Newest Member Of Our Family (more photos post #24)

[3muttsandaboston]

He is cute! I agree that dogs are pack dogs. How many hours do you think he is going to be in his crate? Puppies his age need to go out every couple of hours because they just can't hold it very long. If you train him to pee on a pad you might as well train him to pee on the floor. IMO that doesn't teach them anything but I'm no expert as I have only raised one puppy. Just because he is big doesn't mean he will tear your house apart. I trust my bigger dogs alone in the house more than my smaller ones. He probably won't grow that big with his mix probably 30-40 pounds.

[Rachel]

I certainly understand the need to have a young inquisitive dog kenneled while you are away and also not having the space upstairs to place a larger kennel in which Coco will be comfortable. A kennel in the basement could serve that need. I also understand that Coco should feel his kennel is a place of refuge and comfort and in that respect sleeping there at night would reinforce this.

On the other hand, it has been my experience that a properly housebroken dog will not nececessarily need to be kenneled overnight. It would be an interesting question to poll others, but none of my dogs have ever slept in a kennel after a couple months. Right now I have medium dogs but when I was first married I had an airedale and a lab. They both slept in the bedroom with us (no kennel) as do my current two. I don't suppose I can advocate you allowing Coco to sleep on the bed which I'm sure would be his preference.