crate ??

[elaineszoo]

I'm getting a boxer puppy in the next month or so. In the mean time I am reading all I can about training. I am running into some conflicting opinions. I will be crate training. Once this is well established, can the dog spend a night in the bed with, say, ME? My DH is gone 7 out of every 28 nights and I would actually fall asleep if I had a big ol boxer to snuggle! (I have a Law and Order addiction that unfortunately causes my imagination to run wild when I am alone...) Some sources say co-sleeping is ok; some say ONLY use the crate at night... Thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[kjdocs]

My dogs are crate trained...Now it's to the point if I turn the TV off at night, they go kennel without being told. In the mornings when I'm through getting ready for work, they are already standing in there kennel...I think for my dogs the key was consistancy and a routine.

On some level it's like my dogs trained themselves!

My girls are now 3 years old and I do occasionaly let one sleep with me, and they are happy to do so.....but they always go kennel first on there own and if i don't close it behind them, they know they can free roam for the night.

 

[Indy's mom]

I say it's strictly your call. Each of the boxers that has lived with us has been crate trained in the beginning. Each loved his crate his entire life. Indy who lives with us now, continues to prefer his crate for sleeping at night and even often for naps.

Rascal always slept with me at night when DH worked. He's a firefighter, so works 24 hours and is off 48. Even after 23 years of this, I still don't sleep too well when he's gone. I used to welcome having Ras with me, so I invited him up. I think the key is that Rascal knew he wasn't supposed to be up unless invited.

But then there were the mornings when Rascal would wake DH up to go outside at an obscene hour, DH couldn't go back to sleep so would stay up and my sweet Rascal would take his spot. I miss Rascal he SO lived up to the name!

You can train your dog to do what works for you. Be consistent, polite and firm in your requests and he will respect that. If that means he sleeps in the bed when DH is gone only - so be it!

Good luck!

 

[BroD]

My husband works out of town and is only home on the weekends, so I let Brody sleep on the bed with me. When he was still a puppy, though, I had to crate him at night or he would get up and chew things while I slept. Now that he's older he'll stay in bed and won't leave the room until I do. When my husband is home, he usually sleeps in his crate just because there's not enough room for all three of us in the bed!

 

[BaconBits]

I've had puppies in the bed with us. Only because our room is upstairs and the crates are downstairs. Also, any time they moved, they went outside. Of course I had sleepless nights, but I felt at ease having them with me than not. One is a year and that's what we did when he was a puppy, but now he sleeps in his bed with the exception of getting up every morning at five and crawling into bed with us. Our newest is 4 months and is sleeping fine with the other dogs. If he comes and scratches the bed, he either goes outside to pee or I tell him "go to your bed", which works most of the time.

Sometimes I tell DH we need a huge double king bed for all three dogs and us! OR if we have to vote someone out, it would be dad!! just kidding.

 

[C Prawetz]

Max is only in his crate when we are not home. At night he sleeps in his bed next to ours or sometimes on the couch downstairs. He's fine with his crate and goes in with no problem.

 

[mmbrinkman]

At night he sleeps in his bed next to ours...

At what age did he start sleeping next to your bed? We are crate training Otto, and we have been putting him in his crate at night. He does fine during the day when he is in the crate but he gets scared in the evening, and the crate is not next to the bed (it wont fit through our bedroom door). DH says we shouldn't let him lay in a bed next to ours cause he will just pee in it. So what age did you start letting your pup sleep next to the bed?

 

[vikifielden]

Max is only in his crate when we are not home. At night he sleeps in his bed next to ours or sometimes on the couch downstairs. He's fine with his crate and goes in with no problem.

i have been trying to crate train my girl for a while now and although she does not go potty in it ( phew ) she barks a hell of a lot for the first ten min or so, am i doing something wrong?, i dont make a fuss of her before i put her in, i put toys in there for her she has a big ol cushion to lay on and sometimes give her chews to stop her getting bored, yet the barking still carries on, should i just be persistent?

 

[catcrazy56]

I crate trained mine but in the morning after the first one is up puppies were allowed to go back to bed with us. At 10 months I let them sleep out at night and they sleep in bed from that day on, Careful what you wish for boxers like to take over the bed and push you out

 

[northernboxr]

My puppy happily sleeps in the crate or the bed. Sometimes I like having him in the bed with me because if he starts to wiggle around in the night, I know it is because he has to go outside for a pee. Also, waking up to puppy kisses is divine! Luckily, Riker would never ever pee on my bed, but I can't guarentee your pup wouldn't!

Just make sure that YOU make the rules. If he starts fussing while in his crate at night, you should probably make him sleep a few nights in there so that he doesn't get to call the shots!

Last night I let Riker sleep in the bed. He is only 12 weeks old, but in his sleep he managed to bully me the whole night!!! Back to his crate tonight!!!! grrrr