# 5 month old puppy, where to sleep during the night?



## Apesan (Aug 23, 2013)

Our current pup (7 months old) sleeps in her crate but she loves it so its not a big deal. When we go to the shore or travel somewhere, she sleeps in our room, not in a crate and she's fine. 

Our last dog never really took to the crate and she slept on the floor in our room. I'm sorry, but I don't remember what age she was when we moved her out if the crate but it was prob around 6-7 months. She probably could have transitioned sooner had we not moved when she was 5 months old but she had a transition period with housebreaking in the new home. 

Good luck!


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

The biggest concern I'd have for leaving a puppy out of a kennel is if they'll have an accident in the house or destroy something. If you're certain your puppy won't do either one then you can leave them out. But be prepared to wake up to a chewed pair of shoes, poop on the floor, etcetera if it does not go perfectly.


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## bemyangell (Mar 4, 2007)

Our pup slept outside the crate at 4 months old. She did great. We kept her in our bedroom with the crate door open. She slept on the floor.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I think Beamer was around that age when I just left the crate door open at night and he could choose where to sleep. Now, of course, he sleeps in bed with me  My new pup, at 13 weeks, is now still sleeping in the crate with the door shut at night.


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## dezymond (May 3, 2012)

It's not a matter of age, but a matter of how well trained they are. At 5mo, Maverick was ready to sleep outside his crate, but I kept with the crate til he was about 9mo. I know of a dog that's 3yrs now and still can't be trusted out of his crate for the night. All comes down to how well they behave pretty much on their on and if they're potty trained.


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

Around 6 months we moved our puppy to a huge wire crate. I think it's big enough for two Great Danes. It's large enough that we have a large dog bed on one side and no bed on the other side. I'm pretty sure he was too hot in the plastic kennel we had him in before. Officially, it was large enough, but he likes to sprawl when he sleeps.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

If your pup does not whine and bark in the crate - how do you know he does not like it? I think if he cannot be trusted unsupervised over night and might still have accidents, the crate is the place for him to be right now.

My pup is 7 months old and he has been 100 percent housebroken since he was 4 months old but he is still sleeping in his crate. I am trying to transition him but he ends up going into his crate on his own after a while. 
He falls asleep in the living room, we go to bed and a couple of hours later,he visits us in bed, then he goes into his crate which is in our bedroom. I try to leave the crate open but most of the time, he will come and stand up at my bed again an hour later. So, in order to get some sleep I shut his crate when he goes back in. 
I know he will get the idea eventually that crate door open does not mean I have to wake up mommy all the time just to say "hi".


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Hank stopped sleeping in his crate around 8 months. At night we would put a gate across the bedroom door opening to keep him in the room with us.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Shala started sleeping on my bed at night just before her 5-month birthday. She was never a crate-lover, and we had started morning cuddles on the bed. I knew she would love being out of the crate at night - and she did. I made sure my room was totally puppy-proofed - nothing on the floor she could chew if she got up - and I baby-gated the door (I still do). She was fully house-trained, and I knew that would not be an issue. I wouldn't un-crate if you are worried about accidents at all.


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