My GSD is now 4 months old. She has, since we got her, slept in a very large crate. She has always been perfectly happy with the crate and will appily go in and out of it during the day and generally views it as her place (if you try and put a new blanket in there she will rush over to check on what ytou are doing with her boudoir!) She has never made a mess at night in her crate and now goes happily from 11:30pm until 8:30am without needing to be taken out to go to the loo. However, I have to go and take care of my mother-in-law's home for the whole of November and there wouldn't really be anough room for this crate, and so I wanted to get her used to sleeping on a bed at night (which is something she will quite happily do in the day - she has a bed in the study for when I am working and in the front room). Last night we set up all her bedding from her crate in the kitchen, which is a room she is very comfortable in (her favourite spot is sleeping in front of the cooker). We went through the usual routine with her that we go through every night, a very low key trip to the garden for toilet and then coming in, turning off the TV and giving her some Burns treats, before we go off to bed. This time we put her in the kitchen, with a dog gate up between the kitcehn and the living room. She whined a bit at first but seemed to settle down quickly. That was until 5:30am when she began howling and scrabbling at the dog gate. My partner got up to take her to the loo, and he went in, gave her no eye contact or fuss, took her out th ethe loo, she had a very small pee and then when he brought her in she went straight in the lviing room into her crate, so my partner put her water in her crate and put her in there for the night. Did we choose the wrong tactic, or is it too early to expect her to be able to sleep on a bed at night time? Should we have ignored her? Can anyone give me any advice?

Hi,

Well as you probably know your pups crate is her den, she feels safe and secure in there and has got used to the security of it on a night when the house is quiet and dark and you are tucked up in bed upstairs. I have very often moved my pups from crate, to kitchen with dog gate.  The secret is to take down the crate and put it away, take out all the same bedding, toys, smells of her den and transfer them to the kitchen and put newspaper down. (incase of any little accidents.)

Even though your pup has been as good as gold and slept through, she hasn't really, puppies wake up for a few seconds, minutes throughout the night, may have a little wander, or just drift back to sleep, when your pup woke up the first night she was not in her den, which is why she did not feel secure.  She will however get used to it, but expect her to maybe cry or pace around a little for a few days, if you ignore her, she will settle and soon get used to her new routine.

It will  be stranger still for her when you take her to your Mother-in-laws in November, not just a different room this time but a different house with strange smells, very confusing for a puppy! Again you will probably have the same reaction, but again she will eventually settle, just make sure that she has her own bedding and toys to transfer with her each time, and give her lots of reassurance. And if possible take her over there to visit to get used to the house.

All the best,

That is some great advice. Thank you so much, I really appreciate that you took the time to write all of that. Last night I had her in her crate again last night as our neighbour started setting off fireworks late in the night and I wanted her in her crate because of the security that gives her.

I will do what you have suggested and see how things go. I know it isn;t ideal for my pup to be in a different house with me, butI need to take care of the home and farm as my mother-in-law has to go to the States. I am hoping though that getting my pup used to her home in November will make Christmas a doddle as we spend it at my mother-in-law's every year!

Hi,

You're doing all the right things!  Your Shepherd will have a fantastic time on the farm quite a bonus and experience for her. Hope that the dreaded firework night (nights they seem to go on forever) are not too upsetting for her. Some dogs don't give a hoot others can get very distressed, be ready for some TLC if it is the later. Typical for it to come along as you are trying to de-crate!!!!

Liked your idea about the cardboard box Tohme!

It would make transition so much easier, my only concern with this is won't the pup, who is definitely at the chewy stage eat the cardboard box, just a thought, might be wrong as I have never tried this myself.

Hi Nanny Ogg, one of the best ways to do this is not suddenly but little by little so that the dog hardly realises what happens.

After all, if you had a "den", security blanket, teddy, dummy or sucked a thumb for a few months and it represented safety, happiness and contentment, perhaps you may be a bit distressed and puzzled when it was removed?

Why not consider another approach.

Get a large box and put inside your crate with the "day bed" inside the box, once the dog is happy in there, gradually move it out of the crate.

Once the dog is used to that, gradually cut down the sides each day until they are level with the bed, and then remove the box.

Voila, stressless changeover.

Tohme, that sounds like a good tactic. I think I will try that. Last night I just didn't think it fair on her with the fireworks and all. She was actually very good, but obviously a little confused. She was sleeping when they started, and she woke with a start, and I tried to look unfazed and ignore her, and she looked at me, looked at the window, looked back at me and whined a lot, and then she tried to settle again, but everytime the sweet thing tried to settle down she was startled again. Fireworks seem to get earlier and earlier every year don't they? I am hoping she will grow accustomed to the noise, as she did settle down eventually last night, but I didn't want to risk her being outside of her crate and getting scared by loud bangs.
Thank you all so much for the advice. I am really looking forward to having her on the farm as I think she will love the space and she adores other dogs (and my mother-in-law's dogs are friendly towards other dogs, although I am expecting a few teething pains...), but because she won't be able to have her crate there I really want to try and get her confident at night outside of the crate (although at the farm she will sleep in my room near my bed, so at least she will know i am there).
Thank you all again, this site really is invaluable to me!

Yesterday my partner took our pup out for a walk in the morning, and while they were out I didmantled the crate and put a large cardboard box with the flaps cut off on its side and lay her bed inside that in the same spot that her crate was in (didn't want to do it when she was in the house because flat backing a crate can make an awful lot of noise!). She came back, and we made no acknowledgement of the change at all and she seemed fine - still went over to her bed and used it as a safe place. Last night we followed the exact same routine as normal and when it came to bedtime she took herself off to her bed and lay down, and she had a few small treats just as normal and we went up to bed. She was quiet the whole time until about 4.30am, but we chose to ignore her whining, and she very quickly stopped and settled again. When we came down in the morning, there was no wee or poo at all, but there was a small pile of mucus-y sick. I am now really worried that she was sick as a result of stress, or do you think this may be a coincidence? When we came down we followed the exact same morning routine and her behaviour is exactly the same and she seems perfectly happy and unconcerned. The only other time she has been sick like this before was as a result of having a marrow bone with a lot of meat on it, and I was wondering if having marrow bones with a lot of meat left on is proving too rich for her (she is 4 months and has been having marrow bones since the age of 12 weeks), as last night before bed she was having some of another marrow bone which had the same amount of meat on (when she gets just a cleaned bone (no meat left on) with marrow she hasn't been sick). Could this be why, that she went to bed having had too rich a treat with her marrow bone?
Also, do you think the tactic we used was OK?

Sounds good, I expect it was nothing to do with stress, but more like the marrow bone, it is very rich, I generally ration my dogs access to marrow bones when they are little.

Lyssa, if they eat the cardboard box this is not a problem, it is after all merely cellulose and of course will relieve you of the hard work of trimming the box yourself! :D

Tohme, you have put my mind at rest about the sick. I will definitely start rationing her access to marrow bones. She is doing so well, and I am really proud of her!

And so you jolly well should be!