Hello. I have a question. Where would you recommend a puppy spend their first night home? The puppy will likely not be used to being crated but I do plan on crate training. We have a 2 story house and our resident dog sleeps downstairs (he does not like the stairs). Would you recommend keeping the pup upstairs with us or trying to figure out a way to keep it downstairs with the other dog? I want to try to keep it as consistent as possible for training purposes but do not want to thwart efforts in putting the pup in a crate overnight off the bat. Not even sure if I will crate the pup ALL night when it is used to it...HELP! Suggestions and advice welcome.
Tikva slept in a crate in my bedroom from when I brought her home - she still does and she is coming up to 22 months old. But she was only three weeks old and I had to be able to hear her eep when she wanted a bottle. During the day she had a proper bed in the salon which she could just about climb in and get out. The crate is still in my bedroom as there is nowhere else for it, and Tikki is so used to it that she is only too happy to go in it at night. Now she eeps in the morning when she wants to go out for a p&p!
What age would the puppy be? Assuming 9 weeks or so, I would start in a snug crate, either in, or near enough to, the bedroom that I could reassure her if she cried. However, this usually means in the way! I would aim to move the crate to a more convenient place when the puppy is able to sleep through the night without crying. If the puppy forms a bond with your current dog, so much the better, she will have company downstairs. You will have to leave your bed to let her out wherever she is. I am presuming the puppy will be a girl.
Depends on where he will be allowed to sleep in the future. If he's expected to sleep in his crate alone, that's where he needs to go. Ignore any yelling and he will shut up. Some puppies are relentless (trust me) but he will shut up eventually. If he will be allowed to sleep in your room, something like what Vee said would be better. I let my puppy sleep in my bed early on. He ended up getting way bigger than I expected and takes up too much room and snores and twitches his legs etc. I'm in the process of training him to not jump up here anymore but it's difficult. He gets down when told, but in the middle of the night he tends to jump back up. He's too big for a crate since we need an enormous one and don't have the space and I cant lock him out because my door does not close properly and he can knock it open. So be sure that you're totally okay with a dog sleeping a certain place permanently before you allow it. It's kinda hard to teach them after the fact.
I've never crate trained any of my puppies. During the day they have the free run of the house (I live in a bungalow) and at night they sleep either in a cardboard box filled with pillows or with the larger puppies, on a mattress next to my bed. Once they're house trained and sleep all night, I let them choose where they want to sleep. Of the two I have now, my female sleeps next to my bed and my male on his mattress at the foot of my bed. It's very rarely that either of them decides to sleep on my bed, even though they're both allowed to.
@CaroleC I just noticed you said you assumed the new dog would be a female. I am looking for a female though Copper would be good with a male as well. He has a superb temperament. I am not sure how another male dog would get along with him though. So, we are being careful with the breed of dog and gender. Taking a lot into consideration. We are also considering an "older" pup as well. Thanks so much!
We did the crazy thing and bought our dog Tootsy from a market in France, the same day we bought a crate....wasn't really a crate but a large bunny cage, in order to take her home in the car and to sleep in temporarily for the first couple of nights... OK...so we gave her lots of loving during her first day and she was the sweetest and happiest little pup in the whole wide world....That night we put her in her cage right next to our bed and she started to howl and screech with sadness. Jane and I put up with the racket for 30minutes plus...we tried to calm her and talked to her etc but as soon as we stopped talking to her the racket just carried on...It was very loud and alarming and a wee bit nutty.. She then decided she was going to eat her way out of the cage and she managed to get her teeth stuck in the bars, she was literally hanging by her gnashers... Anyway, we got her out and put her on the bed, we lost the battle...and there she has slept every night since the first day..Tootsy is a very strong minded little dog and sometimes you just don't know what is going to happen or where they are going to end up sleeping..I think, however, the cardboard box idea is a good one for the first night...give it a go..
Depending on the size the pup will be and will grow to, and depending if you have space for a crate, I would not be without one now. Tikva who, of course, came straight from her dam and seven siblings, accepted her crate straight away. Even though it was not by the side of my bed but at the foot of it - well, between the foot of my bed and a chest of drawers, she had an unwashed shirt of mine plus a couple of Pereg's toys. As I say, she is now 22 months old. After her evening meal she goes out for a p&p and to read her pee mail, comes in and zonks out on the couch. When it is time for her to go to bed - earlier than me as I need time to switch everything off, lock the door, get undressed/washed etc, I just tell her to go out and make a peepee, which she does. Comes in, I unclip her harness, and she shoots through the bungalow into my bedroom and into her crate, waiting for me to bring her little night-time bikkie in. By the time I am ready for bed she is curled up on the soft mat at the sleeping end of her crate and I do not hear any more from her until she wants a pee. This morning it was just before 7am - she went out, came in, waited for me to unclip her harness, and shot back into her crate for another hour's sleep. It is what she is used to. What I have always done with her. And she never goes into that crate during the day. It is her space. Not all dogs are like that. Tikva is. I had originally bought the crate for Baby Ziva, who came to me a couple of weeks after I lost my beloved Pereg, but due to horrid circumstances she was only with me for 11 days, but IIRC she was also fine in the crate, although she was not as young as Tikva. @Jcarpentier - Jessica you will not know until you get your new pup. Maybe a crate will be perfect, maybe not. You just do not know now and will not until you get the pup. But whatever you do, I hope that everything goes well for you. xx
This is why I post questions like this on the forum. It never occurred to me to take the "wait and see" approach. Thanks for all the advice.
