First few nights at home

[Max & Ollie]

I am picking up Oliver (F1) in two weeks. I have been reading The Happy Puppy Handbook: Your Definitive Guide to Puppy Care and Early Training by Pippa Mattinson and there are two options presented for where to place the crate overnight for the first few days:

1) Where the crate will normally be (aka the "cold turkey approach" - the puppy will be scared being alone, but he just needs to get used to this) 

OR

2) In the bedroom (aka the "temporary roommates approach") so that he can smell and hear you. This will make him feel safe, therefore making him less inclined to cry. 

I am wondering - has anyone tried the second approach for the first few nights? It's not supposed to be a permanent placement, just to make the puppy feel more comfortable - he is, after all, in a new place and away for the first time from his brothers and sister. 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

#2 for us. It just seems cruel to me to take a puppy away from everything and everyone he knows and plop him down somewhere all alone at night. They want to be with their people.
I put the crate right by my bed, then covered it with a blanket. I dangled my hand off the side of the bed into the crate,
just to barely touch them. They both settled as puppies within maybe 3-10 minutes and slept. I don't think it took more
than a few nights as I remember.
But also, my dogs have always been allowed in my room. I want them with me. I suppose it also helped some wth
potty training at night because I knew when they wanted out.

[Becky Myers]

I did number 2 as well. Exactly same as Leslie. Had to get up in the middle of the night for less than a week. Couple weeks later he was moved to his permanent spot in the laundry room. Worked great. Just wouldn't start there with a baby. They need the reassurance.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

I, personally, couldn't imagine not having the puppy in the same room with me, especially the first few nights.  The puppy will be scared being in a new environment, away from his litter mates, and having the crate right there with you will make it easier to comfort him.  (A 'shhhh' or fingers through the crate to let him know you're there.) 

I think you'll find that a large number of us here allow our doodles sleep in our rooms with us all the time - not just when they're getting used to being in the new house - whether it's in a crate, on the floor or on our beds.  But I know others prefer their dogs not to be in the bedroom with them...I just happen to want my doodles with me.  Congrats on the new puppy - Oliver is adorable.  :)  Looking forward to seeing more pics of him!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Us too, our puppies never made it out of the bedroom! In fact they wasn't long before they made it into the bed. Haha. I love cuddle time :-)

[Ally Harney]

So excited
We will have to stay in touch
Harry Hapa harney comes home in
One week.
I am going to try the crate in bedroom
I am only using crate because he has to fly twice a year since we live on Maui 7 months a year. Keep in touch

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Okay, now stop it with the Maui reference;-)

[Ally Harney]

I am still here ! Headed to mainland on wednesday amd pick up my guy on friday.
Having a big puppy shower. Invitations went out already.
I would have him in bed with us except for flying issue
I know they do love crates though.

[Max & Ollie]

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments. It seems that a lot of people take the second approach, and I am more inclined to do it as well. We will put Ollie's crate in our bedroom for the first few nights (or longer, depending on how it goes) before moving it to it's permanent location. 

For those interested, I posted pictures of Ollie in another thread:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puptoadult/forum/topics/predictin...

[Sean Gallagher]

Hi Max. We got our 1st golden doodle on Thansgiving morning. The 1st two nights so far Lulu has been in her crate on the 1st floor in the office. That location is where we plan to keep the crate long term and she is doing great with it. My wife keeps pushing a little to have her in the bedroom in her crate but I think that will make it harder on her once we do move her. She's only 8 weeks too. I do get up every 2-3 hours to take her outside to potty. She cried for about 30 mins the 1st night and then slept quiet from 1130pm-3:45am. I took her outside for about 10 mins and then she went back to sleep with about 5 minutes of crying until I gt up with her at 6. Best of luck with your pup. Lulu has been amazing so far!

[Debbie & Gibbs]

In our bedroom with a Snuggle Puppy. Gibbs cried off and on for about 3 nights I can only imagine how upset he would have been to have been placed some where else where he couldn't see us or hear us. Gibbs is 2 and he still sleeps in our room, in his crate though. Gibbs likes to ocassionally roam the house and hoarde things that aren't his, LOL. Just a personal thing, but I think dogs need to hang with their pack and the family becomes their new pack. Good luck, great times and memories to follow!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I'm with the others- Winnie's crate was put in our bedroom. And, it became the "permanent" place. :-)  She actually hasn't used it since she was about 6 months old as our bed became her bed....

[Janet & Jaxson]

We did #2. Jaxson slept in our room beside the bed for at least the first month before moving to his permanent crate location. It was nice to be close to him to hear if he needed to go out. He never cried. We did cover the crate at night with a sheet as that was what the breeder did when she started crate training. Good luck and have fun with the new addition!