# Best place in house for the crate?



## lauramichelle (Mar 11, 2009)

My Dh and I are debating about the best place to put the new puppy's crate. Its big...so where it will fit is an issue. My house is pretty much an open floor plan with just the bedrooms closed off. Right now I have it set up in my bedroom. I thought it'd be better for night time so I can hear him if he needs to go out. But DH had a point. Our house is all hardwood floors...except the bedrooms....they are carpeted. The crate is a wire crate. Do you think the puppy would pee or poop near the sides of the crate and it would come out on the carpet? Do you think that would be an issue? Our crate has a metal pan underneath it so the bottom will be fine. Cleanup on hardwood would be easier than carpet. But I do have some black heavy duty plastic I could put around the outside edges on the floor just in case. The bedroom is the only place where he would get some quiet to nap during the day. So I thought that would be better. And we want him to sleep in our room as he gets older at night. 

We never had problems crate training my beagle with her crate on carpet. I think she only soiled her crate a few times. But we had a huskey/malamute mix puppy that had chronic diarrhea and would poop out of his crate every day. After 10 trips to the vet and nothing could be found wrong....the vet called it "huskey stomach"....apparantly stomach upset is a common in huskeys. So I think my DH is remembering that experience and doesnt want to repeat it. (He grew out of it by the time he was 5 months old) I dont think that will be an issue with the new GSD puppy. Our huskey/malamute mix didnt get the best start in life since the person we got him from didnt care for his animals right (we later found out he was inbred too...and he died at just past a year old). But we have no worries about that with our new GSD.

So would you put the crate in the open family area....or quiet bedroom?


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## gsdlove212 (Feb 3, 2006)

I always have puppies crated in my bedroom. It is easier to get them out quicker if they wake in the middle of the night needing to potty. Plus I feel like they feel more secure, being near their people. If you are worried about an accident hurting your carpet, you could always get a cheap-o clear vinyl shower curtain and fold it so it fits under the crate with about 6 inches or so sticking out around the bottom.


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## lauramichelle (Mar 11, 2009)

That's what I was thinking....just put some plastic under the edges of the crate just in case. I remember when we first got my beagle I spent the first few nights sleeping on the floor by her crate with my fingers poked through it for her to snuggle up to. After 3 nights she was fine sleeping on her own. I want him to feel safe and secure in his new home.


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

I'd say in the bedroom so you can hear the puppy in the middle of the night if it has to go potty. I also think it's just easier on the puppy to be near it's family. For the past 8+ weeks it's been sleeping with it's mom and siblings, I think it would be TOO much of a shock for it to suddenly be crated _and_ in a room all alone. 

If you're worried about the puppy peeing and it getting onto the floor... could you put a towel near the crate edges? Or one of those plastic bed sheets they make for kids beds? Anything that would help soak up the mess.



> Originally Posted By: laura929I remember when we first got my beagle I spent the first few nights sleeping on the floor by her crate with my fingers poked through it for her to snuggle up to. After 3 nights she was fine sleeping on her own. I want him to feel safe and secure in his new home.


I slept on the floor near Jerzey's crate, too. (This was mainly because we didn't want her crate upstairs in my parents house because it would put us farther away from the outside. So I slept downstairs with her, but it seemed to help.) In a place that she could see me so she knew that I was there.

Good luck with your new addition! Can't wait to see pictures!!!


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## Gunnarspack (Apr 7, 2009)

I have my pack crated in the family room right outside my bedroom so I can hear if they have any needs. It's hardwood, so cleanup is a snap. I don't recall ever having any issues about "overflow" from the pan...lol

BUT, I will caution you...I was worried about scratching the floor with the wire crate and so put a layer of heavy plastic under the crates and during the puppy stage, both my girls have maneuvered to be able to munch on the plastic. So I tried towels instead. Same result. And this is with giving them plenty of safe things to chew on. They are crated at night and when I'm not home (which is not for really long periods of time as I work from home). After that I made sure there is nothing whatsoever within snagging distance of either of their crates. 

I had to have my 2 year old on carpet at one point as a pup before I got hardwood, and I found for any messes, my Little Green Machine is able to handle anything very well. I'm really happy with it. My pups don't have "messes" other than the occasional muddy paw print from an escapee. I use it more to clean up after the occasional cat barf, lol, but I do know it was very effective on a brief bout of diarrhea one of the girls had a while ago.

Enjoy your new pup!!


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## caview (Jun 30, 2008)

Congratulations on getting a puppy!

When we were getting Xargos, we got two extra large crates for the house and one large for the SUV.

One house crate is in the master bedroom and the other one in the family room. 

We have hardwood everywhere in house including the bedroom. 

The puppy never had a pooping accident ever. 

He did pee in the house, but also didn't happen at night or in the crate ever -- only outside the crate when I missed the signs and also a very limited number of times. By the time he was 4 months he was fully house trained .. 

At night you'll be able to hear the puppy moving or making noise, and you'll know when to take him/her out. It won't be also happening for that long -- a week or two maybe and then the puppy will be able to sleep through the night..

Even though I understand that this is very individual and some puppies do go in their crate without warning, I would assume it is not happening, and once it happens I will then adjust as needed.

My overall recommendation is to not overdo it at first with all the worries and special preparations -- you'll always adjust as needed -- we bought so many kongs, food cubes, etc. and our puppy is pretty indifferent to them.. or we bought the playpen, but with me working from home, we only used it once and without the actual need..

Start slow and then built up..

When are you getting the puppy? Have you already selected yours?

Thrilled for you!

Regards, Tanya


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## lauramichelle (Mar 11, 2009)

We're supposed to get him next Saturday.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

We had 2 crates due to the layout of our house. One upstairs in the bedroom that we only used at night. The other was downstairs in the gated kitchen area where we could put him easily during the day when we were making dinner or something but still wanted him around.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

our house is small so there was no room for the crate in the bedroom. i wouldn't put the crate in our bedroom if it did fit. his crate is in the livingroom. i didn't worry about him over night
because one us got up to take him out every 2 hour.

i put large towels under his crate for noise and to protect the wood floor. my dog had two accidents in his crate. the towels underneath the crate took care of anything that found it's way outside of the crate.

once my dog was out of his crate at night he always followed
us to bed. when it was bedtime one of us would say "lets go to bed". then we would head to bedroom. he always followed.
now when i say "lets go to bed " my dog will go down the hallway
and lay on his bed that's located at the foot of our bed. i keep some towels on the floor on my GF's side of the bed because he likes to lay there also.

i can pat the bed or say "come on up Loki" or "up here" and he'll join us on the bed.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

DH has a good point. My layout is similar to yours, hardwood floors except in the bedrooms. After a few accidents in our bedroom, a few of the difficut ones to potty train were left outside the carpeting.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

pick up some scrap lino from the hardware store - locally, you can get Armstrong factory 6 X 12 pieces for under $30 (choose the heaviest roll as it will lie down much more smoothly at the edges without any taping etc); lino is much easier to clean up than plastic, is much more liquid-proof, can be bleach sanitized ...


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