Should I let my Puppy sleep with me?

[Dakota29]

Hello Everyone, I have a 2 month old Bernese Mountain Dog named Dakota. Currently he stays in the kitchen that is blocked off by a baby gate. Dakota's crate is also in the kitchen which, he has no problem going in and out during the day in. But at night when we try to put him his crate and go upstairs he cries and cries, the next night we left the crate open and let him out in the kitchen he only cried for a little but then fell asleep. Am I not doing the right thing by not keeping him in his crate? I just feel horrible when I hear him crying? I would just let him sleep with me if I thought he could hold is bladder.:rolleyes:

[LabMomHouston]

He is so cute. I would have a hard time with that too. Both my dogs where crate trained and sleep in the crate at night. Well the puppy does but the 3yr old sleeps on the floor near our door. The puppy cried a the first few days but I left her in there and now she cries only when she needs to go out about 330 or 4 am. The trainer of the first obedience class I attended did not recommend it and recommended crate training. My puppy now goes in the crate on her own around 10 or 11pm and sleeps with the door open. So it does get easier.

[Dakota29]

Do you think it's ok to just leave Dakota in the kitchen with the crate open and have the wee wee pad out or is he not going to learn? We start puppy class in a week, how did it work out for you?

[kellynharley]

i don't let harley sleep with us as me and my hubby work nights plus once he's full grown he'll take up a lot of room and my bedroom isn't big enough for 3 of us lol :D He cried for the first few nights but once he realised no one was gonna come no matter how much he cried he soon settled down. We were both off work for the first 2 weeks we had him and now he sleeps on the couch with me during the day :D

[staffylover]

your puppy is so so cute what a pretty little face. i can see why you would want to give into him. The problem is if you let him get away with it he will do it all the time.

i crate my pupp at night time with the door shut she is only 11 weeks. if i were to keep the door open i would get up in the morning to no furniture. i must say that Rio loves her crate the door is always open when i am at home and she comes and goes as she likes. like the last reply i have to get up about 5ish to let her go to the toilet but this is a small price to pay for a good nites sleep.

if you can persevere with the gate and crate it will probably be worth it at the end of the day.

good luck

[LabMomHouston]

I do the same as staffy...I put her in the crate and when she whines I get up and let her out. Sometimes that 330. Sometimes its 4. Sometimes its at 530ish. Depends I guess on how early she goes to sleep. The first day or two she went on the blanket in her crate. I removed that and that eliminated her going inside the crate. Within about a week she was pretty much potty trained with maybe one or two accidents. I did write down the times I was taking her out and kinda made a schedule so that I knew about when she had to go at first. Now she sits at the back door and whines. I think the wee wee pad might be a good idea as long as you use it to help the idea of going outside eventually. If its just used as a crutch for the pup...it may take awhile to get the potty training down. My pup sleeps in our living room. My husband gets up really early and we could not keep him awake with the moving around and stuff she does at night inside the crate.

[lovethatdogg]

He is really cute!!! If i had a smaller less hoggish dog i would...but i think it increass risk of separation anxiety.;)

[Dakota29]

Please continue to right anymore other helpful hints you may have, and thank you for all the kind comments you have made about Dakota. :)

[lovethatdogg]

Well, you could have him sleep in a kenal in your room. Thats what i do. He can see me and does not feel totally abanded so he is fine.DOes Dakota cry???

[lovethatdogg]

Oh, sorry, just read that part! lol
Ya, i would definatley suggest putting him in your room, that way he sdoes not feel abanded at all!
good luck, keep us posted!

[Dakota29]

Yea he does cry alot when I put him in the crate and close the door but when I let him out of the crate and sleep in the kitchen with the baby gate blocking him off from the rest of the house he only cries a little bit and then stops. That's why I was asking if that is a good idea for him. He is also a very well behaved puppy and pretty much knows what he can chew on and not chew on. He also barks when he need to go outside.

[LabMomHouston]

I'd let him sleep in the kitchen then with the baby gate. Keep in mind if he crys and you go to him...he's learning that he will get outta the kitchen area everytime he cries. It's hard to ignore him but its hard to break bad habits too. He's suuuuper cute. He's so fuzzy.

[k9mania]

You want cute little Dakota to like the crate without you around. I have all of my borders sleep in crates until they are old enough to not chew things up and so I can train them to come in the room when asked. My oldest sleeps in the bed with me and will not let the others cross the plane of the doorway. However, when we are in the motorhome they all sleep in the beds because there is not enough room for all the crates. You also don't want the dog sleeping in your room or bed until you have established yourself as leader of the pack. I would have a hard time turning that little baby down but mine were cute too when they were little::)

[kellynharley]

Dakota is sooo cute :D

[lovethatdogg]

Yea he does cry alot when I put him in the crate and close the door but when I let him out of the crate and sleep in the kitchen with the baby gate blocking him off from the rest of the house he only cries a little bit and then stops. That's why I was asking if that is a good idea for him. He is also a very well behaved puppy and pretty much knows what he can chew on and not chew on. He also barks when he need to go outside.
Good, good than. If he does not have to many problems...but a few crys... i say go for it. After awile i am sure he will get used to it and not cry at all!:p :D :p :)

[katrina]

we have 3 small dogs our chihuahua sleeps in my daughters bed and the dauchund chihuahua mix sleeps on the floor next to my bed. I tryed to get him to sleep in the kitchen when we first got him but he was already 7 months and was used to sleeping with someone he keept me up all night crying and barking the first night. our newest a bostin terrier slaaep in the kitchen with a baby gate up he will stay in there untill he can go all night with out an accident and not run around at 3am trying to play. We got him at 8 weeks so it was easy to train him to sleep alone. My hubbie puts him out at 4 and i put everyone out at 630. the chihuahua mix wakes me up every morning at 530 to go out if he trys to go out before that i tell him to go back to bed because he just wants to bark with the neiborhood dogs.

[Wolfwalker]

I think it is a case of start as you mean to go on. Dakota is a cuddly little bundle at the moment, but what about when she is fully grown? :D

Nice choice of name BTW. ;) The Wolf in the centre photo in my siggy is called Dakota too.

[Dakota29]

Hey everyone again, Dakota and I here again. This time I have a question about training Dakota to walk with a leash. He starts to walk down the driveway and then starts to cry and just sit down or lay down (it's pretty annoying) Do you have any recommendations on leashes? Or training tips?

[LabMomHouston]

He's so cute I would just pick him up and carry him. :) But that wont last too long. Good point by the way wolfwalker! When Dakota is nearing 100lbs will he still be able to sleep in the bed with you???

I have never had the problem with my dogs. They are eager to go walking. How is he walking in the yard and around the house on a leash??

[Dakota29]

I haven't really tried to walk him in the house with the leash, the other day we went to Pet Smart and he was walking down the aisles with me with no problems. Then when we got outside of the store he froze up again. I think that he just so young that he gets frightened when he enters the big world outside. It took me about a half hour to get from the front door of the store to the car b/c i did not want to pick him up and win but thats just what happened.:rolleyes: I can't wait to start puppy class and hopefully that will help me a large amount. Keep the Posts going, I enjoy talking to you all.

[LabMomHouston]

Yeah that's probably what is going on. Especially if he walks down the isles without any problems. You may want to just walk with him in the yard abit at first until he realizes that he's safe as long as he is with you. Then make your way down the driveway. Take treats and praise him alot. When I started walking with Bella who is about 4 months now...I walked her on the street in front of my home and along the side. We didn't go far and she was allll over the place because she is so curious. She was smelling everything and walking behind me and in front of me and around me. We looked like goof balls I am sure. But she's better now. :) .

[kellynharley]

We just started Harley walkin on the street this week if u have a partner try getting them to walk in front of you and dakota calling him and maybe with a treat, that's how we got harley to walk outside of the garden. He's a bassset so when i took him out today on my own he just wanted to sniff everything and tried to follow everyone who walked past, when he realises that they're not gonna pet him he sits there lookin after them as if to say "Hello, did u not see me, i'm cute your supposed to fuss over me" his little but wiggles so much, think he's a people person :D

[LabMomHouston]

That is too funny. I would have to stop and pet him if I was walking by. He is such a cute guy.

[Dakota29]

He really is cute, how old is Harley?

[LabMomHouston]

I think harley is 11 weeks old if i remember right from the other thread. I wish he was close enough to me so I could meet him and his fam. They seem like a cool bunch and Harley seems to be such a character.

[kellynharley]

Labmom's right harley's 11 weeks old he'll be 12 weeks on monday :D Wish w e were close enough to meet u too, we're lookin into moving over to the USA :D He certainly is a charachter and it feels like we've had him forever :D

[PuzzledBulls]

We let Zero, and zero ONLY sleep in the bed at night. but durring naps, or laying down to watch movies in bed, we will let jigsaw and reba in as well. other than that, they MUST sleep in their kennels, or in the living room (With our livingroom door open for just incase potty times). Memphis, on the other hand can not, and i will not let him sleep in our bed. we had a main floor bedroom in our other house, and he wanted to sleep in the bed, and its VERY hard to sleep two people and a 180lbs great dane in a queen bed. now, we have our bedroom in the upstairs, and his hips will not let him do stairs well, so we dont let him upstairs. Zero has ALWAYS slept in the bed, because hes spoiled rotten. Hes my baby boy- ;) he is about 55lbs (bull terrier) he sleeps well in the bed, where as Jigsaw (60lbs bull terrier) was not alowed to sleep in the bed because she would pee in it as a pup, so now, being in the bed to her is a privlage and she hucklebutts (runs and jumps like a moron) so she is not in it for bed time. Reba (10lb chinese crested) i dont like her in there because i am afraid i, hubby or zero will squish her in the night. or she DOES tend to be sneaky and potty inside sometimes. so that would not be pleasent.
i think keep the kennel open idea is good, but dont let him have run of the whole house just yet. :) in my opinion, a giant breed, such as your bernese, should only be in the bed as a privlage, because of their large size, you dont want them to think that it is THEIR Bed...
Good luck with him. hes adorable

[LabpupsUK]

Oh he is the cutest bundle of fluff.

I am very anti-dogs on the bed for all the reasons people have said and it's bad enough sharing with my fella :) , but the main reason i don't let mine upstairs is I don't like dog fur in the bed and the thought if they picked up any fleas etc and bring them upstairs.....:eek: Now they both have their beds in the living room but generally sleep on the sofa.

As for the walking, mine I tried hard to keep inside so I never had to encourage them out, is there anything in particular that is at the end of the driveway that he doesn't like? Mine do anything for food (like most labs) so bribing them works well for most occassions, maybe by showing there is something nice like her fav biscuit at the end of the driveway rather than a trip to the vets or scary big dog would help.

Good luck and everytime he cries, stay strong and just remember he will soon be a very big dog, is it something that you would let him do when he is fully grown?

[CerbiesMom]

Brigit did exactly the same thing when we started walking her. She wouldmake it to the end of the driveway, then stop and cry like someone was beating her. What worked for us is we turned our backs on her when she would cry and ignore her. When she stopped we would crouch down at the far end of the leash and call her in the super baby voice you have just for the baby puppy. When she would take even one step forward, we would praise her like she was the smartest dog ever. She got over it in about a week.

[Weesha1717]

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h142/weesha1717/PJS-1.jpg


http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h142/weesha1717/PJS.jpg

We do :) They love sleeping with us in our bed, they don't have seperation anxiety :) Thats them in there PJ's, they wear thoes to help reduce the amount of hair on our sheets!

[LoveMyLabs]

He's still a pup so I'd say put the kennel in your room (preferably where he can see you) and he should be fine at night. Ours have always been crate free, but sometimes limited to one room at night. Tira was always allowed to either 1. sleep with us as a pup (now there isn't much room) 2. sleep on the couch or 3. sleep on her blanket in their room. Gunner was in a room with Tira at night until we moved the first time, then they were outside for a few months til we moved again and now they both sleep in the living room at night. Rebel, 6 mo old pup, was confined to a room at night with Gunner for awhile (and Tira was out) but he'd always find something to chew on or tear up at night and would poo or pee in the room out of defiance. We started feeding all of them at the same time in the morning, giving a snack later in the day and letting them all stay out in the living room. Rebel will sometimes come in the bedroom and lay on the floor beside the bed. If you aren't up by 7 or 8 (at least one of us up and in the living room) they'll come bug you til you get up. They get walked between 7 - 9am and until you take them out they'll all lay around napping. :) Very chilled, laid back dogs.


So, you could let him sleep with you, or in your room, and it shouldn't be a problem as long as he's quiet.