Pros and Cons Of Placing The Dog Crate in the Bedroom
Now, let’s get into the pros and cons of using the bedroom for your dog’s crate.
Keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom allows for you to be more aware and in tune with your dog’s nightly activities.
This is helpful if you are working on potty training a very young puppy who needs taken out every few hours, or if you have a dog who is ill or injured and you need to check on them periodically or provide medications throughout the night.
Having your dog’s crate in your bedroom also allows your dog to alert you to any potential issues and you can easily hear them bark or growl when their crate is near your bedside.
If you just adopted a new dog or have a dog who is fearful or has anxiety issues, keeping their crate within your bedroom might help you bond with them more and establish a good relationship.
Allowing your scared pup to be in such close proximity to you in such a relaxing environment as the bedroom might help them calm down and learn that your presence is a peaceful one rather than a stressful one.
By placing your dog’s crate within your bedroom, it maximizes the amount of free space you have within the rest of your home. This is especially vital if you live in a very small home or apartment and need to find space wherever you can.
By keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom, you only have to worry about navigating around it or tripping over it right before bed or just after waking up in the morning (which is much easier to deal with than worrying about guests tripping over it in the living room!).
If you are keen on everything fitting in well with your home décor, too, keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom probably keeps it out of sight of visitors to your home and you don’t have to worry about the crate interfering with your design aesthetic.
If you opt to keep your dog’s crate in your bedroom, you may find that you run into some training issues.
Similar to keeping your dog’s crate in the living room, if your puppy or dog has constant access to you throughout the night you may find that they are more than happy to continue barking, whining, or scratching at their crate until you let them out. This can obviously interrupt your sleep schedule quite a bit.
This can also create separation issues later on where your puppy or dog becomes nervous if you ever have to leave them unattended at night, or if you suddenly move the crate to a different location and they are no longer able to see, smell, or hear you.
Keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom may also have an unintended side effect: an angry spouse or partner!
Puppies or dogs that are still in the middle of the crate training process can be quite loud throughout the night, and if your spouse or partner is keen on always getting a full night’s sleep, they may be unable to deal with that part of the crate training process.
If you have a smaller bedroom, keeping your dog’s crate within your bedroom might have a huge impact on how easily you can navigate and move about your bedroom.
Keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom could also potentially pose an injury risk if you must get up in the middle of the night (or you’ve just woken up in the morning and haven’t had your coffee yet!) and you run into it or trip and fall over it.
Dog crate in the living room during the day
Crate training is basically providing a safe and personal den for your dog to relax when low on energy and sleep at night.
While in the crate your dog still needs to feel he’s part of what’s going on with the family, it’s just a personal spot, not a solitary.
In fact, having the crate somewhere close to you and the family will make the crate training process easier.
This is why the best spot for the crate during the day is in the living room where the dog can relax and enjoy being around you at the same time.
Dogs get attached to their families and like to be always around them, even when they need to sleep or just lie down for a little siesta.
Of course by now you’ve understood that by the living room we mean where you or the family hang out most of the day, if it’s another room then that’s where the dog crate needs to be.
What Toys To Leave In A Dog Crate?
When many people consider what to put in a dog crate, they rightfully think to place in some toys. There are many benefits to leaving two or three tough chew toys in the crate with your puppy:
Please be aware that you should never leave soft stuffed teddy bears or easily chewed squeaky toys alone with your puppy.
These will likely get destroyed and your dog could ingest large pieces causing intestinal blockages.
The best toys to leave in the crate are strong, durable hollow toys that you can stuff with treats, perhaps even freeze so the fun lasts longer.
Kong toys are ideal and we at Labrador Training HQ highly recommend them!
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Labs are heavy chewers so we recommend the KONG Extreme for our Labrador friends.
They’re highly durable and stuffed with peanut butter, part of their usual meal or some form of edible treats, dogs absolutely love working at getting the food out, keeping their minds and jaws occupied.
To see a selection of toys suitable for placing inside a crate with your puppy or dog, click here.