Crating

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Did everyone crate their pup at night? Did anyone allow their puppy to sleep with them from day one? I am interested to hear what members have to say. Thank you!

[1xar0x2rcx0li]

Crate training for overnight and when you have to leave for an hour or two durung the day is the best thing you can do to help house train your puppy. It also helps if the pup CAN sleep in a crate later in life even if you wean them off it and let them sleep with you in case they need to stay with at a friend/family members house in case of emergency and they do no cosleep with dogs.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Good advice! I think you must have talked with my husband :) He says pretty soon he will sleep in the crate, so he has more room in bed. I have crated all my dogs, but this one is sure cuddly.

[Carol and Banjo]

Banjo has a crate in our bedroom and one in the main living area of house. He has already started to retreat to his "daytime" crate when he's sleepy during the day. Someday I'd like to do away with both crates, but not sure when that day will come. I'd expect it will be close to his second year. Except for the 1st two nights he has no problem being "crated" when we can't have our eyes on him.

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin (8 mons old) was crated at night until just recently. In preparation for a transition to cottage living on weekends, where the space is tight and we do not have room for a crate, we have been leaving him free in the spare bedroom with a baby gate. The crate is in there with the door open, as well as his bed. Sometimes we wake up to see him on his bed, sometimes in the crate and sometimes on the bare floor. Next step is to increase his freedom by giving him the hallway too at night. We still crate during the times we are not home. Good luck with your decision!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We crated ..... two puppies, one crate (I know some don't agree with that but it worked for us). They were crated at night and when we were gone, until they were fairly consistent with their potty training. At that point we transitioned one bedroom into a puppy room and put a doggie gate across the door. Their crate was in the room as were their beds and food and water and some of their toys. They slept in that room at night as well as went there anytime we weren't going to be home. The crate was left open and sometimes they would go in it to lay and play with a toy but they weren't confined in it. The crate is now gone, but they still stay in this room at night. They pretty much have the run of the main part of the house when we are gone now. I think that it is important that they get used to a crate regardless because there are times when they will be required to be in a crate and it helps that they are used to it. Those would be at the groomers, or sometimes at the vet's! We still have an exercise pen that we take with us when we travel for them to sleep in at night.

[Christine & Shelby]

I have crated Shelby since her first night home. The first 2 nights we had a middle of the night potty break, but after that - she slept through the night each night. After about 5 nights with no midnight potty runs.... I moved off the couch and back to my bed. I whole heartedly believe that crating her helped tremendously with her house training. She had only 4 accidents in the house... and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I've recently been contemplating when to start letting her sleep outside her crate at night.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

I have never crated my dogs. While crating is convenient to the owner and popular in this country, I just don't like the method personally. My dogs slept together in the bathroom when they were babies, mostly so they could go into the shower and pee without waking us up. I've confined them to the kitchen and/or bathroom using baby gates, and also fenced in our patio before they could be trusted to roam. Another method I've used with other puppies it tethering them to my bed so they can't escape while I sleep. They can then sleep next to me and feel safe without physically being in the bed. I believe puppies are social creatures not meant for being alone for many hours, included overnight. As for housetraining, all my dogs have arrived almost-housebroken and have had very few accidents inside the house. So, crating - in my opinion - is not necessary to effectively and quickly potty train a puppy.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

My dogs have dog houses that they use for "dens." The difference is that there is no door that can be locked by the owner. You can create a safe place by using gates or confining the dog to a small room in the house. My dislike of crates is probably cultural - I am from Scandinavia where crating is considered cruel, so I've grown up with that attitude and had to learn different techniques to achieve the same results.

[DeeDee and Sheila]

I cued Sheila in my bed for awhile and then put her in a crate right beside my bed (she was so small I was afraid I'd roll on her). Not a whimper. The crate was close to me so she could smell me. I still do this. She watches TV w/ me and when TV goes off, she goes in her crate, right next to me. Sometimes I get up and go to computer for awhile and I didn't want her to follow me. She isn't potty trained yet so I will wait until I let her sleep w/ me. My dogs eventually do though, after I can trust them. I want the bed to be a "priveledge". And personally I move around, my husband does too and I just want Sheila anchored in one place for the night. She is the only one in our house with decent sleeping habits!!

[Mindi & Bella]

I think it depends on the dog and your situation. Both of my babies who have passed now were crate trained. But Bella (5 mo old) lived in a crate for 4 mo until I got her so she is deathly affraid of a crate of any kind. I am working with her to get past that fear for her sake but she does sleep with me in the bed. I put treats in her crate for her to find on her own to encourage her to go in and make sure I NEVER shut the door on her. I did one day and she freaked out so bad , she had diarhea the whole day. Won't do that again. So what I am trying to say is .... YOU know your doodle and thier needs and yours. Do what is best for doodles and you. No one knows that better than you. Good luck with your decision. Mindi & Bella

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Laurie, there is good advise for either case, crating or not, but to answer your question, we crated until potty trained and no longer needing to go out all night.( about 14 weeks old). Then we let him jump up on the bed and find his spot. Which has always been at the foot of the bed. We used a crate for about 3 months only as 1. he outgrew it and 2. we bought the 4 ft high play yard to keep him safe when we couldn't be with him. Which happened to be rarely.
I wouldn't trust a puppy from day one (8 weeks old?) to not go potty on the bed or floor of the bedroom so crating seems to be the best way to guarantee any middle of the night sheet changing.
It really is a matter of what works best for you and your doodle. I'm sure he'll be happy either way if you train him to do one or the other. I'm sure Murphy would've stayed in a crate if we had wanted him to even up to now, 16 months old, but I just didn;t have room for one as we were traveling for the first year we had him. So again, whatever works for you.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I think crate training really really makes potty training a breeze. We have crated Darwin from day one, and he absolutely loves his crate. We leave the door open all day, and he can be seen napping in there during the day. It's his little spot, and it helps us feel more comfortable knowing he won't get into anything he shouldn't!