New Puppies Crate training...

[Deanna Craig]

We just picked up our Australian multigeneration Doodles yesterday. Coco & Charlie. Last night was our first night of crate training. 12;00, 3:00 , and 5:30 am. Coco the dark chocolate doodle cried and howled for an hour after each outdoor potty trip. Any suggestions? My husband thinks it is a bad idea to crate train, I have read good things.He thinks they should be in bed with us since they have just been wiened from Mama yesterday. They are so sweet, I feel like I just need to be dillegent. They are in the same crate for now ntil I pick up the other one in 2 days.

Thank you in advance!!  :)

Deanna from Murrieta, Ca.

[Christine & Camus]

Hi Deanna,  First, welcome to Doodle Kisses!  Personally, I would not give up on the crate training.  Once they become accustomed to the crate it will be very helpful in training and save you many headaches during the teething stage.  I have not used one myself, but several have suggested using a SnugglePuppie (you can google it to see what it is all about). Another suggestion would be to ask your breeder to send you a small blanket with the smell of the litter mates and mom.  There are many people on doodle kisses that are really experienced with crate training puppies, you may want to cross post to the Puppy Madness group.  Your puppies are adorable - Good luck with the crate training.

[Deanna Craig]

Did much better last night! Thank you. I am going to keep it up. They take afternoon nap in there also. :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Do you have the pups in the same crate?  If not, they might like that.  Our doodle is the first dog we successfully crate trained. We crated him in our room at night and when we left.  We also used it in our RV.  Otherwise he would have chewed it apart.    We had a foster that crating saved lives - his - or at least our sanity!  He wasn't housebroken and lifted his leg everywhere at first and we were able to crate him at night and if we had to leave him.  This was a real bonus.  However we also have dogs that were not crate trained and we put them on our bed at night.  If I had to choose, I would crate train at first. It helps with potty accidents and keeps them and your house safe from chewing accidents. We do not crate our dogs now, but it was an extremely helpful tool.

[Deanna Craig]

Same crate for now, getting a new crate for second pup tomorrow. They did really good last night! :)

[Adina P]

I'm of the opinion that it's not a good idea for pups to go from momma to your bed right away.  They weren't really weaned just yesterday because most dogs wean their pups at about 4-5 weeks... It's rare that a momma dog will let their pups nurse regularly after that.  Even their mom doesn't want to sleep with them when they are this age...they are mostly used to sleeping next to their littermates.  It takes some adjustment but after a few nights they should both get used to being in a crate overnight.  When you get their second crate you can put their crates near each other for comfort.  Some people have crated two dogs together, but for me it would make me worry about them getting too rambuctious together, bugging each other, or one having a potty accident and ruining the crate for the other one too. 

[Deanna Craig]

They did really good last night woke up twice to potty, very little whimpering in between! Taking afternoon nap in it right now.  :)

Thank you,

Deanna