first night in crate

I'm getting my puppy tomorrow   and was wondering if she will be alright to be her crate over night straight away, I've got a pen attached to the crate, so if I leave the crates door open, she can pop out to have a wee on the newspaper.
I was going to set my alarm to go off say every 4 hours to take her out too. Also would a normal towel be ok for her to sleep on ?

She should be fine in her crate. Try and leave a radio on low for her.
Make it a warm comfy place that she'll come to love. Covering the crate on 3 sides is a good idea too.

Setting the alarm clock to let her out every few hours would also be a great idea, this way she will quickly learn where to go for a wee, give lots of praise when she does go where she should.

You could also leave an item of your clothing in her crate with your scent on. You can buy nice soft fleece blankets from most pet stores which aren't too expensive

tracy boo wrote:You could also leave an item of your clothing in her crate with your scent on.  You can buy nice soft fleece blankets from most pet stores which aren't too expensive

Good idea, a blanket over the crate and a radio left on will also help

A crate is a fantastic way to keep your pup safe. We never left a radio on or put clothes in her cage but covering it is a good idea. As long as you toilet her late she should be fine. Also I would leave the pen side closed off, by allowing her to wander around she will leave you little presents for the morning and all you are doing is teaching her it's ok to go inside, this then becomes something you have to train out.
Going against other ideas again, I wouldn't get up after 4 hours. You have to condition her from day one. We got our pup in May and the only time she's had us up during the night was the first night because we got her toilet timings wrong.
Pete

Thanks for the advice, well everything was going great and I left her in the locked crate and left the room for 5 mins, she went crazy.But she's sleeping in the crate now with door open, I'm not sure how it's going to go over night, but hoping she will be calmer now she's had more time getting use to her new home:)

Hope it goes well

Ticking clock I have heard help with the loneliness alongside a cuddly toy, the will associate the ticking with the heartbeats of their now missing litter mates

Good luck you may be in for a restless night

Good luck I used a locked crate right from day one and had no probs at all, did have towel with Mums smell on it though which any breeder should suggest. Let us know how it goes

Dizz has a crate and initially we fed him treats in there and made it his safe place - even now if he is in a sulk he goes and hides away in there tucked in the corner - which strangely enough is right next to the radiator!!

The first night was ok, she went 4-5 hours without screaming the house down  she is going in her crate all the time for naps today and seems more settled, I didn't really introduce her slowly to the locked crate and know this was a mistake, so will do this with treats today

sunnylounger wrote:The first night was ok, she went 4-5 hours without screaming the house down  she is going in her crate all the time for naps today and seems more settled, I didn't really introduce her slowly to the locked crate and know this was a mistake, so will do this with treats today

Glad it's going well

Just be sure to make all her crate experiences positive and you will have  no problems  Lots of treats and nice chewy toys in there should do the trick!

Thanks, she's been doing really well the last few nights and sleeping 9pm-6am I left her to whine a few times in the crate and she seems to calm down after 20mins, but earlier I was in the other room, she woke up her crate door was open and she went crazy whining and screaming I need to leave her for a few hours next week, but can't see this happening yet.

Yes little at a time, sounds like she is coming on with it though

Sounds to me like your both doing really well

pups gorgeous

she will be fine

speaking of crates I need to get my Nico one