Questions concerning crate

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weidert10

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I am getting a new puppy on the 6th, and by that time he will be about 12 weeks old. The breeder said he was going to try and do some crate training with him by then, but I still had a few questions. I have to bike to be at work (about a mile away) by 8am, and get home at about 4:45pm. I am able to go home during lunch at noon as well. Would he be ok with being in a crate for that amount of time? I would like to take him out in the morning when I wake up and have him play and go to the bathroom before I go to work then again at lunch. After I get home I go to bed around midnight. When/how much water and food should I give the little guy? Also, should I have him sleep in his crate too? I read on one of the forums that someone had their dog sleep with them on the bed, but I'm afraid that I would roll over on him or something :p It just seems like a lot of time to spend in a crate... Thanks for the help
 
weidert10 said:
I am getting a new puppy on the 6th, and by that time he will be about 12 weeks old. The breeder said he was going to try and do some crate training with him by then, but I still had a few questions. I have to bike to be at work (about a mile away) by 8am, and get home at about 4:45pm. I am able to go home during lunch at noon as well. Would he be ok with being in a crate for that amount of time? I would like to take him out in the morning when I wake up and have him play and go to the bathroom before I go to work then again at lunch. After I get home I go to bed around midnight. When/how much water and food should I give the little guy? Also, should I have him sleep in his crate too? I read on one of the forums that someone had their dog sleep with them on the bed, but I'm afraid that I would roll over on him or something :p It just seems like a lot of time to spend in a crate... Thanks for the help
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Hello and welcome! Cannot wait to see pictures of the little guy - there is nothing cuter than a sheltei puppy!!!
Now, if you come home at lunch, he will be fine in his crate. Water should be available to him at all times, but not food. You should feed a puppy three times a day, as to how much depends on what you are feeding him. I feed raw, so it is different than kibble (but there will be plently of people here to give you great advice on feeding kibble if that is whay you are going to do) As far as sleeping goes. Maia, my 9 month old sleeps on my bed, Chinook, the 1 yr old, sleeps on his bed that he prefers. But when they were young, and NOT potty trained yet, they slept either in a crate or in an xpen. I would not let the puppy sleep with you yet - they cannot hold their bladder yet, so because the bed is big enough for him to move over and pee on one end, he WILL, so a crate is a good place for him to sleep at night. I would suggest keeping the crate in your bedroom, even on a nightstand, so he can see and hear you. That will calm him down and make him feel safe at night and hopefully not cry for the first few nights either. Hope that helps.
 
How fun to be getting a new puppy. When I got Meggie the breeder had already begun crate training as well. She stayed in the crate when I went to work but I did go home every day at lunch and let her out and played with her for awhile.

She also was crated at night. I put the crate right next to my bed. I would take her out one last time around 10:00 pm and put her in her crate. She initially woke up pretty early, around 6:00 or so and needed to go potty. But the older she got, the later it got. Now she can sleep as late as 8:00. However, she's no longer in a crate. She was probably about 8 - 9 months old before I allowed her to sleep outside the crate. She was well beyond potty trained at that point, but for her safety I kept her crated. She liked to chew things sometimes that were not the safest!

She still loves her crate and goes into it voluntarily quite often.

Re: feeding. Meggie was 15 weeks when I got her and the breeder was feeding her twice a day, so that's what I have continued to this day. Younger puppies may require three meals. Others will know for sure.

Have a great time with your new puppy!!
 
I think it's too long, especially when she'll be in a crate at night. She'd basically be living in the crate. Not a good life for a dog.

Set up an exercise pen in a part of your house with linolium (or anything but carpet.) Put a newspaper on the part that's okay for her to pee on. Then leave.

My friends followed that with their 12 week old Akita/Shepherd mix, and he's fully housebroken at 4 months. Otherwise, he would have lived in a crate.
 
Sadie was crate trained when she came to us at 9 weeks old.

When Sadie was a pup she was crated around 7:30 in the morning when we left for work. We both work out of town so we had a friend come over around lunch time to let her out and play with her for a bit. We'd get home in the evening around 5 and spend the evening with her, then put her to bed in her crate around 10pm. We did this till she was approx. 4 months old, when she could fall asleep outside her crate, then she'd get to stay up later. Even then, she was put in her crate to sleep till she was approx. 7-8 months old, when we felt we could trust her.

Sadie loves her crate and has never had issues with being in it, even now. When she was a pup and tired she would put herself to bed and go inside on her own.
 
Narmowen said:
I think it's too long, especially when she'll be in a crate at night. She'd basically be living in the crate. Not a good life for a dog.

Set up an exercise pen in a part of your house with linolium (or anything but carpet.) Put a newspaper on the part that's okay for her to pee on. Then leave.

My friends followed that with their 12 week old Akita/Shepherd mix, and he's fully housebroken at 4 months. Otherwise, he would have lived in a crate.
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I do this with mine...and granted im home all day but I dont spend every waking moment watching them as I have things to do. Mine go in a expen in my family room (which is tiled although someone chewed the grout on one spot but thats another story lol) anyway I have a crate on joined where one of the sides meet so they can go into their crate whenever they please or have room to stretch out in the rest of the expen. I also have a water dish screwed to the side of the expen too so they cant wade in the water when im not there. THis works out well and they are in it till about 6 months old or so than they go to just a regular crate.
 
It's a gradual thing, in my book.

When I brought Bacca home he was already basicly crate-trained, so had no anxiety about it.

He was crated from 8:00 a.m. till 12:00 while I was at work. I came home at lunch and he was out for an hour. Then back in till 4 p.m. He slept in his crate at night until he was 1 year old. I brought his crate up to my room at night. Now I left both boys sleep whereever in my bedroom (with the door closed, so they can't wander the house).

At about 7-8 months, I finally got smart and started putting his crate inside an xpen so he's got a little more room to move around, but not full access to the house.

He loves his crate and goes in on his own when he wants to nap and get away from Indy.

Indy is still crated without an xpen, but that will be changing as soon as I can figure out how to block my kitchen/family room area and as soon as I'm sure the boys won't kill each other in my absence! (not on purpose, of course, but they do play rough!)

As for feeding: twice per day. They get about 20 minutes to eat, and then its taken away (like that's EVER a problem for Indy! :rolleyes2:)
 
We got Crazy when he was 10 months old. He was crate trained already. But when I went to work I put his crate in the kitchen and blocked off the kitchen door so he couldn't get into the rest of the house. He now has the run of the house (he's 3 now) and we never find anything out of place. I think crate training is very good, they never learn bad habits and they can't do anything that could harm them in any way. Just my two cents...Oh at night he did go into his crate and I moved it to our bedroom so he could see and hear us.
 
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