When choosing the location of your dog’s crate, two of the first locations you might think of within your home are your living room or your bedroom. But which location is best?
Is it better to put my dog’s crate in the living room or the bedroom?
The pros and cons of putting your dog’s crate in the living room or your bedroom vary based on your individual situation and the needs of you and your dog. Putting the dog’s crate in either location is usually a good option for most pet owners to ensure their dog is happy and healthy.
Below we will discuss the pros and cons for keeping your dog’s crate in the living room, the pros and cons for keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom, and which location might be the best option for your personal living situation.
Pros and Cons Of Placing The Dog Crate in the Living Room
Let’s start by taking a look at the pros and cons of placing a dog crate in the living room.
Pros
Socialization
Having your dog’s crate in the living room allows them to be part of you and your family’s daily lives and gives them access to anything and everything that goes on in the living room.
Placing your pup’s crate in the living room could be a great way help socialize a young puppy or help an anxious dog get more exposure to different things. The living room is often the prime location in the household where family members and friends gather, and most dogs would also enjoy being a part of those gatherings.
By keeping your dog’s crate in the living room, you are helping meet your dog’s social and emotional needs and allowing them to truly be a part of the family.
Easy Access to the Dog’s Crate
If you have a young puppy who is still in the house-training process, or an ill dog who needs special care, placing the crate within the living room allows you easy access to let the dog into and out of the crate. This is especially vital if you are short on time and perhaps only have a few minutes on your lunch break to let your dog out to potty and stretch his legs before having to return him to the crate while you finish your workday.
With the dog’s crate in the living room, it’s also likely that it’s near the entrance to your backyard, or to the front door and the dog’s leash. This makes it easy to quickly let the dog out of the crate and either direct them into the backyard to potty, or immediately attach their leash and take them for a walk outside.
Supervision
Keeping your dog’s crate in the living room also allows you to easily supervise them. This is helpful if you have a young puppy who needs more frequent potty breaks or is currently in the beginning stages of the crate training process, or an injured or ill dog who may need to be observed for health reasons.
Having your dog’s crate in what is usually a central part of your home also allows you to make sure they are safe and not getting into something they shouldn’t. It’s also a lot easier for you to place them in their crate with a chew toy or treat and be able to go about your household chores while still being able to keep an eye on them.
Cons
Over-Stimulation
For shy or anxious dogs, or for dogs who are easily overstimulated and overexcited, keeping their crate within the living room might be too much for them mentally, emotionally, and physically.
This is very dependent on your individual living situation, but if you have a lot of activity going on at all hours of the day within your living room it may have a detrimental effect on your puppy or dog if they cannot get a break from all the activity.
Just like people, it’s important for dogs to be able to take breaks from things that are exciting or stressful so that they can relax. If the dog’s crate is in the living room, it’s most likely very difficult for them to truly relax and de-stress.
Training Issues
If you are working on crate training your puppy, having his crate within the living room might actually make this process harder and could lead to crate training regression in some cases.
If the puppy constantly has access to you (even if it’s just visually or even just hearing your voice), it will be harder for them to adjust to their crate because they will most likely be seeking your attention. This means more barking, crying, or shuffling around their crate.
While it’s nice if you can keep your pup with you 24/7, in reality that’s very difficult for the majority of people to do. If you’ve never taught your puppy that they can feel comfortable while you are gone, then there is a possibility of the dog developing separation issues later on.
If you or your family members are constantly around and in view of your puppy while he is in his crate in the living room, then he will struggle to develop his self-confidence and be more anxious or fearful if he is ever left alone for long periods of time.
Takes Up Space
This con is very specific to your individual living situation as well as the size of the crate, but a lot of dog crates can be very bulky and take up quite a bit of space, especially if you own a medium to large breed like the German Shepherd for example.
If you have a smaller living room or a larger dog crate, then it might be difficult and cumbersome to try and place the crate so that it doesn’t take up your entire living room area. Your typical dog crates also do not tend to fit in with most décor, though there are more furniture-like crate options as well as ways of covering up wire or plastic crates.
If you frequently have guests, you have elderly persons living within the home, or you have young children in the home, then having the dog’s crate in the living room might also pose a health hazard if it’s located in a heavily trafficked area of the living room. Tripping over the dog’s crate, knocking a knee into the crate as you are moving about the living room, or a child getting a finger stuck in the wire of the crate are all potential hazards to consider when deciding to place the dog’s crate in the living room.
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.
Pros
Supervision
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.
Bonding
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.
Frees Up Space in the Rest of Your Home
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.
Cons
Training Issues
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.
Relationship Issues
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.
Tripping Hazard
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.
So, Where’s The Best Place to Keep Your Dog’s Crate? The Living Room Or The Bedroom?
The answer is…it depends!
When determining whether to place your dog’s crate in the living room or bedroom, pay attention to what you and your dog or puppy’s needs are.
If you have a social dog or you are working on crate training a puppy and you want to get a night of uninterrupted sleep, then keeping your dog’s crate in the living room might be the better option.
If you live in a small apartment or have an ill dog that you must check on throughout the night, then keeping your dog’s crate in your bedroom might be the best choice.
Whether you choose the living room or your bedroom for the location of your dog’s crate, make sure you are making the crate and the area around the crate safe for your dog.
Remove anything from the crate that poses a choking hazard (including blankets, bedding, or towels) and it’s best to remove your dog’s collar before placing them in the crate to avoid them getting the collar caught up on the crate and tightening around your dog’s neck.
Make sure you place the crate in an area where the dog doesn’t have access to anything that they can grab and pull into their crate, either. This includes electrical cords, flammable items like candles, or things like toxic houseplants.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether you choose to place your dog’s crate in the living room or your bedroom (or somewhere else entirely!), keep in mind that you can always move the crate if needed, and it’s likely that at some point in the dog’s life you’ll have to move the crate to a different area.
As long as you are being considerate of your dog’s needs in addition to your own needs, your dog should be happy wherever you place his crate!
