Crate Sleeping

[Alex]

Hi all,

I wanted to get some thoughts on sleeping arrangements.  At present, Charlie is about 12 weeks old and has been spending all his time in the crate with the exception of his walks to go to the bathroom and supervised time at home.  At night, he sleeps in the crate with the door locked.  What are the thoughts on leaving the crate door open at night?  Too early?  He is not 100% housebroken yet, but never has to go out at night and sleeps straight through an 8 hour night.

Alex

[F, Calla & Luca]

Since he's sleeping anyway why do it? Having the crate locked gives you some reassurance that he will alert you if he does need to go out and you avoid the possibility that he decides to quietly relieve himself outside the crate. with Luca he had lots of freedom too young and sometimes I paid for that. I kept Calla crated at night for a long time, she was over a year I think and she'd let me know if she needed to go out.

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

I wonder the same thing. Holmes is just 1 week younger than your Charlie and has slept 8 hours through the night, but not all the time yet. I guess it comes down to: Do you trust Charlie?

I don't fully trust Holmes to be unsupervised yet. He's also not fully house trained, but we're getting there (only day 2 of NO accidents at all- yay!). But I also don't trust him not to bite something up-- anything and everythin, you name it: dresser, carpet, laundry, my bedding, because he chews on it all. I have him leashed most of the day unless we're playing, either inside or outside. His crate is near my bed and sometimes he wakes up too early, around 4 or 5am and I don't need to get up til closer to 6:00 or 5:30 at the earliest. Half the time when he does this he does NOT want to get back in his crate after I take him out to potty. I also would not let him sleep in his crate w/ the door open at this hour, plus he would rather sit in my lap and sleep and there is no way I'm ready to start my day that early! So I put a towel next to my bed, under my nightstand and he'll usually fall back to sleep- but since I don't trust him I leash him to the leg of the nightstand. I would love to just let him off leash... but not yet. 

Would love to hear what you decide to do especially since our puppies are so close in age. Good luck!

[a.k.a. Rodney]

My experience is short, but I'm long on common sense...these pups change their habits daily when so young. Be absolutely sure he's housebroken...and this is to short a time to be certain. Besides what's the reason for doing it..not going to Improve his sleep? My trainer says the fest, best & happiest place for the dog is his crate.

[BettyAnn, Holmes & Lucy]

I agree with you Rodney. Can you please tell my puppy? :) haha-- If he had his choice, he would pick my bathroom to sleep in instead of his crate. I think it's cause the tiles are cool or it's more quiet in there w/out anyone around him snoring.

[nate]

Personally, I'd keep him locked up until 6-8 months... and i'd expect some early failures. his body isn't developed enough to be truly housebroken yet, he's probably really struggling to last those 8hours at night. you're also reinforcing that as his safe, happy den full of toys and a place that is all him. that feeling comes in handy if you need to leave for 8 hours and he starts to get anxiety, or if he gets sick and is trying to hold stuff in (that will happen).

our goldendoodle sleeps in his unlocked crate for most of the night (19months now, unlocked since 8months). he's fully welcome in our bedroom and even out bed (its cold!) , but that's HIS house and he often prefers it. fwiw, we tried to limit his in-crate time to 12hours a day (6-8 sleeping, the rest during the day).

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

If your are feeling "guilty" about locking in him in his crate, you should not.  The best thing you can do for him is keep him in an environment where he (and your shoes, socks, furniture and carpet) are safe.  The worst thing you can do, in my opinion, is set him up for failure.  Leaving him the opportunity to leave the crate while you are asleep and be unsupervised, is setting him up for potential failure.  Leave him out more frequently during the day, penned into one room where you can always have a sense of what he is up to, and gradually work his  way up.  YOu can also tether him to you while you go about your routines.  I never did that, but have seen it recommended.  

Does not sound like you exercise him much, are you taking him for long walks, or just to potty?  Burn off energy and bond with him by taking a nice long stroll.  Nightime sleeping will come about but I think it would be foolish until he is 100% housebroken.  We now allow Quincy the roam of the house when we are home, but I always have some sense of where he is and if he is gone too long, I make sure he is not getting into mischievous.  Just like I did with my son!  I must add that I never crated my son! But we did pay a lot of childcare bills!  

[Alex]

I appreciate all of the insight. I am just trying to judge when to give him more freedom. I play with Charlie for a good hour or two before bed but sometimes he likes to just lie there and chew on his bone. I figured I could just shut the lights and head to bed and he would eventually figure it out and go into his crate to sleep. Then if he wakes up early he can stroll around the apartment.

I think I may start by blocking him off in a small area of the kitchen during the day and see how he handles that.