sleeping with me?

[knat]

ok, atticus has been here for 2 nights now. he is very good through out the day, doing good in the potty department. but at night he screams and howls and barks for hours in the crate. i really want him to be a good dog, but leaving a little pup just taken from his moma and siblings in a crate all night long while my other dogs share my bed seems heartless to me. i am crate training him through out the day with no problem, he eats there and has quiet time there. but the nights are bad because all the dogs lay downstairs with me and go to sleep and when i go to bed, the baby has to sleep in his crate all alone. my last big dog screamed in his crate for over a week, finally we just tied him to the bedside table. i guess my question is, crate at night or no crate at night, just in the day time and at meals?

natalie
and atticus, 8 weeks, white

 

[gmacleod]

IF you're happy for him to share your bed when he's full grown, then there isn't a problem with him being in there as a puppy. As long as you don't wake up in a wet patch anyway LOL.

I'm not a fan of crating young pups for long periods. OK, we've all got to work, and fit the rest of our lives around that. But all day and all night, IMO, is more than any dog of any age should be expected to be in a cage. Especially when that also means isolated from the rest of the 'pack'. So if having him in bed with you and the other dogs is no problem to you - then I think it's better for him.

 

[pipandscott]

We use a crate to train Ruby during the day when she's left unattended (not often), but it's in our Kitchen, at night she's upstairs with me, We bought a 2nd crate from ebay that has not arrived yet, so currently she is in an old packing box!! a huge cardboard box that she can't jump out of!! She really seems to like it! I know it won't hold her forever but it will do the job for the first few weeks, It's on the floor by the bed and I can just drop my hand down and stroke her during the night. She is really good at waking up to pee overnight it was 2 or 3 times the first few nights, now she'll whimper about 5am but settles down once we've been out.
I felt it was cruel to keep her downstairs when Harry gets to come up with us, but wasn't prepared to carry a crate up 4 fights of stairs each night, then back again in the morning!!

 

[shastadaisy]

Do you have the crate in your bedroom? If not then you may want to try that so he is near you and can hear you. We had Shasta in a crate in our room at first. She would whine only once in the middle of the night and we'd take her out for potty then put her back in. We did that for about a month and then let her on the bed. She never whined once she got on the bed but if one of us would wake up to go then we'd take her out even though I think she would have just kept sleeping. Now she's sleeping through the night and is already pushing us off the bed at only 5 months old and 33 pounds! So thank God we have a king size bed!

 

[mguiette]

we have 2 boys now 60lbs each, and of course, they are snuggle-bugs! we started with just maximus, sleeping with us b/c he was a baby....axe's first skin "mama" also had him sleep with her... now they are not even full grown, and we have an extra "person" in the bed!! i would definitely suggest keep them OFF the bed, unless you want a full-grown boxer slobbering on your pillow with you! i know the boys' sister sophie was "leashed" to their bedside table, with her plush bed there, even while housebreaking... she does not get on the bed (must be nice!) and is content on her own... she never whined, but they were able to take her out quickly in the night when potty-training. we never crated our boys, so i don't know anything about crate-training...

 

[ELubas]

If she is going to end up in bed with you anyway... My girl started out there and we just went out every few hours to pee.

 

[knat]

ok, it's official, you all are my new best friends:o) all of the replies have re-affirmed what i was already thinking. i i did get an old crate from the garage last night and put it by my bed, he still screamed and ended up in my bed after a potty break at 5am. i would put my hand down there and he would lick my fingers through the bars and cry. i am done being mean! i really wanted him in my bed, anyway, but outside influences from people that crate their puppies all the time sort of swayed me. and my best friend just got a new rottie/lab puppy and he is so laid back and mellow and sleeps crated like a "good" puppy. i have a king size bed that is all for me and the dogs, my hubby has his own room (good situation, i assure you!) so i have a whole half of a huge bed cause the tzu sleep on my feet. and atticus is so happy when he gets in bed with me, he snuffles into my neck and goes to sleep. i just love him so much! my human babies are getting big and those maternal hormones get kinda high sometimes:o) plus, when he is in my bed, i wake up when he moves, so potty breaks are taken care of. plus, i don't go to bed until like 1am and the kids wake me up at 8ish, so there is usually only one midnight potty break needed.
so, tonight when we all go up to bed, atticus will join us in the big bed of happiness:o) and the ugly huge bedroom crate will go back to the garage and we will save crating for meal times and when i am gone.

thank you all!!!!!!

 

[rainyday]

I think one of the best things about Boxer's is their snuggability.
Rowdy was the same way with the crate. Whining for HOURS...so after about a week of that we just let him out and he's slept with me ever since. I will say, now that's he's sixty pounds I certainly have to claim my spot first and occasionally push him in the middle of the night. If he could he'd sleep on top of me.
Good luck! And good snuggling.

 

[NBBoxer]

This is definitely the hardest thing for me to do as well. My wife is home for March break and my little guy sleeps most of the time now. We put him in at night and he has been great. Sleeps most of the time he wimpers at first but then falls a sleep. Will probably be a different story next week.