When Should You Move the Puppy Crate out of the Bedroom?

Whether you’re a brand new puppy owner or adding another furry family member to your existing household, you’ve likely heard of the unwritten rule of keeping a puppy in your bedroom for the first couple of weeks at least.

But beyond that period, it can be challenging to figure out when the right time is to migrate the puppy to their actual sleeping quarters outside of your bedroom.

Puppies need to stay in your bedroom for at least two weeks after coming home. Moving them out of the bedroom after that depends on how your puppy is doing. Generally, the age span is between six months and 18 months. Move them gradually to not cause stress over a big change.

In this article, I will help you find the right time to move the puppy out of the bedroom and express the steps necessary to make sure the change isn’t stressful!

Ready? Let’s dive in!

When Should You Move the Dog Crate out of the Bedroom?

Before we can fully answer this question, let’s talk about why the crate ends up in the bedroom in the first place. In the process of crate training, you want to start this endeavor as early as bringing the puppy home.

You put the crate in the bedroom for the first two weeks minimum because you’re trying to mitigate the stress of this rather large change in your puppy’s life.

Your puppy, quite literally overnight, went from having the company of mom and siblings to entering a brand new home with a brand new family. As such, your four-legged little one will start to feel lonely and scared. Keeping the crate in the bedroom allows you to provide comfort to your puppy and be able to hear for any problems.

However, there will come the point where keeping the puppy’s crate in the bedroom is a nuisance. Puppies may be loud when they sleep, it could trigger separation anxiety, and you could (potentially) be stuck with a giant cage in your bedroom forever. As such, you may want to move that crate out of the room as soon as possible.

There is no official time frame for moving the crate out of the bedroom. However, some sources report the right age being between six and 18 months.

It really depends on how well your pup is transitioning into their new home. The best way to sort out if your timing is right is to move the crate to other rooms in the home and see how your puppy reacts!

If your puppy panics, your fur baby may not be ready yet. If your dog displays confidence and curiosity, you’re definitely in the right puppy headspace for a big move!

Bonus tip, don’t move your puppy out of the bedroom until they are fully potty trained. When a puppy is still learning, you really have to be on top of making sure your puppy knows where to use the bathroom and stops having accidents.

You can move out of the bedroom if your puppy is pretty solid (or as solid as a baby can be) on potty training.

How to Transition Your Dog’s Crate out of the Bedroom

As much as it would be simple to just move the crate out of the bedroom and leave it, it’s not that simple.

You have to make sure that your pup is not stressed out by the big change in their life! So here are a few steps to safely and happily transition your pup to a new sleeping spot.

Keep a Routine

If you aren’t doing so already in the process of crate training, make sure to have a solid routine for your puppy. This is especially important for bedtime hours. Keeping consistent with a routine encourages a puppy’s body to be ready for sleep when the time is right. Your four-legged baby will know what leads to nighttime and will start to become tired and be encouraged to sleep.

This routine can help with moving a puppy to another spot to sleep. As the nighttime routine will encourage sleepiness, your puppy may be more inclined to be comfortable and relaxed even in a new location. Even if your puppy isn’t able to sleep in a new spot immediately (as we are about to cover below), keeping that routine going will really help speed up the process.

Move the Crate Slowly

As with all big changes, the more gradual you make it, the better it becomes.

If you opt to only own one crate, what you can do is slowly move the crate closer and closer to the door every night. Once your pup is fine with this, you will move the crate to the other side of the door. This will eventually allow you to move the crate to the permanent spot in another part of your home!

If your puppy is very distressed at any part of this process, move the crate back to where it was and try the following night again. Some puppies just need time to get used to sleeping in a new spot (even if it is only a few inches away!). Remember to praise and reward for calm and happy behavior.

Buy a Second Crate

If you opt to not move the main crate, you can buy a second crate (it is recommended to have a copy of the first crate, as your puppy is super familiar with it) and place it directly in the area where your puppy will be sleeping.

Let your puppy get used to the crate being in this new location before moving the puppy into that crate indefinitely. Praise and reward your puppy for using this new crate, and encourage the little one to take naps there. You’re basically going to do a quick secondary version of crate training to associate this new crate (and new area) with all positive things.

Using a similar concept to moving the crate slowly, you will be able to get your puppy in there over time. Take it slow, leave your puppy there for a bit of time but relieve them if you notice distress. Praise for calm and relaxed behavior with treats and toys!