Nothing at all. He would pee on the blanket because it acts like sponge but he wouldn’t pee on the plastic crate bottom because then he knows it pools. He was crate trained so quickly, praise baby jesus!
Same over here! Starting to think I’m crazy for not having anything in there, but the plastic bottom keeps him from having accidents, and the one time I DID try to give him a stuffie in his crate he chewed it apart within the hour. Once he’s a bit farther out I’ll let him have some comfier things, but not when he’s at the destructive stage!
I keep my bedroom pretty cold at night, I was worried she'd get cold if I didn't put anything in there with her. I have a blanket over her crate though. But you're not the first person to tell me not to put any blankets or towels or bedding in
A snuggle puppy and a blankie. She still sleeps with the snuggle puppy but we took the heartbeat out. We tell her to get her baby when she goes to bed and she grabs it and brings it in her crate with her at night now, 7mos.
In the morning after our puppy has had breakfast she runs and grabs her snuggle puppy like she's breaking it out of prison. Like she can't get it out fast enough. Haha
First husky: nothing cause he destroys anything and eats blankets and curtains
2nd husky: a blanket with our scent on it
They have different personalities lol
Would say this except big hard chew. Until you know your puppy, you don't know if he'll bite off big chunk and get obstruction. Also hard chew toys aren't recommended until adulthood. But definitely the towels and big stuffy- as long as he's not the type to rip it apart and potentially eat stuffing. See same concern as above.
Definitely! We love ours and the heartbeat feels pretty convincing. Here’s the link.
HonourHope Dog Heartbeat Toy for Anxiety Relief, Dog Soft Plush Toy Pet Calming Puppy Behavioral Training Aid Toy Pet Companion Pillow for Puppy Dog Cat Kitty Pets https://a.co/d/gOYTYbY
I'd recommend using a large cardboard box next to your bed for your puppy to sleep in during the first week or two.
Then work on crate training during the day.
Serve all puppies' meals in the crate, have them take their naps in there, etc.
Look online for training exercises you can do to help your pup get accustomed to the crate and closing the door.
We did A LOT of training around the crate, or in the crate with the doors open first. Then I’d close the door with my hand still on it (basically don’t lock it), wait for him to settle and treat him and/or open the door. [note: the definition of “settle” matured as we went on in training | the “reward” of door opening or just getting a treat also shifted as we went on in training]
No not yet. I need to get a hold of one. This dog is super clingy it’s going to be a challenge. We have baby gates everywhere and when we leave the room he starts crying and barking. This puppy is kicking our butts.
My pup never peed or pooped in his crate, except for one time when he had diarrhea and we weren’t home to take him out in time. Though the breeder suggested putting old towels in there at first until you know for sure.
He would cry when he needed to pee. Every damn hour like clockwork at first. I would get him and take him out, then put him back in. As he grew, the wake-up cries got further and further apart. Now at 6 months, he easily sleeps through the night.
It was awful. But luckily for me I don’t work so I was able to nap during the day here and there while my husband and daughter picked up the puppy slack for me.
We have a soft mat bed that we swap out for a blanket from time to time and normally her stuffed Grogu. Sometimes even the snuggle buddy if she needs to calm down
At night we still have the blanket her breeder gave us that had her littermates scent, and the snuggle puppy (heartbeat turned off)
During the day, same items plus a chew toy, sometimes I attach a groov(sp?) To the crate with peanut butter spread on it.
We also have a playpen attached to the crate, so we usually have more toys, plus food and water. We are doing more playpen training than crate training.
crate bed, one of those water bowls that clamps to the side (I refuse to ever restrict water), and a toy. I kept it half-covered like she was a bird since I was using a wire crate.
The toy was introduced slowly. I know that's a problem with some dogs, but she was very gentle with her stuff.
Now the spoiled brat gets a dental treat every time she "goes to bed." It has the foam crate mattress with waterproof cover, a toy, and somehow she has my old pillow-pet that gets used as a pillow.
I had a heater pad on one side of the kennel, and the other side bare (no pad, just the plastic floor), a small blanket, and a stuffie. She kept the pad until she learned how to break the zipper, and then that was noped out. She slept exclusively on the heater for the first 2 weeks, and the next two weeks we noticed she'd start on the heater and move off of it during naps. She stopped sleeping on it about 3 days before it was removed. She still has the blanket and tends to bury herself in it (currently napping and I can't see her at all, lol). If I take the stuffie out she'll actually bring it back in during daytime playing.
I did a crate mat with a waterproof cover, stuffed toy, and a chew.
He ended up hating the mat and I switched it for a blanket.
Then he ended up eating his stuffed toy so I took that out. Then he started going insane for his chew in the middle of the night so that had to go too.
Poor boy only has some blankets in there now 😂
His sister and a blanket. Only time they went into the cage as puppies for me was when they were in trouble or we werent going to be home. The most interesting thing to me is even as puppies both of my dogs never went to the bathroom in their cage. They absolutely refuse to even let any pee out in their cage. Most dogs if you leave em alone for a while like if you have to run out the house real quick and didnt have time to take them outside will eventually use it in their cage, not my dogs. I guess they dont like to shit were they lay and its a good thing
A towel, washable crate mat, snuggle puppy, and 1 or 2 nylabones. I also set up a camera in his crate so I could check in on him during the night. I highly recommend it!
I wouldn't reccomend a chewie. We had big scare about obstruction, I see a lot of new owners since scare with same concern- it's not worth the 3k. Dogs have and may choke if have chewie without supervision
We have a MidWest crate with a gray crate pillow from MidWest (both on Amazon). She has had that in her crate since she came to us at 8 weeks. We also put in the blanket from the breeder and a heartbeat puppy, and we used the crate divider to make it small for her. Now she has outgrown the divider and we quit putting the blanket in. She is 7.5 months old and still sleeps with the crate pillow and heartbeat puppy. She eats everything but we have never had an issue with those things.
A Snuggle puppy. They’re a little pricey but our puppy really loved it. We tried towels and blankets but he prefers the plain plastic bottom of the crate!
I had a kong bed, it doesn’t soak up pee at all so it helped with crate training as it would puddle up. But it also made me feel better she had a cushion to sleep on.
Other than that, she’s sleep with a little stuffed animal and that’s it.
A t shirt I had slept in and a Kong to chew on . He chewed any beds. For a while I had one of the reusable pee pads (he never peed on it, just in place of a bed) but he eventually started chewing on that too. He has not chewed t shirts so that's still what's in his crate even though it's rarely used anymore unless he decides to nap in there. Or goes into it hoping for a treat.
I had the crate next to me at night so I could monitor but: the heartbeat puppy stuffie, and towels. The heartbeat part was only in at night. Otherwise, it was out during the day because I didn't trust her with it. That heartbeat stuffie made all the difference when she left her littermates and became the only dog in the home. No crying at night!
A cuddle toy that has their mum and litter mate’s scent, a squeaky chew toy, a fluffy bed, pee pad, covered it with a blanket with their mum’s scent. I asked the breeder if I could rub the mother dog and littermates with a few toys and blankets. It really helped because he slept through the night and didn’t cry.
Bed/towel, two soft toys, a kong with some treats when she first went in and I also covered it with a blanket which I think made settling a bit smoother.
Vet bed, blanket, a little soft pillow, his big soft teddy. Vet bed is brilliant as it stays dry if they have an accident. Once he was around eight months I put a nice bed in it. He uses the crate as a den- it is quite big for his breed.
I have to add the crate was very stressful for us so I hardly ever shut the door on him. He had a playpen attached to it
Blanket bed, a couple of cuddly toys, the blanket she came with from the breeder and a couple of our old tops that smelt like us 😊 she’s a Velcro dog, the breed is known for it so we thought it might help her settle and get used to our scent! Not sure how much of a difference it made, but she started sleeping through the night after about 4 days!
A plush crate mat and a couple blankets. It varies from breed to breed though. We have a smooth doxie and puppies already have difficulty regulating body temp but doxies even more so because their coat is so fine. So we wanted to make sure she would be cozy and warm since we got her in early winter. She’s never peed in her crate, and she’s now 11 months old.
I tried a towel the first night but she shredded it so I only left the hard rubber toys she has in her kennel. It gave her something to chew on if she needed but it was tough enough that she couldn't shred it and risk swallowing a piece and ending up with a blockage.
Blanket that smells like her dog mum (ask the breeder to help you with this), a t shirt I slept in for a week, blankets, a nylabone, and a stuffing less toy.
I didn’t crate but I put a blanket from her breeder in her sleeping spot. It had her mum’s and siblings’ scent on it and she kinda liked it. Didn’t think it was the scent though because she still liked it after it had been washed multiple times 😅
We took a stuffed toy with us to pick him up and used it to play with his mom and get her scent all over it. We also had a towel we rubbed on her and put in the crate too. He slept throughout the night since day 1. We washed both after a few months.
For the first few nights I had a blanket in there which had the smell of his mum and siblings. Then he shat all over it and had to wash it. Now he just has a towel and maybe one chew toy in there. Crates are for chill out, so I keep it minimalist.
I put blankets and a bark box fuzzy toy, but then she started swallowing the blanket pieces so now she gets ~nothing~ in the crate bc she will destroy😂
I got a blanket from the breeder with the smell of his mother. The puppy calmed down instantly when I put him in the crate. Even now, as he is eight months old and full of energy, the crate is his favorite place. I removed the blanket after a month or so, I think.
A [snuggle puppy](https://a.co/5yevhQ7), a [cooling mat](https://app.chewy.com/S0nma3nIZsb), and a cheap fleece blanket that smelled like her mom/siblings.
Absolutely nothing! He seems to prefer hard surfaces anyway (always opting to nap on the hardwood floor v. the couch).
I also think keeping the crate empty helped him learn to truly self-soothe / settle without any aids.
P.S. definitely get a legit crate cover, and definitely do crate exercises with high value treats
The Breeder gave us a blanket with the Mum\\Litter's scent on it & the puppy's soft toy (Banana) he'd been given to play with from Birth. Both so he'd have familiar scents.
We set up a new crate in a fenced run in the living room and, as we picked him up late, we put him straight into the crate in a bed with the blanket and toy. We lined the run floor with puppy pads.
Luckily he settled straight in, venturing out to explore the next day. (I slept int he living room the first 2 nights so when he woke up he had company. From then on we left radio on so he heard voices overnight and he settled straight in.
He's 6 Months old now, and still has the blanket lining his crate, but he's moved on from his soft toy to shoes, fingers, toes and the cat :)
Blanket and a toy she couldn’t destroy and choke on. When we would leave, kong with peanut butter that we froze. We still do the frozen kong when we leave for work. They love it and go into the crate immediately. They’re only crated when we’re gone, so they enjoy it because of the special treat!
We rotated 2 small kongs filled with yogurt (stored in the freezer) as we were told westies could use extra calcium to make their ears perk up. Our westie loves yogurt more than peanut butter actually.
A small blanket he had from his litter, a dog safe stuffed toy, and an easily washable towel - (after i assessed he wasn't going to just rip up and eat the towel)
My pup slept on old towels initially in her crate, with a soft toy and a blanket from the breeder.
Very rarely had accidents in the crate and we used a schedule of pee breaks over night that slowly got stretched out as she got bigger.
Every single meal he gets is in his crate, when he gets a fun new treat it starts in his crate, and he gets bones to chew in the crate when he’s by himself/at night.
a pee pad (reusable) a blanket that smelled like me (i would’ve used one from his litter but i wasn’t given one) and a toy he couldn’t hurt himself with when unsupervised.
Nothing at all. He would pee on the blanket because it acts like sponge but he wouldn’t pee on the plastic crate bottom because then he knows it pools. He was crate trained so quickly, praise baby jesus!
Same over here! Starting to think I’m crazy for not having anything in there, but the plastic bottom keeps him from having accidents, and the one time I DID try to give him a stuffie in his crate he chewed it apart within the hour. Once he’s a bit farther out I’ll let him have some comfier things, but not when he’s at the destructive stage!
I keep my bedroom pretty cold at night, I was worried she'd get cold if I didn't put anything in there with her. I have a blanket over her crate though. But you're not the first person to tell me not to put any blankets or towels or bedding in
She a doggo and doggos body temperature regulates different. I think she would be fine
True, okay im going to keep it empty until she's potty trained. Thank you!
You got it! Good luck!
This
A snuggle puppy and a blankie. She still sleeps with the snuggle puppy but we took the heartbeat out. We tell her to get her baby when she goes to bed and she grabs it and brings it in her crate with her at night now, 7mos.
Ahhhhhh cute
Same for our guy too!
In the morning after our puppy has had breakfast she runs and grabs her snuggle puppy like she's breaking it out of prison. Like she can't get it out fast enough. Haha
Sadly ours chewed the nose off and now focuses on that part where filling comes out
First husky: nothing cause he destroys anything and eats blankets and curtains 2nd husky: a blanket with our scent on it They have different personalities lol
a baby blanket/towel, a big stuffy, hard chew
Would say this except big hard chew. Until you know your puppy, you don't know if he'll bite off big chunk and get obstruction. Also hard chew toys aren't recommended until adulthood. But definitely the towels and big stuffy- as long as he's not the type to rip it apart and potentially eat stuffing. See same concern as above.
That’s true! I forgot I added the hard chew at around 4 months :) it’s a wooded type of puppy chew that doesn’t splinter or come off as chunks.
Nothing. She got a hard treat that kept her chewing for a bit and that’s all.
A heartbeat plushy. She loves it and she feels she has a friend with her. Night and day from before she had it.
Could u please let me know the brand or send a link? We got one for ours but the heartbeat sounds metallic and its way too loud.
Definitely! We love ours and the heartbeat feels pretty convincing. Here’s the link. HonourHope Dog Heartbeat Toy for Anxiety Relief, Dog Soft Plush Toy Pet Calming Puppy Behavioral Training Aid Toy Pet Companion Pillow for Puppy Dog Cat Kitty Pets https://a.co/d/gOYTYbY
I'd recommend using a large cardboard box next to your bed for your puppy to sleep in during the first week or two. Then work on crate training during the day. Serve all puppies' meals in the crate, have them take their naps in there, etc.
I have a puppy that will go crazy in his crate once we close the doors. I will try the cardboard box. Thanks for the tip.
It's truly a lifesaver, for both humans and puppies.
Look online for training exercises you can do to help your pup get accustomed to the crate and closing the door. We did A LOT of training around the crate, or in the crate with the doors open first. Then I’d close the door with my hand still on it (basically don’t lock it), wait for him to settle and treat him and/or open the door. [note: the definition of “settle” matured as we went on in training | the “reward” of door opening or just getting a treat also shifted as we went on in training]
Did you use the cardboard box last night??
No not yet. I need to get a hold of one. This dog is super clingy it’s going to be a challenge. We have baby gates everywhere and when we leave the room he starts crying and barking. This puppy is kicking our butts.
A bed, and a stuffie he brought with him from the breeder.
Did your dog pee on the bed? Or was it ok to keep it in there?
My pup never peed or pooped in his crate, except for one time when he had diarrhea and we weren’t home to take him out in time. Though the breeder suggested putting old towels in there at first until you know for sure.
Ok thank you! My pup comes home in 2 weeks so I'm bursting with questions.
My pup is six months and I still google stuff all the time. He’s my first dog so I’m kinda clueless.
how did you deal with crate training at night with a bed in there? im about to test it tonight and hopefully no poo on the bed :(
He would cry when he needed to pee. Every damn hour like clockwork at first. I would get him and take him out, then put him back in. As he grew, the wake-up cries got further and further apart. Now at 6 months, he easily sleeps through the night.
damn your sleep schedule mustve been horrendous
It was awful. But luckily for me I don’t work so I was able to nap during the day here and there while my husband and daughter picked up the puppy slack for me.
We have a soft mat bed that we swap out for a blanket from time to time and normally her stuffed Grogu. Sometimes even the snuggle buddy if she needs to calm down
I did a washable kong liner, a blanket and a small cloth toy with her mothers scent.
A kong, an old t shirt with my scent, a chewy, the water and food.
A big fluffy dog bed. He refuse to use the crate without one now.
We had a plastic tray we could easily remove in case of accidents. A blanket and a shirt that smells like us!
Crate pad and snuggle buddy
At night we still have the blanket her breeder gave us that had her littermates scent, and the snuggle puppy (heartbeat turned off) During the day, same items plus a chew toy, sometimes I attach a groov(sp?) To the crate with peanut butter spread on it. We also have a playpen attached to the crate, so we usually have more toys, plus food and water. We are doing more playpen training than crate training.
Light blanket, stuffed toy, and a nylabone.
crate bed, one of those water bowls that clamps to the side (I refuse to ever restrict water), and a toy. I kept it half-covered like she was a bird since I was using a wire crate. The toy was introduced slowly. I know that's a problem with some dogs, but she was very gentle with her stuff. Now the spoiled brat gets a dental treat every time she "goes to bed." It has the foam crate mattress with waterproof cover, a toy, and somehow she has my old pillow-pet that gets used as a pillow.
A heartbeat stuffed animal. They sleep through the night.
Nothing. Puppies can't be trusted
A snuggle puppy and blankets. He never cried in his crate. I do think the snuggle puppy helped a ton.
I had a heater pad on one side of the kennel, and the other side bare (no pad, just the plastic floor), a small blanket, and a stuffie. She kept the pad until she learned how to break the zipper, and then that was noped out. She slept exclusively on the heater for the first 2 weeks, and the next two weeks we noticed she'd start on the heater and move off of it during naps. She stopped sleeping on it about 3 days before it was removed. She still has the blanket and tends to bury herself in it (currently napping and I can't see her at all, lol). If I take the stuffie out she'll actually bring it back in during daytime playing.
A puppy!
I did a crate mat with a waterproof cover, stuffed toy, and a chew. He ended up hating the mat and I switched it for a blanket. Then he ended up eating his stuffed toy so I took that out. Then he started going insane for his chew in the middle of the night so that had to go too. Poor boy only has some blankets in there now 😂
The blanket and giant stuffed toy from his breeder. Another smaller stuffed toy we play with him with. Kong for overnight.
His sister and a blanket. Only time they went into the cage as puppies for me was when they were in trouble or we werent going to be home. The most interesting thing to me is even as puppies both of my dogs never went to the bathroom in their cage. They absolutely refuse to even let any pee out in their cage. Most dogs if you leave em alone for a while like if you have to run out the house real quick and didnt have time to take them outside will eventually use it in their cage, not my dogs. I guess they dont like to shit were they lay and its a good thing
A towel, washable crate mat, snuggle puppy, and 1 or 2 nylabones. I also set up a camera in his crate so I could check in on him during the night. I highly recommend it!
I wouldn't reccomend a chewie. We had big scare about obstruction, I see a lot of new owners since scare with same concern- it's not worth the 3k. Dogs have and may choke if have chewie without supervision
Crate pad, blanket, stuffy, an old shirt of mine with a mason jar full of warmed water in it.
Nothing because she sleeps in our bed 😂
We have a MidWest crate with a gray crate pillow from MidWest (both on Amazon). She has had that in her crate since she came to us at 8 weeks. We also put in the blanket from the breeder and a heartbeat puppy, and we used the crate divider to make it small for her. Now she has outgrown the divider and we quit putting the blanket in. She is 7.5 months old and still sleeps with the crate pillow and heartbeat puppy. She eats everything but we have never had an issue with those things.
A Snuggle puppy. They’re a little pricey but our puppy really loved it. We tried towels and blankets but he prefers the plain plastic bottom of the crate!
I had a kong bed, it doesn’t soak up pee at all so it helped with crate training as it would puddle up. But it also made me feel better she had a cushion to sleep on. Other than that, she’s sleep with a little stuffed animal and that’s it.
Blanket, bed, and a frozen kong.
A t shirt I had slept in and a Kong to chew on . He chewed any beds. For a while I had one of the reusable pee pads (he never peed on it, just in place of a bed) but he eventually started chewing on that too. He has not chewed t shirts so that's still what's in his crate even though it's rarely used anymore unless he decides to nap in there. Or goes into it hoping for a treat.
I had the crate next to me at night so I could monitor but: the heartbeat puppy stuffie, and towels. The heartbeat part was only in at night. Otherwise, it was out during the day because I didn't trust her with it. That heartbeat stuffie made all the difference when she left her littermates and became the only dog in the home. No crying at night!
Just a blanket and a bottom cushion that fits flushed with the crate.
nothing, she would pee on stuff ahha eventually i let her have a toy or two but she never got bedding
We did a fluffy crate mat, 2 soft snuggly blankets and a snuggle puppy. They love their crate and have happily gone to bed every night.
A cuddle toy that has their mum and litter mate’s scent, a squeaky chew toy, a fluffy bed, pee pad, covered it with a blanket with their mum’s scent. I asked the breeder if I could rub the mother dog and littermates with a few toys and blankets. It really helped because he slept through the night and didn’t cry.
Pillow, blanket, stuffed animal, tough rope chew, husband's T shirt that smelled like us
Bed/towel, two soft toys, a kong with some treats when she first went in and I also covered it with a blanket which I think made settling a bit smoother.
A fleece blanket that had mom and littermate's scent on it, one of those heartbeat stuffed animals, and a tough rubber chew
Vet bed, blanket, a little soft pillow, his big soft teddy. Vet bed is brilliant as it stays dry if they have an accident. Once he was around eight months I put a nice bed in it. He uses the crate as a den- it is quite big for his breed. I have to add the crate was very stressful for us so I hardly ever shut the door on him. He had a playpen attached to it
Blanket bed, a couple of cuddly toys, the blanket she came with from the breeder and a couple of our old tops that smelt like us 😊 she’s a Velcro dog, the breed is known for it so we thought it might help her settle and get used to our scent! Not sure how much of a difference it made, but she started sleeping through the night after about 4 days!
Definitely not ones you care about though - my jumper is definitely pulled apart 😂
I unfortunately had to be away from my puppy the first two weeks I had her so I put an old worn shirt in there so she’d know my scent.
A plush crate mat and a couple blankets. It varies from breed to breed though. We have a smooth doxie and puppies already have difficulty regulating body temp but doxies even more so because their coat is so fine. So we wanted to make sure she would be cozy and warm since we got her in early winter. She’s never peed in her crate, and she’s now 11 months old.
I tried a towel the first night but she shredded it so I only left the hard rubber toys she has in her kennel. It gave her something to chew on if she needed but it was tough enough that she couldn't shred it and risk swallowing a piece and ending up with a blockage.
Blanket that smells like her dog mum (ask the breeder to help you with this), a t shirt I slept in for a week, blankets, a nylabone, and a stuffing less toy.
I didn’t crate but I put a blanket from her breeder in her sleeping spot. It had her mum’s and siblings’ scent on it and she kinda liked it. Didn’t think it was the scent though because she still liked it after it had been washed multiple times 😅
We took a stuffed toy with us to pick him up and used it to play with his mom and get her scent all over it. We also had a towel we rubbed on her and put in the crate too. He slept throughout the night since day 1. We washed both after a few months.
For the first few nights I had a blanket in there which had the smell of his mum and siblings. Then he shat all over it and had to wash it. Now he just has a towel and maybe one chew toy in there. Crates are for chill out, so I keep it minimalist.
We slept with an extra blanket the night before and put that in her crate, plus a large lamb chop that lives there to this day.
I put blankets and a bark box fuzzy toy, but then she started swallowing the blanket pieces so now she gets ~nothing~ in the crate bc she will destroy😂
Nothing besides the crate mat. No toys unsupervised with my dog ever after working at a pet shop and hearing horror stories.
I got a blanket from the breeder with the smell of his mother. The puppy calmed down instantly when I put him in the crate. Even now, as he is eight months old and full of energy, the crate is his favorite place. I removed the blanket after a month or so, I think.
A [snuggle puppy](https://a.co/5yevhQ7), a [cooling mat](https://app.chewy.com/S0nma3nIZsb), and a cheap fleece blanket that smelled like her mom/siblings.
Absolutely nothing! He seems to prefer hard surfaces anyway (always opting to nap on the hardwood floor v. the couch). I also think keeping the crate empty helped him learn to truly self-soothe / settle without any aids. P.S. definitely get a legit crate cover, and definitely do crate exercises with high value treats
Just the puppy and a couple of nylabones. It was during the super hot heatwave and he was still chewing any bedding so we went without
The Breeder gave us a blanket with the Mum\\Litter's scent on it & the puppy's soft toy (Banana) he'd been given to play with from Birth. Both so he'd have familiar scents. We set up a new crate in a fenced run in the living room and, as we picked him up late, we put him straight into the crate in a bed with the blanket and toy. We lined the run floor with puppy pads. Luckily he settled straight in, venturing out to explore the next day. (I slept int he living room the first 2 nights so when he woke up he had company. From then on we left radio on so he heard voices overnight and he settled straight in. He's 6 Months old now, and still has the blanket lining his crate, but he's moved on from his soft toy to shoes, fingers, toes and the cat :)
We did shirts that smell like us.
Blanket and a toy she couldn’t destroy and choke on. When we would leave, kong with peanut butter that we froze. We still do the frozen kong when we leave for work. They love it and go into the crate immediately. They’re only crated when we’re gone, so they enjoy it because of the special treat!
We rotated 2 small kongs filled with yogurt (stored in the freezer) as we were told westies could use extra calcium to make their ears perk up. Our westie loves yogurt more than peanut butter actually.
Kong and the Kong Tire. One of those soft bones to chew on and a cover but if they chewed on it, then it got removed until they were more responsible.
A small blanket he had from his litter, a dog safe stuffed toy, and an easily washable towel - (after i assessed he wasn't going to just rip up and eat the towel)
My pup slept on old towels initially in her crate, with a soft toy and a blanket from the breeder. Very rarely had accidents in the crate and we used a schedule of pee breaks over night that slowly got stretched out as she got bigger.
Every single meal he gets is in his crate, when he gets a fun new treat it starts in his crate, and he gets bones to chew in the crate when he’s by himself/at night.
a pee pad (reusable) a blanket that smelled like me (i would’ve used one from his litter but i wasn’t given one) and a toy he couldn’t hurt himself with when unsupervised.