How many nights should we sleep near puppies crate?

[NoahWoodcock]

We have two golden retriever puppies that we are working on crate training with. This is the first week we have had them and they have slept in their crates two nights, I have been sleeping on an airbed near them so that they know I am near and hopefully alleviate stress that way. Their crates are a room over from our bedroom, how many nights should we sleep near the crates before moving back to bed? (While still getting them up once a night for bathroom) Thanks!

[FrederykBlot]

Hello I'm no professionnal but had the same question with our pup we got end of April

 

Short answer, it has been a little less than 2 weeks, but in our case, there were some specificities :

- we went to get him very far away, so during 3 night in the return trip he slept in a pen containing his bed, in another home each time

- when back in our home his sleeping crate is in the guest room, so we slept there 4-5 nights i'd say. We prioritize crate training as soon as we arrive home. First 2 nights, my wife sat a bit next to the crate at bedtime to help him fall asleep

- then we moved to the living room which is just next to the guest room. We made a 15 min rule of crying / whining ignore. Nurses in baby services does not go to babies crying at night before this timespan (at least in our country), we found this rule quite relevant

- After 2 or 3 nights with the 15 min rule, we moved back to our room which is upstairs. We decided that if we're not in the same room it does not matter much if we're on the same floor or not

 

During this time crate training was high priority, and it serves us quite well because now he's in a phase where he does not want to settle peacefully : he can be obviously exhausted, but everything in the house is a stimulation (furnitures, cables...)... But thanks to the crate training, we can enforce naps in crate without tantrum, which is honestly life-saving

 

I'm not sure it would be the good way for your pup, but it worked for ours

Hope that could help

 

 

[Adrienne]

14 hours ago, FrederykBlot said:

Hello I'm no professionnal but had the same question with our pup we got end of April

 

Short answer, it has been a little less than 2 weeks, but in our case, there were some specificities :

- we went to get him very far away, so during 3 night in the return trip he slept in a pen containing his bed, in another home each time

- when back in our home his sleeping crate is in the guest room, so we slept there 4-5 nights i'd say. We prioritize crate training as soon as we arrive home. First 2 nights, my wife sat a bit next to the crate at bedtime to help him fall asleep

- then we moved to the living room which is just next to the guest room. We made a 15 min rule of crying / whining ignore. Nurses in baby services does not go to babies crying at night before this timespan (at least in our country), we found this rule quite relevant

- After 2 or 3 nights with the 15 min rule, we moved back to our room which is upstairs. We decided that if we're not in the same room it does not matter much if we're on the same floor or not

 

During this time crate training was high priority, and it serves us quite well because now he's in a phase where he does not want to settle peacefully : he can be obviously exhausted, but everything in the house is a stimulation (furnitures, cables...)... But thanks to the crate training, we can enforce naps in crate without tantrum, which is honestly life-saving

 

I'm not sure it would be the good way for your pup, but it worked for ours

Hope that could help

 

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with Loki! 

[Adrienne]

20 hours ago, NoahWoodcock said:

We have two golden retriever puppies that we are working on crate training with. This is the first week we have had them and they have slept in their crates two nights, I have been sleeping on an airbed near them so that they know I am near and hopefully alleviate stress that way. Their crates are a room over from our bedroom, how many nights should we sleep near the crates before moving back to bed? (While still getting them up once a night for bathroom) Thanks!

Hello and welcome to the forums,

Congrats on your new puppies! Are they brother and sisters? How old are they? And how would you say they are doing so far?

Do they do vocalize as if in distress (loud, ear-piercing stressful-sounding crying)? If so, how long are they doing it for?

Are you sleeping on the airbed all night?

Do you know if the breeder already acclimatized them to the crate or is the crate totally new to them?

Since you have used the crate for only two nights, where were they sleeping prior to that?

This is one of those things that vary from pups to pups, but I think what works best is to go gradually. Last batch of pups I had got better after 3 days and improved a lot after a week, but they were already familiar with the crate, the previous ones took a little longer, but I had to get each a Snuggle Puppy behavior aid for them because they were very young at 7 weeks old (they were strays). 

I personally prefer having the pups in the bedroom and then gradually moving their crates away a little bit more at a time until they are out of the room, but I have also done the other way around, although it's a little more inconvenient. 

[NoahWoodcock]

They are brothers!  They are 10 weeks old and I would would very good boys. Only one accident between the two of them since we got them, nap well, eat well etc. Obviously they are landsharks right now and we are constantly redirecting to toys, but that's to be expected. The crate was totally new to them. But we are napping inside the closed crate every naptime now and acclimating  well so far. Should I buy them snuggle puppies? 

Also, I have crate covers on but leave the front side open, would it be beneficial to try and have them sleep completely covered? As of now I think it intimidates them a little bit.

[Adrienne]

I am happy to hear they are good boys and that they are doing so well already in their potty training! If you search the forums, you will find many threads on ways to work on puppy nipping. Having two pups makes it easier as they'll play with each other rather than totally depending on humans, however, being littermates, it's important to dedicate time in separating them for training, walks, socialization, to prevent overbonding (the so-called infamous littermate syndrome). 

I feel snuggle puppies work best for young puppies who are distress vocalizing the first nights because they miss their mom and litter mates. Your pups are a little older so it may not be as necessary as much as with younger pups. However, if it is distress vocalizing (like puppies ear-piercing screaming for several minutes) from missing their littermates and mom, and feeling their heartbeats/warmth, these can be soothing.

If it's more of puppies who are overstimulated and not wanting to nap, then these just need a few extra steps to induce a more relaxed, sleep-inducing environment.  

-Keep your puppies busy during the evening. Left to their own devices, puppies may sleep a whole lot in the evening and then will be awake and full of energy by the time it's time to go to bed. Try instead to keep your pups busy in the evening, play treasure hunt games, take them in the yard to explore, play a few indoor games, do a little training. 

-Bring your puppies to the place where they usually sleep (crate, exercise pen). Remember though that puppies being very social, are always happiest being near you.

-Remove access to overly stimulating toys.

-Provide a safe chew toy or edible chew to gnaw on  (these can act as pacifiers and help create positive associations with the crate).

-Talk to your puppies in a quiet, soothing tone of voice.

-Act calm. This will help your puppies calm down too.

-Close all curtains and blinds.

-Turn lights off (or place a blanket over the crate). If the blanket intimidates them, then just being in a dark room should help. 

-Play calming music (like Through a Dog's Ear or any online music for dogs) so to cut down on any residual background noise.

-For young puppies, provide a shirt that smells like you.

You can gradually move you air bed farther and farther away over the course of several days and see how they do. You may have to still set your alarm for a middle of the night potty break. 

[NoahWoodcock]

13 minutes ago, Adrienne said:

I am happy to hear they are good boys and that they are doing so well already in their potty training! If you search the forums, you will find many threads on ways to work on puppy nipping. Having two pups makes it easier as they'll play with each other rather than totally depending on humans, however, being littermates, it's important to dedicate time in separating them for training, walks, socialization, to prevent overbonding (the so-called infamous littermate syndrome). 

I feel snuggle puppies work best for young puppies who are distress vocalizing the first nights because they miss their mom and litter mates. Your pups are a little older so it may not be as necessary as much as with younger pups. However, if it is distress vocalizing (like puppies ear-piercing screaming for several minutes) from missing their littermates and mom, and feeling their heartbeats/warmth, these can be soothing.

If it's more of puppies who are overstimulated and not wanting to nap, then these just need a few extra steps to induce a more relaxed, sleep-inducing environment.  

-Keep your puppies busy during the evening. Left to their own devices, puppies may sleep a whole lot in the evening and then will be awake and full of energy by the time it's time to go to bed. Try instead to keep your pups busy in the evening, play treasure hunt games, take them in the yard to explore, play a few indoor games, do a little training. 

-Bring your puppies to the place where they usually sleep (crate, exercise pen). Remember though that puppies being very social, are always happiest being near you.

-Remove access to overly stimulating toys.

-Provide a safe chew toy or edible chew to gnaw on  (these can act as pacifiers and help create positive associations with the crate).

-Talk to your puppies in a quiet, soothing tone of voice.

-Act calm. This will help your puppies calm down too.

-Close all curtains and blinds.

-Turn lights off (or place a blanket over the crate). If the blanket intimidates them, then just being in a dark room should help. 

-Play calming music (like Through a Dog's Ear or any online music for dogs) so to cut down on any residual background noise.

-For young puppies, provide a shirt that smells like you.

You can gradually move you air bed farther and farther away over the course of several days and see how they do. You may have to still set your alarm for a middle of the night potty break. 

I appreciate all the input! The office is kind of bright at night, so I am going to hang some blackout curtains so it stays darker 🙂 Also, I used a baby monitor app and moved to our room last night. When they cried it made a phone call from my phone (in with the puppies) to my wife's and then took them out for a quick potty when they cried. Also going to have daily separate activities as you recommend 🙂

[Adrienne]

12 hours ago, NoahWoodcock said:

I appreciate all the input! The office is kind of bright at night, so I am going to hang some blackout curtains so it stays darker 🙂 Also, I used a baby monitor app and moved to our room last night. When they cried it made a phone call from my phone (in with the puppies) to my wife's and then took them out for a quick potty when they cried. Also going to have daily separate activities as you recommend 🙂

It's great that you are using a baby monitor and how neat to have a phone call when puppies need to be taken out! 

More on littermate syndrome is discussed here: