# The great crate debate (is this OK?)



## Buzzys Mom (Sep 28, 2010)

Oscar has been with us a couple of days now and is doing fairly well. He always pees outside when we take him but needs to stay in his ex-pen or he will pee on the floor in the house). Last night we put him in his crate to go to sleep (he protested for 6 minutes and finally settled down. My husband got up in teh middle of hte night to go to the bathroom which woke Oscar up... so we took him directly out to potty and then in to the crate again... where he protested again for about 10 minutes and settled down again. He woke up again at 4:30, so I took him out to potty again and he protested, and after 15 minutes of not settling down, I put him in the ex-pen next to the bed. Where he promptly went right to sleep and slept until 7 am when we got up for work. So my question is this: Is this OK? In other words start him in the crate, and if he gets up then put him in the ex-pen? He is not reliable enough to be in bed with us (plus our bed is really high, and while Buzzy can jump on to the bench and then the bed, Oscar is too small for this still). Are we doing something wrong? Any suggestions? He did fine in his crate yesterday when nobody was home for 2 hours. He also went back into his crate this morning on his own for a few minutes while I was getting ready for work (and then peed on the floor sometime after).


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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

Whenever they pee on the floor, at that age, its our fault. You have to learn their signs which are many! When they awake, potty time. After about 1/2 an hour of play, potty time. Before you crate them, potty time. If their little head goes to the floor and starts sniffing,potty time. Ted only got up the first night he came home. I started him in an open crate in an expen with a peepad in the kitchen from day 1. For the first week he was waking at about 5:30 every morning to go pee. As the weeks went on it got later and later. Now at 6 months, I wake him up at 7am to go potty. He has not gone in the house for at least a month or more. Of course because he is older he doesnt need to go out as often anymore. He goes out first thing, then between 11-12 after he has been in his pen since 8:30 (I work from home). He doesnt need to go again ussually until 3 or 4. Then about 6:00 then once before bed. Total of 5 times a day. I do have peepad in the pen but he never uses it. We have been out a couple times now over 6 hours and when we return the pad is dry and he is sleeping in his open crate. As soon as we get back its potty time. I dont have him in our room because my hubby goes to bed 3 hours before me and because we are older we get up in the middle of the night. I can imagine with Ted in our room, we would all be awake each time someone got up to pee.


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## mamacjt (Aug 23, 2011)

Lise, I had to laugh at your comment about getting up a few times in the middle of the night. My hubby and I do get up a few times in the middle of the night, but our darling 18 month male Havanese sleeps right through it. He'd much rather be in bed than anywhere else! We think we've turned him into an old man before his time. lol


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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

I think the other part about my hubby having to go 3 hours before me is an issue too. He has to get up around 3:30 -3:45 am for his job, so Ted wouldn't know who to get up with I think. Already my hubby sits in the living room with his laptop before he goes to work so as not to wake Ted! Amazing how all of the sudden everything we do is based on Ted!ound:


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

We have Tyler in our room at night and when he was a puppy (he's 15 now), every time I got up, he would too, so I stopped getting up so as not to disturb him and ended up with a kidney infection As you said Lise, everything becomes about them. Now that he's an old man, he sleeps more than we do!


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## Buzzys Mom (Sep 28, 2010)

Our other Hav, Buzzy sleep with us in bed and doesn't get up at all throughout the night- he doesn't even want to go out in the middle of the night when I take Oscar out! I am afraid to get up during the night, but my husband says that Oscar has to get used to it. Is it OK to put him in the ex pen next to the bed after he gets up? Or should we try to put him back in his crate?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Buzzys Mom said:


> Our other Hav, Buzzy sleep with us in bed and doesn't get up at all throughout the night- he doesn't even want to go out in the middle of the night when I take Oscar out! I am afraid to get up during the night, but my husband says that Oscar has to get used to it. Is it OK to put him in the ex pen next to the bed after he gets up? Or should we try to put him back in his crate?


I'd put him back in his crate, unless you WANT the ex-pen to be his usual sleeping place... He is training you!

I also agree with your husband. If he's going to be in your bed room, he needs to get used to normal bed room activity. I ALWAYS get up at least once during the night, and Kodi doesn't even roll over.


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## Buzzys Mom (Sep 28, 2010)

We don't have a problem with him sleeping in his ex-pen. He won't potty in there or the crate, but we still need to crate him when we are not in the house (no more than 3-4 hours a day, if even that). He is not completely housebroken and piddles if he isn't in teh ex-pen or crate. We would like for him to sleep in the bed with us and Buzzy when he is big enough to get up and down safely. Is sleeping in the crate at night and crating during the day connected, or are they mutually exclusive? I am actually traveling for work the next 3 days, so DH will try and keep him in the crate (and work on training him too).


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## RIstream (Aug 21, 2008)

I PM'd you.....


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## Buzzys Mom (Sep 28, 2010)

Just a quick update- we put the crate on the nighttable where he can see us when we are sleeping- voila! no fussiness, no whining, no barking, nothing! Thank you to the suggestions  He slept until 6 this morning (much better than the 4:30-5 the last few nights). I think we have ot put him to bed earlier though- we do a little training and playing after dinner/potty, and by 9 pm he is passed out in his ex-pen. Maybe we should try to keep him up until 10-10:30? We wake him up to take him out at that time anyways.


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## apololaceymom (Aug 27, 2011)

Buzzys Mom said:


> Just a quick update- we put the crate on the nighttable where he can see us when we are sleeping- voila! no fussiness, no whining, no barking, nothing! Thank you to the suggestions  He slept until 6 this morning (much better than the 4:30-5 the last few nights). I think we have ot put him to bed earlier though- we do a little training and playing after dinner/potty, and by 9 pm he is passed out in his ex-pen. Maybe we should try to keep him up until 10-10:30? We wake him up to take him out at that time anyways.


Glad to hear he is doing better. I also get up a couple times a night, and when Lacey was a baby, she would wake up too, and want to come out of her crate. I finally had to put her crate in the kitchen so we all could sleep!! She did fine there for several months until she was old enough to sleep in bed. Apolo was our first Hav, and never adjusted to sleeping in his crate, (we never adjusted to training him to sleep in his crate). He has been sleeping in our bed since he was 4 months old. Blaze is a DREAM in his crate at night. We started him on the bedside table, moved to a chair next to the bed, and now on the floor in the bedroom. He loves his crate, and runs into it when it's time to go to bed. He likes it covered, and he NEVER wakes up at night, and has not from day 1. His breeder said he was the hardest dog she ever had to crate train, but once he got it, he did great. She NEVER gave in to him. (she has been breeding for many years, and knows the importance of early training). All our dogs are in there crates when we leave, and they don't fuss at all...Be persistent, and he will get it!!


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