New pup coming - crate training

[Conny]

Hi everyone I am new to this forum and going to be a first time puppy owner. We have a utility and thinking of putting pup in there over night in the crate (locked) and if we go out in the day for a little time to put a baby gate on so the pup can come out of needed but also get into their bed back in the crate. Also not too put anywater in from around 11 pm. There is sooo much info on what's best so hoping you guys might be able to shed a light please 

[Leo0106]

Hi conny, welcome to the forum and puppy life!
We never crate trained so  can't give you advice on that however all I will say is stay consistent if this is the set up you want to continue little pups tend to be very unsettled etc the first few nights and it is important you have your boundaries in place and you stick to them.
Best thing we ever did was remain consistent with the nighttime routine. The only thing we were lucky with when we got our pup was nighttime (everything else was a challenge!!) But i have had a fair few sleepless nights recently due to me becoming a little relaxed and a change in routine.

Good luck with your pup and utilise this forum as it was my life saver!!!!!

[Conny]

My husband does not want crate it, what did you do? We have a utility and he wanted to out a baby gate on that instead

[its.sme]

I spoke to so many Cocker owners before I got my girl and most said to crate train, "it's there own little space where they can settle"

So I got very nice crate for Bea, made it comfy, fed her there and put her bed in there but Bea didn't settle 

I tried and tried as i believed it was the right thing to do, she would wake up every 2 hours in the night and after a few weeks I was exhausted so I decided to Puppy Proof my room and give it a go.

She slept right through with no issues

You can only give things a go as all pups are different and it's often a time of seeing what works best for the home,family and pup.

Bea has found her spots in the house which are her Dens and we always leave her in peace when she is there.

Fun times ahead, get as much sleep as you can now

[ChrisS]

I?m a first time puppy owner. Smudge is now 6 months old and been with us since 8 weeks. He has a crate for night and other times that lives in the dining room. He took to it from day 1and he has made it his safe place. All the things that he acquires that he shouldn?t have are taken there. In all honestly I wouldn?t trust him anywhere else at the moment to be left unsupervised.
We started with a small crate and changed it to a larger one after 3 months. It has some vet bedding a blanket and his toys. His  water still gets taken away about 9.00, last wee about 10.30 and then we never hear a peep until 7.30 the next morning.
It?s down to what works for you. I wouldn?t feel comfortable leaving home somewhere where he can get up to mischief. One thing I have learnt over the last 4 months is where you think there is nothing of interest, think again.
The nice soft bed for the living room lasted about 10 days! Maybe it was down to his age. The hard plastic one is much more agreeable to him.

[Patp]

I had a canvas crate for Jinley that was never zipped but in a safe room that she could wander about without getting into mischief with newspaper down for accidents.

If you have a utility, you could try that using a stair gate and your pup will use its crate for sleeping.  Make sure it is covered to make it nice and dark inside.

The first few nights will be the worst.  I slept on the sofa with the crate in the room with me for about 3 nights so she knew I was close by.  No interaction through the night though otherwise they think its play time!  The crate then went into the dining room and I went back upstairs!

Wet floors were something I could deal with after a good nights sleep.

PS this routine only lasted about 6 months as my OH wanted her to sleep upstairs with us - the crate is in the spare room (she buries her chews in it now) and she spreads out like a hippo.   

[Issy]

We have crate trained the last two puppies. Our springer Smudge was the first one as we wanted to stop him bugging our elderly terrier at night and when we weren?t there. He loved his crate and had to be literally prized out of it at a year old when we got fed up with it in our small kitchen. Poppy was crated happily until she was six months old and then got too hot overnight during the heatwave and became reluctant to go in so we put another basket in the room and left the door open and by morning her blankets had been moved to the new basket and she hasn?t looked back as both her and Smudge are happy with the arrangement. So all puppies are different but I would say it made toilet training much easier as both of them went from 11pm to 6am clean. I know some people let them out at night but neither of them woke up so we didn?t disturb them.
The crate was covered in a blanket and had vet bedding in one half and newspaper in the other in case of accidents. We didn?t remove the water but had a crate bowl that fixes to the bars so it can?t be tipped over. We built up to leaving them for a couple of hours in the morning and so long as a routine was built and stuck to it did make life much easier for the first few months. 
As said by others all of us and our puppies are different so do what works for you and if your utility room is puppy proof go with that but you will still probably get crying whilst they get used to living without their litter mates so I would still create a dark den as they do find that comforting.
Good luck, puppies are just gorgeous  .

[Conny]

Thanks everyone love hearing all the advice. Think I will crate at night and put a baby gate on the utility for when I pop out anywhere. Last question is will it confuse the puppy having a bed also in the living room as well as in the crate?

[Issy]

Ours have beds in the sitting room to use when we are in there so you won?t confuse the pup with that but you might be better with sticking to the same routine at night and when you go out at least while they are settling in and getting used to your routine, using either a crate or free in the utility room rather than both so they know where they are expected to sleep/settle.

[Leo0106]

My husband does not want crate it, what did you do? We have a utility and he wanted to out a baby gate on that instead

Hi connie. We decided the kitchen would be Leo's safe place, he had his bed in there, water bowl and blankies. Every night we set up a little routine of taking him out for a wee, asking him to go to bed and throwing him a little treat from the doorway as we said good night. We had 3 nights of whimpering and then he was settled at night, same too when we went out during the day.

The only issue we had was around 3 months ago when we started allowing him free access to the house during the day, then he decided the kitchen was not his bedroom, the lounge was. But thats ok now as he is nearly 2 and no longer destructive etc.

So many people told us to crate but i found just ensuring he has his own space was good enough for Leo.

[juju]

Izzy (W.C.) was a nightmare puppy in the daytime but an angel at night!  She had a crate from day one, attached to which was a puppy pen. After a while the pen was removed but the crate was closed at night and when I went out. At about 10 months or so the crate door was left open and she still sleeps in her den (which has a blanket over it.) The best thing I bought was a dog gate, which I put between the kitchen and the living room which is still in use. It is open at the moment as Izzy is chilling out on my lap watching a dinosaur programme! I also found the dog gate useful in that the kitchen door could stay open and Izzy could see and hear me.
           Julia

[RobinRed]

Hi we crate trained Harry when he came to us at 9 weeks mainly because we wanted our old girl Missi to have a break from him as needed. He slept in there from day one and never complained.  His crate became invaluable as he was a proper little cockerdile and when tired would bite relentlessly. We knew when he started to bite that he was tired and needed his den in his crate. He?s now 14 months and still sleeps in his crate every night and he?s so happy in it he?ll probably continue for sometime.  Luckily the biting stage is over (fingers crossed).  We?ve also taken it on holiday and he settled perfectly in his familiar surroundings.   We?ve also taught him to settle on a rug which is handy.

Our old girl Missi was never crate trained but she was a very different puppy and didn?t seem to go through the cockerdile over tired stage.  All puppies are different and you?ll know what is right for your pup and family.