Our 8 month old ACD does amazing with structured crate naps, but is otherwise incapable of settling by himself. We really want to start transitioning him to just settling whenever he wants throughout the day so he can graduate to more freedom.
He’s a stickler for rules and has never even tried to chew anything that isn’t his, and has had free roam of half of the house since about 5 months old (he’s a Velcro dog tho so he’s usually within 10 feet of me anyways), so we think he’s finally ready!
Yesterday we didn’t enforce a nap and he just relaxed while I worked and then eventually went into the crate to sleep with the door open. In the afternoon after a long walk, he also just settled down on the floor and took an hour nap unprompted. We did have to enforce a third nap when he kept getting up to check on the cat every time she walked by, but it was a great first day!
And now on day 2, we did a walk and some play, and he is now napping away on his bed for the past two hours!
Overall I’m just so obsessed with him and how good of a dog he is, he’s completely my best friend already, and even if it’s small, these past two days help me see how much he’s grown and matured and just becoming the dog I was hoping he would ♥️
Would love to hear other stories of puppies as they mature and big wins you saw as they chilled out!
submitted by /u/Past-Butterscotch-93
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