New puppy- crate at night? or crate with pen ? help very confused!

Hi i pick up my new puppy next week, she will be 8 weeks old, i am planning on crate training but wondered what to do through the night, should i crate her and close the crate door and let her out for the toilet at set times or shall i put the crate in her puppy pen with newspaper so she can come out her crate to toilet? my friend has just got a 9 week puppy and she left him in crate all night and he never messed in the crate, but i didnt think puppies could hold there bladder/bowels that long??

any help/advice would be great thanks

Hi Sammy I always take a new puppy upstairs with me at night and have it next to my bed in a box.
That way the puppy goes to sleep quite quickly in the dark and the sound of a human breathing is very comforting for a little one which has just left the security of its dam and littermates . It is to be expected that a small puppy will feel extremely vulnerable when separated from the protection of its dam , some will actual cry out when left alone in the hope that 'protection' will arrive.
When with you overnight a puppy will wake and cry if it needs to go out and can quickly be taken out and returned to its box to sleep so no messy kitchens or prolonged crying.

Having the puppy with you also helps with the bonding process and gives the puppy chance to gain a little confidence before being left alone for a long period like all night. I find puppies which are not forced to be alone straight after leaving the dam don't have problems with separation, this is probably because they haven't had the chance to experience the fear of being left alone so don't associate being alone with the feeling of fear.

I gradually get the puppy used to being left alone for short periods during the day usually after a meal/play/relieving itself when it is ready to sleep and is relaxed. At these times I pop the puppy in its crate and work around it not paying it any attention and going in and out of the room, an ideal time to catch up with a bit of cleaning.

Once the puppy has gained a little confidence and has gradually got used to being left it can be moved to the landing or the kitchen if necessary though my dogs stay with me at night in a bed rather than a crate.

I appreciate for various reasons not everyone will choose to have a puppy with them overnight but I have always trained puppies this way for fifty years I have never had the slightest problem with house training or with dogs not wanting to be separated from me using this method . I note that a number of well regarded traines including Gwen Bailey are now saying having a puppy with you at night is the thing to do ..

How exciting - the imminent arrival of a new pup.

Mini's advice is excellent. I actually wanted my two to get use to being in the kitchen from the start so had a crate within a pen set-up which meant they could leave their pen to have a wee on the newspaper/puppy pads during the night. I did sleep on the settee in the kitchen for a week or two so that I could take them out at night when they wanted a poo but that was very rare. I also had two 8 week old litter-mates together so they had each other for company.

Good luck and do let us have some photos when you get a chance.

Thank you for the advice i am now thinking maybe i should bring the crate to bed with me. Is she likely to cry though? and how will i know if she's crying cos she doesnt like being in the crate or because she needs the toilet? i'm wondering if i'll be up every 10 mins to take her outside? and also i have 3 young children so i'd like to keep the noise to a minimum so they are not being woken up. and also what do i put in the crate? a bed or just a blanket? hotwater bottle? water?
Sorry for so many questions i just want to get it right!

Thanks

One thing that can often help is a Busy Buddy, it is not easily available but can be got online and is a soft dog that goes in with the puppy, it has a heartbeat and is warm
http://www.snugglepetproducts.com/


Most pups find it really soothing and comforting so sleep easier and for longer ... they feel more secure.

Wys
x

I totally agree with Minihaha.

I put the pup in a crate right next to my bed and if they cry at first just reach out with my hand so they know I am there. This works to settle them.

Then if they stir and cry in the night I let them out in the garden to relieve themselves, then straight back to bed.

In the daytime I put up a puppy pen with a few chew toys for any time I cannot keep an eye on them.

Hi Sammy I don't take the heavy crate upstairs, I use a deep cardboard box with a baby blanket on top of paper (not for soiling on) just big enough for the puppy to lay down . This also allows me to put a hand down to the puppy to sooth it . I usually put a safe cuddly toy it too .

Puppies don't like to soil in their beds and won't if the box is quite small. If puppies are taken out last thing to relieve themselves many will only wake once in the night if at all.

If you are using the crate and it is very big it is a good idea to section it off by putting a box inside.
You can buy a special water bowl to hang in the crate or box . If you wan't to know where ask .

I was one of the lucky ones, my puppy was 10 weeks old and I would shut her in her crate at 10 pm and not hear a peep out of her until 5.30 am, when I came downstairs, I would open the door, she'd flatten me and race towards the back door to go out, but that was because since the moment she came home, I would take her outside every half an hour to show her what I wanted and it paid off.

She never once soiled in her crate ever, but she always tipped over her small water bowl, so I changed that to a really heavy casserole dish which she couldn't upturn!

I always believe in not making a rod for your own back, i.e. if you start taking your new puppy out overnight how then can she learn you want her to sleep through most of it? If ever I heard mine cry during the night, I would race downstairs and let her out, but that rarely happened. If we didn't have a 2nd dog sleeping near to her in her crate, then I would most certainly have taken her upstairs with me but still in her crate or a box, it's really unfair imo to just leave them to their own devices in a strange place, dark, and alone

I'm loving that idea of that Buddy thing, sounds great!

Hi,

We brought an 8 week old puppy Dougal home just over a week ago and decided to crate train him. We leave the crate downstairs as we don't really have room in our bedroom and also this where we want him to sleep when we are out of the house.

So far we have found it easy. As part of his daily training schedule Dougal has quiet time in his crate (usually accompanied with a treat filled kong) for around an hour to hour and half, mid morning and again mid afternoon. Then the rest of the day he is free to roam the downstairs under supervision and we make sure he is taken outside for toilet breaks every 2 hours and always straight after being in his crate.

At night after his final toilet before bed, he goes in his crate with a hot water bottle and I have been sleeping on the sofa in the living room where he can see me from his crate. The first few nights, he whined but not for too long and was waking every 1.5 to 2 hours. Each time I took in the garden to do his business and put him straight back into his crate. Now after a week he is happy to go in his crate and doesnt whine, he goes 4 hours through the night from around 10pm til 2am, then 2am to 6am approx. After his 2 am toilet break I have been sneaking upstairs to bed and he has settled fine.

Good luck and I hope your new pup is as good as Dougal.

Wys they are lovely I haven't seen them before...