is like sleeping in with an infant.  If you don't plan to do it long term, don't get it started.  One potty break a night should be enough, but don't let him start playing outside.  Carry out, do their business, carry back in, into bed, and good night.

[Gail & Maggie]

Definitely recommend the crate in the bedroom with a new puppy.  You will need to take it for a potty call during the night, wrapped in your arms,  in the beginning. The crate should  give the puppy just a small amount of room to turn around, the confinement helps to train them as the puppy will not mess where it sleeps. The puppy will be much more content in your room as they are pack animals.  I strongly, can't say this strong enough, recommend buying the Snuggle Puppy to place in the crate and scent with mom if at all possible. It was the BEST investment for my peace of mind.  I took mine to the breeder to be scented when I picked up Maggie.   My breeder told me about this and my puppy never so much as whined in her crate from day one.  She curled up with the puppy,licked it like it was a litter mate and with the beating heart on,  just went to sleep. Once she's old enough around 2 1/2 months I stopped using the heart and she started playing with the stuffed puppy (and destuffing it), I woke her during the night for about 4 nights for a potty trip. Withholding water in the evening also helps in the potty training.  Enjoy your puppy, they grow up very fast!

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Pet-Love-Snuggle-Behavioral/dp/B000C9YHFS  

[Susan]

I have a Snuggle Puppy!  It's so cute.  Thank you.   I also just ordered a small crate from Amazon to keep in my bedroom.  Now all I need is a puppy!  lol.

Thanks!