2 crates?

[Mammadood]

Hello everyone!  I'm new here!  We pick up our new goldendoodle puppy, Winifred, in just over a week!  We're trying to get everything ready for her arrival.  We just bought a crate that will accommodate her adult weight (she'll be about 40lbs) but once we got it set up, we realized it's not easy to move.  We have her living situation with crate set up by the back door and kitchen where we will spend the day.  But we wanted to have her sleep in our room, at least at first, so she's not too scared.  But we had assumed we'd move the crate upstairs, but that will be really challenging- it's heavy and big!  How do other people deal with this? Did you buy 2 crates? One for bedroom and one for living space?  Same kind of crate? If no crate in the bedroom, how do we keep her from going to the bathroom when we're asleep? We don't want her to sleep on the bed. Any advice appreciated! thanks!

[Rhoni Ann]

Congrats on getting a life long friend/child. We have 2 male and female doos, Cash now 5, was hard to leave in the crate at the other end of our house because he cried all night. By the time he was potty trained he followed us to bed one night and has slept beside us every since. Carter, now 3 was easier she was use to being by herself and once the lights were out she laid down and went to sleep, in her crate in the entry hall. Once she was fully potty trained we tested the waters with her sleeping in our room. She failed 3 nights in a roll and wound up back in her crate by midnight. By the 4th night she stayed in her bed. She keep trying in crawl into our bed, or would stick her face in mine. Wet nose and dog breath is not what you want to wake up to in the middle of the night. We have 3 puppies from their “one and only liter” each have their own crate, and will often times be asleep in their crates by the time we lock up for bed, their crates are in the den. One will bark until the last light is turned out and then nothing after that. Cash and Carter picked sides of our bed each have their own extra extra large beds in our room. Dont know what we will do once they are fully potty trained, our room in not big enough for their beds and ours. Don’t waste your money on a second crate unless you plan on her sleeping locked up all the time. Just my opinion.

[Mammadood]

Thanks! So do you just let them cry it out when they first come home with you?  How long does that take?

[Jennifer Szulinski]

Congratulations on your new pup! Highly recommend a bedroom crate in addition to your main floor crate. We use a soft one for the bedroom. I place it right next to me which was very comforting to our 8 wk old mini dood She's 6 months now and is still in the crate at night. Once she is fully potty trained we'll set her free with her own bed. The nice thing about the soft crate is it's portable.

[Jennifer Szulinski]

Here's the one we use.
Petnation Port-A-Crate Indoor and Outdoor Home for Pets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018MM8RC/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_.gHHAb51QPMPC

[Mammadood]

Thanks!  Good idea to get a travel crate and use it upstairs since we'll probably need one anyway.

[Natalie]

We have 2 crates and can't be happier about it, especially at the beginning. And even now Jessie is almost 5 months and in the evening I say, Jessie let's go to bed, and she gets upstairs with me and goes straight to her crate. The crate is beside our bed and it's so convenient and sweet to have her close by. And she loves it as well. The other crate is in the room attached to living room and this is where she stays while we are at work. She doesn't mind both crates at all and i think this is because she doesn't know otherwise since the first day we got her. Also what I was really happy about is that we bought a pen and had it also from day 1. We attached it to the crate and it was incredibly convenient when we were potty training her and teaching her as a puppy to be able to be on her own. When she was 2 or 3 months old, we often put her in a pen for one reason or another and she would calm down and play there entertaining herself and playing with her toys rather then wondering around the house by herself when we are busy. I will try to attach a picture of the crate and pen attached when Jessie was 2 months old. And congratulations!!!! It is going to be a lot of work at the beginning, but so much joy and happiness at the same time!!! 

[Carol and Truffle]

So, I'm on a waitlist for a litter to hopefully be born in March. It's been a loooooonnnnnnggggg time since I've had a puppy. I see in your photo, that you've got pee pads completely covering the area outside of the crate, & then also have a "grass" place as well (my son is trying to train his doodle "something" to use one of these).

But I've also read that puppy pads & indoor "grass" can confuse pups when you are trying to housebreak them to go outside.

Wondered what your experience has been.

[Natalie]

We couldn't start potty training outside until she is fully vaccinated, which is almost at 4 months. So we had a "fresh patch" of grass for her to use. She got used to it within a week! We did have pads in a pen for some time as well in case she is playing and misses but we quickly removed them at all. This approach is a bit expensive because you do have to autoship the new patch weekly otherwise it starts smelling, but worked for us very well. We had no issues to switch to outside as well! She is almost 5 now and have been accidents free for a while now!!! I recommend this company who supplied the grass....just Google fresh patch for puppies potty training if you are interested....

[Carol and Truffle]

Interesting; thanks!

[Marilyn and Sherlock]

I have two doodles and 2 crates for each..... One set in living room, sits open all day and they both use them to nap along with every other piece of furniture I own..... If I need to crate them for some reason while I am gone, the living room ones are the ones I use...... the other set is in my bedroom and they sleep there every night......can't imagine not having 2...

[Mammadood]

Thanks everyone!  I think we'll get the 2 crates just to be safe.  Your doodles are all beautiful!