"First Night" advice please

[Nancy Sunderland]

What do we do about sleeping arrangements for the pup's first night home? Dog Bed, Kennel, or "Our Bed"? With Toby, (our 6 year old lab), we put him with us on our bed, and he peed... With Cody, (our 2 year old lab), I honestly don't remember... So with Sable, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to bare to put her down the first night, especially when she starts to cry...

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We used a small soft sided crate with a baby blanket. We put the crate right beside our bed so he could see us. We had a little stuffed toy that the breeder gave us with the smell of his litter mates. That went in with him. There was no crying. He was fine as long as he could see me. He is still in his crate at night with the same blanket and is very happy there. He really doesn't want the stuffed toy anymore.

[Adina P]

I vote for crate near your bed. There are SO many benefits to having a crate-trained dog that I would never not crate a puppy unless the circumstances were just crazy and way outside the norm.

Where will you want to keep your crate long term? Some find it easier to just start with the crate in the room they will keep it (I find bedrooms are as good a place as any, but others prefer it elsewhere). If you want the crate to be in a diff room, then maybe set up a sleeping bag for yourself to sleep near the crate and keep one hand close to comfort puppy...over a few days you can wean him off of having you RIGHT there. She probably WILL cry...but most likely not all night (though that does happen).

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Crate, crate, crate! Unless you want a dog in the bed forever...
Peri is 17 weeks and loves hers. She started out sleeping in it in our room, then we moved her to hall, then to office next door. She sleeps much better outside of our room (does not try to get our attention). Ever since she moved to office, she sleeps 8+ hours each night. Good luck.

[Lily]

I kept Lily in a crate beside my bed the first few nights. She was pretty loud some nights, but I had music on for her and I knew she was fed, watered and had already had a bathroom break and eventually she would tire herself out. After about a week I moved her crate into the kitchen/dining room area and she's done a lot better there. She's 11 weeks now and goes right to sleep at night! She doesn't sleep right through the night all the time, but she's starting to. I would definitely recommend crate training your pup from the beginning!

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

The best thing we ever did was crate training Penny from Night #1. We fixed up the crate all nice and comfy and put it by our bed. We're light sleepers, so if she got up and started moving around in the middle of the night, we got up and took her outside for potty. She NEVER had an accident in her crate at night, and to this day she loves her crate as her "safe place" more than anything.

[Tammy & Gracie]

CRATE!!!! It may be hard but stick it out. It will be a blessing in the longrun! I put Gracie's kennel on a coffee table near my bed (easy height to see her from) and used a nightlight so I could see her and vice versa.

[Nancy Sunderland]

ok, I guess we'll be saving our bed and doing the crate thing! It's funny, this debate reminds me a lot of where to put babies, LOL!

BTW, I NEVER let any of my kids sleep in the bed with us. (When theire toddlers they come down and snuggle with us in the AM, but that's it) They went strait into a bassinet next to the bed (only for a few weeks), then upstairs in the crib in their own rooms. I put them in their cribs awake, right off the bat/home from the hospital, and let them fall asleep on their own. I never had a baby not sleeping the night past 2 weeks, (for all you moms-to-be)--try it, it works!

[Wendy Lockwood]

I put Kolbe in my bed the first night but he just wanted to play. So I put him in his crate at the foot of my bed. He fussed for about 5 minutes and then went right to sleep. I am glad I did that because now he is very used to his crate even though now he sleeps with me most of the time.

[Deb McD]

My advice is start with the crate from day one. The first night - you may have an hr of barking - just reassure and leave him in the crate. The second night will be much easier. You don't want him to fall off the bed while you are sleeping and you don't want him to get loose and into trouble - keep him safe.

[Bev]

I always puppy train with a crate next to my bed so I can whisper softly when they need comfort during the night. I keep a second puppy crate in the kitchen. I have 3 adult doods and 1 Lab so only during TV time can they be on the bed with me. My lab 13 1/2 yrs is too old to get up on the bed and snuggles on her pillow in the bedroom so
she can avoid the youngsters. LOL!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned went into a crate with no problems; Gordie, our Springer, would NOT be crated, so after trying night after night we gave up and put him on our bed. Simon, our lab mix - like you, I can't remember. I think you should do what feels right. I am glad that Ned was crated at night because he got in to lots of things and when we were in our RV, he was not safe if we weren't watching him.