UPDATE...Something new, wish me luck

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Just bought a new bed for Meg today.  I want to put her on it in our bedroom instead of her crate at night so...tonight will be her first time uncrated.  We have had her a bit over two months, she is 8 months the 14th of this month.  I hope she can handle it. We do not leave her in the house unattended without the crate so this is a biggy for us.  She does not mind her crate, generally when I go to the door and say in she just walks in and gets comfy, I just want her closer to us.

So, we went to bed and put Meg on her new bed beside our bed.  (Let me say I am NOT good at sharing a bed and sometimes resent when my hubby gets on my 2/3rds of the bed so she is not invited up...maybe in the future?).  She laid down but was curious and after we settled in she got up to check on both of us.  I put her back on her bed with a stay command and she settled right down.  I got up about midnight and she was not on her bed but appeared almost instantly when my feet hit the floor. I put her back on her bed when I crawled back in and she snuggled right down, when I got up at five she was no where in sight, as I got to the bedroom door she was curled up in the corner of the call with tail wagging.  That is where she goes of a morning when she is expecting hubby to get up.  I think that my be her comfort spot and if it continues I will move her bed to that spot.  She did not bother anything that I can find, so good MEG!

[Christine & Shelby]

I started my Shelby sleeping in the bedroom uncreated at about 6 months. We had great success although I didn't sleep well the first night... I'd wake up when I heard her move. And she moved from her bed to the carpet to the tile to her bed, etc. you get the idea :).
Good luck!!!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Judy I would like to do the same thing with Libby but she is twenty mos. old and I am not sure she would stay on her bed in our bedroom.  She has slept in her crate since we brought her home at ten weeks with the exception of "on our bed"with us about ten times.  Those "ten times" probably would be the key words.  I think if we put her bed on the floor in our room with the intentions of her sleeping there she would look at us like we are crazy!  Those few times in our bed are her "very" favorite and I don't think she would stay in her bed.  Our crate is out in our family room because there is no room in our bedroom for it and I hate that she is so far away from us.  When we first brought her home we put the crate in the hall at our door to our room, but as she grew, so did the crate.  No room in he hall either!  She lays on our bed during the day and I think we have made a big mistake with that one, but she so loves it!  See, I am such a softie and I would have her in our bed every night, but we only have a queen and we are not small people ( I can't believe I am saying this) and my DH does not sleep well when she is on our bed.  Don't know how to change things, so I guess I live "sleeping dogs lie" :)  

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Our dogs start out in bed with us; then Lacey will usually move to the floor after an hour or so.  Baxter has always slept with us.  Harlow likes to sleep with us in the winter time but will sleep on cool bathroom tile in the warmer months.  I will admit the last time we replaced our mattress we up-sized to a king so there would be more room for both 2-footers and 4-footers. :)

[BG and Gavin]

I bet she will do great.  If you are concerned about her wandering, you could put a baby gate across your door.  Maybe its just me, but I don't like closed doors and I always think dogs do better when they can see out.  Gavin never caused any problems at night.   In the beginning I let him have the bedroom, bathroom and put the gate at the end of the hallway as he too like to lie on the cool tile of the bathroom when he got hot.  I think we started around 6 months.  And as already stated, that first couple nights you hear every stirring!

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

BG, we have a baby gate across the bedroom door as well.  The dogs can see out but keeps them contained and out of mischief.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Both our dogs sleep in our bedroom on covered foam mats. We put them up against the wall during the day and Harpo comes in and pulls it down when he is ready to go to bed.  Sometimes Harpo gets onto the bed between us when he is cold.  Other than that, they are free in the house and never use crates.  We have them (down in the basement) but I really dislike the look of crates.  In the morning, we have our coffee in bed and the dogs join us.  Harpo always curls up between Charlie's legs and Groucho sits on the bed between us so he can get scratches from both sides.  It has become a morning ritual at our house.  Sometimes, if it is warm, Groucho goes into the bathroom, scrunches up the rugs and lays down on the cool tiles.  He also likes the tiles in the kitchen (when it is warm).  Right now, both dogs prefer the leather couches.  Yes, our dogs are rather spoiled.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Lynda, not spoiled, just loved so very much. Your story is so sweet and having your coffee with your Doodles sounds great to me:)

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Judy, Have you considered putting the mat from her crate on top of her new bed for the first few nights?  It might be a good way to transition her from her crate to her new bed, because she'll be familiar with the way it feels and smells.

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

Good luck tonight, but I bet Meg will love being close to you and stay right in your bedroom. We love having our dogs in bed with us, although only one stays all night. We started both in our bedroom, out of crates at very young ages. Somewhere around 3-4 months. I really just didn't want crates taking up floor space and always wanted my dogs to have free roam of the house, so that's why we started them in the bedroom early.
Can you close your bedroom door so she will stay in the bedroom?

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Wow, that is wonderful Judy and good job Meg!  Hopefully it will continue:)  Our Libby did not do so good and we worked and worked with her, but finally she was up on our bed for the night.  We put her bed on the floor next to where I sleep and she sat there looking at me like a lost soul and the saddest eyes ever. She kept jumping onto the bed and we would make her get down and up she came again and again.  Honestly, this DM tried but I gave in and up she came for the night.  Believe me, my five kids never got to do the things Libby does and they remind me all the time:)  DH says it is the crate tonight!  :(