Letting our puppy sleep in bedroom at night after one week

[markyyyyyy]

Hi all,

We chose our puppy today (so cute!) and are collecting it in 3 weeks time.
A week after we move in, a group of my friends are coming up for two night out, and i do not really want to leave the puppy in the kitchen downstairs with my friends all night.

Would it be an error in terms of 'leadership' to let it sleep in my bedroom (on the floor in his crate) at such a young age? It would have only had 5 nights in our house before this weekend.

Many thanks for your advice

Mark

[Karlin]

Hi and welcome! What fun to be looking forward to a new puppy.

Here's the best advice I can give you -- forget whatever you have been reading that talks about 'leadership' and instead just enjoy yourself and use this wonderful, free book (After You Get Your Puppy) available as a download with one of the world's best trainers (and experts of puppies -- the first to really focus on puppy training). You can also download FREE the companion, Before You Get Your Puppy, which will be a perfect read right now as you prepare for the new arrival :

www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

and also see: http://www.dogstardaily.com/training...w-puppy-owners

Don't worry about having your puppy sleep in your bedroom (indeed many of us would advise it -- it can be very distressing for a young puppy to be yanked from its mother and siblings to a strange place then left alone all night long without the reassuring presence of the only people it now knows. Many trainers advise simply having the crate in your room at night anyway). Those other approaches are in the opinion of many leading trainers, hogwash and a very old and increasingly challenged view of raising and training a dog -- and one that IMHO is just so sad and makes the whole process out to be a grim battle for control by tiny puppies. Simply not true!! See

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/alpha-fallacy

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training...ical-alpha-dog

Today the Family — Tomorrow the World!

From an assortment of books, I have discovered the following cautionary “advice” for owners. Never let a dog stare or jump-up, never stand, crouch or kneel down in front of a dog, never look a dog in the eyes, or reach over his head, never loom over a dog and reach down around his neck, never get down on the floor or allow a dog to stand over you, never give a dog food treats or human food, never allow a dog to eat before the family or go out of a door first, never allow a dog on furniture, upstairs, in the bedroom, or on the bed, never let a dog mount your leg, never let a puppy mouth or bite, and never play chase, tug o' war, or play-fight with a dog. Instead, novice owners are routinely advised to enforce “elevation dominance”, “dominance down-stays”, physical restraint and discipline and especially, the “alpha-rollover” — grabbing a dog by the jowls and forcing him onto his back.

All of these recommendations destroy the fun and enjoyment of living with a dog, most recommendations are just too silly for words, some are counterproductive and others are downright dangerous.

The above behaviors and actions were misconstrued as the dog's intention of dominating people even though these behaviors and situations have absolutely nothing at all to do with social rank or aggression during dog-human interactions. Basically, if an owner is OK with the dog’s behavior, then there is no problem, whereas if the owner is worried about the dog’s behavior and can neither prevent nor control it, then there is a problem.

[Chuck]

OMG! I assumed that it was required that all Cavaliers sleep with you!!! We have a choice? The bed is for us humans?

[MomObvious]

Hi Welcome!!!

I also advise you to read After You Get Your Puppy. I have a 5 month old named Fletcher, he is my first EVER puppy. If you are going to have your puppy sleep in a crate at night it doesn't matter where the crate is. A lot of people here have their dogs in their bedrooms at night. My goal was to have Fletcher sleep in the bed with us at night AFTER he was potty trained. However, my puppy seems to enjoys chewing fabric, we have already had one indecent of going to the vet for x-rays! Yeah puppy proof as best you can but remember SUPERVISION!!! Fletcher sleeps in an X pen type area (kinda like pictured in Dunbar's book) off our kitchen, which for me works out great because he had access to a doggie door. He is also crate trained, we keep the crate in our living room where all the action is. Because of his chewing habits, Fletcher will be sleeping in his x-pan area until he can be trained out of/out grows this dangerous behavior I hope.

Melissa

[My Henry Boy]

Our Henry was in his crate in the living room, but he was waking us all up at 5:30 every day. As soon as he was pretty reliable with going to the bathroom, he's been sleeping in my bed, curled up right along my legs.

[Karlin]

OMG! I assumed that it was required that all Cavaliers sleep with you!!! We have a choice? The bed is for us humans?

yes and there is that angle to the question too..

Personally I would keep young puppies in the bedroom at night til they reach the age where they easily sleep through the night (as you WILL need to be getting up at 3am or so to take your new puppy outside for a few weeks, almost certainly -- they cannot hold themselves all night). At that point I'd likely either keep them in the bedroom if you wish (the 'dominance' stuff is ridiculous -- it's simply a decision on whether you like having your dog in the room, or not. Lots do!) or set up a system as described in After You Get Your Puppy. But if you want your puppy, in that set-up, in the kitchen from the start, I'd buy a Snugglepuppy or similar to give the pup some comfort in the first few weeks of being entirely alone at night.

I used to have the dogs in my room where they slept on the bed. With a whole posse of dogs, though, it is easier for me to sleep well if they aren;t all there, shifting around all night, so they sleep in pairs in large crates in the next room. It wasn't hard to transition them (and they were already crate trained and are crated/penned in home boarding when I am away) so it wasn't a big shift. When I am out at my partner's house (about half the week) they sleep in a puppy pen in the kitchen, in two dog beds. So it is nonsense that they will think they run the house simply because they sleep in the bedroom or must be there from the start or will never be able to switch. I don't know why some books and trainers still peddle this idea. Owners simply need to put in the time to train their dog to do what they'd like and don't like.

[sunshinekisses]

All my dogs sleep in the bedroom. I made the mistake of letting my male cavalier sleep in bed with us when he was a little pup, and now at 2 years old he still is sleeping in our bed. Unfortunately now that he is older he requires more sleeping space.

[Love my Cavaliers]

My SM dog, Riley sleeps in the bed with us, but she sleeps at our feet and never moves all night. Oliver sleeps in our room but in his own bed. Maddie and Oz sleep together in a separate room. I could not sleep with them. They like to sleep pressed up against me or on top of me so that I can't move. I sleep far better without them in the room and they sleep just fine in the room by themselves. i keep two dog beds plus a really big crate with the door open in there. Usually they sleep together in the crate. But they're so adaptable. When they're at the pet sitters, they're all in crates at night and are just fine. When I'm out of town, my husband doesn't like to sleep with any of them in the bed or even in the room (they snore) so they all go in the room where Maddie and Oz sleep- and they're all fine.

[DZee]

Our ( 12 lb. Cavalier) Wrigley and our ( 108 lb. labrador) Zeb both sleep in our bedroom.
Wrigley stays there all night..but Zeb gets too hot..and will go lie on the cold floor in the kitchen.
It's not so bad w/ Wrigley in the bed...but sometimes w/ Zeb ..and my hubby..there is little room left for ME !

p.s. I might add that Wrigley was not allowed to sleep in the bed till he was completely potty-trained. He did however sleep in the room ( in his crate/pen)...and was quite happy there. He still goes to nap there at times.

[Stacy De]

Congratulations on your soon to be new addition!!!

Cody started out in his crate next to the bed from day one. It was easier on me to get up during the night to get him out. As soon as he was sleeping the entire night thru we let him sleep in our bed. I have to admit he has taken over my pillow, he sleeps on most of it, along with sleeping on my forehead or sometimes wrapped around my neck. Never thought I would be able to sleep like that, but somehow it works for the 2 of us My husband just laughs and says he is glad its my pillow and not his that Cody picked!!