My new puppy will be home this Sunday evening (he will be 8 weeks old)and I'm getting nervous if I have all my ducks in a row or not. I couldn't sleep last night thinking of all different type of scenarios!

Anyways, something I keep thinking about is crate training. I know the basics of how and when to use it, it's where it should be placed that's got me thinking!

I live in a two story house where all the bedrooms are on the second floor. I'm not sure if I should have the crate in my actual bedroom so I can hear him if he cries to have to go out (the first couple of weeks) or if I should have it in the dark dining room where I wouldn't really be able to hear him if he cries. By having it upstairs I feel like I might have to carry him down the stairs because he'll be too small? I wanted to introduce the stairs when he's a little bigger incase he falls and gets traumatized. If I place him downstairs, I'm also thinking about baby monitors to hear him - not sure if that is crazy to do that or not! I know the crate needs to be in the same place so the puppy knows it's secure and doesn't keep moving around.

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R.I.P. My Beloved Brandy 12/24/95 - 4/2/12

I recommend having the crate in your bedroom at least until a while after he's potty trained (usually between 17 and 25 weeks). You'll probably need to get up with him 1, 2, or 3 times a night for the first month or so, so if it makes more sense to just have a baby monitor downstairs, then that would probably work.

You're right about the steps...you won't want him going down by himself for a few months, and even then you'll probably want to avoid excess stair walking for the first year or two (not sure what the exact recommendations are on that, but I'd imagine it's similar to running with your pup). Have you looked into baby gates for the steps?

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-Tim

"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind." (Theodorus Gaza)

I agree, I would put it in your bedroom for now so yo can hear him. Bentley's crate was in one room for about 4 weeks then I moved it to another room and he didn't care. Actually I think he liked when I moved it because it was away from the TV ect for when he wanted quiet time. (yes, there was a time he wanted it quiet )

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[QUOTE=Bentleysmom;1895974 (yes, there was a time he wanted it quiet )[/QUOTE]


I don't believe it!!!

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I vote bedroom too, but I do like the baby monitor idea as well...except I wouldn't keep it up to loud or those yippy yappy high pitched barks at this age will plaster YOU to the ceiling...

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It probably depends on the stairs, but with our house it is pretty much impossible to get out of the house without the pup encountering stairs. We live on a hill so there are stairs going out the front door. And you have to go down a flight of stairs to get to the "potty door" (we have a small area in the back where we do the nightly potty outings). Of course both dogs are down in the lower level (walk out basement) with me at night.

So I guess what I'm saying is that until the pup goes through the first growth spurt (12-13 weeks old), we are carrying up and down the stairs. This because they aren't too steady on their feet and can take a tumble.

When they are big enough, that's when we get down on our knees and show them step by step how to go up and down the stairs.

Bertie is flying up and down the stairs effortlessly at 15 weeks old. Actually with him, the only care we take is making sure he isn't leaping from 4 steps up. Which he will DEFINITELY try to do because he's insane.

About the crate - I'd suggest keeping a crate for sleeping in your room. And then have another crate in your living space somewhere where you can pull it out and set it up to contain the pup without isolating him nonstop.

I don't crate at night (my bedroom is small enough to be a crate for both goldens), but I do have a crate stored under our living room couch for those evenings when I'm eating or cooking or whatever.

I would use a baby gate, but my daredevil pup climbs gates and leaps over the top of them. Hence why I've totally embraced using a crate with this guy.

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Always loved, never forgotten, all our previous boys -

I just got my two pups on December 22 and they were from different litters and I have a little story to share about stairs. Holly had and has no issueswith stairs, she can climb up and down them at a crazy speed - But I remember there was a small stair case in the room where I came to pick her up, so I am assuming those puppies played on the stairs alot. Now Buddy on the other hand, had NO IDEA what to do about stairs. he sat and cried at the bottom of them for a few hours before he gave them a go, he got the hang of climbing them in a couple days, but going down them, he still stops and thinks about how to do it.. LOL I am only talking about 2 stairs from our family room to kitchen. So far they have not shown alot of interest in our upstairs (2 story house as well) or basement, but we have avoided taking them there, and so far it seems to be working. enjoy your pup, it is such a special time.

I agree with Megora. You're going to need two crates. They can be found cheap on Craig's List. I bought one for the car for $30, and the guy only used it to fly his dog from Arizona when he moved to MN.


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Grasslands Liberty Belle "Bella" CGC (5-7-2012)

Attached is the picture of the stairs that I'm talking about. I could imagine it can be quite intimidating for a little puppy. I guess carrying him downstairs for the first couple of weeks wouldn't make it a learned behavior. I'm worried that he'll expect it every time! lol.

As far as two crates - I have a big size metal crate (42x28x26) that I'm going to use with a divider for down stairs and if I needed to get one for the bedroom I was looking only for a smaller travel crate that's around (26x18x18) that I can use to also take him to the vet. Is that too small? You think he'll outgrow that size too quickly? It's for $35 on Craigslist.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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R.I.P. My Beloved Brandy 12/24/95 - 4/2/12

That's pretty small. They grow really fast. Look at the picture of Bella below. That's your dog in a few short months.


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Grasslands Liberty Belle "Bella" CGC (5-7-2012)