[Getting ready]

Noodle preferred to sleep in his ex pen. M and E, our chihuahuas, slept in a bathroom where toddlers could not bother them. But now the kids are old enough to be trusted. Blueberry has been sleeping in a crate which we move from room to room depending on which kid wants him for the night. It works fine for him but isn’t the most fun to move. I would love to teach him to sleep in a bed on the floor, probably when he is done teething. Any ideas about how make the transition?

 

[lily cd re]

When you are close to making that transition I would try putting the bed in the crate if it fits. If it won't fit in the crate then put it right next to the crate with the crate door open so he can choose. If you have nothing comfy in the crate he should be likely to choose the bed over the crate. You should also teach him to go to the bed so he will know when it is time to settle down.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Middle of the night is a great time for accidents while the humans aren't paying attention. Annie moved to sleeping on my bed at 5 or 6 months but I wouldn't have let her sleep on the floor. As a child, puppy would also have ended up on my bed rather than the dog bed (ok, I guess that happened to adult me too).
Would buying extra used crates, one for each kids room, be a feasible solution? I often see mini Poodle sized crates for sale for $20 or so and they can easily be resold when he graduates to a bed.

 

[Getting ready]

Middle of the night is a great time for accidents while the humans aren't paying attention. Annie moved to sleeping on my bed at 5 or 6 months but I wouldn't have let her sleep on the floor. As a child, puppy would also have ended up on my bed rather than the dog bed (ok, I guess that happened to adult me too).
Would buying extra used crates, one for each kids room, be a feasible solution? I often see mini Poodle sized crates for sale for $20 or so and they can easily be resold when he graduates to a bed.

I thought about extra crates but now that due to remote school we have moved desks into their rooms. There really isn’t a good place to put crates during the day. For now, we will keep on doing what we are doing but maybe introduce the bed in training.

 

[lily cd re]

I realize I should add that Javelin was an utter crate train failure. I was at a weekend of trials with Lily just 2 weeks after we brought him home. BF put him in the crate, but he wailed and howled unrelentingly. Since BF had to work while we were gone (and he is on his feet all day doing physical work building and repairing high end bicycles) he needed his sleep so he took Javvy (11 weeks old at the time) out of the crate and put him on our bed. The bed is fairly high so he couldn't jump off by himself and his restlessness meant potty time. It worked out fairly well to BF's way of thinking. To me it was not good since I then had to teach him to settle in his crate so he could go to shows and it took a long time. It didn't take long for him to get big enough to get on and off the bed by himself. He runs hot so he often got off during the night to sleep on cold areas on the floor. That made me nervous about pottying in the house and chewing the furniture. I wish I had had an ex pen to use in the house at that point to help restrict how far he could wander. An ex pen might be helpful during the transition is my thinking for you and Blueberry. There are smaller ones that you can use as a "front yard" for the crate and bed.

 

[Johanna]

Zoe (and Opal the Lab) sleep in crates. Cruise, the old border collie/whippet, sleeps on dog mattresses next to my bed. Molly, the Chihuahua, sleeps in a little bed at the foot of my bed. The reason Zoe and Opal sleep in crates is because they would prefer our bed! Not happening.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Peggy had another (much more intense) round of chewing around 11 months. It only lasted a week, but we had to quickly scale back unsupervised access to the house. That would have been difficult if she wasn't still sleeping in her crate.

If Blueberry likes his evening crate routine, I wouldn't personally rush it. But when it's time to transition, I'd just start leaving the crate door open and make sure whatever room it's in is poodle-proofed. In the meantime, you could put a dog bed in each kid's room and give him opportunities to rest in them (such as after a good puppy exercise session, while the kids are working quietly at their desks).

Will he be allowed in human beds? If not, now's the time to make sure that's strictly enforced. If we were to let Peggy roam at night, she'd immediately cuddle up with us.