Crating Question
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Hey y'all,
I've been thinking about things as my research is progressing. In my past experiences with dogs, my family always crated them at night, and they were crated during the day (max 6 hours, three at a time) when we weren't home. In getting a Basenji pup soon, I realize crating will be necessary to protect the pup (not to mention my stuff) when I'm not home (i.e. at work). I work 8 hour shifts, but I'll be home for lunch to let the dog out. I'm planning on taking a week of vacation when I get the pup to help acclimate it to being gone for longer and longer periods of time (work it up over the week period).
My question, however, is what about at night? The pup will come crate trained from the breeder, but I'd like to give my puppy as much freedom as possible. Besides, B's are such cuddlebugs.. I think I'd love to have my dog sleep with me at night.
Any advice? Is crating during the day and at night too much? Would it mess with the pup to be crated during the day and sleep with me at night?
Thanks in advance!
=Nate -
Definitely let your pup be with you at night. That much crate time isn't good for any dog, let alone a pup. If you can handle it, it's also a great way to housebreak a pup…...but only if you're a light sleeper. With the pup I got at 7 weeks, I had her in a crate right beside my bed for about a week and took her out whenever she got restless. After that I moved her into my bed, and again took her out whenever she needed it. Housebreaking was a snap, almost no accidents and very quickly done. But that is not for everyone. :)
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If your pup is going to be crated during the day I would recommend leaving it out of the crate at night. 8 hours is a lot of crate time.
My guys slept with me from the day I brought them home. Watson was 4-5 months old and slept through the night right away. Menchi was 8-10 weeks old and she would need to go out once during the night (usually anywhere from midnight to 3 am depending on when we went to bed)… If you need to you could set an alarm.
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I agree with the others who have posted - if crated that long during the day, your pup should be pretty much free for the rest of the time. You want him to really be able to bond with you. If you are concerned about the rest of your place at night (a roaming puppy can get into trouble!) then close your bedroom door once the two of you hit the sack. This has worked well for us.
Kipawa is not crated often, but even with that, we are a true pack at night. Kipawa has slept with us since day one. He sleeps both on top of or under the covers. He manages to cram me into very little space on the bed, but it is a small price to pay for a warm basenji. :)
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I would also add that sleeping in the bed is a privilege. This should hopefully not be an issue for a puppy, but if a dog behaves inappropriately (e.g. growling at humans in the bed or other dogs) that privilege can be taken away. I have one dog that has lost bed privileges recently because she behaves inappropriately towards my other dog during the night. For the meantime, she now sleeps in a crate beside the bed the majority of the night. Besides that, you still want the crate to be a comfortable place that they can sleep anytime if needed.
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You'll be waiting a while for the pup to be 100% housebroken. I've found that it is easier to have them in the bed at night during housebreaking. They tend to sleep through the night and don't need to go out as much as when they are sleeping in a crate. That's just my personal experience but I think some others here had noticed that as well.
Edit: and yes it is easier to tell when they need to go out if they are in the bed, particularly if you are a heavy sleeper like I am. :D
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suki slept with me from the first day, and woke me up when she needed to go out - she whined; i woke up. it didn't take but a week or so before she was sleeping through the whole night. now i have to drag her out of bed in the morning to go out before i go to work.
