# What do you have in your dog's crate?



## fish6634 (May 11, 2009)

We recentley brought home a 8 week old border collie (girl). The first night she cried all night so we bought a crate for her to go in of a night but i am wondering apart from the obvious what you have in your dog's crate? We have her bed, water bowl (which she keeps tipping over and flooding her crate), food bowl, toys and try and squeeze a pee mat in there. Can any one advise on this? Am i over crowding the crate? Also to try and help with sleeping i have a ticking clock, leave the light on (living room), put a blanket over the top and leave the radio on. However last night after most of the night crying i went down and turned the light and the radio off and she seemed to settle, until 6am. I am normally up at 6am so its not a problem, sorry for a long post but any help would be appreciated 

Thanks Graeme


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## Guest (May 12, 2009)

fish6634 said:


> We recentley brought home a 8 week old border collie (girl). The first night she cried all night so we bought a crate for her to go in of a night but i am wondering apart from the obvious what you have in your dog's crate? We have her bed, water bowl (which she keeps tipping over and flooding her crate), food bowl, toys and try and squeeze a pee mat in there. Can any one advise on this? Am i over crowding the crate? Also to try and help with sleeping i have a ticking clock, leave the light on (living room), put a blanket over the top and leave the radio on. However last night after most of the night crying i went down and turned the light and the radio off and she seemed to settle, until 6am. I am normally up at 6am so its not a problem, sorry for a long post but any help would be appreciated
> 
> Thanks Graeme


Much the same in Holly's crate, Soft bed with blanket her teddy and a chew toy, food bowl and water bowl a hang over the bars one so that it can't be tipped over. I have never left the light on or the radio, and do not cover the crate. We had her at 10 weeks and she went in there from day one and never had a problem with her she has always slept quietly all night about 11pm to 7am and she is now 16 months old.


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## Guest (May 12, 2009)

There are water bowls you can buy for crates that they cant tip over as it screws to the crate.!
If shes going in there to sleep them she really doesnt need alot of toys maybe just a little teddy or something like that.
Also of a night time you may want to take food and water out of her cage as she will be eating and drinking constantly and then needing the toilet.
We dont leave the light or radio on at night if we pop out we do but at bed time we leave the room dark with a blanket covering the cage.
All i would put in of a night would be bedding and maybe a little teddy.!
I dont no what other think about water and food in crate at night time but i have never put food or water in with mine at bed time
kerry x


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## Guest (May 12, 2009)

We leave her food dish in there at night but it is always empty, but always give her access to water during the night.


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## fish6634 (May 11, 2009)

I bought her one of the bowls that hang on the side of the crate and she manages to tip that over, although it isn't the screw on one.


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## Guest (May 12, 2009)

fish6634 said:


> I bought her one of the bowls that hang on the side of the crate and she manages to tip that over, although it isn't the screw on one.


Ours isn't the screw on type, where have you got it hung it needs to be on the oposite side to the bed. What size crate have you got?


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## fish6634 (May 11, 2009)

We have got the 91cm by 61cm crate and i have put it away from her bed and slighty raised so its not on the floor of the crate


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## Christina0 (Mar 8, 2008)

Hi

I have a very excitable boxer boy, he is 23 weeks now, he was crate trained the moment we brought him home at 10 weeks. 
He has the bowls which sit in a bracket and fix to one of the narrow ends of his crate. He has vetbed in the bottom, and has never weed or had a poo in his crate. 

If we have to go out, he gets a kong in his crate stuffed with tasty titbits, something to chew on, and a great tip I got from someone while he is teething, is rope tuggy, I put it in the freezer and give it to him frozen, he loves it, seems to sooth his sore mouth.

He howled and barked the first couple of nights, i think it was too quiet for him, since he came from a house with 8 other pups and 3 adult dogs, so we just left the radio on with low volume and the problem was solved. he always gets fed in his crate, so he treats it as somewhere nice to go, the door is always open day and night, except when we are out. We have started to experiment this week by leaving him out the crate when we are out for short periods, he had a little chew on an plant ornament thing yesterday, but he is teething at the moment, and small setbacks have to be expected, i just gave him something else suitable for him to mouth.


Fingers crossed he doesnt fancy anything expensive to chew lol


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## karen09 (Mar 30, 2009)

a puppy training pad on one half and a blanket on the other. dont put in water as he just tips it over and the breeder said not to either. he has his elephant which has a tennis ball as the body.

he used to have a top of mine in for the first week. i cover him over with two towels and shut the curtains for the light in the morning. and he sleeps from 10-11pm to 6-7.30am.

so far so good the only time he poos in cage is if he has a late meal and after his first jab


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

My dogs have a comfy bed, a bone and a toy.
No water as they are more likely to pee the bed during the night I think.
I never put newspaper of wee pad in crate as I think it confuses them into being alowed to pee in there, and had our pup in the room with us the 1st few weeks after the rest of the litter left so i could hear if he woke during the night- he didnt.

x


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## daisymay789 (Feb 21, 2009)

I'll start by saying I'm absolutely no expert lol . . . . but anyway, Tilly has her blanket and a chewable toy, no food or drink. When she was new (she's 4 mnths now) she had a blanket and teddy that had been with her mother and I think that helped enormously as she was fine after a couple of nights. 

I'm finding the light mornings a pain though as she wants to get up at 5


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## james1 (Sep 21, 2008)

Hot water bottle!!! And a jumper of yours that youve worn for a few days. A towel with their littermates scent on is usually a good idea too. :cornut:


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I have never used a crate before I got this pup. I have a large cage (that I had anyway) and a plastic travelling box that she had to travel in for several hours to get here. So I keep that inside the cage, not sure she really needs the cage as well but at least she can have a bit more space. There is a soft blanket and a couple of soft toys and a couple of chews and an old bone. I dont put water in and as she spills it and I dont feed her in it. I imagine that as soon as she can control her bladder a bit better (she is completely clean and dry in the cage) I will gradually stop using it and leave her in the utility room with the other dog.


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## fun4fido (Jul 22, 2008)

fish6634 said:


> We recentley brought home a 8 week old border collie (girl). The first night she cried all night so we bought a crate for her to go in of a night but i am wondering apart from the obvious what you have in your dog's crate? We have her bed, water bowl (which she keeps tipping over and flooding her crate), food bowl, toys and try and squeeze a pee mat in there. Can any one advise on this? Am i over crowding the crate? Also to try and help with sleeping i have a ticking clock, leave the light on (living room), put a blanket over the top and leave the radio on. However last night after most of the night crying i went down and turned the light and the radio off and she seemed to settle, until 6am. I am normally up at 6am so its not a problem, sorry for a long post but any help would be appreciated
> 
> Thanks Graeme


Hello Graeme,

Welcome to the forum.

I would suggest that the only thing you need to leave in the crate at night are an old blanket, and a safe chew toy such as a puppy Kong.

As your puppy will not have control over her bladder/bowel until around 6 months, it is best not to leave water in the crate at night, during the day when you crate her for short periods yes, but not at night.

You might find this helpful:

Successful Crate Training


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## rach1980 (May 1, 2008)

at night we put a blanket, some of our old tops so that he had something with our smell with him to comfort him, a screw type water bowl with only a small amount of water in it, in the day time he would have some toys with him.

we never put pads or newspaper in the crate as we believe that they would never go the toilet in the sleeping area, and he never did use it for a loo


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