There were a few questions after I shared the video of the built in crates in my home, about where my dogs sleep at night. The short answer is “anywhere they want” which might be a surprising response.
Of course, it does not start that way. We can’t bring a new puppy or rescue dog into our home and have them sleep anywhere they want as that is not safe and does not create confidence or security for our new family member! So, I thought I’d give the long answer by way of a blog.
I might have a slight obsession with dog beds … Encore in one of many.
My Dogs Sleep in the Bedroom
When I get a new puppy, I put him or her in a crate on top of a chair beside my bed at night. This way, the puppy sleeps right near my face and can hear me breathe and practically feel my breath and not be worried. As we both fall asleep, I stick my fingers through the crate door for a few minutes. I have never had a puppy cry or fuss at night, plus I get to fall asleep looking at my beautiful new puppy!
We hear from so many people whose puppy might be put in the garage, or in the bathroom, or in the kitchen, and well away from everyone at night. The puppy does not have to sleep on your bed, but we want our dogs to learn to be part of our family. Your dog will be more comfortable, and you will have a better relationship with your dog if your dog is included and sleeps nearby.
If a puppy needs to go out throughout the night, I quietly reach inside the crate and hook the leash to the collar and lift the puppy out to carry him all the way outside to their potty spot. I say nothing, allow the puppy to potty and then pick him up and return him to his crate. The principles of “don’t wake the mamma” are being built. Nothing fun happens if you wake me.
TIP: For these late evening potty trips I use an oversized leash and clip it around the width of the collar so I don’t have to get a tiny puppy lead clipped onto a tiny puppy collar ring. You can read all the details on a successful housetraining routine in another post here on my blog.
In the morning, the puppy waits in his crate while the other dogs go outside. Then it’s the puppy’s turn for my full attention to morning potty routines. When Crate Games are established, I maintain that criteria – hand on door = sit, leash on – and I carry the puppy out doors to his established potty spot on leash and our morning begins.
The puppy crate goes on a chair next to the bed.
Transitioning to Sleeping Out of the Crate
As my puppy grows, the crate comes off the chair and goes to the floor. Then the crate is moved further away from the bed. I’ll move it over against the wall, and then maybe to another part of the bedroom, so the puppy does not grow too much dependency on me, but they can still be in the same room.
Eventually, when the puppy is between nine months and a year of age, depending on the puppy, they will transition out of the crate to sleeping on a bed in the room. This is never left to chance. It will start with me having a “nap” in the bedroom with the puppy in the room to see if they are able to stay off my bed and hang out and not get into mischief. This is an excellent reason for us to take a nap during the day!
What About Older Dogs Who Are New Family Members?
The routine is very similar for any older dog arriving in the family. Obviously, it’s not going to be possible for the crate to go on a chair for most dogs, but the crate could be near you, your dog could be in an ex-pen with an open crate inside it for him to sleep in.
As the dog settles in, you can transition to him sleeping out of the ex-pen. This should happen on your dog’s timeline and not your own because you want to set him up for success.
Tater enjoying a nap on a window seat.
So, there you have it, the long answer to “where do your dogs sleep?”.
Let me know in the comments how you provide safety, comfort and confidence in sleeping arrangements for a puppy or dog who is new in your home.
Today I am grateful for the birthday celebrations for Encore (16), Swagger (9) and Momentum (5) recently … love my dogs!
I have a golden retriever puppy. My breeder suggested putting a filling a 2-liter bottle with water and freezing it, and putting that in the crate with him. Amazing! He cuddles up next to that water bottle like it’s his Mama. I guess goldens get pretty hot and this helps keep him cool. I know it sounds weird, but my last two puppies that I tried it with love, love, love their frozen water bottles.
BYW, my digs are allowed to choose to sleep in or out of their crate. When they begin to prefer to be outside their crate at night, the crate is put away.
I have more dog beds than people beds. I know I’m mot the only one😌
I’ve always started with my pups in crates. As they age, and can hold their ‘stuff’. I’d slowly let them out of the e crate at night until the ‘holding’ became harder.
My most difficult pup was Miya, a BYB lab at 9 months. I didn’t know her background. She pee’d in her crate constantly. When I left the house fir 5 minutes, overnight.
I sucked it up for so very long, until she was able to. ‘hold’ it until I took her out (quite often. Slowly, Miya was transitioned to a crate and I did the same thing of taking her out and in during the night. After about 1.5-2 years, all was great.
I did not know of this program until recently. Miya was always on ‘10’ of high anxiety. On meds. My husband and I were able to pet her directly before being put down (cancer)
We gave Miya the best life we could at the time. Miya obsessed with a ‘fire log’ which made her so very happy.
We had her log cremated with her.
Thank you for reminding me of what an awesome dig she was.
Tami
We have a 7-month-old lab golden mix. We have made a lot of mistakes at bedtime but are hoping we will recover. (We just discovered crate games this week!) When she was young, we let her fall asleep on our bed and then moved her to a crate near the bed. This worked fine for a long time. She was basically asleep so she was very agreeable. Now our problem is that she falls asleep downstairs around 8:30 but we aren’t ready to go to bed until 10. When we wake her up to go upstairs, she wakes up, doesn’t want to settle down, and doesn’t want to go into her crate until she’s ready to sleep again. This can take a long time and is getting more difficult. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. A here are the 5 things you need to do approach would be great. We are lost. The other question is: how do you get your dog to sleep in their crate in your bedroom upstairs before you go to bed?
Hi there, I am on my 3rd puppy. All have been crate trained from the start. The first was a German Shepard, she slept on the floor by my bed once I could trust her in the house. The second (a cocker/schnauzer mix) started out in the crate and graduated to my bed once she was clean in the house. She is now 15. I did agility with her for 10 years until I could no longer run, so we had to give it up, she still sleeps on my bed. The last little one is a Daschund/Pekinese mix. She is now 5 1/2 months. When I got her she came with a small crate where she slept for about 1 month until the crate was too small, I then moved her to a bigger crate, where she is quite content to sleep through the night with the door closed, she never had an accident and has slept through the night from day 1,. The crate was always close to my bed so she could see me. During the day she has a bigger crate in the kitchen where she naps quite contently with the door open. If I have to do things outside the kitchen I simply close the door. Crates are the best and safest place for a puppy and even an adult dog, they feel safe and you can relax and not worry about them if they are not within your sight. Susan, I have always admired your agility “stuff” I miss it terribly but with 2 new hips and at age 78 I don’t think we will do it again.Keep it up you are loved and respected for all your advice
We kept our German shepherd puppy in the bedroom with us from day one. We had the dog bed out for him and allowed him to sleep where he wanted to. We put a barrier up at the bedroom door so the cats (who normally sleep with us) could jump over it but the puppy couldn’t leave. I’d wake up every two hours, scoop him up, take him out to potty, and return with him just like you do, no fuss, no talking, no petting. Gradually that time extended to 4 hours then longer. The barrier remained up until he was 8 months old and we knew we could trust him not to go in the house anymore nor get into mischief at night. If we wake up in the middle of the night and he gets up, we just say “bed” and he returns to his dog bed – sometimes with grumbling more often than not! But he learned from day one that when we go to bed, he comes upstairs with us.
Loive your podcasts and all your very helpful info!!
Hi Susan, love your podcasts! We are having our 8 weeks old puppy back this Sunday and I’ve been binge watching your videos. One question, so our bedroom is upstairs. Should I be worried if the puppy can’t make it to the backyard before he can’t hold any longer? Really prefer not to clean up the carpet 2am in the morning!
This is the same way I have done it for 25 years- I put the crate on the nightstand (my nightstand is quite large) next to my face and always have my fingers there – and I put a snuggle puppy with the heartbeat in with them – Once they get used to that they transition to the bigger crate in the bedroom – upstairs is the domain of my 2 cats – but since the dogs are sleeping in crates – they are not bothered at all
My bedroom is currently the safe place for my 2 cats. They go there to escape from the puppy. She has a crate and xpen in my living room. Should I then sleep down there? We are on night 4 of poor sleep and I’m desperate. I plan on watching starting crate games ASAP
Hi Polly, Any chance you can set your puppy up for success by bringing him upstairs in a crate for bed time? Susan has a great podcast that may also help you with a few more details. https://dogsthat.com/podcast/26/
My mini bull terrier has always slept in a crate in my bedroom, but he’s 3 years old and we have yet to graduate to the door open. Tried it a couple times and he patrolled the house all night, marking. With the bedroom door closed, he thinks it’s party time on the bed. But with the crate door closed he snores all night long.
Our lab used to sleep downstairs til next door had a party, she sleeps in crate in our room with door shut. If open she would be on the bed. When husband goes to work she dies get on bed then. We’re getting a rescue dog in couple of werks not sure what to do with her bed.
My 8 month puppy sleeps in his kennel at night I put out puppy pads, I leave the kennel door open so he can get water ,my puppy always uses the puppy pads, I close my room door off to him ,we have trai ed him to know when it’s time to go night, night in the morning we take him outside, he goes to his spot uses it, ,he thinks he should eat what we eat how do I stop this?
Hi Angela, Another great resource for you. Susan’s podcast. Two interesting podcasts that give you some insight and perspective about your question:
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/30/
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/48/
I have a10 years old poodle, she has been slleping in her own bed next to mine in my room since she was a puppy. My ex used to let her jump on the bed whenever she wants, with or without us in bed. Now that my ex is gone and I want to make some changes because she jumps on my bed and wakes me up at the same time every morning, even during weekends when I dont have to work and want to sleep more. And she wouldn’t let me stay in the bedroom alone with the door closed, she keeps making noises and scrathes the door for the whole night. Another big problem is sometimes my boyfriend would come to stay overnight, but we can never have a quiet private moment because my dog behaves even worse, not only scratching the door she also keeps barking outside of the room. And if we open the door she would jump up to my bed and keeps !oving around all night long and refuses to leave.
This is really headache….What should I do?
Still working on our 7mth border collie puppy, she sleeps in her crate at night and daytime naps, can’t seem to settle and switch off otherwise, but can’t yet leave the door open. If we let her on the bed for cuddles in the morning it’s not long before she’s tugging or chewing at the duvet or us…appreciate we still have more work to do on bite inhibition and IYC I think but now we have a bigger crate so that she can stand up comfortably I’ve had to put the crate in another near by bedroom, she’s fine at night but seems less happy in the day. Would more crate games help this or putting her back in a smaller crate still in the bedroom be better? We’re trying to give lots of cuddles before going into her crate at night etc but not sure if it’s working…
Hi Susan
Really helpful post, thanks.
Wondering if having puppy crate on a chair right beside my bed is necessary or is crate close to my bed enough. I know puppy will likely have to go out in the night and the crate right near my bed would make getting up awkward for me. Is nearby good enough?
Thanks so much
Susan shares… close so the puppy can see / hear her. You could try it as Susan suggests and adapt if it doesn’t work for you. Lynda (TeamSusan)
River (16 month old papillon) has slept in a wire crate by my bed since he came home at 11 weeks. With my previous puppy Summer (Labrador) I figured out pretty quickly that my house stayed cleaner if she slept in the bedroom because I could hear her whining to go out. Much nicer than cleaning up poop and pee first thing in the morning if she slept downstairs!
Being tiny, River had absolutely no warning at all when he needed to go at first. With toy dogs like him they seem to be very much behind bigger dogs in terms of physical development when they’re at the stage of going to their new homes. It didn’t help that he had an upset stomach for a while, and we had far too many nights where he’d wake and cry because he was pooping RIGHT NOW, poor lump. Let me tell you that bathing a diarrhoea-covered puppy at 2am is not the most fun thing ever…
We had some very hot nights during the summer and he was finding it very difficult to settle so I added a tiny xpen made from c&c cube grids wired together to kind of extend his crate. He sometimes sleeps in the crate but mostly prefers to be in the pen area.
There is no way I could abandon a tiny puppy to sleep on their own in a different room when he already has to cope with so many huge changes. Moving house, maybe the first car journey, being separated from mum and siblings and breeder and living with strangers. If a wolf cub in the wild is ever left alone there’s a pretty good chance they won’t survive very long so the fear of being alone is very very real, literally life or death. It’s not a good start for your new family member to have that kind of terror on top of all those other things.
I have always only had one dog. My soulmate who sleeps on my bed. I need the closeness, their body next to me. That’s what I love. It’s different if one has a human partner or multi dogs. When my daughters come comes to stay I make room for both dogs. There are no problems though it’s a bit squashed as both a big dogs but I love it!
Susan You are terrific I now believe in crates. I will visit again. I just found this blog.
Happy birthday, Happy birthday
Shirley
I did exactly this with my puppy, a soft crate by my bed so I could reassure her in the first few nights. With a chew and soft toys and blanket with mums scent on it only took a week for her to settle at night apart from toileting.Worked a treat and I slowly over time withdrew my attention to her.
I brought my puppy home at 9 weeks. He rode in a wire crate in the car on a soft blanket with a fuzzy toy. It was a 6 hour drive with a couple of potty stops. After I got home at nightime I tried a wire crate on a long hopechest that was right next to my bed, where he could see and here me. The first night went well, he slept through the night, about 6 hours. The next two nights he cried and complained the minute I put him in the crate and for about two hours and longer. Perplexed, I took him down stairs into my dining room, and put him in the crate that I brought him home in. Not a peep out of him from that night on. I find it interesting that he preferred that crate to the other. But, hey, whatever works, and he is happy.
Thanks for the information – I will use this in the future.
Thanks for the blog. Great help as I prepare for my puppy
I have a 11 Month old Miniature Poodle, who is still sleeping in a 200 size Varikennel in the kitchen. That’s where she has slept since I got her at 12 weeks old. She sees that as her safe place, and will go to it anytime anything is going on that she’s unsure of.
Always great advice. How can Mentum be 5 already!😲
Hi Susan,
During day time, our 6 months old Beagle is with us all the time, at night I leave in the bathroom in room adjacent to ours. Is it bad for him ? And if yes, how should I transition him in open now. I do fear he might tear apart things or pee in night anywhere in house.
I love your blog, I’ve learned many tips, thank you for your time!
I do something similar. Only the puppy lays on button of my bed I put down a blanket or towel! If she wines or sits up I scoop her up and go outside to potty! After we have this down & pup is sleeping alnight, transition to crate by bed ! Works great! Have never had an accident & puppy is not lonely💕Just love this part of a new puppy. Bonding and love abound!😎
My last puppy I bred so transitioned her from puppy pen in kitchen to xpen in lounge with her litter sister (who was on meds for puppy strangles so didn’t go to new home til she was all clear). They were used to the one in lounge as they were in there while we watched tv when unsupervised. I have their mum, granny and great granny too who are loose in house. After the sister went to her new home at about 4 months of age, my pup still slept in lounge on her bed she’d had from three weeks old. She didn’t make any fuss. I initially blocked her mum down there as company (puppy panel across door way). Since she made no fuss I allowed momma dog run of house. Usually two of my dogs will sleep on my bed, the oldest on bed on floor. They do swap around sometimes. After about 12 months I have intergrated the pup into sleeping on her bed on floor by my bed. Like you suggested I did this when having a nap or reading book during day. She’s been great not trying to come up on bed unless invited. She’s now 15 months. Previous pups were crated in my room until ‘safe’ to allow run of house. Pups were introduced to Crate Games at about 7-8 weeks old (individually did crate games with litter to Yer in yer out). Kept that up with my pup.
Susan I started my dog just like this but now that he is three he chooses to sleep in the living room alone on the sofa . He is a pretty independent guy and will come to the bedroom if I ask but not sure if I should just leave him be ?
Yes for sure Kristin. In my house at night Feature and Swagger choose to sleep in my bedroom, where Momentum chooses to sleep outside my bedroom door and Encore likes the built-in crates at the far end of the house. All good, as once they’re trained ItsYerChoice 😉
Blessed are the husbands who tolerate xpens in the bedroom!! (especially large enough pens to have crates inside of them) 😉 😉 Loved this article! QUESTION: My deaf ACD 2yr old adolescent foster/rescue boy is in an xpen in the bedroom currently, and is not quite ready to transition into being loose at night in the bedroom. He is very quiet and content in the pen at night and is doing/sleeping great. When he is ready to transition out of the xpen for bedtimes, what would you suggest I do setup-wise for my two older kiddos that have their own beds on the floor next to my bed? (mainly so that the new kid doesn’t disrupt them too much at night) I just want to make sure I am being fair to the senior kids who sometimes need small breaks from this energetic youngster.
Jennifer does he have his own bed in that xpen area that he chooses to sleep in?
You could start by keeping your current routine, sending him in and then on exit just not closing up the xpen fully and fading the door closing. A choice for him to come out or stay in a little at a time. I would also in this time frame exercise him before bed with a little bit of training (a tired puppy/dog is a great puppy/dog). This time would never be “play time” with the other dogs and I’m thinking you have already established that. Any inappropriate choice would be to just close the pen up and work more layers of sleeping on a bed – or hanging out on a bed while you cook dinner.
Developing a routine of hanging out quietly on a dog bed – I love you are considerate of your seniors!
Beautiful pictures of Encore and Tater! Lovely post for insight into thoughtful planning of something that is so often unplanned out.
In the past, I didn’t use crates but when I got new puppies I would tie them to the bed next to me, with a long enough leash that they could easily turn around, but short enough so that if they needed to potty during the night, they’d whine or let me know by moving around. I was close enough to touch them, and since I’m a light sleeper, it was easy to just get up and take them outside. Very little conversation, mostly “go potty”, and then back in the house. As they got older, the leash was removed and they’d sleep wherever they wanted, usually next to my bed.
Now I use a crate for new dogs, plus do crate games, but at night my dog is on the floor next to the bed–until I wake up, then it’s “jump on the bed and dance around, and c’mon, Mom, let’s go out and play!”
Lol, I slept with a pup in crate next to my bed for at least 3 months!! I would have my fingers in thru the door until I fell asleep and he would cry again!! He was first of litter to leave. His “uncle” 2 years older was last of his litter to leave and slept thru the night from day 1. They were both at least 10 weeks old.
I pretty much do the same thing, only mine stay crated until they are grown. My Aussie sleeps with me always now and my female GWP sleeps with me too if the husband is deployed…otherwise she usually goes into her crate of her own free will, not enough room for us all. My male GWP sleeps in his crate by our bed as he has space issues and it is just better for everyone if he does. Thank you for sharing, it builds my confidence when I see someone I admire and learn from is doing it pretty much the same as I am.
All my puppies and dogs sleep in my bedroom. This is not what I was brought up to do. My mother my sister and my brother all have their dogs sleep in the kitchen next to whatever is heating the house during the winter. However mine are all in the bedroom starting out in crates so they don’t cause havoc wanting to play during the night then transitioning onto beds later. The same beds travel with me so the dogs have a security bed when in a strange place.
We picked our puppy up and travelled by caravan. Our first couple of nights saw me sleeping on the floor of the caravan alongside the puppy crate! Same idea really.
My puppy was so scared. She’d left her nine brothers and sisters and was inside a house instead of outside in a barn. She was with people she hardly knew. She’d had a ride in the car which went faster than she’d ever been able to run. When night time came she wanted to be right next to me and have the warmth of me next to her. She selpt in my arms the first night and it made her feel safe and secure. My older dog slept in her own bed. On the following nights she slept on the bed but when she got older she preferred her own bed. Now that I am widowed she’s back sleeping in the bed with me and I don’t mind. My older dog prefers to sleep stretched out on the floor no so she has a comfy sleeping mat. The only time she went in a crate was in the car and when it was puppy sleep time and she was getting overtired but wouldn’t settle down. A bit like a small child really.
I have not had a puppy in decades as so many of my dogs have been adult rescue dogs. What a beautiful, gentle transition into a new environment. This is wonderful, helpful advice which I will store in my mind forever and use, when and if, I do adopt a young dog or if anyone I know does the same.
What about happy birthday to Feature?
Coming up in May, Jackie!
Hi Susan. I love the idea of putting the puppy’s crate on a chair next to the bed. Our pup has always slept in a big crate at the foot of our bed. He dives in at night and crunches up his biscuit. It is useful when we travel too. I can’t imagine sleeping apart from my dog.
It’s interesting your method as this is almost exactly what I have done with this my second dog. The really interesting thing I have observed is that recently I was unwell and she went to a chair that she normally doesn’t sit on so that she could see me. I spiked a fever and was very ill and she sort help for me by getting neighbours attention by barking, she is not a barker at the best of times so the neighbour knew something was wrong.
So good you had her watching out for you! Hope you are okay now.
I laughed when I read that you might have a slight obsession with dog beds, because my family has threatened to have an intervention because of my “slight obsession” with dog beds. We have four floors and two dogs, so I am always looking for new dog beds!
Thank you for this blog, Susan. Great to be able to share with newer owners. I do the same thing with a new pup… and since I have a local Council limit of 2 dogs, both my Border Collies still sleep in crates near my bed. The 3 year old still has her crate closed, but the 11 and a half year old boy still chooses to go to bed in his crate .. even though the door has been off it for 5 years. On a hot night, he might move onto the floor to be cooler.. When we travel for competitions, their folding crates are the first thing that gets taken into the dog friendly accommodation, and then they know this is their temporary home.
In the many years past I have done the same. However, husband came along and felt “sorry” for the puppy who was getting “too big” for the crate. My girls have been no problem, but the boys seem to have “pissing contests” during the night. Mostly everyone sleeps on beds on the floor. Our three “LITTLES” sleep in our bed. With the boys doing what they do, I would like to put them back in crates at night (even in our bedroom is fine) and get them used to sleeping the night through without having to go out. C’mon … they are 3 and 4 years of age (BC and Golden boys). In the past that’s how it would be until they would be trustworthy. Now to train the husband.
Very similar, I use a crate next to my bed for puppies. I have multiple dog beds in the floor for the older dogs. My youngest of these is 6 & the only who truly sleeps on the bed.
Fortunately I have a do
My last puppy. she slept in her crate by my bed until she about 7 months. Then in her bed by my bed. She is 2 1/2. And she can sleep anywhere in the house, but she chooses to sleep in her bed or on the floor in my room. My adoptee I had in my bathroom with a child gate and his bed. He could see me from there. A year later he sleeps at the foot of my bed.
I have 2 puppies that just turned 10 months. They sleep in 2 pens outside of our bedroom, but close enough that we can hear them. About a month ago, we tried to have them sleep in our bed, but they moved around a lot and kept us up. So we put them on beds on the floor. The next morning we woke up to 2 piles of poop in different parts of our bedroom. They’ve never done that before and have been house trained for about 4 months. When will they be able to sleep in our bed again? Or should we just keep them in separate crates?
Hi Karen, try these tips and see how you go. This has been very successful for many dogs. Also check out the blog on house-training linked here.
Probably not the best way to do it but all five of my dogs were kept in bed with us from the time we got them. Made it super easy for us to teach them to potty train cause the minute they moved and didn’t settle right away, out they went. I think we had maybe two accidents in the bed with the five we’ve had and it was only with the last pup. I’ve tried the crates and never had success at night with them. But never thought to put them on a chair by my bed. What a great thing to do. I did try a crate with Indi and it resulted with me laying beside the crate for two nights before giving up. All my dogs have been trained to the crate to stay in them if needed. They will lay in them at random times but all sleep with us in bed. We’ve only got 3 right now and all are small dogs. I do love this idea of crate beside the bed and will try this on our next pup!
I Feel my dogs are safer at night in crates. They seem to look forward to going in them at night. When we travel out of town and stay in a hotel, for me and my dogs crates are better. They are used to them at home so it is not a big deal
You are my hero! I love this advice and will share it with my clients!
Susan I have a 2 year old border collie and when he was a puppy he slept in his crate in our bedroom. We still have the crate in the bedroom but never close the door. He prefers to sleep in it. Should we transition him to a bed in the bedroom or is it okay he sleeps in his crate? We are just about to get a new puppy so I want to be consistent.