[Eric]

Our spoo is almost 8 months old now. She's generally well-behaved, has outgrown the need to chew everything, and is, dare I say it, completely house-trained. Since we've gotten her at 8 weeks, we've put her in a crate next to our bed every night to sleep. She sleeps well, but she'll never go in there on her own. She likes to nap on the carpet wherever we happen to be during the day. Lately it's been harder and harder to get her to go into the crate at night. At bedtime, she jumps up on our bed and lays down there, so it's pretty clear where she wants to sleep. When I go to pick her up to put her in the crate, she avoids me, so we play this little chasing game every night until I get her cornered near the entrance to her crate.

Anyway, I'm thinking maybe she's old enough to sleep without a crate, like our older dog does, on a dog bed on the floor next to us. I guess my concern is that she'll continually jump on on our bed if we do that. We don't have our older dog on the bed with us because he always seems to choose a spot that makes it uncomfortable for us and it affects our sleep.

Any advice on how to approach this transition? I was thinking of taking the crate pad out of the crate and putting it on the floor where I'd like her to sleep, and see what happens.

 

[lily cd re]

That is a tough one. I really had never wanted any dog on the bed, but we utterly failed on this and there are always dogs on beds. I am not much help just empathizing and wishing you luck.

 

[Dogs4Life]

I think she definitely needs to learn a "place" command, and when she hears this command, she knows to always go to her resting place (for my dog, I tell her "bed" and she goes immediately, whether it is day or night). You could use her crate pad or buy her a bed. Make it as comfortable as possible. You will want to teach this command other than during bed time. Miracle wanted to sleep with me, too, when I got her. She is allowed on the furniture during the day, but I have always made her sleep in her bed. The first week, she would come put her paws up on my bed, and I would tell her "bed" and she would go. She pretty much came to me knowing a place command, though.

 

[Newport]

Make sure you really want her up there because it is hard to go back!

I am being a hard nose with Violet and keeping her in her crate at night forever. Time has taught me that this is the best choice for me and my sleep. However I’m committed to ensuring that Violet’s bed is as comfy as my own.
Other benefits: if I’m ever away then she can be easily crated by a caregiver. Also, it keeps her very familiar with crates and hopefully would reduce anxiety if she was crated at a veterinary hospital or due to some other kind of emergency or post-surgical restriction.

It’s a very personal choice though. If you are going to do it, she probably is ready. The real question is, do you want to do it?

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I'd actually go the opposite direction, if I were you, and try to get her willingly entering the crate to sleep before eliminating it at night. I'd stop the chasing and go back to crate basics for a bit.

But that's just because I consider the crate an important ongoing tool in my dog's life (for hotels, camping, injures, senior housebreaking woes, etc.).

If you have no use for the crate after this, and just consider it a puppy tool (which I know is common), I'd put a comfy bed next to the crate for now.

With another dog loose at night, I can understand why she's antsy to be out, too.

As for keeping her off the bed, I use this technique: If Peggy ever jumps up without permission, I immediately use the down command to get her to jump down, followed by UP! to get her back up (and then the down command again, if I don't actually want her up there).

I don't know the psychology behind this, but I find it more effective than only saying GET DOWN. It's like it reinforces the idea that this is a space that requires permission.

That your puppy has another dog whose lead she can follow might be helpful, as will the fact that she really doesn't want to be in the crate. So her reward for staying off the bed and sleeping on the floor is....getting to sleep on the floor!

If you find she's appearing on your bed in the middle of the night, I'd try the down sequence once. If she gets up again, she gets calmly escorted into the crate.

 

[Mufar42]

I think 8 months is a bit young and would be afraid of her getting into something but if she is good as you say, what do you have to lose. My guy slept in his crate until almost 2, yes he is a bit of a wild playful guy. But as he approached 2 he really began to fight the crate. Once in he was fine but he really didn't want in anymore. Now I'm one who normally says you do as I say, end of discussion, lol. But since day 1 he likes to stretch out when he sleeps, and even his big crate couldn't allow him to do this anymore. I remembered how I had to keep moving the divider back until we finally got rid of it. Now at night he sleep in my dining /foyer area. All his toys and bed are int here, its pretty much his room now. So that is where he sleeps at night. I'd like to bring him in my room to sleep but frankly I've been a bit lazy. I am sleeping on the 2nd floor as my husband has medical issues and I can't sleep well there. I also get up at like 5 am and start preparing for my day and get the other two dogs out and fed, then its Renns turn. If I had him up with me it would turn my morning schedule upside down. LOL I think you just have to try and do what works for your household.

 

[Streetcar]

I wonder if floor level can sometimes be a bit more drafty, helping further entice dogs onto beds piled with warm blankets ?.

Just a suggestion to consider adding a couple plush blankets to her crate pad, whether in or out of her crate...

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I wonder if floor level can sometimes be a bit more drafty, helping further entice dogs onto beds piled with warm blankets ?.

Just a suggestion to consider adding a couple plush blankets to her crate pad, whether in or out of her crate...

Peggy's the opposite! She "renovates" by shoving all her crate blankets to the edges. She also loves laying in front of the freezer.

Dogs are each such unique snowflakes. ?