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Crate questions for new puppy

864 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  E.Hatch 
#1 ·
My husband and I will be bringing our new puppy home in about two weeks. We plan to crate train our pup and have already purchased an XL wire crate. My question is whether we should use a blanket or other crate pad in the crate or not. I would think it would make the crate more comfortable for our pup, but I don't want to put them at risk if they're likely to chew them. Also, do any of you use a crate cover? Would you recommend them or to leave the crate uncovered?
 
#2 ·
This is a question I have been struggling with for the last 3 months. You are right to be worried. My puppy was placed in the crate without any bedding since I was worried about him chewing it/eating it. I'm more concerned with his safety than his comfort...BUT, I decided to give it a try last week, since he is 5 months old and hasn't really chewed anything. The first night went well, but the second night he got frustrated at 5AM and started to tear into the bed. I woke up and took it out of the crate. I have not done anything since then. I have been told to try letting him out of the crate (i.e., leave the crate open, but put a bed in the room for him to sleep on). Not sure about this...I guess I will give it a try.

I did not cover the crate, now at 5 months, he sleeps from 10 PM to 6 AM every night. I'm happy with that, I think he would go longer if I had the crate covered, but again, I worry he may pull the cover in and eat it. So, no cover for us.

Good luck!
 
#3 ·
I have a heavy dog blanket in my crate. She loves sleeping on it.

She sometimes chews on it when she really needs to get out, but during early crate training, I told her "NO!" whenever she started chewing on the blanket.

At 4 months, she will almost never chew on it. She certainly will not eat it (it's very thick and would be impossible to eat anyhow).

Now, I keep the crate door open when I'm in the living room with her, and she'll go into it on her own when she wants to take a nap. She also has two chew toys in there and she knows not to take them out of the crate but only chew them inside the crate. Works out well.
 
#4 ·
I don't do a crate cover because they almost always get pulled in and torn up by puppies. They end up seeing it as a toy. For bedding, I'll get either fleece blankets or a few yards of fleece from a craft store and line the bottom of the crate with it. Easy to clean, you don't get strands like with a woven towel, and if they get torn up it's like $4 to replace it.
 
#5 ·
Since 8 weeks my pup has had a fleece blanket and a towel partially covering the crate and haven't seen him chew either. He's 4 months now any recently we got him a soft stuffed pig and he loves to cuddle it at night. Just my own personal experience though.
 
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