bedroom or kitchen for frank's first few nights with us?

I have done both , but with my cockerpoo Dexter I followed the method of bedroom with ticking alarm clock to replicate Mums heart beat , and gradually moved him , over a period of days, down to his permanent bed. He had other ideas however, and as soon as he was housetrained decided that his bed should be wherever mine was..... !! Now theres only the two of us to please, and I don't have a problem with that, but I guess with a family a it might be more problematical.
Whatever you decide-- good luck. lesley and dexter

They are gorgeous cunning little beasts! Izzy was 10 weeks old and we left her in her bed in a huge open door crate in the kitchen with access to the breakfast room (both have quarry tiled floors). She cried the first night but was fine after that. However we found her on the breakfast room sofa in the morning - which is where I have found her every morning since! I tried shutting the crate door and she went crazy crazy crazy! From my experiences I would be inclined to put her where you want her for ever and not let her seduce you into changing your mind! My friend shut the crate door and stuck to her guns. Her pup house trained really quickly and never grumbles about being in the crate.
Good luck, loads of fun and heartache to come, but worth every tear - once you get passed the teething months all is wonderful!

I think that the reason there is conflicting advice is because dogs are really adaptable and they will be fine, whatever you decide. All I would say is think about what it will be like when they are older. If having them in your bedroom would not bother you (and you other half!), then fair enough.

We knew we didn't want Rosie upstairs at all. I had a wobble before we picked her up because all the books said to put her in your room for the first few nights. But quite a few people on here gave me the confidence to stick to my guns, because they'd left their pups downstairs from day one. Rosie's been in a cage at night in the kitchen, with the door shut since the first night. And she's 12 weeks now and is absolutely fine with it.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

I agree with Louise, they are just fine whatever you decide but start as you mean to go on. Flo was in the utility room from day one with an open crate.

'Lo has slept against my ribs or back all but around two weeks in which she was a baby and in a crate in my room or a small one on my bed.

But if you plan to keep him in another room mainly, I would still crate him in your room first. Puppies aren't thinking 'Oh man, now I got her!! I'll never leave this room! Muhahaha' Their more likely very relieved to not be alone in this weird smelling and looking house, totally new to him and with no one around, after having his family to snuggle with for his entire life.

It'll be quieter, and he'll house train faster with you always being near to hear him.

I read about the bedroom thing and its oooh so tempting but like others have said when do you decide to move them , its so hard to be firm ..... dogs were nt going to be allowd on the sofa, ha ha , we were n t going to let them upstairs.. course not .. when I have a bath there a re two cockapoos asleep at the side so if they'd started out in the bed room I guess i'd have ended up in the crate lol... but having one snuggled up agianst your back does seem kind of tempting lol cos one things for sure what a cockapoo does best is get as close as possible x

thank you for all your advice i know it will be so tempting to have him in the bedroom with us/go downstairs and cuddle him, especially if he's pining downstairs. i think we're going to see how it goes with him staying downstairs and try to get him used to being there at night until he (hopefully) loves his bed in the kitchen. we'll see...!

i think the first task will be getting him to love his crate. i'm going to try to make it the most homely and welcoming crate possible. i'll definitely try the ticking clock, and make a warm hot water bottle wrapped in towels (heard this is good to mimic the heat coming from mum).

i'll keep you all posted!

Rufus was in a crate in the bedroom in order to hear if he needed to go out when he was first brought home but then soon after started sleeping in a crate in the livingroom instead. As he gets to be an adult, he will be able to sleep on his bed in the livingroom so we wanted to establish that. He was never going to sleep in the bedroom forever. He whined the first night downstairs but after that he's been fine.

Stella is in the kitchen in her crate at night. She only whined a bit the first couple of days. She is in the gated kitchen during the day until she learns her manners. Then I can't wait to sleep with her.

Jan
Stella - 4 months - As you can see I almost named her Emmy.