Hello all, Our 4 month old GSP puppy has slept with us in our bedroom since he was 2 months old, in his own bed. He has a crate downstairs in the lounge where we leave him if we go out but he will also just go in there to have his naps, on his own accord. His safe place. We would like to put him in his crate during the night, now he is a little older. The reason being is that he wakes us up quite frequently in the night, snoring, dreaming, walking around to readjust, flapping his cute ears lol. Whilst all this is super cute, it can be very frustrating if you need to get up for work at 5 am Unfortunately I cannot bring the crate into the bedroom or the landing as it is huge! We bought a huge one for when he becomes an adult, but also where he can move and walk. Any ideas or tips on how to start this process?
Do you need the crate at all? If he can sleep loose in the bedroom without issue, then you could simply put his bed in a different room and use a baby gate(s)??????? to limit his ability to roam too far. Even the hallway just outside your room. Or you can simply use ear plugs or a white noise machine. My shepherd sleeps under my bed - literally. There have been a few times I woke up to an earthquake only to realize she had an itch. But other than that, I have never found the occasional movements of my dogs to wake me - and my other dog sleeps on the bed. I'm not a heavy sleeper, so it sounds like you are a light sleeper. I admit that I don't like crates. I have never used them. I use baby gates to confine the dog to a specific space - allowing them the freedom to freely move about. As such, I am my dog's safe space. If my dogs get scared or upset, they come to me. That allows me to address whatever scared/upset them.
Haha I love that ... woke up to an earthquake! Yes you are completely right and I would most definitely not need to crate him, however he is still teething and will chew anything he comes into contact with at the moment. He has mastered the leave it command, which I am super impressed with, however if we are not there...then there's nothing to stop the little rascal lol. I could try the hall way, its a big hallway aswell and we have baby gates at stairs. Than you