# Newbie Question



## Napria (May 17, 2015)

For the first time in our 29 years of marriage my husband has agreed to let our dog sleep on our bed with us. 

We do not have him yet (he's not old enough to come home yet) but I've been trying to read all I can and prepare as best I can. I recently read not to let a puppy sleep in bed with me. When is it ok?

I know this question may seem stupid, and hopefully I'll remember all about raising a puppy when he's finally here, but right now it feels like I've never owned a dog before, and this little guy will be the 6th dog I've had!

Thank you for any tips or advice.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

perfectly fine. my Molly has slept with us for over 10 years from day one. here's some reading
Before You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/before_puppy_sirius.pdf

After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/downloads/AFTER_You_Get_Your_Puppy.pdf


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

My guys have slept in bed with me once they learned how to "hold it". Before that they slept in crates right next to my bed


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I agree with Linda, I'd put it off until the puppy is WELL house trained. Soft things (like bedding) can often encourage mistakes. Kodi sleeps with ME when Dave's not home.  But he's 6 years old. Pixel (12 weeks old) sleeps in her crate, right beside my head, even though she is consistently sleeping through the night, and is being a super star using her litter boxes in certain rooms in the house. I just don't want to take any chances and set her back.


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## Napria (May 17, 2015)

That is very helpful! Thank you.

I've never had a dog this small before and I've ordered a Piddle Place (i *think* that's the name) so we can potty train with an indoor space for upstairs, as well as going outside. Which makes me think of a bunch of other questions.

Will it be confusing to train both indoor pottying and outdoor pottying at the same time?

Will a flight of carpeted stairs be difficult to navigate for a 10 week old Hav?

With consistent potty training, approximately how old till he's potty trained and old enough to sleep in bed with us? I know this one is only an approximation and we'll know when he's completely potty trained, but I'm looking for a general idea.

Thank you again!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Napria said:


> That is very helpful! Thank you.
> 
> I've never had a dog this small before and I've ordered a Piddle Place (i *think* that's the name) so we can potty train with an indoor space for upstairs, as well as going outside. Which makes me think of a bunch of other questions.
> 
> ...


They do NOT get confused about potty training with an indoor potty option. What you are teaching them is the RIGHT places to potty. I honestly haven't worked AT ALL on outdoor potty training with Pixel, and she just does it naturally when we're outside. If I need her to go outside (like if we're visiting) I simply take her out and say "Go potty!" and she does, because she has learned that cue from her boxes.

I would not depend on a single indoor potty unless your home is VERY small. For a long time it is very hard for them to get to another room when they need to potty in a hurry.

Yes, at 10 weeks, you shouldn't be ALLOWING him to try a full flight of stairs. The risk of injury is just too great if he falls. You may be carrying him up and down for a while. He's small. 

I wouldn't let a puppy under a year sleep in my bed. Not only is there a danger of potty accidents, but the danger of the puppy falling off the bed (or even jumping down) before the growth plates have closed in their joints. This can lead to permanent disability later in life.


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## Karen Collins (Mar 21, 2013)

I agree with everything Karen has said, but want to add another reason to not sleep with them under a year, that is so you solidly establish their crate as a great place to sleep! Puppies are easily spoiled and will prefer your bed to the crate if you aren't diligent. I'd rather crate train and not need it than the other way around. 

My dogs never have to be boarded because they are such good crate dogs. I can take them anywhere and don't have to worry about them barking. When we have lots of people over and I don't want the dogs slipping out an open door or getting underfoot, they happily go into their crates.

Also, you can satisfy your desire to snuggle and snooze with your pup with a short nap on the sofa or recliner. Just avoid the bed if at all possible. 

Of course, with all that said, Dave says he's done it from day 1, but he's an experienced dog owner and I think this is the exception, not the rule.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yes I agree with what Karen has said. You should be sure your dog is housetrained before they sleep with you. The reason it worked from day one (eight weeks) for us is because Molly slept at our feet and only had two square feet for herself to move. It was no different than sleeping in a small crate. Dogs basically will not eliminate where they sleep. The thing is we didn't want to train indoor eliminating so we had to take her out every one hour at first, then every two hours etc. It was not picnic getting up every two hours but it worked for us as she never has eliminated in the house but for once at six months old. Housetraining is all about giving them a place to go whether it is indoors or outdoors. If you can't provide an opportunity to go outside, you have to provide an indoor option. And yes you have to make sure they can't fall off the bed. We used a board on our footboard.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

oh for sure Karen C. Crate traianing is critical . Every dog should enjoy being in their crate. I don't know where Molly's door even is as I took it off from day one. lol


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Karen Collins said:


> I agree with everything Karen has said, but want to add another reason to not sleep with them under a year, that is so you solidly establish their crate as a great place to sleep! Puppies are easily spoiled and will prefer your bed to the crate if you aren't diligent. I'd rather crate train and not need it than the other way around.
> 
> My dogs never have to be boarded because they are such good crate dogs. I can take them anywhere and don't have to worry about them barking. When we have lots of people over and I don't want the dogs slipping out an open door or getting underfoot, they happily go into their crates.
> 
> ...


You can also enjoy a snuggle before going to sleep for the night. This is what we do with ours. Kodi snuggles between us while we read in bed, then when it's time for lights out, he happily goes into his crate beside the bed with a special "good night cookie" that he only gets at that time. Usually, all I need to do is say "Are you ready for bed?" and he'll jump down and run into his crate.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah , our ritual as soon as the light goes out, is that Molly gives me a face wash. No less than thirty licks. Gwen only gets one or two. She's daddy's girl for sure.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> yeah , our ritual as soon as the light goes out, is that Molly gives me a face wash. No less than thirty licks. Gwen only gets one or two. She's daddy's girl for sure.


Ha! I've never liked a lot of licking. If you hold out a FINGER to Kodi, and say, "Give me a kiss?" he will happily lick your finger ONCE!  He's all about snuggling!


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## Napria (May 17, 2015)

What great advice everyone! Among everything that's been said I'm getting a clearer idea of what to do. I think we'll snuggle in bed before lights out, then he'll get in his crate, which I'll put next to our bed.

Should I put the Piddle Place outside his crate? Let him out when he stirs to eliminate and then back in the crate? I know as a puppy he won't make it through the night, but from what I remember of crate training, he shouldn't have a crate that's too big, and I don't think I should put the Piddle Place in it, should I?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Napria said:


> What great advice everyone! Among everything that's been said I'm getting a clearer idea of what to do. I think we'll snuggle in bed before lights out, then he'll get in his crate, which I'll put next to our bed.
> 
> Should I put the Piddle Place outside his crate? Let him out when he stirs to eliminate and then back in the crate? I know as a puppy he won't make it through the night, but from what I remember of crate training, he shouldn't have a crate that's too big, and I don't think I should put the Piddle Place in it, should I?


What I did for Pixel is put her litter box in a corner between the dresser and the wall. Then I put a gate in front of it, so there is NO PLACE to go but the litter box. So the couple of nights she did wake up (honestly, there have only been two) I could just pop her out of the crate, into the litter box, no extra talking, just a "Go potty!" then back into her bed when she was done. It's really important that they not get the idea that night time potty runs can turn into play time. 

We still have the litter box upstairs so that we can potty her just before lights out (helps make sure she CAN make it through the night) and also get her to the potty quickly in the morning&#8230; usually 7-7:30. By then, Kodi usually wants to go out to potty, so I take them both down for that, and feed them.

Now (12 weeks) she wants to follow Kodi outside and she squats again while he's doing his business, but I think she's just copying him&#8230; She's got to be pretty empty. I'll keep having her potty upstairs until she can confidently and quickly handle the long flight of stairs so we can avoid any accidents. I think that's still at least a couple of months off.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Napria said:


> but from what I remember of crate training, he shouldn't have a crate that's too big,


You can purchase crates with an interior, removable wire divider. As your doggie gets bigger, you just remove the divider permanently. I recommend you purchase a crate with a divider that is large enough to fit him as an adult.

In the evening, I lay next to Momi and Popi and snooze on the sofa. But when it is lights out, I WANT to go to my crate next to their bed, where I have mi personal space and sleep there quietly all night. Popi says, "Ricky yu snore sometimes!" I say, "so do yu Popi, so do yu!"

besos, Ricky Ricardo


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> You can purchase crates with an interior, removable wire divider. As your doggie gets bigger, you just remove the divider permanently. I recommend you purchase a crate with a divider that is large enough to fit him as an adult.
> 
> In the evening, I lay next to Momi and Popi and snooze on the sofa. But when it is lights out, I WANT to go to my crate next to their bed, where I have mi personal space and sleep there quietly all night. Popi says, "Ricky yu snore sometimes!" I say, "so do yu Popi, so do yu!"
> 
> besos, Ricky Ricardo


That said, I think this is a matter of how well your breeder got the pups started on potty training and crating. Pixel and Kodi were both well on their way, using a litter box consistently, by the time I brought them home. (Kodi was 11 weeks, Pixel was 9 weeks) Both had also slept in a crate for several night (next to their siblings) before going home. Both of them immediately went into crates the size Kodi uses now, as a larger adult Havanese.

I never divided the crates, and the ONLY accident was when Pixel was still at the Kings. Pam had gotten up to let Pixel potty when she whimpered during the night. Not long after, she started whimpering again, and Pam thought she was just being fussy. So she told her to go to sleep, and she settled down. In the morning she found poop in the crate. Pixel HAD had a reason for whimpering!  But that's just "learning your puppy". Pam warned me about that, so I have ALWAYS responded if she has woken up during the night. As I said before, it has only been two nights. She has never soiled her bedding, ALWAYS tells us when she needs to go, and promptly uses the potty when given the opportunity.

As I said, though, a LOT of this, in the early days, is dependent on the time and effort the breeder put into teaching good potty habits to the puppies. They are certainly CAPABLE of learning that early, but not all breeders (including some that are excellent breeders in other ways) bother.


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## Napria (May 17, 2015)

Ok, so although we have a small crate that we crate trained our Corgi with, I'm looking at getting a new crate for our new boy. Would anyone mind giving me your thoughts on this one, please? http://www.amazon.com/Carlson-Combi...ll_formats&filterByStar=positive&pageNumber=1

It can be converted to a pen, and I'd love to be able to look down and check on him the first few nights before making it into a proper crate.


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