# New to dogs - crate question



## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

Hi everyone! I wrote on here the other day: my fiancé and I are getting a GR puppy sometime in October. I've been doing lots of reading and I searched on this forum, but can't find the answer to this.

We will be crate training the puppy. At night, we'd like to have the puppy sleep in the crate in our bedroom (because we read that this was best). During the day when at work and when we can't keep an eye on her, I'd like to also have her stay in the crate. 

The thing is, my bedroom is carpeted, so other than at night, I wanted to have the puppy stay in the crate in another room that doesn't have carpet. Will it be confusing for the puppy to move the crate back and forth, or even to have one crate in our room and one in another room??


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

I'm not sure I understand why the crate being on the carpet is ok at night and not during the day??? You can just put a towel under the crate if you are worried about it marking the carpet. However, when ours were puppies, we kept their crates in another room always so they wouldn't disturb our sleeping ( or vice versa). Most will cry their first few nights.... they're getting used to the crate, missing their littermates,etc. Just don't fall into the trap of taking them out every time they cry...make sure they have pottied and are fine, and then leave them. They will learn to settle themselves down, just as with human babies. You will probably need to take them out during the night to pee, but soon they will be able to hold it thru the night.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I don't think moving the crate would be confusing. I have multiple crates, I stationed one in the main part of the house during the day and one in our bedroom for at night. I did not see any issues from it. The dog should be not "cooped" up in a dark room all the time you are gone. I liked my dog could see out windows from her kitchen spot. 

Just a thing we "discovered" when Teddi was young that worked great for us. Our crates are big dog crates, more sized for an adult dog. Little Teddi in this HUGE crate, looked awkward. My DH put a box inside her night time sleeping crate to make her space MUCH smaller, she could be snug, tight and secure just like she would be sleeping with her siblings. She slept pretty much through the night, right from the start (10PM to 4:30AM). I was amazed. Now we had to reduce the size of the box as she grew, or some crates have a partition you can do this with. Actually ours have the partitions we just had misplaced them. We only did this in her sleeping crate but she was the easiest overnight puppy we ever had, and I wonder if that made the difference. We made the space pretty tight. Her daytime crate she had all the space so she could move around and play. 

I am so glad you are doing your homework before you pup comes home. You must be so excited. I know I couldn't stand it.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

It is fine to move the crate or have two crates. We had the crate next to our bed at night but during the day (when we were at work) had it in the living room where it was lighter.


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> I'm not sure I understand why the crate being on the carpet is ok at night and not during the day???


I just figured at night we're there, so we'd hear it and be able to take it out to pee. But during the day we won't always be there.


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

Debles said:


> It is fine to move the crate or have two crates. We had the crate next to our bed at night but during the day (when we were at work) had it in the living room where it was lighter.


That's what I was thinking of doing.

I'm worried though because I have two cats, and I hope they won't traumatize the poor puppy during the day when we're not there, because one of my cats I know for sure won't be happy about having a puppy there...


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

A shower curtain as underneath layer between the crate and the floor for a little while protects the carpet nicely.


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## KonasRents (Jul 15, 2008)

I'd just keep the one crate in your bedroom and use it all the time - day or night. That's what we do and it works great. If you're worried about the puppy having an accident and it getting on the floor, I wouldn't worry. The bottom our crate has a plastic liner so nothing can get onto the floor from inside the crate. Best of luck!


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## Gwen (Aug 9, 2007)

I use the large crate but use the separator when the puppy is young. I keep the crate in our bedroom which is carpeted but the crate has a plastic tray that will catch any spills. 

You might also ask your breeder if you could leave a blanket, towel, toys, etc. @ her home for a few days with the puppies & their mother. When you come home with your new baby, there would be something comfortable and familiar. 

Welcome to GRF & good luck with your new puppy. You'll also find LOTS of information from some pretty amazing golden people!:wavey::wavey:


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## shortcake23 (Aug 15, 2008)

Thank you all for your advice and info


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## Sadiesdream (Jul 11, 2008)

Crte training is the easiest thing to do. Most crates come with a plastic tray that slides into the bottom of it so carpet or not shouldnt be an issue, what you do is like the other poster, is place a shower curtain below it just for extra protection. But honestly if you're training your pup right, theres no need to worry about it. They shouldnt ever use the bathroom in the crate unless they have a TRUE accident such as being sick or something. My dogs got out early in the morning and right when iget home, they know the drill. As for a puppy, you'll need to use the devider that comes witht he crate, this is important because lil puppies will use the crate like a litter box, they will poop in the front and sleep in the back, the devider keeps them from doing that, because they wont sleep in their own feces unless they're forced to do so. My main advice be really patient. Its going to be equivalent to having a new born baby.. except its hairy and has 4 legs.I want a puppy now


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