crates

Same bed for everything.
Avoids confusion and allows the benefits of crate training to be used throughout the puppy and teens!

we crate when we are not home...and at night she now sleeps in our room....we did not do this till after 1 year old.

We crate Olive with the door shut when we leave the house and at night. During the night the crate is next to my bed and i move it to the tv room during the day and leave the door open. A lot of times Olive will go into the crate to nap during the day on her own, but she also naps on the couch, floor and another dog bed we have in the same room.

So far this hasn't caused any issues. She happily naps anywhere she wants during the day and goes into her crate without problems when i leave or at night. I think we lucked out with the crate though. Olive has loved the crate since day 1 and I haven't had the same experince others have had with having to get a puppy used to it.

Lolly never really loved her crate so we only used to put her in there at night and when we were going out. She had a soft bed in there that we started off taking out during the day and putting near us. We got rid of the crate when she was about 7 months and now she has a bed in our bedroom, in the office under my hubbies desk and in the living room (although she'd rather sleep on our large round love seat!!!)

I had planned on not having Olive on the couch right away, but then i realized i didn't want to cuddle on the floor with her! It only took one time of her sleeping on the couch to realize that it was a lot better than her other options!

I have only ever used a crate at night with my two. I have never felt the need to use one during the day as I let them have the run of the kitchen if I am out.