Where does your Corgi sleep?

I was wondering if anyone has advice or input :
at what age [if at all] did you allow your corgi to come out the crate at night to sleep?
Carmen is doing really well with the potty training [as most of you have read] & I wanted
to know if there was a certain age or how big of a trust level do you need?
I know corgi's when they get bored they tend to get into things, but I don't want to always keep
Carmen in her crate if we don't have too.

when Carmen is in her crate she is very good at waking us up to take her out to go potty,
do you think she would do the same if she was not in her crate? -my boyfriend thinks she might just
go to the bathroom in another room then come where we are and go back to sleep..

I would love to hear your bedtime routines -thank you so much!

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15 Comments

Comment by Nancy, Curtis and Triley on May 12, 2008 at 3:04pm: Triley was about 7 or 8 months old when we stopped locking him in his crate at night. We started out by simply not latching his crate, and then eventually just left the door open. He still slept in there, even though he didn't have to. We did shut the bedroom door, so he couldn't roam the house and cause trouble. Triley has always been good at letting us know when he has to go out, and would moan and grown until we woke up and let him out (a good test of this is if he is good at letting you know he has to go out when he is just running around the house - can you trust him free in the house when you are home?).

Now we have gotten rid of the crate entirely (he is just over a year old), but he still has the bed from the crate, which he still sleeps on during the night. A word of warning though: Triley has learned that he is allowed on the bed in the mornings, so now around 6am he wakes us up to take him out, and then he jumps into bed with us and takes over the place! Be careful with limits!

Comment by Kristen on May 12, 2008 at 3:04pm: I am embarrassed to admit that I allow the Corgis to sleep in my bed--although Lizzie (5yrs) only starts there and prefers to sleep on the cool floor. Fergie (11months) and Brodie (4.5 months) both like to be up on the bed with me. They both stayed in their crates at night until about 3 months. Fergie is just a few days younger than Carmen (06.09.07) and she was never a problem at night. There were a few nights when she was busy with a chewie or such when I went to bed and I left her on the floor. I did keep the bedroom door closed and we never had a night accident. I now leave the door open since all the dogs have mastered the stairs and we still don't have any night accidents...in fact Brodie slept downstairs and had free access to the whole house last night. I do take them outside often in the evening, just to be help ensure a "dry" night. The only area in the house that we had "accidents in was the living room on my antique carpet. I put up a doggie gate to keep them out of there during the day and at night and we have not had an accident since. Hopefully that phase of life is over and we can take the gate down. I will keep it up until Brodie is 7 or 8 months old, just in case we go through the 6 month "I forgot all my training" phase. Good luck Stephanie! Carmen is such a cutie!

Comment by Lauren (Duke and Daisy's momma) on May 12, 2008 at 3:31pm: We got Duke when he was already 7 mos, he was sorta potty trained, but we kept him in his crate/pen area at night and in the kitchen in a pen during the day while we were at work. We slowly gave him more roaming time in the house about 6 to 8 mos after we got him, as we could trust him not to potty on the carpet. We would let him stay out on the afternoons when we left the house, or when we went to the movies. He got into trouble many times, chewing on things, tinkling/potty on the carpet, and after each time he did that, he would go back to his pen area for a week. Then we would once again ry and trust him in the house.
Now, we can let him have the whole house and he is very good. He sleeps in our room at night on his bed, and sometimes he's wander in the night to the other room, but he is very good. I too let him sleep on the bed for awhile and then put him down on his bed...he's such a baby. :-) Now that we have a new puppy, she sleeps in a crate and Duke must stay in our bedroom and we crack the door. But, he does roam the house while we are at work and keeps our lil' Daisy compnay while we are gone. He's a good boy. :-)

Comment by Parker on May 12, 2008 at 5:44pm: I was wondering the same thing. But I think gauging if you can trust them to tell you when you are just hanging around the house is a good way to go. Good Luck! Carmen is adorable!

Comment by Kitty's Corner on May 12, 2008 at 6:37pm: We have put Kitty in a large,crate kennel since we brought her home.It was kept in a pantry/laundry room(fairly large)for a couple of monthes and then was moved out into the garage right along side our labs sleeping box.During the winter monthes I put an insulated liner on the kennel and she has stayed warm and snug.She is,only,in it at night and really likes her sleeping accomodations and I dont have to worry about where she is at night.Its worked beautifully.>Bethany

Comment by Kim on May 12, 2008 at 7:08pm: Most dogs like routine it makes them feel comfortable. I have never crated Mia, but have kept her in the same area of the kitchen, gated. (Corgi's like adventure, they are mischevous and always looking for fun, thats why I keep her in one area of the house at night.) She knows how the bedtime routine goes without dragging her around the house. I say "time for Bed" and she immediately goes to the door for potty. When she comes back inside she lays on her bed for a bedtime snack. The lights go out and I don't hear a peep/bark until I come down the stairs in the morning. Find a routine that is easiest for you and your corgi. PS.- Carmen is soo cute!

Comment by Oliver's Mom on May 20, 2008 at 11:21pm: With Kirsten on this. xD

Comment by Snowbaby Butterball on June 16, 2008 at 6:09pm: Hi, we adopted a 9 year old Cardigan. He had previously slept in the bedroom with his owners of 9 years. For health reasons, I didn't want him in our bedroom. So from the 1st night he slept in his new crate (he had been crate trained since a puppy) He only got up once for the 1st two nights to walk around the house and look at his new surroundings. Then I told him "nightie-night", it is bedtime and he went back in his crate. We never lock his crate or shut the door.
I tried 2 mornings to lock him in so I could sleep in. Big mistake, I heard the crate rattling. When I took him to the Vet's for his annual check-up, he was missing a huge section of one tooth. The 1st thing the vet asked was "has he been biting on a wire crate".
Well, it turned out that it happened with the previous owner (losing of the tooth). Just a heads up though.
We have never varied his bedtime routine and he has been fine. He loves his crate, it is like his little bedroom where he can go and relax. I really recommend establishing a routine that you want for life and not vary from it. Also, try ignoring your dog in the middle of the night for a few nights and see what happens. He may not need to go potty but may be looking for attention. I know our situaion is different as we don't have a puppy but hope something I say may help. Joy

Comment by Willow on June 20, 2008 at 3:32pm: We let Willow out of her crate at about 4 months, I believe. She had been started on potty training actually with her breeder. She would have shredded newspaper in an area in the corgi pen where they all were born and then straw in the part that they slept on. She always looked for a place to go potty outside that "looked" like a specific spot to her....like when we reseeded the grass and put straw over it, she would go potty on it instead of the regular grass. As far as letting us know when she needs to potty, she sits right by the door to the patio and 'puffs' out of her mouth, not a real bark, but a 'puff' and she will look at you with a smile on her face that etells you...."I'm showing you I need to go out, please let me out." It is so cute. If she gets ignored, every once in a great while, she will potty inside...usually the kids can't get out from in front to the computer long enough to let her out! Poor thing!!! Then I spank the kids, not her.....(true, but I don't talk to Willow and tell her that is No No and she is so sad for a while till you love on her). Corgis are such smart dogs that I think if you are consistent with your actions and discipline, they get the potty thing very fast. My father-in-law's Schnauzer still pottys in the house to this day! Good luck and good 'parenting' goes a long way with these dogs!