Q. Where should My Puppy Sleep?

A. I make sure my puppies are comfortable sleeping in crates by themselves here, in my home, before sending them to their forever homes. They go home with a stuffed animal and a blanket that smell like their mom and littermates. So there is rarely any fuss at all when they are tucked into their crate at night in their new home.

I do suggest that new families start their puppies out by placing the crate on a night table or chair beside their bed, where the puppy can see, hear and smell them during the night.  If the puppy does whimper, just put your fingers through the wire for the puppy to smell, but do not talk to them. They will most likely fall back asleep.

They may need to get up during the night to potty during the first week or two, and I instruct people to do this with minimal talk, gently, but no excess cuddling, and pop them right back into bed. If they haven’t pottied in 2-3 minutes, STILL tuck them back in bed, even if it means you need to get up again! You do NOT want a puppy to get the idea that prolonging potty time gets them to stay up longer! I don’t send puppies home until 10 weeks, so they often don’t need to get up at all at night at that age; certainly, by 12 weeks almost all are done needing it.

Once in a while, a family choses to have a puppy sleep somewhere other than in the bedroom.  If you will want your dog to sleep elsewhere eventually, this should start from the beginning.  Set up a crate attached to an ex-pen in the area that you intend to be the place the dog will sleep as an adult.  If at all possible, plan to sleep near the puppy on a couch for the first few nights so you can hear if he is having any trouble. Most do not, but just in case.

You MUST be either near enough to hear if the puppy needs to get up to potty, or allow the puppy access to a potty tray in an ex-pen, if they are not sleeping near you.  Do NOT force a puppy to have an accident in their crate!  Here is a photo of a good set-up for a puppy sleeping in an area of the home other than the bedroom.  The crate is attached to the ex-pen, with a litter box and a couple of toys.  The puppy can potty himself as needed and go back to sleep.