Last night was the first time ever that I let Bentley sleep all night out of his crate. He did a great job and slept in his bed until 7am.
He has a dog bed next to the fireplace (actually there's 8 around the house) that he's been taking his naps in and last night he looked so comfy there I decided not to disturb him.
I'm sleeping in my recliner right now due to my hip so he wasn't in the living room alone. I think I'll probably have him sleep in the crate most nights but allow him out 1 or 2 nights a week. I want him to still like the crate for when I have to leave the house.
I knew I couldn't let him sleep out of the crate until he was 100% convinced that he's not allowed to even look at Ky's bed. She shares her toys, food and parents with him but I know there's no way she would ever allow him on her bed. She even hates for me to wash it, after it's dry she'll spend the rest of the day 'hmmpphing' and walking around on it to get it just right again.
This AM my DH said, and I quote..."Aww Bentley's all grown up now, maybe it's time to start thinking about another puppy" :doh: :doh: :doh:
I said "Listen up Mr! That's how we ended up with 4 kids and I'm not as naive as I was 30 years ago!"
He has a dog bed next to the fireplace (actually there's 8 around the house)....
This AM my DH said, and I quote..."Aww Bentley's all grown up now, maybe it's time to start thinking about another puppy" :doh: :doh: :doh:
Way to go Bentley!! You are growing up into a nice young man. Your husband is right, they do grow so fast, that is why I started fostering the young puppies from our local service organization, so I always have a little one.
I think Vinnie would be fine out of his crate at night but like you, I don't want him to get used to not wanting to sleep in there or go in there when we leave. I have and am still pondering that.
Bentley must have loved the privilege of sleeping out of his crate. I haven't attempted to do that with Loki yet. He didn't like going into his crate at night until about two weeks ago, when suddenly he decided it was the only place he could get a decent sleep lol. Now when he comes back indoors after his last circuit of the garden for toileting, he runs all the way up the hall & into the front bedroom where his crate is, & rushes into in, curling down & straight to sleep. We have been thinking of moving his crate into the laundry & leaving the door of crate open, so that he has more room .....his favourite sleeping position is stretched out on his back with his legs in the air, which pretty much now takes up most of the crate. But he seems to love his sleeping arrangements the way they are, & its taken a few weeks to get him to enjoy going into the crate, so we are thinking we perhaps should leave things the way they are for the time being. He turned sixteen weeks old today & his behaviour is improving in leaps & bounds. So congratulations to Bentley!
Yes, that's why I decided to try to let him sleep out of the crate. He likes to sleep on his back and he's SO long when he stretches out it's unbelievable. He still fits in the crate but it's nice to be able to give him a little more freedom once in awhile.
And besides, he earned it! He's being such a good boy :crossfing
I think it's great to keep them comfortable with using the crate. Into every dog's life, some crate time will fall. . Either while traveling, being boarded, staying at the vet's, etc., and I think it's good for them to keep the crate skills "current" even if they don't spend every night in there.
Thanks, at a year and a half does Tucker still have a crate in your house? I'm just wondering if I have to always leave it up as an option for him and he stays comfortable with it or do they at some point not need to have it available?
Bentley spent his 2nd night sleeping out of the crate with no issues. We just came back from a walk (it's 31F) and he ran in the house and straight into his crate where he is now taking a well deserved nap.
If he wants to sleep out of the crate and only use it for naps I'm good with that. It's a little sad though, further proof that my little puppy is growing up
awwww it does touch our hearts that our little boys are just growing up. chester's not feeling to well today hes been having diarrhea so hes on a ground beef and rice diet for a few days. we plan on ordering his bed this week so we can get him use to sleeping on it =).
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