[Doppelganger0337]

I rescued Bandit when he was living outside my apartment complex for at least a month. I scooped him up and searched for owners to no avail. I decided to keep him rather then give him to a shelter because he had already stolen my heart (hence the name). I'll post a picture of him on this thread as soon as I get home. I've had him for about four months now.

Anywho, I have always let him sleep in bed with me. He had horrible skin issues when I first got him because the apartment complex used reclaimed water for their sprinklers and it had irritated his skin so badly he had chewed away almost all the fur he could reach on his back. If I let him out of my sight he would start chewing again, so it just seemed natural for him to stay with me at night.

His coat is wonderful now and he doesn't chew or itch. But I never revisited the idea of crate training him at bedtime. To be honest I've never done any research on the pros and cons of it. He has pretty bad separation anxiety now and I don't know if I'm helping or hindering it by letting him stay in bed with me. Thanks for any input you may have!

 

[Pax]

There is certainly value to crate training but it does not need to be 100% either/or. Pax was crate trained as a pup but now sleeps in my bed...but I can toss him back in his crate for a night if I need to or if he is at the pet sitter.

Pax has isolation anxiety and HATES being alone. He did not at all like being in his crate. Even though he was in my room, he could not see me up in my bed. Once I put his crate up where he could see me he slept like a rock without a peep...now his crate is down on the floor but it was a bit of a transition to get him comfortable.

 

[Doppelganger0337]

That's true. He isn't destructive or misbehaved in any way. I'm just worried that I'm reinforcing his separation anxiety with how much I baby him. He's never had to spend much time alone, when I first got him and realized how severe his separation anxiety had become I started taking him to daycare whenever I was at work and now I live with my parents and my stay-at-home mother is always with him. But I'll be moving in with my boyfriend soon and there will be times with no one home and no daycare close enough to bring him, so I suppose I'll monitor how he does and go from there. Thanks for your advice!