# "Daytime" bed vs crate bed confusion



## T-bear (Jan 31, 2014)

Just brought home our pup March 1 (she is 9 weeks today) and primary focus is crate. 

First night went ok. Last feed 10pm (staying on breeder schedule for first week of 1/4 cup 4 times / day), bed at 11. Howled until 12am ish and slept until 3 for outside pee. Back in Crate and howled for 30 mins before settling down until 5:45. Back out for pee and then up. First feed at 7. 

Second night, crying lasted 45 at first and then another 15 after 3 am potty break. Up at 4:45 again, went pee, back in crate and then up at 6 when we got up. 

Last night, well......cried for 2 hours and back out at 3 am, howling again for 30 mins before settling back down. Howled at 4am for 10 mins back down on her own. Woke up at 5:30 howling took her out, she went and then back in crate attempted but howled until 6 and we tried to wait for a break and got her up. 

Our crate and her daytime bed in in close proximity. She sleeps well in her bed during the day, very well. Just wondering if we should remove the daytime bed and leaving the crate as only option for a sleeping bed?


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

> Just wondering if we should remove the daytime bed and leaving the crate as only option for a sleeping bed?


Yes. Make the crate a good place to be. Place kongs with peanut butter in it and have her chill out inside as she tries to get the peanut butter out. Just leave the door open.

The "Search box" on right upper corner of the forum screen is your best tool. Type in "crate" for hours of reading or any other puppy issue. Years of reading available at this point with viewpoints from around the world.

Have fun and good luck with your new red bird dog.

RBD


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## trevor1000 (Sep 20, 2013)

Put the bed in the Crate?
Lets have a pic or 3?


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## getsome (Oct 14, 2013)

What we have been doing with our 9wk old (had him about a week) is confining him to a small play pen with his crate in it. When I know he's tired and he's empty, I just plop him in there with a Kong or favorite chewy item. He might protest with a little whimpering, but he sees that we haven't abandoned him and he'll curl up in the crate on his own. Once he was really comfortable relaxing and sleeping in there with the door open, I started to close it on him. We went from whiny and upset every couple hours at night to a full 10hr of uninterrupted sleep last night.
At this point, I don't see a need for a secondary day bed when you may as well be getting the benenfit of positive association with the crate for all those wonderful daytime naps. Randomly put treats in there and keep the crate as an awesome place to be.
Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress.

~B


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## gem2304 (Mar 7, 2013)

Our pup is 15 weeks old now and from the first day we have used the crate as his day bed as well as night.

If he fell asleep anywhere other than the crate then we would put him in the crate so he associated it as his safe place. You will also find it helpful in the weeks to come when you pup gets overtired, you can put her in the crate and close the door to give her some rest time.

We can now leave our pup in his crate while we are out of the house and he is quite happy in there but i think it would have been a different story if we hadn't have got him used to it early on.


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## T-bear (Jan 31, 2014)

Thanks all! Removing the extra daytime bed has made huge improvements. Likely causing confusion and made difficult to get her to check out and spend time in the crate during the day. She went in the crate on her own yesterday for naps and slept the best last night.....even had a 5 hour stretch which is great for 9 weeks. She started whining and howling last night when my wife put her in for the night. My wife somewhat just starred her down, no verbals, and she stopped and laid down and fell asleep. Same thing at 1 am and it worked! Now for some daytime testing and slip out of the house for awhile. Need to get that built up before return to work.


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