We pick our new fox-red puppy up 2 weeks today - Dillon. He’ll be nearly 9 weeks old when we get him. I’m on my 3rd dog book and not sure how to handle night times when the puppy first comes to our house. Downstairs or in bedroom with us? Any thoughts or experience anyone has gratefully received
Hunter was 8 weeks, downstairs in the crate from day 1. First night was awful, he cried a lot. Second night he cried a bit. Third night he cried for about 10 minutes when he first went in. He was created from about 10:30-6:30 and needed 2 or 3 toilet trips at first. Other dogs might need more though. By 13/14 weeks Hunter was sleeping through 10:30 -7:30 and not needing any toilet trips.
Hi both our previous pup and our new one have been crated in our bedroom next to our bed. We found this worked well for us because when puppy cried we just put our hand down for her to sniff and be reassured. Remember, your pup has been with her mother and all her litter mates and it must be really difficult to suddenly be all on your own, especially as dogs are pack animals. Good luck with your new puppy
I'd say it's a preference. Some have left their puppy in a different room, on a different level of the house, in the same room they sleep in, or a different location. Some have let their puppy roam free during the night. What do you want? If you want to be certain that you will wake up to a home as put together as it was when you fell asleep, a kennel/crate are the way you want to go. If you want to know when Dillon is waking up for whatever reason, sleeping in the bedroom is a good choice. This will also give you the opportunity to better understand the different noises he makes when he is crated which could help you later as you continue to familiarize him with crate training, and being left in one for some periods of time. It affords you the choice of being able to help soothe him if he needs it, or give you the comfort that he is safe and sound. Captain is nearly 19 weeks old and my wife still has him sleeping in his crate in our room at night. Having Dillon downstairs may make it easier for the times he may cry during adjusting. It will likely be closer to the door you will use to take him in/out to go relieve himself, too. It will allow him to become familiar with a single crate at possibly a much quicker rate as well as a single location. Keeping Dillon's crate in one location saves you time and hassle of moving the crate, breaking it down, putting it back together, and it means you probably won't have to buy a second crate for the additional location if that was an option. If the one crate is large enough, you wouldnt have to buy him any more crates. Our house is single story, so the different level pro/con was not a factor. What made out decision was the desire to have Captain close for his comfort and ours. I made nearly all of the mid-night trips outside with him, did (and still do) nearly all of his training, and was the most devoted to wanting a new family member. That's hy when my wife and i decided he would have a crate in our room, the location was next to my side. I hope it helps, and look forward to staying informed!
I think people can make it work either way. For us it was easier to have him by our bed so we could hear when he woke up for potty breaks. After a couple of nights we could tell the "I need to go" cry from the general whinging cry ("I sneezed and woke myself up, so now I will cry!") If you sleep in a different room I would definitely be setting alarms. We also pretty much intended for him to sleep in our room forever. Well... I did anyway.
Willow came home and she slept in her basket she had free range of the kitchen and puppy pads by the door she used them through the night. She had a blaket from the breeder with her litter and mum scent on. She never cried in the night. She never makes a sound now and sleeps in until we get up around 8am. She is 6 months old now. I have never crated my dogs but it's a personal choice.
I highly recommend you have your puppy by your bed, crated - you can pick up a small puppy-sized crate pretty cheaply if you want to have this in addition to a larger crate elsewhere in the house. This way, you can reassure your puppy if he wakes in the night by just placing a hand on him and letting him know he is not alone. You will eliminate the variable of being alone as causing any noise he makes (because he is not alone), therefore any noise he makes is due to something else - being confined and frustrated or bored, or needing to toilet. Once you have achieved a quiet puppy by your bed (which might only take a week), then your puppy can sleep in the crate elsewhere in the house - wherever you want the normal crate location to be. Hopefully you have been working on crate training the puppy in THAT location, during the day, so after a week of that he will be very ready to go in there at night...
