Hi ... excited about our first puppy ... been advised to get a crate. She's a flatcoat, & I wondered if she will be ok all night when we bring her home ie. will she need us to get up and take her out? I will be trying the other tricks to get her setlled eg ticking clock, snuggly blanket ... any help?

well i personally now think crates are geat. When we got leo our sheltie he had the kitchen at night and every morning he had made a mess on the floor... then we went to scotland for a few days with my gran and he had to sleep in his crate and after than night we never had another accident.

Dogs dont like making a mess in their bed so try to make sure the crate is not so big the dog can walk out of the bed and into the other part of the crate to use the toilet. Hopefully then if the pup needs out then he will let you know by crying.

Where will the crate be at night?

We have a large dining kitchen so the crate would be in there.  We had been told to get a crate big enough for her at full size so at first it would be big for her ... should I get a smaller one to start with? What do you think?

We got our new pup nearly 4 weeks ago now(wow, how time flys when ur having fun!)and he now sleeps in his crate from about 11.30 til 8am. So I'll tell you what we did with him:)
Get hold of a cardboard box with high sides, not too big or too small, to give you an idea of size the one we used fit on one side of the back seat behind the passenger side. This is also ideal for travelling home with the pup- Idõ was a little bit sick at first but he settled down after about 20 mins and slept for the rest of the 3 and a half hours until we got home!
So once you have the box, line it with a bit of plastic and newspaper then fleece on top of that plus a nice fleecy, soft blanket, and we bought this heat pad thing which is like a big plastic disc with a fleece cover that stays warm for 10 hours-worked a treat, just make sure pup can't get to it to chew it!! Our breeder gave us a few pieces of vet bed too from the whelping box which smelt of his brothers and sisters which he used to like snuggling up against, bless him! Then you can either put the box next to your bed, or as I did next to the settee in the living room, then if he  is unsettled during the night all you need to do is drop your arm into the box and he should snuggle up next t it and go back to sleep. If he seemed really unsettled then I just toked him outside for a wee, maybe twice during the whole night after 12/12.30am. I did this for about 10 days I think, by then he was pretty much settled at night so I transferred him to his crate in the living room, which he had been used to sleeping in during the day, in his bed, and I cut away the front of the box so he could get out if he wanted. the box was at one side of the crate and at the other I covered with a bog piece of vet bed with newpaper underneath just incase-he never did wee in crate at night but just in case he did then it wouldn't have been a problem.
This went on for a week or so more, I still stayed downstairs as I'm a really heavy sleeper and if I'd been upstairs and he'd wanted a wee I wouldn't have heard him, he never did so I did away with the box(its still in the car though as its good for teaching him to settle whenever we go anywhere in the car) and now he sleeps in his crate, in his bed, with a blanket and a few toys and nylabones in case he gets bored.
I hope that gives you some ideas, everyone has different ideas, this is just what we found that worked with our little man-he is an angel at night now and certainly uses his sleep to recharge his batteries-comes out of the crate on a morning turbo charged!!!!
Emily