Just got puppy 8 weeks old (westie) can't remember what it was like bringing Bailey home. Do I close the crate at night or leave in kitchen with door open and newspapers. How often do I get up during the night?

Hi Bailey

I remember the first night with Alfie (westie also) very well we put him his crate and he started to cry we where really tempted to go down to him a few times but resisted and as the nights went on he realised this was his space and he goes to his crate when he wants his own time and space we where very tempted  to go  to him but we learnt to ignore him and now he sleeps right through I think it took about a week of crying several times before he realised we weren't going to give in to him,we put a hot water bottle in the crate wrapped in a towel and a alarm clock so he had the warmh and the clock acted like a heart beat from his brothers and sisters or his mother.hope this helps good luck

John

we leave the crate door shut when she is in there at night otherwise, my kitchen would be chewed to bits. I guess we were lucky that she didn't cry at all. She also has a playpen as she gets way too hyper when she is in the house, so she has lots of time in the garden (another playpen out there too for the spoilt one).

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/crate.htm

Tohme,

This is obviously the way to get a dog used to being in a crate, but what do you do with the pup in the meantime? Say it takes a fortnight to get the dog used to being in the crate, what do you at night for the fortnight? Surely you can't just shut him in the crate at night and continue with the training in the morning, this would just confuse the dog - and cause severe dis-like for the crate, wouldn't it?

Thanks

Nat :D

What do you do with a new pup at night BEFORE they have gotten used to the crate - anyone?

personally, I had a puppy pen in my bedroom for the first couple of weeks for night-time, and spent the first couple days with both my pups teaching them to like the crate - throwing in treats and toys, making it a fun place.  Then I left them for a few minutes at a time, and built it up slowly.

As far as getting up in the night - it depends a lot on the puppy, but for both mine I was up every 2 hours for about the first week and a half, then 3 hours for a week, then 4 for a week, building it up to the whole night, and backtracking if I took too big a step.  Some people don't worry about it - my sister never got up at night for her chihuahua - but then, he is 9 months and still not quite housetrained, whereas my dobe was housetrained at 5 months and my rott X by a little over 4 months.  I also got up if pup started crying, but only to make sure they didn't need to go - if they started crying again after a trip outside, I ignored them.

Initially I use my puppy pen, the crate is attached to the end of it with the door opening into it.  I don't like dogs upstairs and don't care much for getting up in the middle of the night so I line the pen with paper and leave them to get on with it :)  I find they do not try and get me up more than a night or two and using the pen does not seem to delay housetraining in any way as I give it full concentration during the day.  Once they are pretty thoroughly dry in the night I remove the pen and shut the cage door, having got them used to a shut cage for a hour or two during the day.  They then sleep in the cage until they are sensibly mature about chewing and stuff when they progress to an open bed.  I suppose I am lucky having a pen to use I don't really know how my system would work if I only had a cage.

Oh no... I haven't got the room for a pen indoors Now what?

I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world, to leave the crate in the kitchen (tiled floor!!) with the door open at first, because the teething wouldn't have started at 7/8 weeks (will it?) so maybe my kitchen would survive?

I am really not one for getting up at all hours, maybe I will just HAVE to? Don't get me wrong I am more than willing if it is for the good of the dog, but if there is any way around it, someone tell me please!!!! :D

So much for having it all worked out....!!! :D

That sounds like what I'm trying to do leave crate open with kitchen floor lined with paper which he is using. Its just the crying and whether to leave him or not. I know leaving them is best and now that i know neighbours are not being disturbed i can leave him a while longer. He is safe, warm and has plenty of toys blankets etc and its all just new to him fingers crossed by next week he will be great. If i was to close the crate though how often do you get up to let them out? I feel really cruel and i think i sound like someone who shouldn't have a dog wanting to lock him away but i love my dogs dearly and its to keep him safe older dog isn't crated hasn't been since 10 months but give him the chance and hes in there.

I always let my lovely neighbours know when I get a puppy or litter and they are always very understanding, they say they don't hear anything really and the noisy stage is over a darn sight quicker than a human baby :).
If it is a small kitchen then, yes, you could treat the whole floor as a pen but of course there is the risk unit edges, chair legs etc. might get chewed they certainly can start chewing very young some of them.
My puppy pen is about 5 foot by 3 foot and consists of panels that link together and sit within the largest plastic tray intended for a cage really.  As the whole thing is self contained you could set it up anywhere even on a carpeted area in a hall or lounge for instance if that gives you any food for thought.
I think where there is another dog in the household it is probably best is one or other is penned/crated/seperate rooms/whatever during the night as puppies can be pretty irritating for older dogs trying to get their ZZs in.

I know we won't have a problem with our neighbours, so I am not worried about that side of things.

The only thing I have to get my head around is what to do in the first week or so before the pup is used to the crate. I have got plenty of room around the house for a pen, but it's making it 'water tight' that will cause the problem, and of course the smell! I realise it will still smell in the kitchen, but we can easily air the kitchen out, not so easy in the living room, or hall way, short of opening every door and window in the house (in November!!!) my house will stink to high heaven and back!

I wonder if just for the first week, we should put the pup in our bedroom with the crate door shut? That way if the pup wakes up needing the toilet I can get up and take him, and he SHOULD only be crying to go out to the loo because we will both be there with him? Is that a good idea? Or would it be better to do this down stairs where the pup will eventually end up sleeping?

I maybe didn't explain it very well, mine has a plastic tray the complete size of the pen 5ft X 3ft so it is entirely waterproof.  I hate smells too :) obviously when I get up in the morning for the first couple of weeks there will be a couple of wees and maybe a poo (and a lot more if it is a litter I have :)) but pup goes straight outside and then gets to play around in the kitchen while I bin all the newspaper and wash out the tray with disinfectant any smell disappears at that point.  From then on pup is going out for toileting except back in the pen if I go shopping or walk the older dog so all in all I don't think I have to put up with much smell in the house at all.
Pup beside you in a crate is an option of course but you will have to get up for toileting.

Oh I see, thanks for making it clear :D

Maybe that would be the better option then. The only reason I was a bit off at getting up in the night, is because my three year old is still getting up in the night, and I can't see that changing very much from now till November, so I had visions of me sharing between getting my son back to sleep, getting the pup to the garden, and then at some point MAYBE making it back to my own bed!!! I can't expect hubbie to help especially in the week, he is up every morning at 5 o'clock and he does a lot of driving so he can't be tired whilst at work.

Is there anything you can buy at B&Q or any hardware shop that would keep the cost down? If we were planning to use the pen all of the time then I wouldn't mind spending the money, but if it is only going to be used for the first couple of weeks before the pup is used to the crate, it doesn't seem right to spend best part of £100 for a 'proper' pen. :D

Mine is not a "proper" pen :)  I just bought puppy panels from Croft and bought a plastic tray which was really marketed as a replacement for their largest size of crate but just fitted the size of panels that I bought, two long ones, two short ones just tucking in nicely within the tray size can't give you the exact measurement cos it's up in the loft at the mo.  Can't find the trays in the catalogue but reckon they would tell you if they still did them on the phone.  It's a few years since I bought it all but the whole thing came in very much less than £100 I use it a good few weeks with each pup and it's very handy in the garden (enlarged with a couple more panels and no tray) when you want to leave them playing while you mow etc, camping holidays, seperate panels used to block off doorways when decorating, lending to friends, etc loads of uses to justify having it really :)

Thanks, it looks like this will be the course of action :D I looked at croft, then a search engine led me to good old ebay, you can buy brand new pens, with bases and lids for £10!!!

The other option is to use our porch (approx. 5ft x 4ft, and is secure) the only problem with it, is that there is no insulation/heating, and I know lots of dog's sleep out side all the time in un-heated kennels, but it seems really cruel to me. Apart from the heating aspect it would be perfect, nothing to chew, dry, ventalation (via a high window) even a light!!! :P :D

If your puppy  is crying in the crate at night usually during the day you should shut him in for 3mins then 5mins and gradually build up the time until he gets to like it i did this with my baby boy and he now sleeps all night (hooray) but i would recommend that he be shut in otherwise you will have chewed furniture ect all over the place as he is free to run around besides they treat a crate as a safe place to be hope this helps :)

I never crated my last dog and i wish i had done its a godsend