Crating an 8 week old puppy overnight

We are collecting Lois in a week and we are preparing things before we collect her. We already have Sally who is good as gold at night and sleeps. Sally has never been crated and has a bed in the kitchen/diner. We are thinking of crating Lois in the same room overnight to keep them apart until they get used to each other. We have never used a crate so I am wondering what is best to do through the night? How have others introduced a crate to a new puppy? I have read a lot on crate training and how to get them to see it as their 'den' but I'm wondering how often to get up in the night or whether to just get up early morning? Will the puppy get used to me coming down at night to let her out? I want it to go well and we will probably get rid of the crate once she is house trained. The last thing I want is a soiled crate and a dirty puppy. Or should we use the pads at night and just buy a bed?

She will probably cry or whine at first...so be prepared! This will last a couple days at most. At 8 weeks she will probably need to go potty once or twice a night. If you hear her whining in the middle of the night that's probably why. I think mine were able to "sleep through the night" at around 12 weeks.

About your question; will she get used to it? IF you play with her in the night, then she may continue to want to get up and play. Keep it very short and sweet; Pick her up, take her outside, say the command and do not fuss over her. She'll get the idea that if she wakes up she has to do her business and then goes right back to bed. After she has the ability to hold it, she'll rather sleep in her nice warm bed than wake up and go outside!

You will definitely need to take her out at least once -- though once is usually fine, around 3 or 4 am. You'll need to set the alarm for this, not rely on her whining to be taken out. All pups progress at different rates, so she may soon be able to hold herself or you may need to get up for a few weeks to take her out. Otherwise she will soil the crate and this is unfair to her and also puts back successful housetraining. The goal is to never let her soil the crate. If you haven't crated before, then do get some formal advice on doing this as there's a right and a wrong way. I recommend getting Dr Ian Dunbar's Before and After Getting your Puppy right away (Amazon.co.uk has it), and also to get Shirlee Kalstone's book on housetraining (ditto). There are also links with further info in the Library section but if you are starting with a puppy that young, you really should have a general guide like Dr Dunbar's which will prove endlessly useful and help avoid problems.

I'd put the crate close to where your older dog sleeps. It definitely helped with the bonding of my two (8-1/2 and 5 mo.). It took about a week or two for the 8-1/2 yr. old to "adjust."

Holly slept in her crate when she first came here at 10 weeks. Since we don't have another dog, I put her crate on my side of the bed in the master bedroom. I treated Holly just as I would a small child -- you can't expect them to want to go to bed if the've napped all evening, etc. I also found a night-time routine really helpful. Each night I would make sure Holly had a couple of good play sessions and went out to potty frequently. Then I put her in her crate and also used a white noise machine. She slept through the night immediately and has ever since. I'm a bit of a night owl, so I didn't put her in her crate until around midnight and she usually slept until 6 or 7 without wanting to get out to potty. Now (at 8 months) she sleeps from 10:30 or 11 pm until I take her out to potty around 7 or 8.

Good luck and have fun with your new baby!!!!!

Thank you all for your kind words of advice. I have Dr. Ian Dunbar's book on order from Amazon I just hope it arrives in the next few days in order for me to study it before we collect Lois on Sunday. I think I will initially get up twice in the night for the first few nights then if she is ok I'll reduce to one. I remember it being difficult the first few weeks because we'll have to stay in the garden until she's completed Vaccination programs. Once we're out on daily walks I'm sure she'll sleep fine. What size crate do you use for an 8 week old? I was thinking 21" crate? Won't use as an adult so only needs to be small

I used the vari kennel size 200. It was big at first, but I put a snuggle kitty and a couple of small blankets in the back half of the crate to take up some of the extra room. I sent these to Holly's breeder before she came to live with us so that they would have her mom's and siblings' scents on something here. I really think you'll do just great -- all of this early preparation you're doing will pay off! Be sure to post lots of pictures when the new baby arrives