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Silly question

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Ok so I know this is probably ridiculous. My 7 month old girl Lettie is crate trained. She sleeps in her crate in our bedroom, every night since she was 8 weeks old. She doesn’t whine, doesn’t resist, she wants to go in at bed time. We don’t allow her on any furniture ever (we even resisted puppy couch snuggles). But it’s impossible to completely resist sleepy puppy snuggles so we nap with her on the living room floor sometimes. We just put down a fluffy comforter and a couple couch pillows and take a nap.


We have been joking about have a “puppy sleepover”. We talked about making our little floor bed in the living room one weekend and letting her sleep with us all night. I keep saying no because I don’t want to mess up her crate training. Are we crazy?? Is anyone screaming “no, bad idea” at their computer screen, or are you shaking your head at my silly question?
 

Smokeycat

Well-Known Member
By this point she is crate trained and missing a night is unlikely to have a negative effect on that. I stopped crating one of my dogs when he was 6 months as he was trustworthy both in house breaking and chewing. Around his second birthday we started having behavior issues so I started crating him again until I was able to figure out and rectify the cause. He wasn't happy about it but he did accept as if we had never stopped. If you are willing to deal with the after effects of sleeping all night on the floor I don't see anything wrong with the puppy sleepover.
 

scorning

Well-Known Member
I started to let my Dane sleep in our bed when he was 6 months old. While he prefers to sleep with me, he is also ok sleeping on a dog bed or in another room when told to. This might happen if my husband's back in hurting or when we travel and dogs aren't allowed on the furniture. So I think this should be fine as long as your dog listens to you, which is sounds like she does. If you are having any behavior issues, I would wait until you have that resolved.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
I'd go for it... but... be warned, she might just get up and put herself to bed in her crate, leaving you on the floor puppy-less! HA!

I don't see any problem with a night or more out of the crate - dogs are pretty resilient, and if the crate remains a calm, welcoming place to go, I don't think she'd mind going back in the next night... or if she did, the complaints would be short-lived (as long as you don't give in).
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Thank you for all the responses! We are going to try it tonight, I think she will do fine. Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)
 

Bailey's Mom

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
Okay...I am the dissenting opinion. Hell hath no fury like a puppy (dog) scorned. Believe me when I tell you, the seductive lure of puppy cuddles with soon become an addiction. Your pup will demand...revolt, and attack your bed because, as much as you enjoy the comfort and love and snuggles...SO DOES YOUR PUP. It is addictive for both human and dog. Look at it this way, Mastiffs generally are born into large families...10-15- or more even. Mine came from a 15-pup litter, and she missed the hub-bub and noise and warmth of the pack. I was susceptible to her puppy whiles, and even though my husband said an emphatic "NO!", I said, I'm just holding her on my chest while I lie on the bed, but...well, you fall into a blissful sleep and the puppy paws..and then butt and tail hit the bed and then it's...OVER! The dog owns you and the bed and you are toast and your human love life takes a hit (read: hit man/puppy)

Oh, and once she got the paws on the bed, she hated her crate. She wouldn't let us sleep, she kept whining and shuffling around.... We gave up. You will too. So, unless you have a king-size bed, you are done like a dinner.

Years ago, I wrote a thread about "Cheating on your Mastiff." Yes, we slunk around while the baby slept blissfully in our marital bed so that we could make whoopy! And, years later (4 years later) we are still cheating on our Mastiff.

Understand...if it looks like a bed and it feels like a bed and it is close proximity to you (snuggled up on your side like a warm puppy blanket), you are writing a script for your inevitable expulsion (whichever one is not the primary dog-love-interest) and the puppy will take over the bed with its Master/Mistress.

Bailey is 120 lbs...she takes up the majority of our double bed and she keeps me on the edge. There is no room for my husband.... He is Banished! Now, of course, his snoring didn't help (but Bailey snores, too!) Now, when I'm away working late, Bailey goes and snuggles my husband.... She's a snuggle puss and she needs her humans to hug. My husband is addicted to her, too.

Abandon hope all yea who snuggle here.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Bailey’s Mom, I already worry too much! Haha.

I was thinking this is different since we are going to have a puppy sleep over on the floor. She still isn’t allowed on the bed! And believe me that was hard for me, I tried to convince Matt. “I’ll just hold her while she sleeps, she won’t even know she is on the bed”. Luckily he is as stubborn as Lettie and I. Now she is 85 pounds and far to heavy to hold!

Also, another thing that makes me think (hope) this is different. She likes to snuggle, but only on her terms. If I just plop on the floor and cuddle with her sometimes she will “grumble”. Very clear “hey I’m not growling but you’re really annoying me”! If I lay on the floor to nap, most of the time she will curl up by my legs or stretch out by my side. But if I get too wiggly she will get up and lay on her bed in the living room, she doesn’t like to be bothered too much.

Now, I know we can be sucked in by her puppy magic. But the PLAN is to only do this occasionally when we both have the next day off of work. So that means every other weekend, max. Dogs I have had in the past had me wrapped around their pinky toe. But with Lettie, I went in knowing that I had to be strong and resist all puppy-eyed temptations. I did a lot of research on the breed before we found her, and I took it seriously. She is the first dog that I haven’t allowed on furniture, to sleep with me, or to eat as they please, she’s also the first dog I have crate trained. I feel like it’s no coincidence that she is also the most well behaved puppy I have ever had :) so I’ll keep sticking to my guns, it pays off!!
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
We had our puppy sleep over on Thursday. We laid out the blankets and watched TV, she went to her bed in the living room and fell asleep. She woke up around midnight and I saw her little butt start wiggling. It’s like she woke up, saw us and “omg, they’re still HERE! Cuddle time!!” Then she plopped down right in between us and soaked up all the love and cuddles. She was so so happy!

My boyfriend wanted to do it again the next night but I thought of Bailey’s Mom and said no way. Haha. I told him if we do this we have to have rules. Never twice in a row and never more than once a week. At least until we are sure she will accept her crate afterwards every time. :) She has been doing great every night since, straight into her crate like usual.