Where to sleep at night

[louisew]

Hi I'm having a bit of a problem with my puppy. She cries and messes when we leave her I am trying to leave her a Little at a time but when I am in the house and shut her in her pen she is OK but when I go out of the house she messes and is crying when I get back the most I have left her for is half an hour. I let her sleep in the bedroom for the first week but was then advised to put her downstairs as this may not help her when being left during the day but she cries at night to the point of it causing rows with OH.I don't know wether to bring her back upstairs or leave her downstairs and just persevere. I have to go back to work in 2 weeks and am worried about when I leave her as I don't want her to be distressed during the night and in the day. She is starting to get a little better at night. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? thanks Louise

[cazza]

I've posted questions on your other post   

[Mari]

This is what I did with my little cocker. She has her own bed. In the beginning I had her bed next to mine. Every night I moved her bed closer to the door, just a little bit at the time. She did not seem to notice that I moved her further away every night until she was outside my bedroom door. (Of course now she sleeps in my room again, but only because I share flat with other people).

Did the same thing with her home alone training. In the beginning I went outside and came right back in 10times a day. Then I stayed outside for one minute each time I went out, then 2min, 5min 10min.....I tried to time it so I went back inside before she started barking. If I was too late, I had to wait until she was quiet again. Even if she was just catching her breath, as soon as she went quiet for a second I went in. With this method it took me two weeks to get her to be comfortable alone for 4-5hours at the time. When we passed 20min we jumped to several hours without a problem.

Hope you figure out what to to, good luck!

[cupcakebarb]

Hi Lou my pup was left in crate at night in kitchen and yes did howl for first few weeks and kids were saying they heard it and can they go down.  But we said no and stuck to this and he settled down.  It gives pup that bit of indpendance later in life and gets them used to crate if they ever need to be in it for any reason.  And yes they piddle in it occasionally but if you stick with it, it works out well.  When Oscar was pup we decided to leave his crate door open one night and put paper down.  When we came down in morn he piddled and pooped everywhere!  This is because he was given opportunity.  I didn't leave door open again and he was house trained in no time.  Personally I think crate training is best, maybe hard at first but well worth it.  Now Oscar out of crate n in my bedroom in basket!!  But would def recommend crate training .

[Sheryl]

I would be no help as mine sleep in the bed with me and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Kali has a crate for travel and will go in quite happily, despite the fact that I don't use it in the house.

[kalami]

We were rather cruel (or my hubby was) we put her in her crate in the kitchen at night, she cried for first two nights but hubby wouldn't let me go down, anyway luckily now she's been clean and dry every night, the only accident we've had in her crate is when we overslept.
All puppies are different in contrast my MIL puppy still howls at night, but in some ways i blame MIL as she goes to her everytime she crys

[dorrit]

Little Nell sleeps in the middle between OH and me and is a complete angel . She has done this from 7 weeks old and as never soiled the bed. She sleeps throughout the night and will wait unitl OH is up and ready to take her for a walk.

[cazza]

Little Nell sleeps in the middle between OH and me and is a complete angel . She has done this from 7 weeks old and as never soiled the bed. She sleeps throughout the night and will wait unitl OH is up and ready to take her for a walk.

Hhmmm - bit a bit much for all my 3 to sleep with me and OH - but really tempting for a long lie 

[Robbie34]

Mine sleeps in my bedroom, either on his duvet or on the bed.

It started with my first cocker who howled and howled when I first got him so I brought him upstairs the first night.  It happened again on successive nights so he came upstairs.  When I got Benjie, my next cocker, I was determined that he would sleep downstairs in his own bed.  He was worse than Jason and threw himself at the door and howled.  After three or four nights I started taking him upstairs with me.

Charley, my present cocker, was brought upstairs as soon as I got him.  Interestingly, none of my pups ever made a mess upstairs and would sleep all night.

I usually wake up with Charley stretched out beside me - back to back - with his head on the pillow.  He often licks my face in the night to let me know he's there.

[wales07]

we have 4 cockers the youngest is 12 weeks old.Like the other 3 before her she sleeps in her pod in our bedroom,the result is she is happy to be close to us so she sleeps all night long and we get a good night too.She is used to her pod as its what she travells in and what we take to our caravan.The other 3 all started out in pods the same and as soon as they have come out of the chewing stage usually around 7 months i then know that they can be trusted to sleep where they want to.Honey sleeps on the floor by the side of my bed and snores and dreams all night!!! cassie sleeps in bed with my daughter.Tess sleeps on the settee-although she thinks that i dont know this,she sneaks there as im walking up the strairs and i havent got the heart to make her move like i do in the day as the sette is supposed to be out of bounds! I dont think it will hurt to have your dog back in the bedroom with you.Mine have always been fine when they have had to be left even though they have all started off in the bedroom.Hope you get a good night soon whatever it is that you decide to do.

[*Adele*]

Can't really offer any advice, Chloe was six months when we got her and was used to being in an outside kennel! She came to us, sleeps in her cage in the kitchen and we had two disturbed nights but perservation <sp?> paid off. My cats sleep on my bed, not all of them all the time though, so there is no way I'd have a dog on my bed! That's just me though  They take up too much space and she is happy in her cage so not likely to change that!

[Taffy Girl]

If you can I would persevere with leaving her downstairs at night. Jasper has always been in the kitchen - initially in a crate and now just in his bed (he's almost 6 months). We have recently been on holiday and it has made it much easier for us to leave him with relatives. He just went and took himself off to bed in their kitchen when he was tired. I hope he will settle as well when we take him away with us in the future!

Jasper was left alone during the day after the first few weeks and he got used to this quite easily - he was used to being apart from us at night and we had tried to gradually increase the time we left him in the day for so that he knew we were coming back.

We tried to get him into the routine we wanted for him more or less from the start and have stuck to this - although when he was a tiny pup it was sooooo hard to leave him. 

Think we were lucky as we only had the whimpering/crying/howling as we went to bed for the first week os so.  We never went down to him and it only ever lasted up to about 30 mins.
 

[louisew]

Amber now sleeps upstairs as it was easier than everyone being up all night she is really good and sleeps in her bed goes for a wee on paper in en suite and if she needs a poo will cry at the door and i take her outside when hubby is on nights going to try her in her cage in bedroom and see if I can get her dry at night.Lou and Amber

[louisew]

Trying to put on some updated photos of Amber her goes

[louisew]

Yipee managed to do it now I have to just work out how to make it smaller.