I have two 4 month old puppies, a male dachshund, Louie and a female Pomeranian, Lola. I did not know that I was going to bring Lola home when we got Louie, so I had originally bought a single 50"x50" pen thinking that's where he would be by himself (they both came home at 8 weeks, she's 5 days older). And within a couple of days it became clear we could leave her at home alone out of the pen and the pen became Louie's place. She is very smart and instinctively knows right from wrong, she potty trained almost immediately. He sometimes gets overstimulated and we have to put him in time out in the pen (happens less and less) and he goes in the pen when we leave the house. She has taken over our bed/bedroom as her napping place. He sleeps out of the pen at night, with us either on the bed or the sofa. He also is known to do resource guarding with food. I have been feeding them separately, him in the pen, but he has gotten better and I've been feeding them together when I can (if he barks at her when they eat, I put him and his food in the pen). They play all day together and get along very well, he just has a few rough edges. They are pretty much potty trained already.
Is it too late to introduce them to crates? I would like to give Lola her own space, and I'd like to take up less room (two crates would be half the size of the current pen, and he mostly just sleeps in there). Any suggestions?
