To crate or not to crate...

[Niki01]

Our little girl is only 9 weeks old and seems to wake up every hour just so someone will hold her. Very needy little girl. She sleeps better when on Jacobs stomach, as she did last night on the recliner. So he just wants to go ahead and let her sleep with us tonight.
I know everyone says to get her used to the crate now but Im a grumpy pants in the middle of the night and it is hard getting her out and holding her and putting her back. We kept taking her out but she didn't have to go to the bathroom. She just wanted love.
So, am I completely mad/crazy/nuts/insane to just let her sleep with us?

Please share your experience. Did they do better in the crate after time? Who didn't put their pup in the crate and how do they do now?

Thank you!!

[Pugs-R-MandyBait]

The DappleDuo much prefer sleeping on and with me ... but they also enjoy their time in their crate for quiet time. Since I work full time, it is important that they be comfortable in that crate.

Housebreaking is a short-term process .. and in bed, or in a crate, you are going to be getting up. Puppies who fall from a bed are highly prone to injury of the limbs and back. The crate is much safer for her right now ... and the crate can be right beside you with a smelly t-shirt the two of you have worn ... to comfort her.

[Hellas]

My advice is this: Remember that she is a little baby, that she was just separated from her family and that she is only just getting used to her new environment. She needs lots and lots of closeness and affection. Providing this will make her feel safe and will help build the bond between you. Unless you are a heavy sleeper and worry about crushing her, I would not hesitate to let her sleep in the bed with you. Most pug puppies I know do. Unless she walks around a lot at night or likes to sleep at the foot of the bed, I don't she's likely to fall off the bed. Our pugs have always wanted to sleep close to our faces.

When Winston (our first pug) arrived, hubby had some crazy notion that he wasn't going to sleep in the bed with us. The first couple of nights, I spent on a mattress on the floor with baby Winston nestled under my chin. After that, he slept in his own bed, next to us, where I could easily caress him if he woke up during the night. He has never been crated at night. I would always wake up the minute he woke up in the night and I would take him out.

I don't know why so much emphasis is put on crate training for house training purposes. Our dogs have never been crated except for car travel and they are perfectly house broken and have been since they were 5 months or so. The key is to take the puppy out very often and always after feeding, sleeping and playing.

[Pugs-R-MandyBait]

*I don't know why so much emphasis is put on crate training for house training purposes.*

Because it works and offers the puppy a safe space of their own.
That your dogs were never crated is terrific ... but that is an exception and not the rule.
Any Vet's office would be glad to share how many legs they set from puppies falling of beds.

[CSollers]

Our Pugs have always slept in the big bed with us. I couldn't sleep without them! Ray is crated when we leave the house because he acts up sometimes.

[Snifter]

A crate by the side of the bed is good. Get one with a door in the top so you can hoik puppy out without having to get out of bed. That said - if you respond to every demand for attention throughout the night you are making a rod for your own back. Mine were both crated or in a pen and I would set the alarm to get up in the middle of the night for a potty break. They sleep in their own room and always have. I did try having them in our room but Toddy especially is very vocal in his sleep and I kept getting woken up thinking he needed to potty while he was snoozing away having a lovely dream.

[Tinker's mom]

Tinker has slept with us from day one. She was 12 weeks when we got her and we are both retired. My husband goes to bed late and I get up early so we never had to get up in the middle of the night to let her out. We used the crate for traveling and she went into it when we went out so she couldn't get into something that would hurt her. The crate is now her safe place and occasionally she goes in there during the day for a nap. She still goes in the crate when we go out but she goes voluntarily and we leave the door open.If you're a light sleeper and sure she won't fall off the bed, let her sleep with you. You still need to crate train for other reasons.

[Hellas]

*I don't know why so much emphasis is put on crate training for house training purposes.*

Because it works and offers the puppy a safe space of their own.
That your dogs were never crated is terrific ... but that is an exception and not the rule.
Any Vet's office would be glad to share how many legs they set from puppies falling of beds.

It may be an exception in the US, but is the norm here. Where I'm from, it's actually illegal to crate dogs except for travel, competition and at the vets. Yet, every dog I know is housebroken.

I'll have to trust you about the broken legs. I've never heard of this, nor encountered it. I guess it depends how you sleep, and how much the puppy moves around during the night. Whenever he slept with me, Winston would just nestle into my neck or chest. I'd wake up the second he woke up.

[shaynapug]

I crate until pups are housebroken...and cannot get hurt jumping or falling off the bed! As soon as it's safe...they are brought to the bed and NEVER leave it! My older guys have been incontinent and I've put panties on them and human wee wee pads underneath them!

I am a very strong believer in crate training! I use it for house breaking......for when I've had enough biting and the pup isn't listening so I don't get mad. I use it when I go away (Storm and Ben still go in crates when I'm not home.....I worry Ben will jump a gate!) All my dogs go in and out of their crates during the day as I leave them open....

I think it's VERY important for a dog to be comfortable in a crate! If left at a vet or a kennel..they are crated! If they are injured, crate time is often needed!!!!! My sister learned the hard way with her beagle....and her two new pups have a crate and are put into an xpen when she leaves now!

[Hellas]

Just to be clear, I absolutely agree that dogs should be crate trained. It's important they learn to relax and be comfortable in a crate. Both my dogs are. But once they're used to the crate, I don't use it for anything except transportation.

I hear what you're saying and I totally respect you being safety conscious. To me it just feels strange to put a young puppy alone in a crate at the time when he needs closeness and comfort the most, i.e. when he's still tiny and has just left his mom. If I was worried that the pup might fall off the bed, I'd much rather just sleep on the floor for a while to be honest.

I guess I don't understand the logic behind using a crate for toilet training. When they're young, puppies can't hold it in, crated or not. So being in a crate is not going to stop the puppy from peeing or pooping. At worst, it's going to teach him that it's normal to poo or pee where you sleep, which to me is the opposite of what you're looking for. That's how see it. I'm sure I'm influcenced by the fact that the use of crates is frowned upon in my country.