Need Advice For Archie

[POPTOP]

Archie has slept in a crate, beside my side of the bed, since he joined us. He's too quick to nudge me in the middle of the night with his cold nose. Then with Mardi started roaming at night, he too became more active at night. He's a good boy otherwise, does not bother anything. Why I thought he would need a crate big enough for a pony I don't know; it's huge.

I've been leaving the door open on his crate now and he settles down and stays there until DH gets home or I get up. I want to take the crate down and let him sleep on his bed now. Got him a new bed and placed it beside the crate and although he has checked it out, he goes into the crate at night.

Should I just put the crate away? He's still adjusting to Mardi not being here and is a little clingy. Should I wait a little while?

[soberbyker]

Will the bed fit in the crate? If you leave the door open and he still goes in he probably feels safe in there, it's his den so to speak.

[Meeps83]

I personally wouldn't make any changes yet. It might take him a while to get over Mardi. Once he's more settled, play it by ear. If he prefers the crate still would it maybe be feasible to get a smaller crate? And Soberbyker's suggestion of puffing the bed in the crate might also help.

[IRISHWISTLER]

Will the bed fit in the crate? If you leave the door open and he still goes in he probably feels safe in there, it's his den so to speak.

X2.

Irishwhistler

[POPTOP]

He has a nice bed that fits inside the crate already. Just was hoping to get him to adjust to the new bed, which is even bigger than the crate, if you can believe that. I mean a bull mastiff would be comfy in this crate.

I'll give him more time. Guess we both need it.

[SunDance]

I'd definitely wait before making any changes. Some dogs don't seem to notice when another pet is gone and some really do suffer/get clingy. Dan mourned the loss of our cat Charlie for about 6 months...I couldn't say the word "cat" or Charlie's name without Dan racing around, looking for him. Dan is definitely one to suffer and, boy, does he get clingy.

[Georgia]

I have limited space in my house so having two crates set up is rough. We hardly ever used them so we took them down. First I just folded them up but left them in an accessible location just in case. I noticed recently that DH put them somewhere. Most likely they're in the storage room but he didn't say anything to me because he knew I would say not yet. We haven't missed the crates and the extra space is awesome. You could try just folding the crate up and leaning it against the wall to see how Archie does without it. If after a couple of nights he seems out of sorts, you can easily set it back up. I'm sure you would appreciate the extra space in your bedroom so fingers crossed you can ditch the crate!

[smartrock]

Another thought might be to put the crate somewhere else if there's room, set up so he can still use it, but only have his new bed in the bedroom. Or get a smaller crate if he really likes to be in a crate and save this one for your next "pony". Like others suggest, he might need more time before you make any change, though.

Since Chase had his dental work done I've been sleeping in the living room on the sofa to make sure I'll hear him if there is a problem. I put one of the dog beds beside the sofa, which is a bed he's used exclusively at night in the past, but he still has access to the rest of the first floor so he can sleep where he's comfortable. Where is he comfortable? In the crate in the kitchen, apparently. I've thought about taking down the crate in the kitchen except Chase likes it in there so much and after Lark's performance the other day, I know it may be needed for more than a comfy den.

[Scoutpout]

when i was transitioning Scout from the Pony-sized (48") crate at night, i started by stuffing as much of his nice new Costco round dog bed into it as i could, with the door closed. a few nights of that, then the door open. about a week later, i didn't haul the crate from the kitchen to the bedroom that night, just had the dog bed where the crate normally was. a bit confused, but his bedtime kong on the bed, and the same word as normal, and he got it. What a relief to not have to fold and haul that monster crate every morning and every night! its still up in the kitchen, he eats dinner in it, but other than that, it doesn't get used (well except when dog sitting, right now the young border collie is in it during the day, and a MUCH smaller 36" in my room at night) I kinda prefer the no-crate look in the kitchen, but its handy to have it there "just in case"

[BaconsMom]

We are doing the same thing with bacon. In our new house our master is smaller than our current house so we are planning on putting his crate in a different room for while we are gone during the day and having him sleep on a bed at night. We started with leaving the crate door open. Now, once we get a new bed (I had the unfortunate mistake of having his bed outside, we were sitting out on the deck, and then not getting it quickly enough when a rainstorm rolled in. It isn't salvageable.) we will start just having him sleep on that. We have done it before when we were on vacation, but excited to start permanently.