Crating Woes

[Theresa & Duncan]

I expected crate training to be a nightmare at first, but was pleasantly surprised. On his first night home, Duncan walked right into his crate and snoozed through the night. It has pretty much been the same since - at 3 months old Duncan rarely needs overnight potty trips. The crate is in our bedroom, and we have only crated at night (during the day he hangs out in the laundry room which has more space). Recently, we’ve been having a little trouble. When we put Duncan in the crate for the night, he yelps, barks and whines for a while before settling down, and even then we hear him shuffling around during the night. It's pretty much the behavior we expected in the beginning, so having him go through it now is puzzling. He has a nice comfy bed in there, and we always toss in a toy. Any suggestions on how we can make bed time smoother for all of us?

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I have found that Hurley seems to get warm easily.  Not hard to do here in the Las Vegas area.  Anyway, at night we sometimes put him in his crate and alternate nights in bed with us.  He sleeps at the end of the bed facing the open window on cool nights.  I suspect when he figures out how to get of the bed, other than accidentally, he will sleep on the bathroom tile floor.   When in the crate he is restless and I suspect that is often because he is to warm.  Our son's doodle sleeps on their bathroom tile floor.